500-9 Theology of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

A Theology of Creation,
Innovation and
Entrepreneurship
A Theology of Creativity
+
A Theology of
Management
Leads to a Theology of
Innovation
+
A Theology of Faith
Leads to a Theology or
Entrepreneurship

• Theology of Creativity
• Wealth comes from the Creativity of God
• Out of his creativity came the elements, then
the gasses, then the stars, then the fruit-
bearing earth.
• Humanity extends that creativity of nature.
• Creativity is of the very essence of our
Godness i.e of spirituality
• The coming of the Holy Spirit releases
creativity in people. The freedom from
bandoges to soul and Spirit that he brings
releases creativity.

• Creative Capital
• We have considered land as capital
• There is also social capital – the relationships that can be turned
into wealth
• But creative capital is a key element of the new informational
society.
• Ideas are multiplying exponentially

• Innovation
• combines creativity with management
skills
• Results in freedom

• Psychological theories and the Gospel
• Weber: Identified religious beliefs as a driving or restraining
force for generating entrepreneurial activity.
• Entrepreneurship is built on ethical values
• McLelland: n-achievement (1969)
• Massive research globally as to how entrepreneurs develop
• vs Marx (1974)
The mode of production in material life determines the general
character of the social, political and spiritual processes of life. It is not
the consciousness of men and women that determine their existence,
but on the contrary their social existence that determine their
consciousness.

• The Bible affirms the internal value systems as causative of
national prosperity, though not neglecting systems, structural
changes and institutionalisation of values. Jesus moved from
legal structures that bound his nation to values systems as
preeminent. It is from within, from the heart of a person that
come lust, theft, murder, adultery covetousness, wickedness,
deceit... (Mark 7:20-22).
• The whole focus of Jesus is captured in the beatitudes of the
Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1-12). The Kingdom which he
brought is a Kingdom not of food and drink, but of joy and peace
in the Holy Spirit (Rom 16:17).
• Christian growth occurs as we are not conformed to this world,
but transformed by the renewal of our minds (Rom 12:2). This is
a transformation of values.
Value Systems are a Particular Contribution of
Christianity to the Development of Entrepreneurs

Studies of the family have shown, for instance, that
for a boy three factors are important in producing
high “n” achievement (a measure of achievement
orientation), parents’ high standards of
achievement, warmth and encouragement, and a
father who is not dominating and authoritarian…
Other studies have shown that fathers must be
respected by their sons; but after the boy is
capable of achieving something for himself, his
father must stop directing every step he takes if the
boy is to develop a strong concern for
achievement. (McLelland, 1964, pg. 176).
Family Dynamics and
Entrepreneurship

• Another study shows that the two great waves of
achievement concern in England were each associated
with Protestant reform or revival. For example, The strong
concern for Christian perfection in this world tended to
produce an achievement orientation in Methodist parents
and their sons, which turned boys to business (McLelland,
pg. 177). Fifty years after the revivals the country reached
a peak of achievement as these men and women entered
national leadership. As the Bible says, Righteousness
exalts a nation (Isa 32:17).
•Revival and Entrepreneurship

• Toynbee developed the thesis in his Massive Study of
History, where he studied 6000 civilizations that an
oppressed minority, when liberated generate immense
energy that transforms culture.
• The oppressed minority needs to have sustained a
residual of education (as have the Jews) or technical skills,
that when social access and access to capital are
returned, can enable them to rapidly create new ideas,
technology and social directions.
Oppressed Minorities, Migration and
Entrpreneurship

• Woodberry (2012), in a more recent, ground-breaking, statistically
analysed study expands on McLelland and
• Max Weber,
• This article demonstrates historically and statistically that
conversionary Protestants (CPs) influenced both the distribution of
resources in societies and the rise and spread of stable democracy
around the world.
• CPs influenced democracy directly by shaping democratic theory and
institutions and indirectly by creating religious incentives for elites to
disperse economic and political power. CPs wanted people to read the
Bible, thus they initiated mass education and mass printing. Moreover,
organizational forms and tactics that CPs developed to spread their
faith proved useful for sustaining long-term, nonviolent social
movements.
•Woodberry on the Impact of Church
Growth Movements (CPs)

• CPs used these new organizational forms and tactics to
transform their home societies and to moderate colonialism.
When faced with CP competition, other groups copied these
innovations. Without CP competition, they did not and these
innovations were delayed for decades, even centuries. Thus,
CP competition drastically increased ordinary people’s access
to education, printed material, news, and organizational
resources – whether or not they converted to Protestantism.
Moreover, the reform movements spurred by
• CPs increased the rule of law and fostered the creation of early
political parties. Together these factors increased the probability
of stable democratic transitions.
•Cont’d

Hagen also tells us of a necessary change in worldview
from traditional to modern society. In modern society, an
achiever is one who sees the world as an orderly place (77).
He is one who is in control of his destiny.
This is not possible in animistic societies, subject to the
whims of spirits, with a cyclical view of life. It is a return to
the Biblical concept, that humanity was made to rule and to
have dominion over the earth that Hagen discovered here.
•Hagen contrasting Modern and Animistic Societies

• These have become the basis for the emergence of both a literature
on entrepreneurship, and jumped disciplines into spiritual formation
and organizational psychology in a literature on values. Benjamin
Tonna, a Catholic bishop in Malta (who I first met, discussing his book
on The Gospel for the Cities), and Brian Hall, an Anglican
psychotherapist developed a whole progressive system of 125 values
in the Hall-Tonna values system (Hall, 1995, pg. 32).

• These build on the classical Greek question as to what is a
virtuous person? Aristotle developed a short list including
prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. Aquinas added
Paul’s list of faith, hope and charity to become the seven Christian
virtues. From the 1960’s a values clarification movement
developed, differentiating values form virtues.
• The human development theories of Kohlberg (1981) on moral
development in education, Maslow(1954) on psychological
development stages, and Fowler (1981) on Stages of Faith
contributed to attempts to identify the various life stages and the
emergence or prioritising of different values at each stage. These
they related to organizational development processes and phases
of lifestyle growth.
•Development of Values

• In my classes on urban spirituality, I often begin with a
presentation on entrepreneurial spirituality. Faith, wisdom,
work, are all essential elements of the spiritual man or
woman. They are also integral to Pentecostal teaching. It is
also an interesting exercise to contrast the PEC’s with the
character of disciples.
• That character is often forged in contexts of noisy,
emotional poor peoples’ churches where a vision of
vocation is taught, where a sense of destiny is clear, where
a constant spirit of faith is encouraged, where hard work,
diligence, thrift, and integrity are expected.
•The Church at Forefront of
Entrepreneurial Development

500-9 Theology of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

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