This theologically informed study in economic ethics focuses on the 'world market' as an ideology, a formal theory and a practical device. It analyses the tendency of economists to elaborate and impose market theory as dogma. Such approaches are contrasted with principles of justice found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46) and the Reformed Protestant social theory of 16th-century theologian John Calvin. The author concludes that market mechanisms must be supplemented by additional tools to ensure that world needs may be fairly and correctly met.