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Saving the Protestant Ethic: Creative Class Evangelicalism and the Crisis of Work
Saving the Protestant Ethic (Oxford University Press, 2023) captures in-group tensions and creative adaptation among religious constituencies developing new ethical and theological frameworks for engaging economic life. Such adaptation proves challenging on a number of fronts, as leaders of a rapidly growing "faith and work movement" must face off against both the identity-fragmenting conditions of modern work as well as their own tradition's ambivalence toward secular work.
Drawing on the insights and cultural theory of Max Weber, Saving the Protestant Ethic blends original archival research with interviews of movement leaders to examine the movement's origins, motivations, progress, and challenges. At the forefront of such efforts are new organizations, books, conferences, worship songs, seminary classes, vocational programming, and lay-led study groups seeking to instill an upgraded Protestant work ethic for modern work settings. These efforts all illuminate the evolving role that religion plays in pluralistic public settings shaped by the intersections of advanced capitalism and persisting interest in meaningful work and transcendent purposes.
Available on Oxford University Press or Amazon.
Praise for Saving the Protestant Ethic:
"In these days when almost everything about American evangelicalism is controversial, this well-researched, fair-minded book about the evangelical 'faith and work' movement is a welcome contribution. Andrew Lynn has provided a great deal for supporters of the movement, its critics, and all who worry about the moral malaise present in the marketplace to ponder."
-Robert Wuthnow, author of Why Religion Is Good for American Democracy
"The faith at work movement is an ongoing and evolving social movement, not a flash in the pan or a passing fad. Andrew Lynn brings us a strong contribution to the growing number of scholarly studies of the surprisingly diverse nature of the faith at work movement. Lynn's provocatively titled Saving the Protestant Ethic focuses on and brings us fresh insights into the conservative evangelical Protestant wing of the movement, whose search for meaning and purpose drives their economic activity."
-David W. Miller, Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative
"This book represents an impressive achievement, drawing on a multidisciplinary array of deft ethnographic interviews, attentive participant observations, profound understanding of emic group discourse, impressive historical primary sources, nimbly enhanced and refined sociological theory, and quantitative analysis."
-Daryn Henry, Assistant Professor of Religion, University of Virginia
"Andrew Lynn’s work Saving the Protestant Ethic is a first-rate study that will be essential reading for movement leaders and participants. It also serves as an enlightening resource for all who want to better understand America’s largest religious constituency."
-David Robinson, Assistant Professor of Marketplace Theology & Leadership, Regent University