Tag Archives: prosperity theology

Crusoe and the American Work Ethic

By Robin Bates | Published: February 16, 2022

A Pakistani student looks at Americans and notes their obsession with time. One can see that same obsession in Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Daniel Defoe, Dickory Cronke, Max Weber, Pakistan, Protestant work ethic, R. H. Tawney, Robinson Crusoe, Time, Work | Comments closed

When Christianity Becomes a Money Cult

By Robin Bates | Published: August 27, 2016

A new book, “The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream,” brings to mind Howard Nemerov’s poem “Boom!” The book’s author argues that prosperity theology is not an aberration but was present from the beginning of American Puritanism.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Boom!", Adam Bede, Calvinism, Capitalism, Daniel Defoe, George Eliot, Howard Nemerov, Ian Watt, Max Weber, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Robinson Crusoe, theology of abundance | Comments closed

On the Pope, Walls, and Robinson Crusoe

By Robin Bates | Published: March 6, 2016

Pope Francis recently labeled as “not Christian” those who build walls but not bridges. By this standard, the walls, both literal and metaphorical, being advocated by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz bring their own Christianity in doubt. An examination of the walls build by Robinson Crusoe, however, shows how Christians have rationalized walls.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Daniel Defoe, Donald Trump, Immigration, polarization, Pope Francis, Robinson Crusoe, Ted Cruz, walls | Comments closed