A Compromising Preacher: Bishop Butler as a Proto-Political Economist

This chapter shows that Bishop Butler’s sermons on the rich and poorRich and poor contained the seeds of an empirical and objective economic analysis that goes beyond theological claims about charity as a moral imperative of the rich. Readers will be able to see Butler’s subtle compromise between the economic discourse that starts with self-loveSelf-love or self-interestSelf-interest and the Christian morality the preacher should convey to his followers. In examining the above issues, this chapter focuses on the second of the Six Occasional Sermons (1740–1748), the Sermon on the Rich and Poor (1740). Through a detailed deciphering of the sermon and a comparison with Adam Smith[aut]Smith, Adam, the chapter reveals Butler's aspect as a Proto-Political Economist.