The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of the United States, 1932-1972

p. 25

In the 20s and 30s Americans turned business into an idol. So Calvin Coolidge: “‘The man who builds a factory builds a temple,'” and “‘the man who works there worships there.'” Business became the guiding light even in churches. Bruce Barton, the ad executive who wrote The Man Nobody Knows (1924) taught that Jesus, if he were alive, “‘would be an account executive in an advertising agency.'” [Just like Bruce himself. After all, did Jesus not say “I must be about my Father’s business?”]