The Power of Mammon

Reviewed by: The Power of Mammon: The Market, Secularization, and New York Baptists, 1790–1922 by Curtis D. Johnson Christopher C. Moore (bio) The Power of Mammon: The Market, Secularization, and New York Baptists, 1790–1922. By Curtis D. Johnson. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Pp. 256. Cloth, $60.00.) In The Power of Mammon, Curtis D. Johnson surveys the seismic changes that accompanied America's market revolution, arguing convincingly that "market-based materialism" was the most significant factor in the secularization of Baptist congregations in the Empire State (xix). While scholars have identified a historical reciprocity between business and religion, Johnson rejects the notion that this relationship has been "mutually beneficial" (xv). Instead, congregations' adoption of market values—values that championed individualism and the unrestricted accumulation of wealth—made it increasingly difficult to win converts and, ultimately, weakened Baptist institutions. Market forces also diverted the attention of congregants, as material concerns replaced parishioners' focus on the transcendent. "As a result," Johnson writes, "faith occupied an ever-smaller space in the lives of both Baptist and non-Baptist New Yorkers" (xix). [End Page 394] Part 1, "Covenanted Communities," traces the ways in which Baptist churches shaped the "social imaginaries" of churchgoers prior to the market revolution. Before economic forces exerted pressure on congregations from within and without, Baptist churches defined parishioners' worldviews and, importantly, had relatively little competition in doing so. Furthermore, early nineteenth-century Baptist churches were surprisingly egalitarian. Laity often exercised authority vis-à-vis clergy, and women played significant roles in church matters. The laity also promoted revivals, even as they believed that such awakenings came spontaneously and unilaterally from God. The market revolution, however, undermined this egalitarian dynamic by dislodging the laity from their privileged positions. A rapidly changing economy challenged congregations, a theme Johnson explores in part 2, "The Market Revolution." The first half of the nineteenth century saw churches struggling to define the contours of Baptists' identity, as material interests began to crowd out spiritual concerns. With the construction of the Erie Canal in the 1820s, business along the corridor exploded, as did the population. The latter brought with it pluralism, and exposure to new religious ideas prompted Baptists to question their own. Economic sea changes also tempted Baptists to concentrate on the immediate over the eternal. Whereas workers had once been captive to forces beyond their control, the market revolution declared that survival—and even prosperity—was the result of human initiative. That Baptist churches would be influenced by emerging market values—"primacy of the individual over the community, self-reliance rather than a dependence on Providence, freedom from external moral constraints, and . . . focus on social and financial advancement to the exclusion of nearly everything else" (41)—seemed likely, if not inevitable. Although clergy criticized these values, the burgeoning ethic shaped their thinking. When Baptist associations succeeded in convincing congregations to pay ministers full-time salaries, this "did not isolate clergy from financial concerns but instead made them full participants in the emerging market economy" (50). With increased income came increased power, and the locus of authority shifted from congregants to pastors. Women also saw their roles in churches diminished. Agricultural specialization allowed families to farm for profit instead of survival; furthermore, the cash-centered economy enabled them to purchase what had hitherto been homemade. These changes undermined the image of the "husband-wife team with shared responsibilities that justified women's active participation in congregational life" (56). The market economy also altered the nature of revivals, as exemplified in the protracted meetings of Charles Finney. Here, not only did the [End Page 395] "success" of revivals center on conversion numbers, but laity and local clergy ceded the responsibility to win souls. Instead, this task would fall to charismatic evangelists who could execute the proper techniques to facilitate conversions. Finney, Johnson argues, "reduced revivals to the level of mechanical engineering" (93). The economic milieu encouraged such thinking, as individuals paid less attention to the mysteries of the transcendent and more to the certainty of the material. For many Baptists, the market revolution seemed to bring the vagaries of existence within the sphere of human control. Part 3, "The Process of Secularization, 1835–1860

Individualism · Materialism · Political science · Secularization · Sociology · Theology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Philosophy · Religious studies