The (Actual) Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Dr. Gene Veith - Acton Institute)
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- Опубліковано 12 бер 2015
- Max Weber's classic study The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism made the case that the Reformation had a major impact on the rise of free market capitalism. But Weber assumed that this influence came from Protestants believing that achieving prosperity was a sign of God's election, which completely misunderstands Reformation spirituality and its influence. Weber skimmed over Luther's doctrine of vocation, which taught that God is present and active in ordinary economic activity, which becomes a sphere in which Christians can love and serve their neighbors. Luther believed that God providentially governs the economic order, but that far from being merely a self-interested pursuit--as it is in both Adam Smith and Max Weber--the division of labor in the various vocations form a network of love and community.
Dr. Gene Edward Veith is Provost and Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College. He is the author of 18 books on topics involving Christianity and culture, classical education, literature, and the arts. They include Postmodern Times, The State of the Arts, The Spirituality of the Cross, God at Work, Modern Fascism, Classical Education, and Loving God With All Your Mind.
Dr. Veith previously served as the Culture Editor of World Magazine. He was on the faculty for 19 years as Professor of English at Concordia University Wisconsin, where he also served for six years as the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. He has also taught at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and has been a visiting professor at the Estonian Institute of Humanities, Gordon-Conwell, Regent College (Vancouver), and Wheaton College. In addition he also serves as the director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He has been a Fellow at the Capital Research Center and the Heritage Foundation.
Dr. Veith received his B.A. in Letters (Literature, Philosophy, History, and Classics) from the University of Oklahoma and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas.
For more information, visit www.geneveith.com.
Weber never said that the moral/pietist capitalism he studied about was derived immediately from Luther's and lutheran's texts and ideas, but from calvinism (in the peculiar ''puritanical'' point of view) and of other protestant heresies. Weber said that this kind of capitalism originated from the not quite orthodox and usually unorthodox offsprings of the reformation (puritans and pietist, not so lutherans, as others). Weber said that these two things prevailed in puritanical (mostly) and pietist (secondly) context and mentality. These are: the idea that as a man little by little reached higher levels of spirituality, this was a proof of divine grace in him. Also, as a man reached higher levels of success in his vocation, usually accompanying with wealth, this was a proof that he was a God's elect. It is nonsense (excuse my language) to ask dr Vieth the calvinistic audience ''do you feel uncertain of your salvation so that you check your bank account?'' Yes, this is what happened and Weber analyzed it superbly. A lutheran like dr Veith has nothing to do with the calvinists. I 'd like dr Veith to be more critical against the reformed errors than to try to seem friendly to them. Is it a kind of american nationalism the reason he does it? Pietism and puritanism are heresies. Weber was right. Pietist lutherans built the social-democratic states of Scandinavia and Germany, more in touch with the original Luther's ideas. For sure, in moral capitalism we can find good things. Nobody said that uniting moralistic protestantism with a moralistic kind of capitalism is bad in essence with one ''little'' difference, that it is not christianity nor the gospel. Roman Catholic Italians also had had great success as capitalists. So what?
That is the problem, American Protestant need to be more critical about this system, I mean I am convinced the majority who are going to the Church have never heard or read about this book. Working is important, however and I know what I am talking about in Protestant Calvinist world, they value work has primordial and I think it is not right.
I just had Weber's protestant theory taught in my Master's class. The whole class walked away with the misconception that protestants "earn" their way into Heaven.
Whose fault is *that*, though? The instructor's?
I wish that this man had taught at Wheaton College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary while I was completing my course work there at each of those institutions. He would had been great to study with and to pit perspective on my studies in Psychology in undergraduate work @ Wheaton. What an asset to the body of Christ.
Sound criticism of Weber!
🕶️ *
(Ironically, most folks would probably get a better understanding of the essence of the 'protestant' work ethic and vocational work by *_mostly_* stearing clear of Weber altogether.
* 👔🥠🍰 ...
“With great power/wealth comes great responsibility.”. Period.
The ethic is greed
And / *Or,* its total opposite.
(eg. Producing results that are pleasing to *the universe* - i.e. a rational, mature concept of God - and using capital to produce more of such objectively positive, universally good results ... in reciprocal, virtuous loops.)
(Enlightenment + Work =
Greater GOODNESS.
“With greater power comes greater responsibility...”
... *Rinse and repeat* )
(Being an adult generally means knowing life is full of contradictions... And? that political wing nuts - on both sides of the spectrum - are occasionally two halves of basically the same greased slope to hell.
... Universal healthcare (etc) is, if you asked most of the earth, 0% Marxist. (Just responsible government.)
Just as supporting pragmatic, rule-of-law market economies, similarly, has jack-squat nothing to do with Libertarian Nutbars.)
Where does greed come from? In my multidisciplinary studies, and in my experience, greed is often stemming from unsatisfied need. NOT needs of food, shelter, but emotional and sexual needs. whole advertising campaigns selling garbage are successful due to this sublimation of emotion/sex. so here is the true Weber formula: 1. religion shames/demonizes sexual pleasure 2. that energy of desire gets channeled into the "calling" (daily work) 3. the sexual euphoria gets (love of partner) gets redirected to the church authority (love of authority figure) 4. industrial revolution sends young singles to cities 5. sexual opportunities abound 6. repressed singles "act out", sublimation of desire (forbidden, but yearned for) becomes consumer culture.
so the pious "saving/hording" of wealth "broke loose" along with the pent up sexual desire, and transformed the world into a toxic factory and landfill DUMP
the calling should have been the simple passion and pride of work MINUS the stigma of such coupled with the simple joy of sexual love MINUS the stigma of such.
the STIGMA was always the culprit in social disharmony, mental pathology, the stigma of sex and of work. remove the stigma, heal the pathology.
DSTAN AGENT HELL AHENT