Description
Since FiBQ 20.2 was published in February 2020 the world has changed immeasurably. Perhaps for the first time in human history, one event – Covid-19 – has had the potential to touch the life of every individual on planet earth. Global business is in a hugely fluid shape. Taking us around our planet, this time with hope, Jerry Marshall brings an encouraging report on Transcend, a business he co-founded which is breaking barriers and building unity in Bethlehem, while Ken Dickson reports on an exciting new initiative in Zambia which incorporates the principles of Business as Mission.
Covid’s economic impact is starkly illustrated by Peter Warburton’s interview with economist Paul Mills on the long-term legacy of government debt. Much cause for sober reflection here. Our two regular columnists illuminate different aspects of the current situation. Phil Jump comments on Covid bringing out both the best and worst of human nature, while Peter Heslam notes the potential of the digital revolution to benefit the poor as well as the rich.
One article and one review take us into the theology of business. John Bloomer sees business entrepreneurs as ‘participating in the divine’, tracing from Augustine through Aquinas to present-day writing about entrepreneurs being the quintessential homo creator. Andrew Henley reviews Andrew Hartropp’s God’s Good Economy: Doing Economic Justice in Today’s World – an incisive primer on the Christian view of business and the economy.
Another review is from Kina Robertshaw on Camelle ilona Daley’s Finding Divine Flow – ‘bringing God intentionally into every situation’. Richard Higginson pays warm tribute to Clive Wright OBE, who chaired the FiBQ Steering Group for much of the 2000s. He secured a significant donation which kept FiBQ going in those years.
The editors welcome feedback. Gary Cundill responds to Phil Jump’s article in FiBQ 20.2, seeing a useful role for activists when they accelerate the political agenda. We close with a song: David Parish invites us to reinvent the work-songs of the past to bring joy into the workplaces of the future.
It is encouraging to report that subscriptions to FiBQ are on the increase. Several new readers have joined us, and we welcome them warmly in this issue. This leads us to say that if you enjoy FiBQ please encourage others who might be interested to read it and become subscribers – whether in the printed or digital versions. Both can be made readily available to meet personal choice.
The Editors
