Comments on: Stated and Revealed Beliefs: What the Dow Jones Index Tells Us About The End of the World http://www.lawsocietyblog.com/archives/318 Notes from the intersection of law, society, technology, economics, and culture Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:50:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: pensans http://www.lawsocietyblog.com/archives/318#comment-5549 pensans Thu, 02 Nov 2006 11:10:43 +0000 http://www.lawsocietyblog.com/archives/318#comment-5549 Or, it could be, Mr. Kaiser, that just as Christians think differently than you do about many important things, they also have a different idea of how to prepare for the end of the world. If one works solely for immediate worldly gains, then the end of the world calls for an end of one's efforts. But if one works in all things for eternal things, laboring in this world not for its own sake but because of a sense of calling and duty, then the end of the world is irrelevant to maintaining one's duties of stewardship in the world. In this vein, Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew that the world would end tomorrow. He replied that he would plant a tree. Or, it could be, Mr. Kaiser, that just as Christians think differently than you do about many important things, they also have a different idea of how to prepare for the end of the world.

If one works solely for immediate worldly gains, then the end of the world calls for an end of one’s efforts. But if one works in all things for eternal things, laboring in this world not for its own sake but because of a sense of calling and duty, then the end of the world is irrelevant to maintaining one’s duties of stewardship in the world.

In this vein, Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew that the world would end tomorrow. He replied that he would plant a tree.

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