Review Article: The Ideological Weapons of Death: A Theological Critique of Capitalism Available to Purchase

The subtitle to the English translation of this work (not employed in the Spanish original) bills it as “a theological critique of capitalism”. At the same time, it proves a veritable tour de force for students of the history and philosophy of economics (erstwhile political economy) as well. And, this is especially true for those who, like the present reviewer, begin that history with the beginning. The author, who served on the faculty of the Catholic University of Chile from 1963 to 1973, holds a doctorate in economics from the Free University of Berlin, and is currently director of the postgraduate programme in economics at the Independent National University of Honduras. Further according to the “bio” provided on the back cover of the Spanish edition, his “is a name familiar to the social scientists of Latin America”. Thus, from these evidences we have a professionally trained economist/social scientist doing — or, at least, purporting to do — theology.