By: Shermika Harvey on February 18, 2019
When one contemplates the definition calling in ministry, it is often equated to the “calling, a religious conception, that of a task set by God.”[1] However, in The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism Weber introduce calling as a duty in reference to one’s professional calling. He wrote, “The idea, so familiar to us today…
By: John Muhanji on February 18, 2019
When Jesus sent out his disciples out to the lost sheep of Israel, he advised them to proclaim the message of the Kingdom by healing the sick, raising the dead, driving out demons and many other miracles. He then stressed to them that they should not take any gold or silver with them after the…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on February 16, 2019
Max Weber contends that empirical evidence of greater Protestant participation in the ownership of capital, management, and the upper ranks of labor may be the result (but not the cause) of religious affiliation.[1] It would appear that the rejection of economic traditionalism often led to the tendency to question all traditionalism, even the traditional forms…
By: Wallace Kamau on February 15, 2019
This Quote by Gordon B Hinkley[1]is of great interest to me because life is like a battle and when you cease from fighting for the good, the bad automatically takes over. Life is about the choices that you make, knowing that every choice has consequences. God has given every person the important ability to make…
By: Mary Mims on February 15, 2019
Living in Washington, DC can be exhausting at times. I hate to continuously write about things going on here, but it is an ever present reality. The government is in full blown crisis mode, but everything is going about as usual. Even if you try not to look at the never ending news, someone will…
By: Mario Hood on February 15, 2019
In the social sciences field, similar to Karl Polanyni’s, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, Max Weber’s, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, is considered a seminal work and “still remains one of the most influential and widely read works in social science”.[1] Weber using both empirical research and…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on February 15, 2019
While we were in Hong Kong, many of us chose to worship at the Hong Kong Baptist church. The entire service was both foreign and familiar to me. Though I had never been there before, and didn’t understand the language, many of the hymns were familiar, the feel of the worship space was familiar, even…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on February 15, 2019
There is a story I once heard about God talking to a child. The child asked, “God, what is a million years on earth like for you?” and God replied, “It’s like one minute in Heaven.” So, the little boy asked, “God, what is a million dollars on earth like for you?” and God replied,…
By: Andrea Lathrop on February 14, 2019
I remember the first time I heard that saying – God helps those who help themselves. I didn’t give it much notice except that my husband made mention of it later and hinted that it was not biblical. I was in my mid-twenties and for the life of me could not figure out the…
By: Sean Dean on February 14, 2019
“Hard work pays off.” my band director would say time and time again to us. “Hard work is its own reward,” my parents and grandparents would repeat over and over to me and my sisters. Even in our deeply Catholic community the remnants of the faith system of the Puritans who founded our city could…
By: Rhonda Davis on February 14, 2019
Weber’s book, The Spirit of Capitalism, is a founding sociology text. In this book, he advocates that capitalism is a direct result of the protestant work ethic. He argues that we are indebted to our religious heritage for the successes of capitalist economies.[1] According to Weber, it all began with the dawn of Protestantism. In…
By: Jenn Burnett on February 14, 2019
Early in my youth I had an existential crises which led me to explore the purpose of my life. Perhaps this exploration is normal as children grow into adults, but it led me through a dark place. With an encouraging intent, a leader shared with me Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have…
By: Digby Wilkinson on February 14, 2019
Back in the dark ages when I studied ethics for three years, I discovered to my consternation that the world of economics had a somewhat lopsided and precarious relationship to moral theory. Until the later part of the 19th century moral deliberations occupied a conspicuous place in economic studies. A principal notion in Max Weber’s…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 14, 2019
Since the 1870’s “the tail wagging the dog” is used when something that should be driving circumstances is instead being driven by them, “it is a role-reversal.[1]This idiom came to mind as I read Max Weber’s work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalismas the progression from virtue to task master takes hold. Weber describes…
By: Harry Edwards on February 14, 2019
I wish I had come up with this clever title. I owe it to Dr. Vishal Mangalwadi, a scholar of Indian descent. The title comes from a series of lectures based on his book The Book That Made Your World in which he helps the reader understand the root cause of the West’s decline and…
By: Karen Rouggly on February 14, 2019
I’ve spent a lot of time in the Protestant Reformation lately. Luther has been a mainstay in my research on vocation and calling, understandably so, which is why I wasn’t all together too surprised to see Max Weber spend a good portion of time with Luther in The Protestant Work Ethic and the “Spirit” of…
By: Shermika Harvey on February 10, 2019
Transformational leadership in its definition is “a leadership style that involves generating a vision for the organization and inspiring followers to meet the challenges that it sets. Transformational leadership depends on the leader’s ability to appeal to the higher values and motives of followers and to inspire a feeling of loyalty and trust.”[1] In John…
By: John Muhanji on February 10, 2019
It has truly been a good lesson from reading what Dennis Tourish has brought out in his book “The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership. A leadership perspective”. I sincerely appreciate the critique approach on the transformational leadership which has gained much emphasis in the recent past and is what many leadership trainers are stressing organizations…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on February 9, 2019
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”[1] John, who had proclaimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, in a dark moment asked, “Are you the Messiah, or should we keep looking?” Human propensity through the ages has been to give agency to a leader who can solve…
By: Mary Mims on February 8, 2019
Working in Children and Youth Ministry, there is always an apprehension when adults want to get inordinately close to children or teens. Churches and ministry organizations constantly need an awareness of the potential of child sexual abuse. Studies have shown that over eighty percent of the time a child abuser is someone known by the…
