Financial Management in God's Economy
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
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Financial Management in God's Economy provides a biblical perspective for the typical corporate finance course. The text emphasizes stewardship and the importance of aligning financial decisions with faith-based values. The chapters integrate scriptural teachings with practical financial decision making, covering topics such as organizational structures, financial markets, financial statements, interest rates, time value of money, risk and return, capital structure, cost of capital, cash flow estimation, capital budgeting, and multinational finance.
Key themes include:
- Stewardship: Viewing money and resources as gifts from God that need to be managed responsibly for His glory.
- Biblical Principles: Interweaving scripture throughout the text to ensure that financial management decision making aligns with a Christian worldview.
- Excel Templates: Quantitative chapters include spreadsheets and demonstration videos to create financial statements and ratios, solve time value of money problems, estimate cash flows, and calculate capital budgeting decision rules.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Organizational Structures and Objectives
Chapter 3: Financial Institutions, Instruments, Markets, and Returns
Chapter 4: Financial Statements and Forecasting
Chapter 5: Analysis of Enterprise and Ratio Analysis
Chapter 6: Interest Rates and the Time Value of Money
Chapter 7: Bond Valuation and Duration
Chapter 8: Risk and Return
Chapter 9: Stock Valuation
Chapter 10: Capital Structure and Cost of Capital
Chapter 11: Cash Flow Estimation
Chapter 12: Capital Budgeting Decision Rules
Chapter 13: Multinational Finance
Chapter 14: Stewardship and Conclusion
Kent T. Saunders has been Professor of Finance and Economics at Anderson University in South Carolina since 2014 and previously served at Anderson University in Indiana, Le Moyne College, and Cumberland University. Dr. Saunders earned a BS from Ball State University in Indiana with a major in Mathematical Economics, a MA in Economics from Clemson University, and a PhD from Clemson University in Applied Economics. Kent’s Google scholar profile summarizes over forty refereed publications in teaching pedagogy, finance and investments, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. During the 2021-2022 academic year Kent taught at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova as a Fulbright Scholar (here is a link about his time in Eastern Europe). In 2024, Kent was a Pollard Faith and Business Research Fellow at the Center for Faithful Business at Seattle Pacific University; in 2017 Kent was awarded the Johnson Award for God-honoring intellectual contributions that integrate learning, business, and faith by the Christian Business Faculty Association; and in 2012 Kent was awarded the Chewning Award for manifesting Christlikeness in scholarship, the practice of teaching, and serving in business by the Christian Business Faculty Association. Additionally, Dr. Saunders served as the Director of Publications for the Christian Business Faculty Association from 2014 to 2020 and was the founding editor of the Christian Business Academy Review serving as the editor from 2006 to 2015. Kent has been married to his wife Chrissie since 1991 and together they have three grown children and two dogs.
Financial Management in God's Economy provides a biblical perspective for the typical corporate finance course. The text emphasizes stewardship and the importance of aligning financial decisions with faith-based values. The chapters integrate scriptural teachings with practical financial decision making, covering topics such as organizational structures, financial markets, financial statements, interest rates, time value of money, risk and return, capital structure, cost of capital, cash flow estimation, capital budgeting, and multinational finance.
Key themes include:
- Stewardship: Viewing money and resources as gifts from God that need to be managed responsibly for His glory.
- Biblical Principles: Interweaving scripture throughout the text to ensure that financial management decision making aligns with a Christian worldview.
- Excel Templates: Quantitative chapters include spreadsheets and demonstration videos to create financial statements and ratios, solve time value of money problems, estimate cash flows, and calculate capital budgeting decision rules.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Organizational Structures and Objectives
Chapter 3: Financial Institutions, Instruments, Markets, and Returns
Chapter 4: Financial Statements and Forecasting
Chapter 5: Analysis of Enterprise and Ratio Analysis
Chapter 6: Interest Rates and the Time Value of Money
Chapter 7: Bond Valuation and Duration
Chapter 8: Risk and Return
Chapter 9: Stock Valuation
Chapter 10: Capital Structure and Cost of Capital
Chapter 11: Cash Flow Estimation
Chapter 12: Capital Budgeting Decision Rules
Chapter 13: Multinational Finance
Chapter 14: Stewardship and Conclusion
Kent T. Saunders has been Professor of Finance and Economics at Anderson University in South Carolina since 2014 and previously served at Anderson University in Indiana, Le Moyne College, and Cumberland University. Dr. Saunders earned a BS from Ball State University in Indiana with a major in Mathematical Economics, a MA in Economics from Clemson University, and a PhD from Clemson University in Applied Economics. Kent’s Google scholar profile summarizes over forty refereed publications in teaching pedagogy, finance and investments, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. During the 2021-2022 academic year Kent taught at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova as a Fulbright Scholar (here is a link about his time in Eastern Europe). In 2024, Kent was a Pollard Faith and Business Research Fellow at the Center for Faithful Business at Seattle Pacific University; in 2017 Kent was awarded the Johnson Award for God-honoring intellectual contributions that integrate learning, business, and faith by the Christian Business Faculty Association; and in 2012 Kent was awarded the Chewning Award for manifesting Christlikeness in scholarship, the practice of teaching, and serving in business by the Christian Business Faculty Association. Additionally, Dr. Saunders served as the Director of Publications for the Christian Business Faculty Association from 2014 to 2020 and was the founding editor of the Christian Business Academy Review serving as the editor from 2006 to 2015. Kent has been married to his wife Chrissie since 1991 and together they have three grown children and two dogs.