Merchants and Ministers: A History of Businesspeople and Clergy in the United States [Hardcover]

Two of the most influential forces in American history are business and religion. Merchants and Ministers weaves the two together in a history of the relationship between businesspeople and Christian clergy. From fur traders and missionaries who explored the interior of the continent to Gilded-Age corporate titans and their clerical confidants to black businessmen and their ministerial collaborators in the Civil Rights movement, Merchants and Ministers tells stories of interactions between businesspeople and clergy from the colonial period to the present. It presents a complex picture of this relationship, highlighting both conflict and cooperation between the two groups. By placing anecdotal detail in the context of general developments in commerce and Christianity, Merchants and Ministers traces the contours of American history and illuminates those contours with the personal stories of businesspeople and clergy.Kevin Schmiesing is a research fellow at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.

The perennial debate between Christianity and commerce needs to be put into historical perspective. Schmiesing is the first writer to do so within the American context. His presentation is not only insightful but nuanced because of his methodology, the stories he relates. Hopefully, this will become a trend in the future scholarship on this subject. Nicholas Capaldi, Chair in Business Ethics, Loyola University of New Orleans

This book provides a fascinating and briskly written survey of the engagement of commerce and religion in America from colonial times to the modern era. In doing so, it complements numerous histories of business or religion with a perspective that reveals the abiding concern that each had for the other. Anyone interested in how business can be faithful or how faith can be practical will certainly benefit from the fine and careful treatment offered in Merchants and Ministers. Robert Kennedy, University of St. Thomas

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