Early American Calvinists read wealth as a sign of divine favor.

Evidence

Just like the ancient Greeks, in America, the early Protestants, especially the Calvinists, sought wealth as a sign of God’s benevolent intentions toward them. Those who were not Chosen were (and still are, in many Calvinist minds) condemned to poverty. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 443

Categorization

• XREF: Picks up the Weber Protestant-ethic thread and connects to the prosperity-gospel paragraph right after; also echoes the immortality-in-wealth theme of the whole chapter. — connects to: Adherents explain prosperity as reward for national fidelity to the Bible — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 150

Related

• Adherents explain prosperity as reward for national fidelity to the Bible (similarity 0.80)
• Prosperity theology frames wealth as evidence of God’s blessing. (similarity 0.80)