The second half of Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism attempts to weave together Calvinist, Pietist, Baptist, and Quaker contributions to Christian asceticism into the development the spirit of capitalism I wrote about in my last post and which Weber utilized Franklin to typify. With growing emphasis on works as a "proof" of salvation (though not connected to the effectiveness of salvation) Christian asceticism moved out of the exclusive domain of monks and nuns and "strode into the market-place of life, slammed the door of the monastery behind it, and undertook to penetrate just that daily routine of life with its methodicalness, to fashion it into a life in the world, but neither of nor for this world" (Kindle location 2,064).
This transition was largely due to the development of an everyman's vocational "calling" wherein any work by a believer ought to be undertaken as if the Lord were ordaining it Himself. Such studious and industrious work in one's calling led to the accumulation of capital in the form of wealth. The Puritan writer Richard Baxter advised that "wealth as such is a great danger; its temptations never end, and its pursuit is not only senseless as compared with the dominating importance of the Kingdom of God, but is morally suspect" (loc. 2,091). Yet even without pursuing wealth, more and more people were building wealth. What then?
There was a sense of Old Testament blessing by God via wealth that permeated the Protestant ethic. So, it seems, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, they were not to work for the accumulation of wealth. On the other, hard work and financial gain was seen as "proof" of one's calling and, hence, one's salvation. "The real moral objection," writes Weber, "is to relaxation in the security of possession, the enjoyment of wealth with the consequence of idleness and the temptations of the flesh, above all of distraction from the pursuit of a righteous life. In fact, it is only because possession involves this danger of relaxation that it is objectionable at all" (loc. 2,098). For Baxter and many Puritans, labor, not wealth, was the pursuit. The problem was what to do with the wealth that resulted as the fruit of labor.
There were admonitions against using wealth to engage in any sin or idleness. The idea of stewardship rang like a clarion bell: "The idea of a man's duty to his possessions, to which he subordinates himself as an obedient steward, or even as an acquisitive machine, bears with chilling weight on his life" (loc. 2,274). So what was left? Weber writes, "When the limitation of consumption is combined with this release of acquisitive activity, the inevitable practical result is obvious: accumulation of capital through ascetic compulsion to save" (loc. 2,302). Quoting John Wesley on the subject, Weber notes, "'we must exhort all Christians to gain all they can, and to save all they can; that is, in effect, to grow rich'" (loc. 2,344). Wesley goes on to write that those same Christians ought also give all they can to lay up treasure in heaven.
The spirit of capitalism had begun to take root. Still tempered by a strong sense of duty to God and proof of one's salvation, wealth was seen as a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it offered some tangible sense of one's calling and election. Yet on the other it offered more and more temptation to fall into sin.
Over the intervening centuries, a fundamental shift has occurred. "Protestant" has largely been dropped from "work ethic" and its resultant "spirit of capitalism." The very faith that enabled capitalism to take root, Christianity, has become anemic in its ability to guide and direct the fruit of its adherent's labors. Instead, churches subordinate their Godly wisdom to the leadership and organizational wisdom of Fortune 500 companies. Churches turn away from the Prophets in favor of the Profits that result from slick marketing and advertising among their constituents. In short, the typical Western church has lost her voice and is all too happy to be invited into the dance. Capitalism is shroud in consumerism and individualism. Acquisition begets consumption begets more acquisition. Weber closes with the following observation: "No one knows who will live in this cage [that is, the desire to acquire and consume goods] in the future, or whether at the end of this tremendous development entirely new prophets will arise, or there will be a great rebirth of old ideas or ideals, or, if neither, mechanized petrification, embellished with a sort of convulsive self-importance" (loc. 2,432). God, I pray for new prophets. Humbly I echo Isaiah, "Here am I. Send me." (Isaiah 6:8).
