Max Weber states that in every country with multiple Christian denominations (at least in Europe and America) a certain “social stratification” occurs between Protestants and Catholics—Protestants occupy the majority of the business leadership and skilled labor roles, while Catholics languish behind, often spending their entire lives as mere craftsmen. Weber recognizes that there are some historical contributors to this phenomenon, but argues that they are not enough to account for the “distinct mental characteristics” between Catholics and Protestants. While Catholics shy away from gathering wealth, Protestants, particularly Calvinists, seem possessed by the “capitalist spirit.” Weber states that he intends to examine the various religious doctrines of Protestantism to determine how the Protestant ethic encourages the “capitalist spirit.”
Weber describes the capitalist spirit as the desire to constantly work and build greater and greater wealth, even when that wealth is not needed. He notes that that the capitalist spirit is not the same as capitalism itself, since it may exist in non-capitalist economies, and people not driven by endless profits may live within capitalist economies. Weber uses Benjamin Franklin’s writings to illustrate this ethic, in which Franklin preaches astute financial advice with a moralistic tone, as if he were giving a sermon, and suggests that making money is one’s moral duty. Though Franklin’s contemporaries took his words as sound wisdom, Weber argues that society in the Middle Ages would have read Franklin’s moralistic love of money as the worst form of greed. Weber contrasts the capitalist attitude, that money-making is one’s moral duty, with “traditionalism,” in which one simply works to make enough money to live, rather than to constantly grow a profit. In the capitalist spirit, one lives to work. In the traditionalist spirit, one works to live. To understand how work became life’s central duty, Weber notes that one must look to the Protestant concept of the “calling.”
The German Monk, Martin Luther, who initiated the Protestant Reformation, developed the idea of one’s calling which is now ubiquitous in every Protestant tradition. Whereas Catholics believe one’s occupation is morally neutral at best, and demonstrate their devotion by leading a monastic lifestyle, Luther rejected this monastic tradition since it removed the Christian from the world around them. Instead, Luther taught that one’s secular occupation is their calling, their divine duty, since God providentially placed them in it; thus, the best way for the new Protestant to serve God is to simply work hard. Luther believed this idea is found in the Bible, but Weber argues that it ultimately began with Luther, since there was no concept like it before him. Although Luther’s direct descendants, the Lutherans, directly opposed Calvinism, Weber argues that the French theologian John Calvin took Luther’s loose conception of calling and made it what it is today.
Weber states that Calvinism’s most important contribution to Protestant thought is its doctrine of predestination. According to this doctrine, human beings are unable to come to salvation on their own. Instead, God, in his providence, chose a small minority of humanity to save, even before the earth was created. Calvinists thus believe that they have no control over their own salvation, and can only hope that they are one of God’s elect, chosen for salvation. Weber argues that this creates a deep insecurity and pessimistic individualism within Calvinists, since they are never entirely sure that they won’t go to hell when they die. To rectify this insecurity, the Calvinists lean heavily into Luther’s idea of calling, arguing that a true Christian—chosen by God for salvation—will manifest their divine status by living a studious and moral life. Under Luther’s concept of the calling, this means that they labor tirelessly in their secular occupation to prove to themselves that they are saved. Calvinists are so intent on living this virtuous life that they shy away from any emotionalism and become rational and methodical in every aspect of life, which in turn makes them excellent workers and business owners.
Weber examines German Pietism and Methodism as well, but argues that neither possess Calvinism’s extreme rationalism and logical consistency, nor are they as effective at compelling their followers to live lives of hard work and rigid virtuosity, with very little tolerance for personal pleasure. The Baptist sects, Weber describes, look much like Calvinism, but with the added belief that they cannot participate in politics or war, leaving business as their sole outlet for their energy and ambition, thus furthering the capitalist spirit within Protestantism.
Weber argues that the final complement to Luther’s calling is Protestantism’s revised concept of asceticism. Where Catholics practiced ascetic lives in the traditional, monastic way by forgoing personal possessions, Protestantism inherited Luther’s utter rejection of any form of monasticism. Instead, as modeled by the English Puritans under Richard Baxter, Protestants came to view wealth as permissible but luxury as sinful: a Christian can earn as much as they want—they are even morally compelled to do so—as long as that wealth does not lead to idleness or spurious “enjoyment of life.” Rather than the quiet, contemplative asceticism that Catholics practice, Protestant asceticism is defined by constant labor in one’s calling. In order to explain this concept, Weber uses the example of The Pilgrim’s Progress, a Puritan allegory in which a man seeks his own salvation to the detriment of his family—a pursuit that is characterized as righteous rather than selfish. As such, Weber argues that Protestantism’s emphasis on personal salvation further encourages the capitalist spirit among its adherents, while simultaneously freeing them from any moral scruples about amassing wealth. Weber argues that it also pushes them away from experiencing pleasure in life, and as such, Protestants developed a sparse and colorless culture compared to their forefathers in history.
Weber recognizes that in the modern era, religion is losing much of its former influence. However, he firmly believes that Protestant theology effectively built the modern capitalist system into the dominant power it is today, and thus every person on earth is permanently shaped by Protestant thinking, whether they themselves are religious or not.
