Protestant Churches and Business in Gilded-Age America

Abstract

During the last three decades of the nineteenth century, numerous Protestant pastors, professors, and editors discussed how scriptural teaching applied to the world of business and commerce. They criticized traditional economic theory and many practices of entrepreneurs, corporations, and trusts. They challenged both employers and employees to follow biblical principles, strove to improve relations between the two groups, and helped inspire some businessmen to base their enterprises on scriptural norms. Some of these Protestant leaders also supported various strategies workers used to improve their situation: unions, strikes, arbitration, profit-sharing, and industrial partnership.