Rise and Rise of the West

THE subtitle of Walter Russell Mead’s 2001 work, Special Providence, was “American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World.” His present book is no less ambitious, comprising nothing less than an all-embracing explanation for why the modern world isasitis.

“God and Gold” sums the theory up perfectly. The way that the British and the Americans worshipped God in their Protestant, private, primarily nonconfessional way promoted individual conscience as the key factor in religion, rather than the guidance of priest, bishop, or king. This in turn led to the flowering of Individualism as the most important post-feudal concept, which in turn led to Capitalism, which was where the Gold flooded in. Anglo-American Protestantism, in the view of the British Tory thinker Michael Gove, “affirmed the spiritual without the need for ritual. It relished argument, lived in language, and celebrated a faith that had its beginning in the Word. Its spirit was democratic, with the Bible and church office open for all.”

About the Author

Andrew Roberts

Andrew Roberts is the author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny and a member of the House of Lords.

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THE subtitle of Walter Russell Mead’s 2001 work, Special Providence, was “American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World.” His present book is no less ambitious, comprising nothing less than an all-embracing explanation for why the modern world isasitis.

“God and Gold” sums the theory up perfectly. The way that the British and the Americans worshipped God in their Protestant, private, primarily nonconfessional way promoted individual conscience as the key factor in religion, rather than the guidance of priest, bishop, or king. This in turn led to the flowering of Individualism as the most important post-feudal concept, which in turn led to Capitalism, which was where the Gold flooded in. Anglo-American Protestantism, in the view of the British Tory thinker Michael Gove, “affirmed the spiritual without the need for ritual. It relished argument, lived in language, and celebrated a faith that had its beginning in the Word. Its spirit was democratic, with the Bible and church office open for all.”