There's a morality and worldview that's stunted. Since 2008, the question of wealth inequality has overtaken our political debate, and rightly so. It is striking that as you look across the Protestant landscape today, and there's no influential, popular preacher that's addressing any of this.

Writer Chris Lehmann explains how Christianity in America adopted the language and ideology of the free market, replacing European traditions with a charismatic boom and bust evangelism, promising wealth for faith and swapping social solidarity for self interest, in an ideological marriage of faith with finance that survives both market failures, and its own earthly success.

Chris is author of the new book The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream from Melville House.