America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now.
Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. It pumped air into the housing bubble. And one year into the worst downturn since the Depression, it’s still going strong.
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– Source / Full Story: Did Christianity Cause the Crash?, Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, Dec. 2009 — Quicklinked by Religion News Blog
In the same issue of The Atlantic:
Lead us not into debt: Finance guru Dave Ramsey wins followers with a simple message: find God and lose your credit cards.