Recently, the first conference for Christian bitcoin fans was held. Its name is "Thank God for Bitcoin", which can be translated as "Thank God for Bitcoin". A book by several authors has already been published under this title, and some of them organized the conference.
One of those convinced of the religious power of bitcoin is Patrick Melder. The former surgeon has also written a book called "The Christian Case for Bitcoin". For him, bitcoin is "a conviction based on truth and facts," the evangelical Christian writes to the online magazine Slate, which has taken a closer look at the links between religion and the crypto industry.
"And like our faith, that faith will sustain us in times of instability or doubt," Melder said. He now baptizes new believers who have found God through cryptocurrencies. Some are convinced that bitcoin, the world's first cryptocurrency, can't just be the work of man. "Therein lies the genius of God," said Tomer Strolight, who was baptized because of bitcoin.
Religious studies explains the parallels
The emergence of a Christian bitcoin community comes as no surprise to Joseph Laycock, a professor of religious studies at Texas State University in the US, who has also written about bitcoin and religion. "There are a lot of Christian versions in the US," he said, citing a specific example: "Besides regular rap albums, we also have Christian rap albums."
For Laycock, it is no accident that Christianity and bitcoin "found" each other. He sees parallels between belief in bitcoin and the "paranoid streak of American evangelicalism" that sees the world as a battle between good and evil. He is also convinced that bitcoin supporters see cryptocurrency as "good money" - and a reaction to a corrupt and therefore bad monetary system.
The gospel and bitcoin
In addition, Laycock also sees common ground between bitcoin and the so-called "
prosperity gospel." This is the name of a religious concept that emerged after World War II, in which preachers claim that
Jesus wanted his flock to be wealthy.
Adherents of this theory believe that health, business success, and personal success are visible evidence of God's favor. Bitcoin evangelists such as Patrick Melder reason along similar lines. "In the not-too-distant future," he writes, "those who bet early on bitcoin will become incredibly wealthy."
Church
Melder is also convinced that
bitcoin has "
all the attributes of religion." There is a prophet:
Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous founder of bitcoin. There's a sacred text: the Nakamoto white paper, the first published draft of the cryptocurrency. And there's even the "Church of Bitcoin," an online community founded by software developer
Henry Romp.
Religionists are also familiar with the behavior of many cryptocurrency supporters during negative phases, such as the present, as the crypto industry has had to deal with massive declines in recent weeks. Several religionists refer to the book "When Prophecy Fails," which details how believers are strengthened in their faith even if, for example,
Christ does not appear on Earth on the predicted day.
"Some people lose faith in situations like this," says Katherine Wessinger, a professor of religious history at Loyola University in New Orleans. But other people continue to believe the prophecy, reinterpreting it and even strengthening their faith.