Discussion Questions

David Bercot says that by the time of the Salem witch trials “the primary god of New England was Mammon”; looking at the chapter’s evidence (rum, slavery, profit, respectability), what does this suggest about how easily “religious” communities can be ruled by a rival god while still keeping their Christian vocabulary? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If New England cared most about money (Mammon), what does that show about how a “Christian” community can still talk like Christians but really serve another god?

The chapter highlights that New England—not the Deep South—“took the lead in slave trafficking”; what assumptions does this overturn about “where” serious moral compromise tends to live, and how does that challenge the way modern Christians locate evil mainly “out there” in other regions, parties, or denominations? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does it change your thinking to learn New England led in slave trafficking, not the Deep South? How does that challenge the habit of thinking evil is mostly “out there” in other places or groups?

The Golden Triangle begins with molasses, becomes rum in New England, then becomes slaves in Africa, then becomes molasses again; what does this circular system reveal about how sin can be stabilized into a normal economy, and where do you see modern “triangles” where comfort requires someone else’s suffering? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does the molasses–rum–slaves–molasses trade loop show about how sin can become a normal business? Where do you see similar systems today where your comfort depends on someone else’s pain?

Increase Mather is quoted: “Drink is in itself a good creature of God… the abuse of drink is from Satan”; how should Christians evaluate a statement like that when the “good creature” was mass-produced to fuel alcoholism in Africa and fund the slave trade—what does this expose about how we separate “personal moderation” from the social consequences of an industry? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How should Christians judge the claim that alcohol is “good,” and only its “abuse” is evil, if the whole industry helped cause alcoholism and paid for slavery? What does this show about separating personal choices from the harm an industry causes?

Nathan Strong, a Congregationalist pastor, “actually owned a distillery”; in a church culture that assumed alcohol in moderation was acceptable, what would early Christians have likely questioned about a shepherd of souls profiting from intoxicants at industrial scale, and what present-day church leadership income streams might deserve similar scrutiny? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What might early Christians have questioned about a pastor making money from a large distillery, even if “moderate drinking” was accepted? What kinds of church-leader income today might deserve the same hard questions?

Bercot comments, “With fortunes to be made, it was not difficult for the New England colonists and churches to close their eyes to the wickedness”; what forms of “closing our eyes” feel most plausible for sincere believers today—especially when the benefits are indirect (retirement accounts, cheap goods, institutional funding)? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What are realistic ways sincere Christians today might “close their eyes” to evil when money is involved? How might this happen through things like retirement funds, cheap products, or church funding?

The chapter gives exact measurements for the slave ships (3 feet 3 inches of vertical space; 13 inches of width) and then quotes Dr. Falcon Ridge describing heat, shut portholes, disease, blood, and excrement; what is the spiritual cost of turning image-bearers into numbers and efficiencies, and where do Christians today use “metrics” to dull moral clarity? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What happens to our hearts when we turn people made in God’s image into measurements and “efficiency” numbers? Where do Christians today use stats or metrics to make harmful choices feel normal?

The merchants used burning coals near mouths and even melted lead to prevent slaves from refusing food and “costing money”; what does this reveal about what Mammon demands from its worshipers, and how does it confront modern evangelical ideas that personal faith can coexist with business practices that are coercive, dehumanizing, or purely profit-driven? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What do the cruel methods used to force slaves to eat show about what the love of money demands? How does this challenge the idea that strong faith can fit with business practices that are coercive or dehumanizing?

A slave-trading captain wrote, “The Almighty God never suffereth his elect to perish,” after surviving a crisis at sea; what theology of election and assurance is operating in that sentence, and how does the chapter force us to ask whether our own doctrines can be used to bless ourselves while we harm others? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When the captain says God won’t let “his elect” perish, what belief about being chosen and secure is he using? How does this story warn that our doctrines can be used to excuse harming others?

Bercot describes how rum and slavery supported virtually every layer of New England society (workers, craftsmen, newspapers, lawyers, families buying silver goods and fancy dresses); when an entire community’s “normal life” is funded by injustice, what would repentance have to look like beyond private feelings—what costly changes in habits, purchases, careers, or church budgets would actually break the cycle? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If a whole community’s normal life is paid for by injustice, what would real repentance look like beyond feeling sorry? What costly changes in spending, jobs, habits, or church budgets would actually stop the system?