Theology Matters
Reading a book like Max Weber’s, The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, makes for a difficult blog post, at least for me. Books like these remind me of just how much I don’t know, and I still don’t think my mind is completely wrapped around everything Weber proposes. I think I would need another couple of weeks, but I think I got the gist of his main theories. Now that I’ve given my disclaimer, I have to say I was fascinated by his arguments and looked forward to diving back into his book to see where he was going next. I know, I’m weird, but he got me thinking! I wound up listening to several lectures and online summaries unpacking his work while I drove from place to place this week.
As Dr. Jason Clark points out in his paper, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, not everyone buys into all of Weber’s theories, for good reason, but I believe he highlights a few things that generate important conversations around Protestantism and its influence on western culture, and more broadly, questions around culture, religion, and Christian theology in general.[1]
What has shaped American and European society and worldviews? How can the very ideas that create and shape systems and cultures become completely foreign and lost down the road? What contributes to Christians being insecure about their destination after death?
The fact that Weber essentially is claiming that certain types of theology shaped western culture, particularly capitalism, had me hooked and is a path worth exploring.
I have to admit, I had the type of naïve view of capitalism that Weber dismisses early on in his book. When I thought about “capitalism” at least in America, I imagined yachts, diamond necklaces, private planes, caviar, and private islands funded by corporate greed. However, Weber says, “Unlimited greed for gain is not in the least identical with capitalism, and is still less its spirit.” Instead, Weber describes his understanding of it and its “ethos” by stating, “We will define a capitalistic economic action as one which rests on the expectation of profit by the utilization of opportunities for exchange, that is on (formally) peaceful changes of profit.” [2]
The biggest surprise for me in this book was seeing Martin Luther and John Calvin’s connection to capitalism, even with it being redefined. (I could not help myself, no disrespect to either one of these men)
Max Weber covers several Protestant theological strands and developments, but Martin Luther and John Calvin seem to be major factors at the root of his theory. As Weber lays out John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination he quotes from the Westminster Confession of 1647, “By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto ever-lasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.”[3] This most certainly is a hard theology to swallow and, as Weber points out, I could see how the question of “Am I the elect?” could consume a person’s mind or agitate their psychological and emotional wellbeing. Searching for something, like divine Providence, to give one assurance of eternal salvation in light of this doctrine roaming around makes sense.
Regardless of what I think about this doctrine and how Weber uses it to support his theories, his observation that religion and theology shaped western psychology, economics, and social standards to the degree that it did is astute. As Dr. Clark and others point out, this doctrine may not have played as big a role in influencing the Protestant work ethic as Weber may have assumed.[4] However, there does seem to be a long history of human insecurity regarding the afterlife and how humans might secure a spot in the right place. Max Weber’s observation of this with Calvinism reinforces this idea and stirs the conversation since this is still a relevant issue in the 21st century being that we all still die.
Alister McGrath, an Oxford theologian and professor, describes the type of penances Christians would participate in to atone for their sins by fasting, praying, or giving in the Middle Ages. [5] Why did they do it? To secure a spot in heaven. Thomas F. Madden, an expert on the Crusades and Medieval history argues that many of the men who participated in these holy wars were wealthy knights who wound up bankrupt or dead as a result of fighting in these religious endeavors.[6] Why did they do it? Many believed they could fight their way into paradise. This was a means for men with a violent past to do penance for their mistakes and relieve their guilt.
Theology matters.
Since our Advance in Oxford, I’ve been intrigued by Martyn Percy’s life and perspective. Something of his seems to sneak into my blogs since getting back from Europe. I recently ran across a sermon he gave at the Bloxham Festival where he quotes Margery Kempe, a British Christian mystic, who feels as if God spoke to her, “More pleasing to me than all your prayers, works, and penances is that you would truly believe that I love you.”[7] I can’t help but humbly say after speaking with several people who are convinced they have visited the other side and after sifting through a lot of consciousness and perceptual studies research, we may want to listen to Margery Kempe.[8] What can we do to earn God’s love?
[1] Clark, Jason. Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship. London School of Theology, 2018.
[2]Max Weber, “The Protestant Ethic and the ‘Spirit’ of Capitalism and Other Writings,” Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics (New York: Penguin Books, 2002), 4.
[3] Ibid., 67.
[4] Clark, Evangelicalism and Capitalism, 94.
[5] McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction. 4th ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2007.
[6] Thomas F Madden, Ph D – The Crusades Then and Now. YouTube. YouTube, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFt1ZRVqNOE.
[7] Bloxham Festival 2020 – Martyn Percy – The Eclipse of God’s Love in the Life of the Church. YouTube. YouTube, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGH1kkpsyvY&t=1589s.
[8] Holden, Janice Miner, Bruce Greyson, and Debbie James, eds. The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger Publishers, 2009.
About the Author
Adam Harris
I am currently the Associate Pastor at a church called Godwhy in Hendersonville, TN near Nashville. We love questions and love people even more. Our faith community embraces God and education wholeheartedly. I graduated from Oral Roberts University for undergrad and Vanderbilt for my masters. I teach historical critical Biblical studies at my church to help our community through their questions and ultimately deepen their faith. I love research, writing, learning, and teaching. I oversee our staff and leadership development. Before being at Godwhy I worked as a regional sales coach and director for Anytime Fitness. I've been married for over 13 years to my best friend and we have two amazing boys that keep us busy.10 responses to “Theology Matters”
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Hi Adam,
Yours is the third post I have read that keyed in on Calvinism (sigh I think I missed the boat). I guess I gave up on Calvinism and Arminianism a while ago. Too HARD. I have to cling to GRACE.
Capitalism/Consumerism seem like cultural booby traps for Christianity. But God can take whatever Satan meant for evil and turning it to Good.
But I gather that is an oversimplification.
Anxiety of Salvation, Proving purity through works (seems rather Catholic), living an austere life and plowing profits back into the business, apparently is the engine for capitalism. Parallel evolution or symbiosis?
I am going to wait till you figure this out.
Shalom…
Ha, you may be waiting for a while! That theology stuff can go deep, I’ve never been drawn to a lot of it. It seems like it’s overcomplicating things, but its necessary to dip my toes into some of it as a pastor. We have some people with some of those backgrounds so its helpful to know a bit. The connection capitalism piece did intrigue me.
Overall I’m with you, its got to be GRACE all the way down.
Hi Adam, I like how you are connecting your NPO to this week’s reading. You wrote, “…there does seem to be a long history of human insecurity regarding the afterlife and how humans might secure a spot in the right place.” How do you see modern day capitalism and/or consumerism contributing to questions of the afterlife and the need for assurance in context of your NPO? How might the people you encounter respond to Margery Kempe’s profound and truthful statement?
As Dr. Percy said, if any of us can really embrace the idea that God just loves us, (period), Its relieving and comforting that we can’t lose or gain our identity as God’s children. We can run from it or live like its not a reality, but the more we live from the reality that we are God’s kids the more love, joy, and peace we have. That’s one of the reasons I love Timothy Keller’s book The Prodigal God. Its all about that and worth a read.
As far as my NPO, talking to afterlife people actually gave me a lot of permission to explore the Bible from different perspectives that I found in higher education. Many, including myself at some points, are afraid to question or think differently about faith due to divine retribution, getting it “wrong” or God being mad at us. What I’m discovering is that reinforcing to people God’s love expressed in Christ can actually help us become more courageous in our pursuit of truth.
Thank you for your very critical writing. Well said, Adam!
You show how human anxiety about the afterlife makes it easier for them to be driven to a doctrine that perhaps lacks a solid foundation in the Bible.
The rhetorical question at the end of your article speaks very emphatically. There is not a single human effort that makes it worthy of earning God’s love. Because He is the source of love, and He has and always gives it to the world (John 3:16).
This was a much more dense book! Thanks for the response Dinka, I think its incredibly important for us all to do our best to read the Bible and our tradition through the lens of Christ and God’s grace expressed in him.
Adam, what a beautiful find with Margery Kempe! I see the “Oxford” thread you are following. I read this, or heard this and it lead me to read this and then this! I am influenced by your influence! Your take and my take on Weber seem aligned! (I’m not surprised). Kempe said who feels as if God spoke to her, “More pleasing to me than all your prayers, works, and penances is that you would truly believe that I love you.” All I can say is YES! We are human BEINGS! What are you reading next? (outside of class) or supplemental to class?
Thanks, that’s one of my new favorite quotes! I see why people use programs like Obsidian more now, there is a web that starts forming after a while when one thing leads you to the next! At the moment, I still have my own simple system that works for me.
A book I keep going back to is “The Prodigal God” by Timothy Keller. He unpacks the prodigal story beautifully and hammers home that we can’t lose our identity as children (younger son) or work enough for it (elder son). We just have to embrace it. When that is the heart of the Gospel it is beautiful and transforming. Thanks for the response Jana!
Adam, a couple of thoughts:
1. You say we are often “afraid to question or think differently about faith due to divine retribution, getting it “wrong” or God being mad at us.” When I back up and realize how often I’ve been wrong, it’s actually comical to think that God’s acceptance of me would be based on when I’ve gotten it right. That just seems like a new ‘works-theology’ to me, yet we’ve all fallen into that trap.
2. I love The Prodigal God. As my boys were facing some big questions about God and their own life decisions this summer, and I had a few weeks with them before they went back to college, that was the one book I went to with them. We read it together, because no matter where they land in their faith (even if very different than how I see it) I wanted them to know that “we can’t lose our identity as children (younger son) or work enough for it (elder son). We just have to embrace it.”
The heart of the Gospel, indeed.
Thanks Adam.
The one thing I want for my kids is to know their belovedness. I want them to know I love them, of course, but more than that, I want them to know God loves them. How can they know that? I think some of knowing God loves them is how I love them, how my husband (their dad) loves them, how others love them. Anyway, your blog got me thinking about that. Thank you for sharing Margery Kempe’s quote and for reminding me to use Martyn Percy as a resource for further research and ideas!