Work in Roman Catholic Thought

• Author: Kenneth R. Himes
• Date: 01 September 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12350
• Published date: 01 September 2020

Work in Roman Catholic Thought

By Kenneth R. himes*

AbstRAct. This essay examines the idea of work in the Catholic social

tradition. Following introductory comments about the Christian vision

of work found in the writings of St. Paul and other early Christian

authors, the essay provides seven claims as a summary of how work is

treated in modern Catholic social teaching. Based on those summary

claims, a vision of what good work in the Catholic tradition looks like

is then developed. Finally, the phenomenon of the “gig economy” is

presented as a contemporary threat to the meaning of good work.

Introduction

The earliest text in the New Testament is St. Paul’s letter to the Christian

community at Thessalonica in Greece. Likely written in the second half

of 51 CE, the apostle addresses a community in which he had a found-

ing role. The letter was sent after Paul received a report about the

state of the Thessalonian church since his departure the year before.

The latter part of his epistle contains a series of exhortations regarding

the moral behavior appropriate to a follower of Christ. At one point,

Paul writes: “[A]spire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs,

and to work with your own hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11).

In a second letter, traditionally attributed to Paul, the author ad-

dresses certain concerns among the Thessalonian Christians related

to mistaken beliefs about the parousia, or second coming of Jesus.1

It seems that a number of Christians in the city were of the belief that

with the second coming of Christ being imminent, there was no need

to work or do other ordinary things to ensure material well-being be-

cause the world was soon to be transformed.

With that in mind, the letter’s writer urges his fellow Christians to

“keep away from every brother who is idle” and reminds them of how

Paul himself “did not eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 79, No. 4 (September, 2020).

DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12350

© 2020 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

*Kenneth R. Himes, O.F.M., is Professor of Theological Ethics in the Department of

Theology at Boston College. Email: kenneth.himes@bc.edu

1086 The American Journal of Economics and Sociology

contrary, we worked day and night, laboring and toiling so that we

would not be a burden to any of you.” Paul goes on to rebuke those

who are idle for becoming “busybodies” and urges them “to settle

down and earn the bread they eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 8, 11–12).

Born into a Jewish diaspora community in Tarsus, a city in contempo-

rary Turkey, Paul reflects the Semitic attitude toward work as a natural

human activity whereby human beings provide for material needs.

A valuable document from the second generation of Christian writ-

ers is known as the Didache or “The Teaching,” a sort of catechism

that illustrates how Jewish Christians passed on the faith tradition to

newly baptized Gentiles entering the church. Possibly composed in

Syria in the second half of the first century CE, the text is independent

of Pauline influence. At one point, when discussing travelers who

come to the community, the members are encouraged to receive the

strangers in the name of the Lord. This is followed by practical advice:

“If he who comes is a wayfarer, assist him as far as you are able; but

he shall not remain with you more than two or three days, if need be.

But if he wants to stay with you, and is an artisan, let him work and

eat. But if he has no trade, according to your understanding, see to it

that, as a Christian, he shall not live with you idle” (Didache: Ch. 12).

The early church writings of the first century reflect the reality

that work was honored, owing to the debt that Christianity had to

Jewish thought. “The slack hand impoverishes, but the hand of the

diligent enriches” (Proverbs 10:4). It was not work but idleness that

was a curse. “Better the worker who has plenty of everything than

the boaster who is without bread” (Sirach 10:26). Throughout the Old

Testament, there is a consistent portrayal of work as a natural aspect

of human existence and that Yahweh endows blessings upon those

who are honest and diligent in performing their labor.

Even when Christianity moved beyond the Semitic culture of an-

cient Palestine and into the cities of the greater Roman Empire, early

disciples did not denigrate the value of human labor. Work among

early Christians, even physical labor, was not scorned in the way elites

of the classical world viewed work. Jesus was known to have been a

carpenter and called upon manual laborers to join his intimate circle

of disciples. Many of the parables of Jesus employ images of farmers,