Paul Oslington (Ed.). Economics and Religion (Book Review‪)‬

Paul Oslington (ed.). Economics and Religion. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2003. Two volumes, pp. xvii + 513; pp. xi + 460. ISBN 1 84064 849 X. 250 [pounds sterling]. Economics claims to be the leading social science, an enterprise which tries to emulate the methods and purported success of the natural sciences. At least in the commercial (nominally Christian) part of the world, the practitioners of the natural sciences long ago fought a successful battle to free themselves from constraints of religion. Social scientists followed suit. For most modern economists, the linkage of the words 'economics' and 'religion' appears to be anachronistic and a dangerous mixture; for them the combination is explosive and threatens the whole programme of modern economics as a putative science. Economics and Religion, edited by Paul Oslington, is a two-volume collection of writings focusing on this volatile mixture.