get books on the topic before other students beat him to it, but when he returned for bibliographical information about a monograph on greed that he had used, he discovered that someone had stolen it. The Benedictine concept of poverty might also be a good corrective for Protestants who buy into a “work ethic” named after them. The Protestant work ethic is the notion that those whom God elects to be saved are those whose abundance is proof of privileged status: they are hardworking, frugal, and prosperous.