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Question 10

Bercot says by the time of the Salem witch trials and beyond, “the new god of Massachusetts was mammon,” and he connects that to widespread smuggling and then New England’s central role in the rum-driven “Golden Triangle” slave trade; how does this lesson challenge the idea that doctrinal seriousness and church attendance protect a society from greed, and what concrete changes would show that our own churches are resisting mammon rather than merely condemning “worldliness”?

Another way to ask: How does Massachusetts’ slide into greed and the slave trade challenge the idea that strong doctrine and churchgoing keep a society from loving money? What specific signs would show our churches are truly resisting mammon, not just condemning “worldliness”?

Direct Answer Bercot’s lesson shows that a society can be churchgoing and doctrinally strict yet still be dominated by greed—so resisting mammon must be seen in honest economic behavior and refusal to profit from injustice, not just religious talk.

Support from Transcript:

He says that by the witch-trial era, “the new god of Massachusetts was mammon,” with lives “wrapped up in making money.”
Smuggling became “rampant” because merchants and citizens knowingly bought illegal goods for cheaper prices; “virtually all of New England society was infected with this sin.”
He calls the “Golden Triangle” slave trade New England’s economic foundation: rum to Africa, slaves to West Indies, molasses back to New England.
He stresses the irony: “Pious, Calvinistic, Congregationalist, New England” led in slave merchandising.
He details the brutality and profit motive (dense packing; slaves bought for 4–5 pounds of rum, sold for 30–80 pounds) and calls it “one of the most wicked enterprises ever devised by man.”

Discussion Follow-ups The transcript doesn’t list modern “concrete changes,” but it implies churches should examine business practices, consumption habits, and profiteering—asking whether our economic life matches Christ’s kingdom rather than mammon.

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