Natural theology sacralized commerce, science, and improvement as divine service

Evidence

Although not everything in nature was created for the sole benefit of human beings, God had made them “sociable creatures” who could understand, communicate, and experiment. He expected them to make use of metals, stones, timbers, plants, and animals, to advance the sciences, to increase the trade and prosperity of their countries, and in so doing to glorify their creator. When people built beautiful villages, country houses, cities, and castles, God was pleased with their industry. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 913

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Henry More framed technological power over nature as evidence of God’s providence — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 908; Stewardship theology absorbed Bacon’s rapacious mining language wholesale — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 921; Natural theology legitimated visible class hierarchy as part of God’s design — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 924 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Natural theology reframed godly stewardship as managerial mastery compatible with growth capitalism #corroborates (0.90) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 925
• Calvinism’s doctrine of vocation energetically promoted economic life and wealth #corroborates (0.80) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1401