CHRISTIANITY INCORPORATED: How Big Business Is Buying the Church

When bereaved believers are left in the "care" of huge funeral conglomerates rather than a local congregation; when, with the church's blessing, the pope's image is used to sell French fries in Mexico ("Las Papas del Papa"); when Jesus Christ is seen as a model business CEO—then something is seriously amiss in the interplay between the church and the market. So argue Budde and Brimlow in this cogent book; the two professors (of political science and philosophy, respectively) suggest that the church is becoming "chaplain to capitalism." Swallowed up by market forces, its "own practices and beliefs become shaped by the corporate form and spirit." It is left with an impaired ability to critique culture or form disciples who witness the Kingdom of God. While a few of the chapters (e.g., critiques of the papal encyclical Centesimus Annus and some Protestant declarations about economics) are a bit more of a philosophical slog than others, the book on the whole is insightful and easy to read, peppered with alarming anecdotes and biting humor. Best of all, after so much critique of the way things are, the last chapter on the Sermon on the Mount offers a substantial, if preliminary, picture of what an "economics of discipleship" might look like, both in its broad contours and in specific suggestions for congregational activity. This is another winner from Brazos Press. (Mar.)