There are universal Christian ethics that should be applied in economics. Christian ethics in economics stresses free will; the immense value, dignity, and unique talents of the individual; individual accountability for the use of resources, charity, and the exercise of justice; the relevance of the family and community; and a role for the state in the adjudication of economic justice, the enforcement of contracts, and the facilitation of competition and minimization of exploitation in product and resource markets. Civil authorities are to be obeyed until they set themselves in opposition to divine law, while the individual is prior to the state and the social order. Among economic systems. Christian ethics favors mvced democratic capitalism, rejecting non-democratic socialism and authoritarianism. Strictly utilitarian, consequentialist, or contractarian approaches to economic policy are unacceptable, since they reject the other-regardedness of God's law. While Christian ethics establishes certain clear economic objectives, final policy choices require a synthesis of reasoning research, and practical application.

This essay examines the complex nature of sport today and considers how sport can transcend social, political, and economic divisiveness through a union with Judaeo-Christian ethical and spiritual values. Although religion and sport both involve the synthesis of the mind, body, and spirit, there are valid questions about the uses and abuses of sport in society. The central issues concern proper professional and sports conduct. The significance of competition and winning among athletes, coaches, and fans presents a challenge to the integration of ethical principles between sport and religious faith. Some sports practitioners are able to make this bond successfully, exemplified by the Christian witness of individuals like Nile Kinnick, Eric Liddell, and John Wooden. Relevant to any consideration of the symbiotic relationship between religion and sport is the potential for sport, nurtured through the sacredness of faith, to serve as a means for developing various aspects of human virtue.

In Einstein's theory of relativity, the speed of light is deemed an absolute value because it is indifferent to the motion of material bodies. Nothing we do can "take a bite" out of its measured velocity of 186,000 miles per second: it is an irreducible quantity. Similarly, our minds cannot race ahead quickly enough to reduce or convert light to everyday understandings. Indeed, modem physics portrays light as having an infinite aspect. Leading to talk of the spaceless, timeless character of light, this aspect permits the suggestion that light resonates spiritual possibilities, and this resonance supports the traditional religious view that light is a symbol or expression of divinity. It also provides a basis for affirming absolutes in ethical life. The relativist stance is thus countered on two fronts—scientific and sacred—with light shining through the veil or barrier that has historically divided the two.

This essay suggests that literary studies have a crucial role to play in the liberalisation of professional and vocational education and training. Prose and poetry contents of current literature syllabuses demand rigorous moral and ethical explication. Instructive in this regard was the societal interplay of professional texts in medicine with journalistic and fictional works, specifically in relation to spes phthisica, in the nineteenth century. Thus, the works of Willian and Henry James, with their synergies and antipathies, extended the discussion from medical to theological texts. The lectio divina in general and the Carmelite mystics in particular influenced the writings of both James brothers. These considerations highlight the relevance of liberal arts education in the twenty-first century.