Synopses & Reviews
In Church and Estate, Thomas Rzeznik examines the lives and religious commitments of the Philadelphia elite during the period of industrial prosperity that extended from the late nineteenth century through the 1920s. The book demonstrates how their religious beliefs informed their actions and shaped their class identity, while simultaneously revealing the ways in which financial influences shaped the character of American religious life. In tracing those connections, it shows how religion and wealth shared a fruitful, yet ultimately tenuous, relationship.
Review
“A rich and engaging study of the relationship between religion and wealth in the formation of America's urban elites.”
—Peter W. Williams, Miami University
About the Author
Thomas F. Rzeznik is Associate Professor of History at Seton Hall University.
Table of Contents
ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 “Money Faithfully and Judiciously Expended”
2 A Controlling “Interest”
3 A Labor “Exceedingly Magnificent”
4 The “Quaker-Turned-Episcopal Gentry”
5 The Episcopal Ascendancy
6 Confronting the “Money Interests”
7 Changing Fortunes
Conclusion: Legacies
Notes
Bibliography
Index