Evangelicalism, Capitalism, United States History - Religious Aspects, Christianity - General & Miscellaneous, United States - Economic History, Economics - Religious & Moral Aspects, Protestant Church History, General & Miscellaneous Protestantism, Unite
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Overview
Religion or ultimate belief is not perceived to be part of the public domain, and certainly not the origin of the affairs of commerce. The proper place for religious activities is thought to be in the home and place of worship, or some equally remote avenue of public life. But could worship and work be united at a yet more fundamental or religious level? Robert A. Wauzzinski addresses this question and the conventional wisdom that stands behind it in Between God and Gold by suggesting that religious or depth commitments are operative in these social movements. Evangelicalism and Industrialism, as world movements, are apparently different in their assumptions about life. The former view holds often to a supernatural, dualistic view of reality where components of divine intervention, emotional intensity, authority centeredness, and theological and ethical thought seem to dominate life. Industrialism, on the other hand, draws upon a naturalistic view of the world. Here, principles from a mechanistic, materialistic, Deistic, and a pragmatic, scientific secularity comprise the contours of the world view. However, can we speak of only two separated views, apart from any basic shared commitments, that do not affect each other? Wauzzinski argues that the urgency of this question forces itself upon us. He contends that both movements share deeper commitments: individualism, free will, a belief in progress, an increasingly materialistic view of culture, the equation of a theistic view of natural law with the structure of the market, and the efficacy of the "gain-give" principle form the foundational concerns for both movements. Wauzzinski proceeds to survey how nineteenth-century enthusiasts attempted to "incorporate" America under the aegis of Industrialism and related values. Accordingly, commitments, work, theology, culture - art, politics, education, and worship - were accommodated to meet the demands of Industrialism. The heart of Between God and Gold can be locatedEditorials
Library Journal
Based on a 1985 dissertation (Univ. of Pittsburgh), this work critically surveys, and makes some telling points about, the relationship between American evangelicalism and the rise between industrialism and laissez-faire economics. However, it suffers from the diffuseness that often characterizes such academic works. There is a chapter defining religion, a la Tillich, as ``ultimate concern''; an overview of the ``Evangelical-Industrial world view''; a selective summary of what ``classical Christian theologians''--Augustine, Luther, Calvin--had to say about economics and society; case studies of Charles Finney, Francis Wayland, and Russel Conwell; and, finally, a chapter offering a Reformed alternative to individualist evangelicalism. The interrelationships among these topics need fuller development, but there are enough provocative ideas here to recommend the book to academic and large public libraries.-- Steve Gowler, Wofford Coll. Lib., Spartanburg, S.C.Book Details
Published
February 28, 1993
Publisher
Rutherford, N.J. : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ; c1993.
Pages
272
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780838634813