The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward
Malcolm Foley
Brazos Press, 192 pages
Published February 11, 2025
The Anti-Greed Gospel reads like a come-to-Jesus summons to all who identify as Christian. Historian Malcolm Foley thoroughly unmasks as idolatry the covetousness that lies at the root of racism. “(Racism) is not fueled primarily by hatred,” he writes, “but rather by material desires on our part and the spiritual power of those Paul calls ‘principalities.’”
This book is an often uncomfortable historical, theological, and ethical read on how principalities and powers have used the desire to accumulate material possessions (especially those belonging to others) to act in their self-interest, devaluing others via a combination of White supremacy, capitalism and violence. “We use others for personal gain, we violently protect that gain when others protest, and we create ideas to justify our exploitation of one another and our violence.”
Foley explores how churches – conservative, liberal and indifferent – have been complicit by imposing a false identity on people of different colors and classes, specifically a status that has no basis in character and achievement. This ascriptive identity has led to numerous harms, the most obvious of which is lynching, which is entirely at odds with the Christian obligation to love God and neighbor wholly. “Lynching has been perhaps the clearest example of the talons and tendrils of racial capitalism: killing by the rending of human flesh and by the choking of theological and ethical imagination,” Foley writes.
He prophetically reminds us that as avowed followers of Jesus Christ, we must choose whom we will serve. Foley argues, “Money, Mammon, Riches. All names for the same rival god, the service of whom the Scriptures call greed. Mammon lies at the root of lynching, of racial violence, of racial capitalism and ultimately of the very concept of race itself.” His challenge to the church is to combat exploitation by being in solidarity with one another and sacrificially sharing so others might literally and figuratively eat.
The Anti-Greed Gospel pairs theology with practical approaches: economic solidarity, creative anti-violence, and prophetic storytelling. Churches looking to practice what they preach will find this disruptively innovative. Foley challenges believers to evaluate our priorities, asking whether the way, the truth and the light of Jesus Christ are at the forefront of all we do. Foley offers a roadmap to baptismal rehabilitation, diminishing the addictive power of greed and self-interest in favor of a Spirit-filled love, anti-violence attitude and socio-economic solidarity. Love, peace and solidarity in Christ provide the spiritual engine needed to assume the mission of repairing God’s creation.
Foley challenges believers to evaluate our priorities, asking whether the way, the truth, and the light of Jesus Christ is at the forefront of all we do.
Our model is nothing less than the divine philanthropy of God incarnate in Jesus Christ. Foley describes the incarnation as “…an act of generosity,” insisting that our own actions should not come from a position of power or pity. “That is not the kind of giving that Christ calls us to, nor is it the kind of giving he exemplifies on the cross,” he writes. We can all follow this example: students, Bible and social justice groups, anti-racism committees, intercultural communities, and anyone preparing for a life of community building and service will find a thoughtful guide in The Anti-Greed Gospel.
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