The Anti-Greed Gospel
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Brazos Press (Baker Publishing Group)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
2026 Christian Book Award® Finalist (Faith & Culture)"A forceful call to recognize the roots of American inequality and a solid starting point for Christians who want to help fix them."--Publishers WeeklyRacism is not about hate and ignorance. It's about greed. And it always has been. Black Christian historian Malcolm Foley explores this powerful idea in The Anti-Greed Gospel, showing how the desire for power and money--what some call "racial capitalism"--drives violence and exploitation across American history. In this book, you'll discover● how greed historically gave birth to racial categories and systemic oppression,● the connection between economic exploitation and racial violence,· lessons from historical figures like Ida B. Wells on resistance and truth-telling,● practical steps for building communities of deep economic solidarity, and● biblical foundations for combating racial capitalism through gospel values. Foley reviews the history of racial violence in the United States and connects the killings of modern-day Black Americans to the history of lynching in America. He challenges the contemporary church to wrestle with crucial questions: How can we become communities that show generosity and resist greed? What is the next step in the journey toward racial justice? Readers will gain tools to resist greed that exploits others, love their neighbors more completely, and build communities rooted in deep solidarity, anti-violence, and truth-telling.
Endorsements (5)
“The Anti-Greed Gospel is both seriously convicting and saturated with hope—real hope that is both disruptive and full of wonder. I learned. I lamented. I leapt. Malcolm Foley points us to the alternative society that the church has always been, calling us to economic solidarity, creative anti-violence, and prophetic truth telling. In this, we are a people that isn’t striving to redeem the world but rather revealing that the world has already been changed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May churches read this book together and practice living in the reality of the kingdom and the love for our Lord and for our neighbor.”
“The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, including racism. Malcolm Foley is a thinker who makes you think. In his debut work, Foley unpacks the theological and sociological layers of racism. He rightly identifies the center of American racism, which is greed—greed that costs human lives. Foley’s book builds a strong case for what’s really fueling the lie of race and the horrors of racism, but he doesn’t leave us hopeless. This book offers us a necessary antidote to racism if we put down the delusions and temptations of greed.”
“Many people say that the original sin of the United States was racism; in reality, racism was a symptom of the original sin of greed. The Anti-Greed Gospel dismantles deficient definitions of racism and reminds us that greed is what generates, animates, and sustains racial prejudice—both past and present. This book, properly understood and applied, has the potential to topple our monuments to Mammon and make room for real racial justice in both church and society.”
“Malcolm Foley continues the radical tradition by showing us how greed produces racism. He calls us away from anti-racist virtue signaling and brings us to the feet of Jesus, where we can either beg God’s mercy for our racist greed or justify ourselves into condemnation. He reminds us that the church’s fight against anti-Black lynching and its struggle for economic justice and solidarity are the same fight.”
“In this bracing cri de coeur, Malcolm Foley cuts through lies and obfuscations to locate greed at the root of race and racism. Marshaling compelling historical and theological evidence, The Anti-Greed Gospel presents a searing critique of the status quo and points Christians to a redemptive path forward. A must-read book for the American church.”
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