Introduction to "What about Taxes"

[1] The September issue of Journal of Lutheran Ethics is devoted to issues that Christians have debated since Christ turned over the Tiberian coin: How should Christians respond to taxation by their secular governments? This month's contributors approach the question "What about Taxes?" from various angles. 

 [2] William Ross probes what is distinctively Lutheran in Lutheran communities' responses to state taxation for the common welfare from nineteenth-century Germany and Scandinavia to modern American Lutheran church statements.

 [3] Scott Schul explores the Lutheran tax principles in the ELCA's social statement "Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All" (1999).

 [5] J.R. Clark and Robert Lawson give an economist's perspective on the question: To whom does wealth belong? They discuss why private property is important for strong economies and what equity means in tax systems.  

 [6] Robert Tuttle catalogues tax exemptions available to churches and their programs, and poses ethical questions about when Christian institutions should accept available tax advantages. 

 [7] Finally, Barry Holland, a Christian tax professional, explores analogies in commitment to and interpretation of the Bible and the Internal Revenue Code. 

© September 2007
Journal of Lutheran Ethics
Volume 7, Issue 9