Missions Resources - Bibliography
The Consuming Passion
Authors: Rodney Clapp, Ed.
ISBN: 0-8308-1897-9
Publisher: Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1998
Type of cover: Soft Cover
Summary: Personal Note: First of all, this book has a great title. Witty. What made me read this was the title of the first chapter: Sensualists without Heart. This is a phrase from Max Weber in describing the Iron Cage of capitalism's effect on the soul. I love Weber, and I think more Christians should (and the selections on the Urbana library reflect this bias), so I knew immediately I would love this book.
-P.G.
Despite the title, this book is not a simple argument that Christians spend too much money. We don't need a book to tell us that. No, this book is more important towards the end of leading us out of the mess: it is an analysis of the consumer's soul, that provides solid and common-sense program for rending the veil that blinds us to our wealth.
The authors are drawing on the Weberian tradition that is enjoying a renaissance lately, showing how accurate Max Weber's horrifying vision of the future was. Consumerism does indeed put the soul into an iron cag, turning us into "specialists without soul, sensualists without heart".
The essays in this book address a range of topics, from an African-American understanding of consumerism, to an essay on the overconsumption of theology. Really good resource, overall, especially if you know a little about Max Weber.
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