Theology, Responsibility, and Business Legitimacy

We seem to know what business is, but what does “theology in business” mean? In this paper, I want to show how our contemporary understanding of “business legitimacy” can be translated to the theological concept of “love of your neighbor” which means responsibility toward other human beings. Only if you act responsibly and accountable in your relationships, including economic relationships, are you legitimate in your acts. Responsibility and accountability is a web of relationships. This paper focuses on how responsibility has been interpreted in Protestantism, particularly with regard to the reformed theologian’s, Martin Luther, understanding of responsibility in economy. With the rising capitalism of the Renaissance, new politics was asked for, and intellectual discussions on fairness and justice were part of that. Further, I want to show how this theological understanding of business legitimacy as responsibility is both (1) an invisible underpinning of contemporary business legitimacy and (2) a concept of justice which seems to have disappeared from contemporary, neoliberal debates around economy and business legitimacy.