Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 15:58:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Scott London <london@rain.org>
Subject: REDISCOVERING CHRISTIANITY by Page Smith


Book review:
~~~~~~~~~~~~

REDISCOVERING CHRISTIANITY:
A History of Modern Democracy and the Christian Ethic
By Page Smith
St. Martin's Press, 1994, 212 pages


According to Smith, the end of the Cold War and the so-called
"triumph" of capitalism has bestowed a false legitimacy on capitalism,
in part by equating it with the ideals of democracy, equality and
world unity.  These ideals, he suggests, are rooted in a long-standing
Christian tradition which has always been fundamentally hostile to
capitalism.

In this highly stimulating intellectual history of Christianity and
the democratic ideal, he traces the belief in the equality and unity
of all people -- before the law and in the eyes of God -- back to the
Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus.  For a thousand years, he
says, the Catholic Church nurtured St. Augustine's inspiring vision of
a "city of God" and a "city of man."  Throughout the turbulent Middle
Ages, it fostered a belief in the dignity of human life and elevated
the status of women far beyond that of non-Christian cultures.  With
the Reformation, Protestantism, and American Puritanism in particular,
took the lead in the cause of human rights, promoting "covenanted
communities" that, according to Smith, represent "the high point in
the American dream of equality and democracy" (p. 69).

Borrowing a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville, he observes that
"Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so
intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive
the one without the other" (p. 133).  He maintains that many of the
pivotal moments in the history of American democracy were spearheaded
by devout Christians who provided not only moral leadership but also a
vision for the future based on equality and solidarity.

Max Weber, in his famous work "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism," suggested that Protestantism, with its emphasis on the
virtues of thrift, piety, and hard work, was conducive to capitalism. 
But Smith strenuously disagrees.  Protestantism and the Christian
ethic in general, he says, "not only did not create or encourage
capitalism but instead did all in its power actively to discourage it
by preaching continuously the dangerous temptations of the world" (p.
85).  Christianity has always understood that the accumulation of
wealth places "the soul of the accumulators in extreme peril," he
writes.  "Since capitalism clearly involves such accumulations, it is
just as clearly an enemy of the city of God.  Since democracy is the
offspring of the city of God, democracy too is, at best, in an uneasy
alliance with capitalism" (p. 189).


                                   Scott London * london@rain.org