OnScript Malcolm Foley – The Anti-Greed Gospel
Apr 7, 2026
Malcolm Foley, pastor, historian, and advisor at Baylor who co-pastors Mosaic Waco and wrote The Anti-Greed Gospel. He traces greed as idolatry tied to racial formation and economic violence. He explores literal renunciation of wealth, historical responses to lynching, creative anti-violence, and a Christlike model of solidarity and philanthropy.
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Greed As Idolatry That Fuels Racism
- Greed functions as idolatry that competes with God for ultimate loyalty.
- Malcolm Foley ties Matthew 6:24 directly to racialized economic systems, arguing greed fuels racial hierarchy and exploitation.
The Three Evils Behind Racial Violence
- Foley frames racism's harms as the three evils: lies, theft, and murder tied to greed.
- He argues Paul explicitly calls greed idolatry, so racism rooted in greed becomes a spiritual, economic, and moral problem.
How Reconstruction's End Spawned Lynching
- Foley recounts Reconstruction's end and Redemption as the moment white Southerners reasserted power, triggering spikes in racial violence.
- He links the withdrawal of troops after 1877 to the rise of lynching as social control of Black labor.
