Dylan Pahman
Grand Rapids
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Research Fellow, @ActonInstitute
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Articles by Dylan Pahman
This Father’s Day, Pray ‘Our Father’
Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. You’re reading Dispatch Faith, our weekly newsletter exploring the biggest stories in religion and faith. To unlock the full version, become a Dispatch member today. Happy Sunday, and happy Father’s Day. Such a greeting isn’t merely a rote salutation for scholar Dylan Pahman.
Christianity and the Founders' Liberalism
“All sober enquirers after truth, ancient and modern, Pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue.” – John Adams, Thoughts on Government (1776) Was the liberalism that informed America’s founding rationalistic, individualistic, and godless? Many intellectuals and commentators have so contended—usually those on the political left, who tend to view those features as desirable.
“Only a Digger”: The Misunderstood Story of the First Christian Socialist
The year 1848 marked a watershed for Europe. On February 21, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels proclaimed in The Communist Manifesto, “A spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of Communism.” On February 22, the streets of Paris erupted in revolution, culminating in the abdication of Louis-Philippe on February 24.
The Consolation of the Cross
Reflecting on the crucifixion of Christ, the liberal Social Gospel theologian Walter Rauschenbusch claimed, “It requires no legal fiction of imputation to explain that ‘he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.’ Solidarity explains it.” He goes on to note six social causes of the cross: 1) “religious bigotry,” 2) “graft and political power,” 3) “the corruption of justice,” 4) “mob spirit and mob action,” 5) “militarism,” and 6) “class contempt.” Underscoring...
John Locke on the “Iron Laws of the World”
On January 5 in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN, Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff to president Donald Trump, defended the administration’s alarming embrace of military intervention in Venezuela and imperialistic aspirations more broadly on the global stage: The United States of America is running Venezuela. By definition, that’s true.
Byzantines, Bishops, and Bolsheviks – Law & Liberty - Dylan Pahman
October 21, 2025 0:00 with Dylan Pahman, hosted by James M. Patterson Many are familiar with Catholic and Protestant flavors of Christian social thought, but little is known about Orthodox iterations. Dylan Pahman joins the podcast to talk about his book The Kingdom of God and the Common Good, which aims to fill that gap.
Editorial: The Development of Social Doctrine
As society evolves through feudalism, industrialization, and pluralism, Christian social doctrine must also develop—without altering core truths—to faithfully map and navigate today’s complex social landscape. Dylan Pahman, “Editorial: The Development of Social Doctrine,” Journal of Markets & Morality 27, no. 2 (2024): 75–78.
Commemorating Christian Labor
The first Monday in September is Labor Day in the United States and Canada, commemorating the contributions of organized labor to improved working conditions. The common story of Labor Day is typically secular: To fight for higher wages, safer workplaces, and shorter workweeks, workers formed unions to bargain collectively or, if necessary, to strike.
Where Your Treasure Is, by Dylan Pahman
By Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute, July 28, 2025 Dylan Pahman is a research fellow at the Acton Institute, where he serves as executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. He earned his Ph.D. from St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, on the basis of his published works on Orthodox Christian social thought and asceticism. He is the author of The Kingdom of God and the Common Good and Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society.
Where Your Treasure Is
Helen Rhee has done a great service with her slim volume Wealth and Poverty in Early Christianity. This collection of primary sources from the Church Fathers’ teachings on money, lending, justice, mercy, and almsgiving contributes to a growing list of such handbooks. Anyone wanting to teach a course or simply educate oneself in the Fathers’ wisdom about stewarding the resources of creation has an abundant storehouse to draw from, even as more undoubtedly could be added in years to come.
The Legacy of Nicaea and Church-State Entanglements
The Council of Nicaea, the First Ecumenical Council of the ancient and undivided Catholic Church, bequeathed to the world far more than the one universally accepted creed in Christian history, though that is no small feat. The council itself is shrouded in myth and mystery. The official Acts have been lost. The records we have of which bishops and clerics were present do not agree. Was St. Nicholas, for example, really there? Did he really, overcome by zeal, strike the heretic Arius in the face?
Pope Leo XIV and Orthodox Social Thought
The new pontiff of Rome has already set a tone for his papacy with the choice of his name: I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.
An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance
If there’s one scholarly contribution to Christian social thought of contemporary Eastern Orthodox Christianity that is known to both clergy and laity, and even among Western Christians, it’s our “liturgical theology.” Yet in his 1914 book, The Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Fr. Pavel Florensky observed that “liturgical theology awaits its creator.” Additionally, Fr. Andrew Louth describes Florensky’s friend Fr. Sergei Bulgakov as “a liturgical theologian, not in the sense that he writes...
On Calling and Conversation
On April 9, 1945, at Flossenbürg concentration camp, the Nazis executed the talented pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer by hanging, on suspicion of his involvement with the Abwehr conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was 39 years old. Two weeks later, the U.S. Army liberated Flossenbürg. Hitler took his own life on April 30, just three weeks after Bonhoeffer’s unjust and so untimely death.
Bloody Sunday, Black Friday, and Christmas
In the opening track to their now-classic 1983 album, War, Irish rock band U2 sang about “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” I can’t believe the news today Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away … Broken bottles under children’s feet Bodies strewn across the dead-end street But I won’t heed the battle call It puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall Bono was supposedly singing about the “Bloody Sunday” of January 20, 1972, in which 26 unarmed protesters were shot by British troops in...
Kamala Harris’ Economic Policies Can’t Keep Her Promises
In a campaign speech in North Carolina last Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris detailed her plan for “creating opportunities for the middle class that advance their economic security, stability, and dignity.” That’s a great promise. All Americans—not just the middle class but the poor, too—need more opportunities, more security, more stability, and greater respect for their dignity.
A State of Anti-Nature – Dylan Pahman
Isaac Asimov believed that science fiction is more of a setting than a genre. He sought to prove this thesis in his works—The Caves of Steel, for example, is a murder mystery. While there’s nothing original about pointing to science fiction’s potential as a means for political philosophy, one critically acclaimed but popularly obscure author deserves more attention from those looking to use fiction as a framework for exploring freedom, morality, and meaning. David R.
The Foundation of the Founders
July 4, 2024 By Dylan Pahman In the United States, we date our nation’s beginning to the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which has served as a national creed enshrining distinctly liberal principles in our national consciousness.
Decay and Reform in Christian Higher Education
Writing on June 16 at Current, John Fea tells a story that’s becoming too familiar in Christian higher education: Last Spring, ten Cornerstone faculty … either left Cornerstone or were forced out by the administration. This is the same administration … that received a 42-6 vote of no confidence by the faculty in October 2021. … Last week, Cornerstone made more cuts. The humanities and music programs were eliminated. Seven tenured faculty were fired.
Friendship, Markets, and Reciprocal Gifts
In his 2009 encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the inadequacy of a social imaginary that includes only the market and the state: The exclusively binary model of market-plus-State is corrosive of society, while economic forms based on solidarity, which find their natural home in civil society without being restricted to it, build up society. The market of gratuitousness does not exist, and attitudes of gratuitousness cannot be established by law.
Christian Nationalism Can’t Make Our Nation Christian Original
Extending the arm of the state is the wrong way to shape obedient hearts. By and Published February 11, 2024 • Updated February 12, 2024 Last month Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers, a pastor and self-identified Christian nationalist, filed bills to legally prohibit sexting outside of marriage and forbid “no-fault” divorce.
Editorial: Friendship, Markets, and Reciprocal Gifts
Abstract In his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the inadequacy of a social imaginary that only includes the market and the state: The exclusively binary model of market-plus-State is corrosive of society, while economic forms based on solidarity, which find their natural home in civil society without being restricted to it, build up society. The market of gratuitousness does not exist, and attitudes of gratuitousness cannot be established by law.
Santa Claus vs. Artemis: A Christmas Story
As we deck the halls with boughs of holly this year, read the story of Christ’s Nativity, sing hymns and carols, exchange gifts, and light our homes in increasingly irrational competition verging on mutually assured destruction with our neighbors, we must not lose sight of the real “reason for the season”: Santa’s victory over the pagan goddess Artemis. Really. Just to be clear, I am aware that Jesus is what Christmas is all about.
Thank God for Virtue
Each night, when it’s my turn to tuck in my littlest kids—Erin (5) and Callaghan (3) … and sometimes Aidan (6)—we say the same traditional prayers together: the “Our Father,” the “Axion Estin,” and the Creed. After the Creed, I ask them, “What are you thankful for tonight?” and “Who should we pray for tonight?” They’re always thankful for their mom. They’re usually thankful for each other. Sometimes they’re thankful for me.
Student Loans and the Sin of Usury
A new school year has just begun, and students and their parents are faced once again with the high cost of higher education. The Supreme Court ruled President Biden’s executive order on student loan forgiveness unconstitutional. Undeterred, the president has since expanded income-based repayment. Predictably, Democrats defended it and Republicans attacked it. Meanwhile, many continue to struggle with student debt. Tuition has nearly tripled since the introduction of federal loans in the 1980s.
Marc Sidwell
There is a comedy sketch from British television, now made immortal by the internet, in which a Nazi soldier, waiting for Russian troops to advance on his army’s position, uneasily examines the skull insignias on his uniform and wonders if they might, in fact, be the baddies. Continue Reading...
This Fathers’ Day, Remember that Property Is Holy
The French Revolution of 1848, which began on February 22 in Paris, led to the fall of the July Monarchy in France, the founding of the Second Republic, a wave of democratic revolutions across Europe, a revival of European liberalism, and the spread of various forms of socialism. Once again, just as in 1789, the old order of life faced a crisis.
The Origins and Aims of F. D. Maurice’s Christian Socialism: A Consideration of Patristic Motifs
Home > Vol 26, No 1 (2023) > The Origins and Aims of F. D. Maurice’s Christian Socialism: A Consideration of Patristic Motifs Subscription Login to verify subscription Open Access Subscription or Fee Access The Origins and Aims of F. D. Maurice’s Christian Socialism: A Consideration of Patristic Motifs Dylan Pahman Abstract This article demonstrates how salient characteristics of F. D.
Editorial: From Christian Political Economy to Christian Socialism
Home > Vol 26, No 1 (2023) > Editorial: From Christian Political Economy to Christian Socialism Subscription Login to verify subscription Open Access Subscription or Fee Access Editorial: From Christian Political Economy to Christian Socialism Dylan Pahman Abstract The phrase “Christian Political Economy” comes from the historian of economics A. M. C.
Editorial: How Much Is Too Much to Save a Life?
How can something so unquantifiable, the value of a human life, be quantified? Yet in the last two years it has not been hard to find contemporary, real-world applications of this problem due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dylan Pahman, "Editorial: How Much Is Too Much to Save a Life?" Journal of Markets & Morality 25, no. 2 (2022): 155-157
True Liberty Demands Respectful Disagreement
In his classic The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, Michael Novak offers an observation about an ongoing struggle in a pluralistic society: the absence of a unified vision of the good. His passing observation regarding the psychology of why some people find this so objectionable is all the more salient today in our age of highly-politicized social media: I would only update this quote so as to make it nonpartisan. Everyone finds everyone else revolting these days.
The Dream of Scalable Democracy – Dylan Pahman
They—I’m looking at you, Tip O’Neill—say all politics is local. “They” are wrong. But they should be right. If all politics were really local, voter turnout would be highest in local elections. But the opposite is the case. The majority of Americans don’t vote in midterm elections, but a majority do vote when the presidency is on the line. If all politics were local, then people would have greater incentive—or at least find it easier—to cast an informed vote.
The Christian’s Hard Affluence and Easy Hardship
From sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton’s worries over “moral therapeutic deism” in their 2005 book, to the Pew Research Center’s documentation of the growing trend of religious “nones” (people who claim no religious affiliation), to common claims that we now live in a “post-Christian” culture, the idea that religion and modern affluence cannot coexist has deep roots.
Jesus Saves, but He’s No Protectionist
Jesus Saves, but He’s No Protectionist Christians who decry international trade misunderstand the church's tradition. Read Full Article »
Opinion | Jesus Saves, but He’s No Protectionist
Skepticism of commerce, especially international commerce, is rising among religious conservatives. In “Why Liberalism Failed,” Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen indicts the “expansion of commerce” for severing “traditional ties and relationships.” A group of self-styled “critics of contemporary liberalism” recently declared in an open letter the need to “limit the market,” repudiate “destructive globalisation” and recover the “supreme theological virtue” of Christendom: charity.
Theft by Inflation by Dylan Pahman
Christianity America Feature The Sinful Manipulation of Weights & Measures by Dylan Pahman & Alexander William Salter Inflation plagues the U.S. economy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index rose 9.1 percent in June 2022 from a year prior, the sharpest increase in 40 years. This grim picture looks even worse when we focus on specific sectors. Food prices rose 10.1 percent, and energy prices a whopping 34.6 percent, over the year.
Editorial: Neo-Calvinism and Modern Economics
Open Access Subscription or Fee Access Editorial: Neo-Calvinism and Modern Economics Dylan Pahman Abstract When the Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper gave his lecture on “The Social Question and the Christian Religion” at the First Christian Social Congress in the Netherlands in 1891, he claimed, “The social question is not a reality for you until you level an architectonic critique at human society as such and accordingly deem a different arrangement of the social order...
Opinion | In God—and Sound Money—We Trust
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this week that the consumer-price index rose 1.3% in June and 9.1% over the past year. It has been 40 years since Americans have grappled with inflation this high. This presents an economic problem but also a moral one—and the Bible offers some guidance. Scripture is replete with teachings about the importance of sound money.
Supernatural thriller Stranger Things shows the all-too-human evil of communism
The final installment of the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things was released on July 1. According to Variety, season 4’s first installment “of the Duffer Brothers’ hit sci-fi series was viewed for 287 million hours during the week of May 23–29, landing in the No. 1 position.” The Wall Street Journal reports that the season’s nine episodes cost the streamer $270 million to produce.
Your job is not your vocation
It is sometimes claimed—wrongly—that until the Reformation, the only vocations known to Christian teaching were monastic and/or clerical. One might be called to a monastery or called to the priesthood, but ordinary work, family life, secular singleness—these are the things of the world one may be called out from, not something God called one to. Then Martin Luther and the Reformation came along and changed all that. I say this account is wrong for two reasons.
A Practical Case Against Inflation Economics
A Practical Case Against Inflation Economics "To tame the inflationary beast and to build a more humane economy, especially for the poor, we need to grapple with inflation’s practical and moral effects." ~ Dylan Pahman & Alexander William Salter Read Full Article »
For the Least of These: Against Inflation Economics
Print Reprinted from Public Discourse Just twenty years ago, economists and bureaucrats triumphantly proclaimed the apotheosis of macroeconomic stabilization policy. The “Great Moderation” saw a long spell of full employment, income growth, and low and steady inflation. How we long for those days now! While labor markets appear healthy, this could quickly change. Meanwhile, inflation has surged: Consumer prices are up more than 8 percent, and producer prices more than 11 percent, from a year ago.
For the Least of These: Against Inflation Economics
Just twenty years ago, economists and bureaucrats triumphantly proclaimed the apotheosis of macroeconomic stabilization policy. The “Great Moderation” saw a long spell of full employment, income growth, and low and steady inflation. How we long for those days now! While labor markets appear healthy, this could quickly change. Meanwhile, inflation has surged: Consumer prices are up more than 8 percent, and producer prices more than 11 percent, from a year ago.
Put on the seamless garment of paschal love
The Lenten fast is not an end in itself but an opportunity to unite with the poor, to work with an eye toward the needs of others, and to anticipate along with our brothers and sisters the feast to come—not only on Easter Sunday but also in the Kingdom to come. […] Read More… from Put on the seamless garment of paschal love Before beginning his earthly ministry, our Lord Jesus Christ, “led up by the Spirit” (Matt.
Canon law, works of mercy, and human dignity
“All human societies face about the same problems,” claim David Friedman, Peter Leeson, and David Skarbek in their fascinating and peculiar book Legal Systems Very Different from Ours. “They deal with them in an interesting variety of different ways. All of them are grownups—there is little reason to believe that the people who created the legal systems of Imperial China, Periclean Athens, or saga-period Iceland were any less intelligent than the creators of the US legal system.
Editorial: The Law We Lost
Editorial: The Law We Lost Abstract “All human societies face about the same problems,” claim David Friedman, Peter Leeson, and David Skarbek in their fascinating and peculiar book Legal Systems Very Different from Ours. “They deal with them in an interesting variety of different ways.
Discovering human dignity in Villeneuve’s Dune
With an opening weekend revenue of $41 million, director Denis Villeneuve’s Part 1 of his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic Dune has , set for a 2023 release. Villeneuve’s Dune feels a bit like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings—visually stunning, perfectly cast, yet hardly the definitive adaptation of the source material. That’s not really a criticism, though. With Herbert’s intricately detailed storytelling, no perfect adaptation is possible.
Dylan Pahman
Dylan Pahman is a research fellow at the Acton Institute, where he serves as executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. He earned his MTS in Historical Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary. In addition to his work as an editor, Dylan has authored several peer-reviewed articles, conference papers, essays, and one book: Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society (Acton Institute, 2017).
Privilege and price controls make USPS too big to fail
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has come under criticism for extending first-class delivery times as part of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan to revitalize the agency. According to Tyler Powell and David Wessel at Brookings, “The USPS has operated at a loss since 2007.” In response to the news of delayed service, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., tweeted, “Louis DeJoy is wrong.
Editorial: Memento Mori, Markets, and Morality
Open Access Subscription or Fee Access Editorial: Memento Mori, Markets, and Morality Dylan Pahman Abstract After “a world of change” in this journal’s editorial staff over the last few years, I write now as its executive editor, succeeding friends and mentors in the honor of publishing the foremost scholarship on the morality of the marketplace, of faith and of freedom. Full Text: PDF Refbacks There are currently no refbacks.
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