{"id":28229,"date":"2022-02-17T05:37:08","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T13:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28229"},"modified":"2022-02-17T05:37:08","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T13:37:08","slug":"thumbing-through-the-institutes-for-citations-on-free-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/thumbing-through-the-institutes-for-citations-on-free-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Thumbing Through \u201cThe Institutes\u201d for Citations on Free Markets"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few fun facts to comb through:\u00a0<\/span>The Bible addresses money over 2,172 times.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0To give us a little comparison, the Bible talks about \u201cbelieving\u201d 273 times, \u201cpraying\u201d 371 times, and \u201clove\u201d 714 times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus spoke of money in 16 of his 38 parables, and 1 out of 7 verses in Matthew, Mark & Luke is about money, <\/span><\/em>which leaves\u00a0us with Jesus talking about money 25% of the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So it stands to reason that Jesus\u2019 followers would pay careful attention to his words, such as \u201cDo not build up treasures on earth\u201d or \u201cYou cannot serve both God and money.\u201d Instead of pursuing the mammon of this world with feverous zeal, Jesus\u2019 followers turn to prayer, service, charity, worship, and spiritual formation\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, maybe Jesus meant something slightly different. The Calvinists knew precisely what that was, according to Max Weber, in his classic philosophical, ethics, economics, sociologist, and somewhat theological work,\u00a0<\/span>The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit\u201d of Capitalism<\/span><\/em>. This might come as a shock for anyone thumbing through the\u00a0<\/span>Institutes of the Christian Religion<\/span><\/em>\u00a0for some advice on free markets, industrialism, democracy, or consumerism.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the course of its development, Calvinism made a positive addition: the idea of the necessity of putting one\u2019s faith to the test in secular working life,\u201d Weber argued.<\/span>\u00a0[1]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, much like the term \u201cEvangelicalism,\u201d capitalism has become a very dynamic word that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean today what Weber was arguing about in this work. For many today, capitalism means commercialization, shareholders, the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer. But this is not necessarily how capitalism was conceived and formed. However, it is worth noting that there is a stained legacy of chattel slavery, severe racism, classism, gender inequality, child labor, and unsafe\/unfair working conditions within a capitalistic system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weber argues that the influence of Protestantism on the formation of capitalism, beginning in the 16th century, was marked by piety, hard work ethic, a denial of frivolousness, a desire to leave one\u2019s community a better place and an eschatological mindset.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, Weber does a bit of a deep dive, specifically focusing on the influence of Calvinism and predestination. With no assurance that one is a part of the elect, Calvinistic Protestants were motivated to do the right things on this earth, according to the teachings of Jesus (the authority of Scripture) and the practices guided by the church. \u201cRiches are only dangerous when they tempt us to idleness and sinful indulgence; and striving for riches is only dangerous when it is done with the aim of later leading a carefree life of pleasure,\u201d Weber conveyed.<\/span>\u00a0[2]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many transcendent lessons can be lifted from the Protestant influence on Capitalism that today should consider. For example, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in the U.S., 40 percent of the wealth is owned by 1 percent of the population, while a larger share of working-age people (18-65) live in poverty than in any other nation.<\/span>\u00a0[3]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0And yet, in many well-intended Christian\u2019s eyes, America is God\u2019s country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More specifically, the church, an employer of at least a handful of staff, often lacks adequate pay, fair expectations, and employee-care practices. Should not the church be leading the way in at least a livable wage for hourly-paid workers? How often are churches continuing an inequitable social system by hiring and underpaying childcare workers, janitorial staff and working their ministerial team to the bone?<\/span><\/p>\n

I wonder what it would look like if modern-day Protestants reexamined the many instances that Jesus spoke about money, especially some of those ghastly stances against the rich in his parables. Then, maybe once again, Christ\u2019s followers would lead the cause of providing a fair and equitable opportunity to all, especially those whose hard work should produce a sense of economic security for their families.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[1]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Weber, Max.\u00a0<\/span>The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit\u201d of Capitalism<\/span><\/em>. (New York: Penguin Books, 2002), 110.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Ibid, 110.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0OECD. \u201cInequality – Poverty Rate – OECD Data.\u201d The OECD. 2015.\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/data.oecd.org\/inequality\/poverty-rate.htm<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few fun facts to comb through:\u00a0The Bible addresses money over 2,172 times.\u00a0To give us a little comparison, the Bible talks about \u201cbelieving\u201d 273 times, \u201cpraying\u201d 371 times, and \u201clove\u201d 714 times.\u00a0 Jesus spoke of money in 16 of his 38 parables, and 1 out of 7 verses in Matthew, Mark & Luke is about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1185,388,386,1457],"class_list":["post-28229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-calvinism","tag-capitalism","tag-max-weber","tag-the-protestant-ethic-and-the-spirit-of-capitalism","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28230,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28229\/revisions\/28230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}