Robert Henry Nelson (1944 – December 15, 2018) was an American economist who was professor of environmental policy in the University of Maryland School of Public Policy[1] and a senior fellow of the Independent Institute.
Nelson was a nationally recognized authority in areas including the management of public land and zoning in the United States, but is best known for his books about the relationship between economics, environmentalism, and Christianity.
In fact, he argues that economics in the twentieth century has virtually supplanted organized religion with a creed of material progress.
"[4] Economist David Colander described Reaching for Heaven on Earth: The Theological Meaning of Economics as arguing that "the economics profession is the priesthood of a powerful secular religion.
"[4] Nelson's book The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion versus Environmental Religion was silver medal winner in the “Finance, Investment, Economics” category of the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards.