{"id":16946,"date":"2018-03-08T16:24:19","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T00:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=16946"},"modified":"2018-03-08T16:24:19","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T00:24:19","slug":"you-ask-amiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/you-ask-amiss\/","title":{"rendered":"You Ask Amiss!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 65:17-23 (NKJV) <\/strong>
\n17 <\/sup>“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 <\/sup>But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as<\/em> a rejoicing, And her people a joy. 19 <\/sup>I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying. 20 <\/sup>“No more shall an infant from there live but a few<\/em> days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being<\/em> one hundred years old shall be accursed. 21<\/sup>\u00a0They shall build houses and inhabit them;<\/em> They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 <\/sup>They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be<\/em> the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 <\/sup>They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be<\/em> the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them.<\/p>\n

I chose to start this week\u2019s post with the above scripture because I believe it brings light to the topic discussed in Max Weber\u2019s \u201cThe Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.\u201d In the reading, we see that Weber seems to be seeking the connection between faith and influence by confronting the issue of capitalism as its message seemed to spread through the same processes as Christianity in the Western world. Though I am not sure that Wager ever makes the direct accusation that Christianity is the ultimate cause of the capitalistic\u2026or as we have been discussing in our other readings, consumerism world, however, I believe it is safe to say that the implications are definitely there. So why Isaiah 65:17:23? I have always believed (though understand if others do not) that his passage was an inference to the New World\u2026aka\u2026America. We rose up as a superpower in less than two hundred years, and now seem to set the standards for the entire world. When we pit this scripture against our history, it is more than evident that \u201cOne Nation Under God\u201d has paid off in a very lucrative manner. The real question however is this; did God really do ALL of this, or is capitalism just a byproduct of good old greed at work?<\/p>\n

In his work, Nahom Eyasu points out what he believes were the three primary influences on Weber, which led to his perspectives concerning Western World influences on capitalism; they were his industrialized world as a young man, the teachings of his very pious protestant mother and industrialized father, and his following of Karl Marx that was steeply based in capitalism, religion and social stratification.[1]<\/a> The factor I kept hanging on was also part of the question I am trying to ask in my dissertation work: What molds our identity, thus forming how we see the world? Is it really so profound of an idea to see that Christians are molded not only by how we read scripture, but also how we interpret God\u2019s fulfilling of blessing in our lives?<\/p>\n

Weber wrote, \u201cIn the title of this study is used the somewhat pretentious phrase, the spirit of capitalism. What is to be understood by it? The attempt to give anything like a definition of it brings out certain difficulties which are in the very nature of this type of investigation.\u201d[2]<\/a> This struck me a little profoundly because of how liberally the Christian world refers to the \u201cspirit\/Spirit\u201d of things; after all, we seldom hesitate to give the Spirit credit for anything that we decide is godly or fitting, including those regarding the monetary. In fact, I curiously pondered how many Christians have no difficulty in rewriting Weber\u2019s work to include the \u201cSpirit of Capitalism,\u201d someone empowering God completely in the financial blessings that this western world and the church may be able to boast over.<\/p>\n

I have always been fascinated by God\u2019s challenge in Malachi 3:8-10, \u201cWill a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, \u2018In what way have we robbed You?\u2019 In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,\u201d says the Lord of hosts, \u201cIf I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be enough to receive it.\u201d With a scripture like this\u2026though usually abused in the using\u2026taken and combined with an patriotic them like \u201cOne Nation Under God,\u201d how inevitable is it that people would connect capitalism to Christianity as a justification for greed? Ashley Crossman made this declaration regarding Weber; \u201cWeber’s conclusion is a unique one. Weber found that under the influence of Protestant religions, especially Puritanism, individuals were religiously compelled to follow a secular vocation with as much enthusiasm as possible. A person living according to this worldview was therefore more likely to accumulate money.[3]<\/a>\u201d The problem comes when the \u201cworldview\u201d is also the \u201cChristian-view\u201d; what happens to perspective then? If the church is convinced that the world we in is a product of God\u2019s blessings, and thus, we must diligently work to keep obtaining those physical, financial blessings\u2026at what point does our faith become corrupted by greed? However, we cannot admit that we have made that exchange from faith to capitalism, so instead we must justify our capitalism through our faith.<\/p>\n

Though I believe Weber takes a fascinating journey as he views the various power churches that worked to influence the Western world expansion of Christianity and its influences regarding the growth of capitalism, I fear the real issue is not the churches themselves, but rather how the church seems to demonstrate and explain blessing from God. \u201cAll creation, including of course the fact, as it undoubtedly was for Calvin, that only a small proportion of men are chosen for eternal grace, can have any meaning only as means to the glory and majesty of God. To apply earthly standards of justice to His sovereign decrees is meaningless and an insult to His Majesty, since He and He alone is free, i.e. is subject to no law.[4]<\/a>\u201d How true this statement is; for too long has the church tried to imprint their own view of blessing upon the true blessings of God. As I see it, there are only three true physical guarantees from God\u2026food, water, clothing. Though I do believe God gives to us abundantly more than those three, it is more the fact that God\u2019s promises are more tied up in the Heavenly promises rather than the earthly one. We are not here to obtain houses, cars, or giant banking accounts; we are here to teach the world that there is a Savior. Jesus said, \u201cIn My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were<\/em> not so,<\/em> I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 <\/sup>And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there<\/em> you may be also. 4 <\/sup>And where I go you know, and the way you know.[5]<\/a>” His promises of blessing were not for here, but rather for the home that is being prepared for His faithful.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself and enemy to God.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (p. 63). Angelico Press. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/h1>\n

Crossman, A. (2017, July 12). A Book Overview: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. Retrieved March 8, 2018, from ThoughtCo: https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/the-protestant-ethic-and-the-spirit-of-capitalism-3026763<\/p>\n

Eyasu, N. (2016). A Review of Max Weber’s Thesis: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Global Journal of Human-Social Science – Sociology & Culture<\/em>, 32-42.<\/p>\n

Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.<\/em> New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Eyasu, N. (2016). A Review of Max Weber’s Thesis: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Global Journal of Human-Social Science – Sociology & Culture<\/em>, 34.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.<\/em> New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. P 33.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Crossman, A. (2017, July 12). A Book Overview: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. Retrieved March 8, 2018, from ThoughtCo: https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/the-protestant-ethic-and-the-spirit-of-capitalism-3026763.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Weber, M. (1958). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.<\/em> New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> John 14:2-3.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> James 4:3-4.<\/p>\n

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