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A student of a colleague of mine has written an interesting paper on Adam Smith. Yet,
somehow, we get the impression that his work is not entirely original. My colleague
managed to trace back most of the paper to the original sources already, all of which were
available on the internet. Yet, we are still looking for the original source of the next
fragment. Does anyone have an idea where the following text was originally published?
Thanks!
 
Henk Plasmeijer. 
 
"Contrary to public impressions, in his major work, The Wealth of Nations (Smith, 1776),
Adam Smith didn't offer an unqualified blessing of the unconstrained pursuit of self-
interest. Moreover, in the original edition of his first book, The Theory of Moral
Sentiments (Smith, 1759), Smith clearly expresses his doubts about the natural virtue of
humanity. Although himself a Deist, Smith's view is in keeping with the Christian position
that we are born sinful and that sin is a reality of the human condition. The fruits of
the Fall are evidenced by the frequent incidence of greed, selfishness, rapacity,
dishonesty and exploitation in the conduct of economic affairs. For Smith competition,
together with a strong judiciary, serve as the major curbs on the excesses of self-
interest.
 
What about the Bible? From the Garden of Eden onward, we see people driven by self-
interest. As Michael Novak says, "At the heart of Judaism and Christianity is the
recognition of sin, as at the heart of democratic capitalism is a differentiation of
systems designed to squeeze some good from sinful tendencies." The market system is most
productive when it is under girded by historically biblical values such as trust, honesty,
obligation, and cooperation, and as Adam Smith recognized, may in fact break down,
together with society, if it is not. Property rights, for example, would be impossible to
enforce unless people have some respect for the rights of others or an appreciation of
what the Bible teaches us: "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to
them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). Ethics and moral consensus are
key factors in generating economic value. Without moral consensus, transactions costs
would be so high that market exchange and economic growth would be seriously impeded,
perhaps even impossible. Our legal system is built on an understanding of human sin. We
count on the government to curb and remediate the excesses of human nature in economic
affairs. All of this underscores the connection between a successful free-market economy
and values, especially Bible-inspired values that are held by individuals and the
community at large.
 
The bottom line is that Adam Smith and the Bible have much the same ideas about curbing
the excesses of human nature. The universality of human sinfulness is to be taken
seriously and anticipated through the structuring of institutions and government, the
legal system and the fostering of competition."
 
 
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