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Dean, Book Review  53 

   

Book Review 

 

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism  
By Benjamin M. Friedman 

 
Reviewed by Judith M. Dean 

 
 

  
 

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2021. $17.60 

 

Would any of us consider an African farmer that 

provides for her own family and sells her output in the 

local market selfish?  I doubt it. Most of us would see 

that she is acting not only in her own self-interest by 

being a productive farmer, but she is also providing for 

her family. In addition, her sales to others benefit them, 

while allowing her to purchase other goods she and her 

family need. Yet there was a time when this issue was a 

centerpiece of religious controversy in Europe and the 

US. And such religious controversy was influential in 

shaping economic thinking.  

Benjamin Friedman, a renowned economist at 

Harvard, dives deep into such controversies in his 2020 

book, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism. He begins 

with Adam Smith, and his groundbreaking 1776 book, 

The Wealth of Nations. This book “marked a 

fundamental ground shift in thinking about what 

underlies economic behavior, what consequences 

follow from it, and how governments might therefore 

act to foster the prosperity of their peoples and the 

vitality of nations” (4). That ground shift provided the 

foundation of economic thinking today. From the 18th 

century onwards, it has helped shift countries from 

“centuries of top-down direction of economic activity to 

more individually propelled, competitive enterprise” 

(4). But where did these transformational ideas come 

from?  Friedman argues that one powerful influence 

was religious thinking of the English-speaking 

Protestant world. In fact, religious thinking has 

continued to have a strong influence on economic 

thinking.  

Friedman’s book is a sweeping exploration of the 

inter-relationship between Christian Protestant faith 

and economics. He takes us from the 18th to the 21st 

century, and from Europe to America. The first four 

chapters explore the development of Smith’s thinking 

and the major philosophical debates that were 

influential during Smith’s lifetime. In the next four 

chapters, Friedman presents his own analysis of key 

religious debates, focusing mainly on predestination 

and depravity, and pre- and post-millennialism. The 

final seven chapters focus largely on the economic 

development of the United States and the role of 

Protestant thinking in that development.  

The author is an eminent scholar and the book 

reflects this, in both its depth and quality. Friedman 

makes clear that he is an economist—not a theologian 

or philosopher--and that he is not of the Christian faith. 

Yet he believes that worldview matters for the 

development of ideas, and that religion has profoundly 

shaped worldviews. Economics, he reminds us, was 

originally taught as part of moral philosophy. Friedman 

gives the reader a unique perspective on the question of 

how religion has influenced economics. His exploration 

is fascinating, illuminating, and sometimes disturbing. 

 

Economic Development 

To Smith, economic development was of 

fundamental importance. He saw the very low 

standards of living in his own Scotland, particularly in 

comparison to England. He was distressed by high rates 

of child mortality—apparently as high as 50% for 

children under the age of 4 in some regions (14). As 

Friedman notes, Smith wrote, “No society can surely be 

flourishing and happy of which the far greater part of 

the members are poor and miserable” (35).  

One of Smith’s fundamental contributions that 

fueled development was the idea that actions done out 

of self-interest could indeed have beneficial 

“unintended” consequences for society as a whole. 

Hence, the view we take of the work by the African 

farmer mentioned above. Yet the idea of anything good 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 3(2),  Winter 2022 

Dean, Book Review  54 

   

from self-interested actions had been fraught with 

controversy. Certainly, both Jewish and Christian 

scriptures condemned selfishness. Even David Hume, 

Smith’s friend, wrote of the fear of economic self-

interest: “This avidity alone, of acquiring goods and 

possessions for ourselves and our nearest friends, is 

insatiable, perpetual, universal and directly destructive 

of society” (43).  Friedman describes in great detail the 

religious and philosophical views that saw “self-interest” 

as a vice. Yet at the same time he acknowledges others 

who recognized Christ’s command to love thy neighbor 

as thyself, and that self-interest need not be selfishness.  

Another of Smith’s contributions was the idea that 

people could improve their circumstances by 

specializing in what they do best, and voluntarily 

exchanging their output with others. Specialization 

would allow people to be more productive, and 

machinery and raw materials to be used more 

efficiently. In competitive markets, prices would help 

allocate scarce resources efficiently, to best meet the 

needs of the people. At the same time, Smith foresaw 

that specialization could lead to repetitive work that 

could deprive people of opportunities for creativity and 

innovation. Hence, he made the case for publicly 

funded universal education (94).  

A third critical contribution was Smith’s argument 

that such voluntary exchange was not limited to 

individuals within the same country. Instead, 

specialization and exchange across countries would not 

only allow each country to prosper economically, but 

would also promote peace between countries. 

Interestingly, these ideas were echoed in the 19th 

century by some (though not all) prominent American 

clergy who were also economists. Advocates such as 

John McVickar and Francis Wayland based their 

arguments on “their perception of the will of a 

benevolent God, who had structured the world in such 

a way that meeting man’s basic economic needs brought 

nations together in commerce and thereby fostered 

peaceful relations among them” (262).  

Friedman argues that a major factor propelling the 

development of these ideas was the belief that human 

beings could indeed improve their well-being through 

their own efforts. In his view, this belief was attributable 

to a dramatic change in Protestant thinking in the years 

between the Reformation and the 18th century. “At the 

heart of this new thinking was a more expansive concept 

of human agency than under strict Calvinist precepts, 

implying a more optimistic view of the possibilities for 

the choices and actions taken by everyday people. At 

the same time, long-standing debates about the ultimate 

fate … of the world as a whole also took new forms” (5). 

Though Friedman does not claim that Smith adopted 

these new views, he argues that many of the clergy in 

Smith’s day had.  

 

“Competing Gospels” 

Friedman engages in an extensive discussion of 

Reformation theology, with a specific focus on the 

understanding of human depravity, God’s sovereignty, 

and predestination. Following this, he describes the 

development of opposing views, focused on the 

goodness of human beings, the limited sovereignty of 

God, and people’s ability to bring about their own 

salvation. Finally, he tackles differing views of the end 

times, contrasting pre- and post-millennialism. The 

author goes to great lengths to understand and 

accurately describe these doctrines and debates. His 

presentation of the historical changes in thinking and 

their context is very insightful. 

Still, the characterizations of both the Calvinist and 

anti-Calvinist views fall short. The former view emerges 

as one where human beings are puppets, incapable of 

doing good, and at the mercy of a God who chooses 

arbitrarily who will be saved and who will not. The latter 

view emerges as one where human beings are 

inherently good, are able to better themselves, and are 

looked upon by a benevolent God whose only goal is 

their ultimate happiness. This latter characterization--

which departs in many ways from historic Christianity—

is seen as the fuel behind ideas for economic 

improvement. In a similar way, the millennial view that 

human effort can bring about the Kingdom on earth, is 

seen as underlying much of the push for economic 

prosperity in the 19th century and onwards.  

Conspicuous by its absence is discussion of the 

historic Protestant belief that through faith in Christ, 

people are made new. They are enabled to love God, 

and desire to live for him. And they are given the ability 

to live that out, honoring God, and loving their 

neighbors. This religious thinking would also explain 

efforts to improve our own and others’ economic well-

being, as well as much of the charitable work that has 

characterized the Christian Church.  

Interestingly, Friedman’s chapter entitled 

“Competing Gospels” might be viewed as a poignant 

picture of the results of a major shift away from the 

historic faith. The author describes the amazing 

technological change and economic prosperity taking 

place in the US after the Civil War and into the 20th 

century. A few pages earlier, he has described the 

movement of North American churches away from 

historic Christianity, documenting the rise of 

Unitarianism, and the widespread adoption of a 

“millennial role for America.”   As some individuals 

amass great wealth, we see evidence that the church is 

succumbing to what Christians today would call the 

prosperity gospel. Prominent minister Henry Ward 

Beecher, in a sermon on “The Tendencies of 

American Progress,” states “…the country’s increasingly 

evident prosperity was welcome not just for its own 

sake, but as a necessary underpinning to a morally 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 3(2),  Winter 2022 

Dean, Book Review  55 

   

sound society. There must be prosperity in material 

things, he told his congregation, if there is to be 

prosperity in moral things” (292). Not surprisingly, 

poverty is seen as sinful (292). This is a hard history to 

read. Some in the Church do oppose these views, and 

call the Church back to the Scriptures and the 

responsibility to care for the poor. Friedman takes us 

through these decades, through the Social Gospel, to 

the Fundamentalist and Evangelical movements.  

 

Worldview Matters 

As practitioners and academics today, we are still 

focused on improving economic development and 

human flourishing. Can we partner with that African 

farmer to help her save and invest?  Empower her 

decision-making within her household?  Improve her 

access to education?  All of these are economic goals. 

But are they not shaped by our faith?  Underlying them 

are beliefs in the dignity and worth of each person, in 

equity and justice, in good stewardship of resources—

and a belief that “we are God’s workmanship, created 

in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in 

advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).  

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism challenges us 

to see the powerful influence religious faith has had on 

modern economics. The design of a modern economy 

emerges amid debates about God’s concern for 

peoples’ happiness, individuals’ concern for fellow 

human beings, the ability to improve one’s material 

well-being, and the consequences of human 

brokenness. Friedman has given us a marvelous 

opportunity to explore these debates in depth, and to 

see how they influenced ideas about markets, 

competition, trade, technological development, and 

many other aspects of economics.  

At the same time, the conclusion is troubling. 

Friedman argues that positive developments in 

economic thinking occurred as religious thinking 

became “more expansive.” Yet, “expansive” seems to 

be equated with thinking that departs from much of the 

core of historic Christianity. Based on the evidence that 

Friedman himself presents, one might argue that a 

closer adherence to the historic faith is what really lies 

behind those positive developments.           
 

 

Judith M. Dean (PhD, Cornell University) is Professor 

of International Economics at Brandeis University. 

She has served on the board of World Relief, and 

is currently on the editorial boards of CRDA and 

Faith and Economics, the journal of the Association 

of Christian Economists. 

 

Author email:  judydean@brandeis.edu  
 

 

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