The Protestant Revolution – No Rest For The Wicked

Description: Capitalism and an increasingly active anti-global movement are two of the most powerful forces on the planet, and Tristram reveals how both phenomena developed out of Protestantism, in the final episode of The Protestant Revolution. The journey begins with Jean Calvin who, desperate for a sign of d's favour, found it in the world of work and money. Tristram explores how Puritans, anxious to worship God at every opportunity, introduced the world of the ticking clock and shaped the architecture of the working week. Puritans on both sides of the Atlantic developed modern work and business practices, and provided the intellectual and financial impetus to launch the Industrial Revolution. The push for profit could go too far, however. The sugar plantations of the Caribbean divided the Protestant church, giving rise to an anti-capitalist voice that campaigned first against slavery and then against the excesses of factory labour. Today, capitalism is triumphant, but the anti-capitalist movement is also gathering force, and the two great opposing legacies of Protestantism continue to battle it out.