the spirit of the corporation: a theological history

The modern corporation began its life as a religious institution - first as the nation of Israel and subsequently as the Christian Church. Long before its official recognition in law, the corporation had been an identifiable and unique form of human association. Its only essential characteristic is the voluntary and collective submission of individual interests to the interests of a Name, its own living Spirit. The corporation is thus ’invited’ into existence as a presence independent of its members, and through which the Spirit provides both its unity and its continuity.

In this fascinating, interdisciplinary text, Michael T. Black reveals how the modern corporation has become a parody of itself. It is a travesty of the opportunity it offers, namely the opportunity to engage in a continuous search for the good, the criteria of right action, in other words, the practical pursuit of the divine, in and through our daily lives with others.
In a sweeping historical analysis, Black highlights how The Name has been obscenely turned into a Brand, which sells but does not inspire; how the plethora of manipulative management techniques and authoritarian corporate structures are merely ineffectual, compensatory attempts to create corporate unity in the absence of the Spirit. This is the spiritual spoilt.

This work hopes to provide an alternative to the jargon-filled, self-justifying, and ultimately futile conceptions of the corporate institution which are used to justify its current spiritual aridity.

Michael T. Black was an illustrious businessman in the United States and United Kingdom before turning his attention to theology, ultimately becoming a Senior Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK