Gospel of Wealth

(noun)

An article written by Andrew Carnegie that describes the responsibility of the new upper class of self-made rich to engage in philanthropy.

Related Terms

Examples of Gospel of Wealth in the following topics:

  • The Gilded Age

    • The term refers to the gilding of a cheaper metal with a thin layer of gold.
    • Two extended nationwide economic depressions followed the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893.
    • During the 1870s and 1880s, the U.S. economy rose at the fastest rate in its history, with real wages, wealth, GDP, and capital formation all increasing rapidly.
    • For instance, Andrew Carnegie donated more than 90 percent of his fortune and said that philanthropy was an upper-class duty—the "Gospel of Wealth."
    • Built in 1893, it typifies the excesses of Gilded Age wealth.

  • The Social Gospel

    • The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as excessive wealth, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war.
    • Denver, Colorado, was a center of Social Gospel activism.
    • Matthews was the most influential clergymen in the Pacific Northwest, and one of the most active Social Gospelers in America.
    • The South had its own version of the Social Gospel, focusing especially on prohibition.
    • The Social Gospel affected much of Protestant America.

  • Progressivism and Religion

    • Social Gospel leaders were predominantly associated with the liberal wing of the Progressive Movement.
    • Important concerns of the Social Gospel movement were labor reforms, such as abolishing child labor and regulating the hours of work by mothers.
    • One of the defining theologians for the Social Gospel movement was Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist pastor of a congregation located in Hell's Kitchen.
    • Denver, Colorado, was a center of Social Gospel activism.
    • Analyze the rise of the Social Gospel Movement in the late nineteenth century

  • Markets and Missionaries

    • Denver, Colorado, was a center of Social Gospel activism.
    • One of the defining theologians for the Social Gospel movement was Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist pastor of a congregation located in Hell’s Kitchen.
    • Moody claimed that concentrating on social aid distracted people from the life saving message of the Gospel.
    • Rauschenbusch sought to address the problems of the city with socialist ideas which proved to be frightening to the middle classes, the primary supporters of the Social Gospel.
    • While the Social Gospel was short-lived historically, it had a lasting impact on the policies of most of the mainline denominations in the United States.

  • The Social Problem

    • New social problems emerged from industrialization, threatening to increase unemployment, poverty, and unequal distribution of wealth.
    • Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth was written by Henry George in 1879 and is a treatise on the cyclical nature of an industrial economy and its remedies.
    • It seeks to explain why poverty exists, notwithstanding widespread advances in technology, even where there is a concentration of great wealth such as in cities.
    • George saw how technological and social advances (including education and public services) increased the value of land (natural resources, urban locations, etc.) and, thus, the amount of wealth that can be demanded by the owners of land from those who need the use of land.
    • Followers of the new Awakening promoted the idea of the Social Gospel ,which gave rise to organizations such as the YMCA, the American branch of the Salvation Army, and settlement houses such as Hull House, founded by Jane Addams in Chicago in 1889.

  • Carolingian Illustrated Books in the Early European Middle Ages

    • A number of luxury manuscripts, mostly Gospel books, have survived.
    • The Court School of Charlemagne (also known as the Ada School) produced the earliest manuscripts, including the Godescalc Evangelistary (781–783), the Lorsch Gospels (778–820, ), the Ada Gospels, the Soissons Gospels, the Harley Golden Gospels (800-820), and the Vienna Coronation Gospels.
    • The resulting Gospel book of Ebbo (816–835) was painted with swift, fresh and vibrant brush strokes, evoking an inspiration and energy unknown in classical Mediterranean forms.
    • Lorsch Gospels: Ivory book cover.
    • The Lorsch Gospels reflect its origin in the Court School of Charlemagne with its Late Antiquity Imperial scenes adapted to a Christian theme.

  • Distribution of Wealth and Income

    • The distribution of wealth and income reveals inequalities among and within countries and the ways in which wealth is redistributed.
    • The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society.
    • One commonly used method is to compare the wealth of the richest ten percent with the wealth of the poorest ten percent.
    • The bottom half of the world adult population owned 1 percent of global wealth.
    • One form of wealth is land or real estate.

  • Wealth

    • Wealth is commonly measured in terms of net worth, which is the sum of all assets, including home equity, minus all liabilities.
    • While income is often seen as a type of wealth in colloquial language use, wealth and income are two substantially different measures of economic prosperity.
    • Home ownership is one of the main sources of wealth among families in the United States.
    • In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%.
    • Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%.

  • Switzerland

    • By 1353, the three original cantons had been joined by the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the city states of Lucerne, Zürich, and Bern, forming the "Old Federation" of eight states that persisted during much of the 15th century.
    • The Confederation's power and wealth increased significantly, with victories over Charles the Bold of Burgundy during the 1470s and the success of Swiss mercenaries.The traditional listing order of the cantons of Switzerland reflects this state, listing the eight "Old Cantons" first, with the city states preceding the founding cantons, followed by cantons that joined the Confederation after 1481, in historical order.The Swiss defeated the Swabian League in 1499 and gaining greater collective autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire, including exemption from the Imperial reforms of 1495 and immunity from most Imperial courts.
    • Because of the unique political and cultural makeup of Switzerland, it is difficult to describe a single Swiss-style during this period.
    • Another 15th century Swiss artist of note is Nicolaus Manuel (1484 - 1530), who painted many monumental mural decorations, which are some of the best representatives of Renaissance art North of the Alps.
    • Originally part of a now dismantled altarpiece known as Peter's Altar Table, the panel depicts the "miraculous catch of 153 fish" as reported in the Gospel of John and shows a scene of the disciples, who had been fishing at the edge of a lake, recognizing the stranger who had called out to them from the shore as the resurrected Jesus.

  • Inventions, Development, and Tycoons

    • The "Gilded Age" of the second half of the 19th century was the epoch of tycoons.
    • Some tycoons were honest according to business standards of their day; others, however, used force, bribery, and guile to achieve their wealth and power.
    • They believed that personal virtues could bring success; theirs was the gospel of work and thrift.
    • The technological revolution of the 1980s and 1990s brought a new entrepreneurial culture that echoes of the age of tycoons.
    • Most American business leaders of today do not lead the high-profile life of Gates.