{"product_id":"the-money-cult-isbn-9781612195582","title":"The Money Cult","description":"\u003cb\u003eA grand and startling work of American history\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmerica was founded, we’re taught in school, by the Pilgrims and other Puritans escaping religious persecution in Europe—an austere and pious lot who established a culture that remained pure and uncorrupted until the Industrial Revolution got in the way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Money Cult\u003c\/i\u003e, Chris Lehmann reveals that we have it backward: American capitalism has always been entangled with religion, and so today’s megapastors, for example, aren’t an aberration—they’re as American as Benjamin Franklin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Tracing American Christianity from John Winthrop to the rise of the Mormon Church and on to the triumph of Joel Osteen, \u003ci\u003eThe Money Cult\u003c\/i\u003e is an ambitious work of history from a widely admired journalist. Examining nearly four hundred years of American history, Lehmann reveals how America’s religious leaders became less worried about sin and the afterlife and more concerned with the material world, until the social gospel was overtaken by the gospel of wealth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Showing how American Christianity came to accommodate—and eventually embrace—the pursuit of profit, as well as the inescapability of economic inequality, \u003ci\u003eThe Money Cult\u003c\/i\u003e is a wide-ranging and revelatory book that will make you rethink what you know about the form of American capitalism so dominant in the world today, as well as the core tenets of America itself.“A tour de force that illustrates the continuities of  American cultural and economic history...Chris Lehmann has shown us why  religious history is the mainstream of American history -- and how  Protestant theologians became the court poets of capitalism.\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Eye-popping and prodigiously researched.\"\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eMaclean's\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e“Lehmann’s excavations may be sobering, but it is absolutely necessary  for us to know this backstory if we are to have any hope of  understanding the contemporary religious and political landscape,  including the spiritual context that lies behind Trumpism’s rapid  ascent.”—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eReligion Dispatches\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“One of the season’s most substantial nonfiction books — from one the best essayists and polemicists writing in the US.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eFlavorwire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Brilliantly written and wide-ranging.”\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eReason\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Lehman tells the tale with a breadth and bravado that's rare...\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eRaritan Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Entertaining and erudite.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e“Lehmann’s intellectual history of the long association between  Christian faith and the pursuit of the materially good life makes  enthralling reading.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Far from being a simple polemic against an easy target, Lehmann  provides an in-depth investigation into the social transformation of  religious thought…A thorough, critical, and information-dense history of  American ’self-help’ religion.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Lively…Lehmann makes an important and timely point, which is that American religion has always been about money.”\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“American Christianity was not corrupted by capitalism, as I had  charitably imagined. Almost from the start, it has peddled magical  thinking as a means to success in the most mundane commercial  undertakings, making it a literal ‘money cult.’ This is Chris Lehmann at  his most biting best.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eBarbara Ehrenreich, author of \u003ci\u003eNickel and Dimed \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e“Chris  Lehmann is your tour guide in a startling journey through the   Protestant past. After providing heaps of stomach-turning evidence, he   reaches a shocking conclusion: that old time religion we hanker to get   back to is just the church of mammon. We’ve been confusing God and the   market all along.”\u003cb\u003e—Thomas Frank, author of \u003ci\u003eWhat’s the Matter with Kansas?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cu\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003ePraise for \u003c\/u\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cu\u003eRich People Things\u003c\/u\u003e:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Social criticism at its scorching-hot best.” \u003cb\u003e—Barbara Ehrenreich\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Think H.L. Mencken crossed with Jon Stewart.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Phoenix\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This book made me laugh and cry. And wish I were a plutocrat. Chris Lehmann is an amazing writer. I will read his books until I die.” \u003cb\u003e—Gary Shteyngart\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eCHRIS LEHMANN \u003c\/b\u003eis the co-editor of \u003ci\u003eBookforum\u003c\/i\u003e, senior editor and columnist for \u003ci\u003eThe Baffler\u003c\/i\u003e, and book review columnist for \u003ci\u003eIn These Times\u003c\/i\u003e. He has written for \u003ci\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eAtlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eNew York Observer\u003c\/i\u003e, Yahoo, \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Awl\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRaritan\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMother Jones,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Washingtonian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLingua Franca\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eReason\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eDemocracy\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eRich People Things\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRevolt of the Masscult\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Melville House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233714680037,"sku":"NP9781612195582","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781612195582.jpg?v=1767740549","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-money-cult-isbn-9781612195582","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}