By: Jim Sabella on February 9, 2017
Weber, Max, Talcott Parsons, and R.H. Tawney. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003. Summary: Most of us have seen the commercials about the DNA testing that helps one know the origins of their family tree. One guy says, “I thought I was Italian and my test showed I…
By: Garfield Harvey on February 9, 2017
In Noll’s book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994), he insisted Christians should pursue their beliefs on the biblical affirmation of creation. In other words, we should stand on our theological convictions, then explore and understand how creation should function under God. Such exploration would undoubtedly motivate Christians to pursue the role of science…
By: Mary Walker on February 9, 2017
Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30:8,9 In his book, The Protestant Ethic and…
By: Geoff Lee on February 9, 2017
Weber’s Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism In this work on the intersection of religion, society and economics, Weber considers the link between Protestantism and wealth and capitalism. He tries to explain how capitalism was created by looking at religion and the Protestant Reformation. The this-wordly Protestants, particularly the Calvinists, seem…
By: Katy Drage Lines on February 8, 2017
Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is considered one of the most important 20th century works on sociology.[1] Capitalism has existed in various forms and to various degrees throughout history, as has greed and wealth. But not until the sixteenth century did its modern form rise to become the dominant global…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on February 8, 2017
Each religion has the ability to shape, pressure, and influence the culture and lives of its’ followers, as well as comfort, motivate, and inspire self-sacrificing acts and generous gestures. It governs morality and gives purpose, meaning, and direction for individuals and societies. More importantly, it provides a way back to “God” and gives people the…
By: Lynda Gittens on February 8, 2017
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism – Max Weber Weber disagrees with Marx’s theory that “capitalism was the social counterpart of Calvinist Theology.” (2) He believed that “Calvinism influenced the economic prosperity on Holland.” (6) RH Tawney states that maybe “Calvinism and capitalism both had a different effect on the economics and social…
By: Claire Appiah on February 8, 2017
Mark Noll –Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind Introduction Mark Noll is a distinguished Reformed evangelical Christian acclaimed as one of the most influential evangelicals in America. He is a research professor at Regent College and a prolific author who has gained the respect of the academic community. Noll indicates he has only…
By: Rose Anding on February 8, 2017
“Gird up the loins of your mind …” (1 Peter 1:13 NKJV). You are probably thinking, What does that mean? It’s basically saying we need to get all the junk in our mind out of our way so we can keep running our race in Christ Jesus and have the victory God wants us…
By: Pablo Morales on February 4, 2017
In the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, historian Mark Noll writes a lament about what he perceives to be the lack of cultivation of the mind in American evangelicalism. He writes as an insider, identifying himself as an Evangelical fundamentalist from the reformed tradition. Laments tend to have an emotional tone that focus…
By: Kevin Norwood on February 3, 2017
Can an intellectual be evangelical? According to Mark Noll, in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, “it is simply impossible to be, with integrity, both evangelical and intellectual.” (preface) According to the author, evangelicals have not focused in on four specific things: science, the arts, politics and culture/society in general. The reason…
By: Chip Stapleton on February 2, 2017
Winston Churchill is credited with saying, ‘Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried’. I found myself wondering if Polanyi might have said the same, substituting capitalism for democracy. This, is in some ways, my primary take away…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on February 2, 2017
“…there was no type of background – of religious, cultural, or national tradition – that made a country immune to fascism, once the conditions for its emergence were given.“[1] I had a colleague say “History is written by those in power”. This statement is absolutely true! I am reminded of the national debate with the…
By: Phil Goldsberry on February 2, 2017
Introduction I am in a quandary. After reading and engaging with the concept of “evangelicals”, I thought I was easing in to a comfort zone of understanding and acceptance. Bebbington’s quadrilateral brought clarity and defined principles that caused this word to have definition. I pick up Mark Noll’s, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, and…
By: Aaron Cole on February 2, 2017
Summary: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll is a great historical journey on the lack of intellectual exploration and emphasis by the Evangelical community in how the church relates to the world academically, politically, scientifically, economically, and culturally. Noll’s opening statement summarizes the book best: “The scandal of the evangelical mind…
By: Aaron Peterson on February 2, 2017
I’m sure that this cartoon will ruffle a few feathers for some members of our cohort. For me, this cartoon is not funny. As a satire, it is a bit sad and actually mostly true. The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll explains why this is the case. Even given the fact that…
By: Marc Andresen on February 2, 2017
Thinking is not terminal, although one might get the impression that Evangelicals think it is. Mark Noll opens his book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind with a scandalous statement. “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” He states, “Notwithstanding all their other virtues, however, American…
By: Stu Cocanougher on February 2, 2017
In a typical hour-long crime drama, one of the catchphrases that the witty detective has in his arsenal of axioms is “follow the money.” That phrase took new meaning for me as I read “The Great Transformation” by Karl Polanyi. Austrian economist Karl Polanyi wrote his landmark work on world economic markets during the 1940’s while living…
By: Geoff Lee on February 2, 2017
A review of “The Great Transformation” by Polanyi This book looks at how we used to live before we turned everything into something that has a price. The great transformation of the title refers to the before and after of the industrial revolution and the transition from a society based on householding (living off…
By: Garfield Harvey on February 2, 2017
“It is simply impossible to be, with integrity, both evangelical and intellectual” (98, Kindle). This I believe is the challenge of many modern day scholars who are both evangelicals and intellectuals. It is not so much the impossibility of integrity, rather, the challenge to suggest that evangelicals are becoming more intelligent. Jason, one of my…
