Ultimately, we really shouldn’t be surprised by the merger, after all, the dominant salvation motif in Western Christianity isn’t something originally taught by the church, rather it appears around 1000 CE when Anselm of Canterbury wrote his, “Why God Became a Man,” and essentially interpreted the Bible through the lens of feudal culture. Salvation was essentially restoring the Lord’s honor, with Jesus doing it for the surfs.
This morphed 500 years later with Luther and Calvin into a courtroom scene where Jesus take the punishment for the crime of sin.
Advance another 250 years or so and Hodges (who taught at Princeton) pushed things further and focused on the holy and wrathful god who needed vengeance.
It’s a form of Christianity that was really made for capitalism, although not one that would be familiar to Jesus, the disciples, Paul, or anyone for the first 1,000 years of church history.
I don’t disagree, but when a metaphor continues to be relied upon even in the cases when it doesn’t prove true then it becomes more an article of faith than a useful mental tool.
I’m going to try to give this a long slow read, but I think you have to go back to prior to the 1780’s ish to find religion in America that dissed capitalism. As the United States formed, being a good capitalist began being preached from most pulpits. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is a good guy to read on this. You might also look into Charles Brockden Brown’s novel Arthur Mervyn. Sure, there was all the love your neighbor and neither a borrower or lender be stuff, but the core of mainstream American religion was all about shoring up a capitalist way of life. One hundred years ago, the early 1900’s ish not my forte, but I do know that in the Baptist histories I have read, the farmer and the factory worker were praised for working for the owners of their labor. A hymn comes to mind, bringing in the sheaves.
It all started with the great power conflict between Persia and Egypt. Egypt was a socialist system (everything owned by the pharaoh) with a polytheistic religion. It was sustained by the predictability of the Nile. Persia was monotheistic and capitalist. After conquering Babylon, Persia established the kingdom of Judah and provided the Torah and other books written in the new Biblical Hebrew alphabet. Persia would go on to conquer Egypt, then Macedonia would conquer Greece and then Persia, and then the great power conflict would mutate into Rome vs. Parthia. Since Judah was in the Roman sphere of influence, Roman capitalism is significant to what was to come.
Mesopotamian capitalism had evolved the practice of Jubilee, the periodic forgiveness of debts, return of lands sold to pay debts, and freeing of people sold into slavery to pay debts. Roman capitalism never heard of Jubilee and didn't give a damn. Of course Jubilee is in the Torah. Looking ahead, Judea kept rebelling, and Rome would first destroy the major industry of Judea by destroying the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, then expel Jews from Jerusalem in 135 CE.
Prior to 135 CE Christianity was a sect of Judaism. The Church in Jerusalem kept kosher, and observed Yom Kippur. This means the church founded by Jesus's disciples didn't believe that Jesus died for their sins. It was also communist, and called itself The Poor. Of course that Church was expelled from Jerusalem along with the other Jews.
After 135 CE the Church in Rome starts to take leadership of the Christian churches. It compiles a Canon that would become the Bible, selecting from the numerous documents that had been written about Jesus during the previous century. And although it included the Torah and other Jewish books, it added new books that were antisemitic, including not keeping kosher and that Jesus died for our sins, and was God.
Now, because Rome had annexed Egypt to ensure Egyptian grain fed Rome, Rome started to experience outbreaks of the Black Death, as well as attacks by barbarians and civil wars. Finally the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity and made it the welfare system of the empire (the Christians had kept their communist practices while pagan religions were pay to pray, thus Christianity became popular). By the end of the 4th Century the Church had taken over the Roman Empire. But, since Christianity was no longer Jewish, the Christians lacked the resistance that had led to the Jewish rebellions, and it was converted to the Empire.
But the Church did make usury a mortal sin. Rome had changed from a Republic to an Empire because the wealthy, through rapacious finance, had choked off all economic growth except for the Roman Army. So the Army took over (emperor is Latin for field marshall). The Church, being responsible for welfare, saw that this was a problem. There was also a shortage of currency, since the Roman elites had sent a lot of gold and silver east to buy silks, ceramics and spices. Thus the changes that led to the dark ages, including the end of slavery (see David Graeber's Debt).
Very good article, I especially like the charts outlining bullet points for folks who need a reminder of overall parts. I have occasionally studied Christian early history (Holy Roman Empire) and agree with this use of religious doctrine aligning with Capitalism's co-oping these ideas for social control. I sadly have see this play out in American life and fear for many with the coming of Magaism once again. Thank you again for your efforts!
Thanks. Its always difficult to know what to include and what to leave out, how formal or informal to approach the subject. I’ve been adding a lot of bullet points and tables lately - they often start out as notes for me, but I’ve ended up including many of them in the articles in the hope they’ll help others too.
Overall good article. As a Christian while I didn’t agree 100% (probably 90%) this is a great article for analyzing the distinctions and differences and impact of Capitalism’s impact on Christianity and how Capitalism will monetize even what is sacred and pure for its own ends. I look forward to the next article.
Thanks for your kind words. I tried to be respectful of sincere Christian beliefs, but criticise Capitalism for co-opting them. The next article tomorrow is more doctrinal, but hopefully also courteous.
Ultimately, we really shouldn’t be surprised by the merger, after all, the dominant salvation motif in Western Christianity isn’t something originally taught by the church, rather it appears around 1000 CE when Anselm of Canterbury wrote his, “Why God Became a Man,” and essentially interpreted the Bible through the lens of feudal culture. Salvation was essentially restoring the Lord’s honor, with Jesus doing it for the surfs.
This morphed 500 years later with Luther and Calvin into a courtroom scene where Jesus take the punishment for the crime of sin.
Advance another 250 years or so and Hodges (who taught at Princeton) pushed things further and focused on the holy and wrathful god who needed vengeance.
It’s a form of Christianity that was really made for capitalism, although not one that would be familiar to Jesus, the disciples, Paul, or anyone for the first 1,000 years of church history.
Capitalism sucks. I hope more and more people realize this every day. It’s our only hope. Thank you for a great article.
The invisible hand isn't really an article of faith is it-it's merely a metaphorical way to describe an effect of collective actions.
I don’t disagree, but when a metaphor continues to be relied upon even in the cases when it doesn’t prove true then it becomes more an article of faith than a useful mental tool.
I’m going to try to give this a long slow read, but I think you have to go back to prior to the 1780’s ish to find religion in America that dissed capitalism. As the United States formed, being a good capitalist began being preached from most pulpits. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is a good guy to read on this. You might also look into Charles Brockden Brown’s novel Arthur Mervyn. Sure, there was all the love your neighbor and neither a borrower or lender be stuff, but the core of mainstream American religion was all about shoring up a capitalist way of life. One hundred years ago, the early 1900’s ish not my forte, but I do know that in the Baptist histories I have read, the farmer and the factory worker were praised for working for the owners of their labor. A hymn comes to mind, bringing in the sheaves.
It all started with the great power conflict between Persia and Egypt. Egypt was a socialist system (everything owned by the pharaoh) with a polytheistic religion. It was sustained by the predictability of the Nile. Persia was monotheistic and capitalist. After conquering Babylon, Persia established the kingdom of Judah and provided the Torah and other books written in the new Biblical Hebrew alphabet. Persia would go on to conquer Egypt, then Macedonia would conquer Greece and then Persia, and then the great power conflict would mutate into Rome vs. Parthia. Since Judah was in the Roman sphere of influence, Roman capitalism is significant to what was to come.
Mesopotamian capitalism had evolved the practice of Jubilee, the periodic forgiveness of debts, return of lands sold to pay debts, and freeing of people sold into slavery to pay debts. Roman capitalism never heard of Jubilee and didn't give a damn. Of course Jubilee is in the Torah. Looking ahead, Judea kept rebelling, and Rome would first destroy the major industry of Judea by destroying the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, then expel Jews from Jerusalem in 135 CE.
Prior to 135 CE Christianity was a sect of Judaism. The Church in Jerusalem kept kosher, and observed Yom Kippur. This means the church founded by Jesus's disciples didn't believe that Jesus died for their sins. It was also communist, and called itself The Poor. Of course that Church was expelled from Jerusalem along with the other Jews.
After 135 CE the Church in Rome starts to take leadership of the Christian churches. It compiles a Canon that would become the Bible, selecting from the numerous documents that had been written about Jesus during the previous century. And although it included the Torah and other Jewish books, it added new books that were antisemitic, including not keeping kosher and that Jesus died for our sins, and was God.
Now, because Rome had annexed Egypt to ensure Egyptian grain fed Rome, Rome started to experience outbreaks of the Black Death, as well as attacks by barbarians and civil wars. Finally the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity and made it the welfare system of the empire (the Christians had kept their communist practices while pagan religions were pay to pray, thus Christianity became popular). By the end of the 4th Century the Church had taken over the Roman Empire. But, since Christianity was no longer Jewish, the Christians lacked the resistance that had led to the Jewish rebellions, and it was converted to the Empire.
But the Church did make usury a mortal sin. Rome had changed from a Republic to an Empire because the wealthy, through rapacious finance, had choked off all economic growth except for the Roman Army. So the Army took over (emperor is Latin for field marshall). The Church, being responsible for welfare, saw that this was a problem. There was also a shortage of currency, since the Roman elites had sent a lot of gold and silver east to buy silks, ceramics and spices. Thus the changes that led to the dark ages, including the end of slavery (see David Graeber's Debt).
Excellent! Relevant and timely, educational.
Very good article, I especially like the charts outlining bullet points for folks who need a reminder of overall parts. I have occasionally studied Christian early history (Holy Roman Empire) and agree with this use of religious doctrine aligning with Capitalism's co-oping these ideas for social control. I sadly have see this play out in American life and fear for many with the coming of Magaism once again. Thank you again for your efforts!
Thanks. Its always difficult to know what to include and what to leave out, how formal or informal to approach the subject. I’ve been adding a lot of bullet points and tables lately - they often start out as notes for me, but I’ve ended up including many of them in the articles in the hope they’ll help others too.
Overall good article. As a Christian while I didn’t agree 100% (probably 90%) this is a great article for analyzing the distinctions and differences and impact of Capitalism’s impact on Christianity and how Capitalism will monetize even what is sacred and pure for its own ends. I look forward to the next article.
Thanks for your kind words. I tried to be respectful of sincere Christian beliefs, but criticise Capitalism for co-opting them. The next article tomorrow is more doctrinal, but hopefully also courteous.