Guaranteed pure

By Timothy Gloege

Book Description

In the bustling commercial landscape of late 19th-century America, an unexpected alliance was forming between evangelical faith and corporate enterprise. Timothy Gloege unveils this fascinating intersection through the story of Chicago's Moody Bible Institute, where spiritual conviction met business innovation in ways that would reshape American Christianity forever.

At the heart of this transformation stood two pivotal figures: Dwight Lyman Moody, a shoe salesman turned revivalist, and Henry Crowell, the promotional genius behind Quaker Oats who later guided the institute. Together, they pioneered what Gloege terms "corporate evangelicalism," a framework that reimagined religious life through the lens of modern economic relationships.

This compelling historical narrative reveals how early evangelicals initially saw themselves as "Christian workers" bound by divine contract to their heavenly employer. Yet as populist movements challenged existing power structures, these religious leaders adapted, recasting believers as discerning spiritual consumers navigating a marketplace of faith options.

The result was a revolutionary shift in American religious practice. Traditional denominational authority gave way to consumer-driven orthodoxy, while worship, work, and consumption became increasingly intertwined. Gloege demonstrates how this "guaranteed pure" religion promised freedom from both liberal theology and populist radicalism, creating a distinctly modern form of faith that thrived within capitalist structures.

For readers seeking to understand how spiritual movements adapt and evolve within changing cultural contexts, this work offers profound insights into the dynamic relationship between belief and commerce in shaping contemporary religious experience.