Larry Burkett often said that capitalism must be tempered by Christian love, compassion, and stewardship.
Proponents of capitalism and free markets don’t often express that concern, just as believers in social welfare rarely count the cost. Jim Jones joins us today to talk about a new way of looking at those ideas.
Jim Jones is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) and Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA®). He is also the author of Utopia Reimagined: An Allegory of Capital and Conscience.
A Unique Approach to Biblical Economics
Unlike typical finance books, Utopia Reimagined is a novel—a work of fiction designed to explore serious biblical and economic themes through story.
Why fiction? Jesus often used storytelling to challenge people’s assumptions and invite deeper reflection. From the Good Samaritan to the Prodigal Son, stories have the power to stick with us in ways data and arguments often can't. As G.K. Chesterton once quipped, “Novels are more true than science textbooks. Life is sometimes like a science textbook, but life is always a story.”
The Journey of Alexander and Pauline
The novel follows two siblings—Alexander and Pauline—on a journey through contrasting societies, each representing different economic and political ideologies.
Alexander, a gifted but oppressed peasant in 18th-century France, escapes a feudal system to explore new societal models. His journey takes him through a magical cave into Santosa—a society with socialist tendencies—and eventually to New York City, the heart of free-market capitalism. Along the way, Alexander wrestles with the tension between opportunity, freedom, and justice.
Pauline’s journey is more focused on the moral and cultural fabric of each society. Her lens offers readers a parallel exploration of what’s right, just, and good—not only economically, but relationally and spiritually.
Through these characters, readers are invited to explore how faith shapes our perspectives on power, wealth, justice, and human dignity. Some characters see everything through the lens of faith, while others struggle to integrate it or reject it altogether.
The beauty of storytelling is that it doesn’t just show you what people believe, but why they believe it. That builds compassion and opens the door to real understanding.
What Does a Biblical Utopia Look Like?
In the final chapters of the novel, Alexander and Pauline discover a society that reflects the fullness of God’s Kingdom—a glimpse of the new heavens and the new earth. It’s a world where work, community, economics, and leadership are all governed by Christ’s nature: sacrificial love, justice, and peace.
But how do we pursue this kind o