Volume 18.1

In this issue…

… We have fewer articles on the specific details of working in business and more on the background within which business operates. Since the last issue the UK has gone through the momentous experience of Brexit, which has huge implications for business, though no-one is quite sure what they will be. We offer two reflections on Brexit. We are honoured to include a contribution by Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint. He believes Brexit revealed a society that is deeply divided, and a country that needs to learn important lessons about its history. In contrast regular contributor Phil Jump suggests that the fall-out from Brexit may be less serious than both ‘sides’ argued, and that the church needs to help take the debate forward. These are two highly thoughtful perspectives which both warrant careful consideration. Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which reveals the pervasive tendency for societies to become highly unequal, is one of the most important books to have been published in recent years. Bill Mash offers a comprehensive review-article in which he places Piketty’s thinking both in the context of other authors and the testimony of Scripture. Anthony Harrop also draws on Piketty and the Bible in his shorter reflection on the inequality issue, triggered by revelations about Wayne Rooney’s weekly salary. In April the annual Faith in Business conference took place; many readers will have been present at it. Richard Higginson offers both an overall conference report and a profile of lead speaker Post Office Chief Executive Paula Vennells. We are also pleased to publish in full a fascinating talk by David Barclay, who offers a refreshing community-based approach to the much-discussed topic of corporate social responsibility. This issue includes two reviews by former editors – Sally Orwin Lee’s review of another film that features business, Joy, and John Weaver’s review of the first two volumes in the Theology of Work Bible Commentary. Tim Harle surveys Bruno Dyck’s Management and the Gospel, which brings together insights from Luke’s Gospel and modern management practice in an unusual way. Malcolm Brown writes an appreciative tribute to leading social theologian John Atherton, who died recently, and Peter Heslam explores the contrasting faces of capitalism in the stories of John Lewis and British Home Stores. We hope you find plenty here to sustain and stimulate you.