Just finished this, and thought it was an interesting read. I think the logic is mostly sound, and if you take it's premise further and extrapolate it to modern social dynamics in America, it becomes clear why phenomenon like prosperity gospel came to be. Anyways, I was a bit confused by the logic behind the argument on why Calvinists focus more on the Old Testament than the New; I think it's true, but I don't get why.
>>25233477I read it last month, his section on Methodism was brief and stated it didn't do much to change the nature of work to faith and i wish he would have elaborated more on why as its the faith of my mother's side. I wonder what other books detail the relationship between religion and economics like this one does? I'm thinking of taking a course in religious studies next spring and dive further into speculation.
>>25233477>Calvinists focus more on the Old Testament than the New; I think it's true, but I don't get why.This hasn't been true in my experience but most of the bible is the Old testament so if you reference the whole bible equally, you're going to reference the old testament a lot more than the new
I haven't read that book, but one reason you might say Calvinists focus more on the Old Testament is that their covenant theology holds that the Old Covenant is essentially identical to the New Covenant, and so they basically have more of a place for law in the Christian life than the Lutheran law-gospel scheme implies. It's somewhat subjective how much any individual Calvinist may decide to emphasize law vs. grace or liberty, but overall there is a desire to show "continuity" rather than "discontinuity" with the OT. Dispensationalists may also emphasize the OT, for entirely different reasons.
>>25233477>I think the logic is mostly soundIs it? It's been a while since I've read it so correct me if I'm wrong, but his main thesis was that protestantism created the psychological basis for the birth of capitalism, which can make sense from the perspective of someone writing at the beginning of the 20th century, yet societies that never experienced protestantism and therefore had no such basis - like China, Japan - adopted capitalism in a very successful manner. What if Weber was unknowingly observing not the link between the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, but the profound incompatibility between the capitalist worldview and the catholic one?
>>25233549It's the opposite actually. Capitalism became the root of protestanism (atleast in America)
>>25233493is it normal for me to hate Calvinists? they're basically Jews with extra steps and they completely miss the entire point of Christianity.
Weber was a hack.Protestant work ethic doesn't exist.The English were proto capitalistic reaching back into the middle ages yet even AFTER Protestantism came around they were described as lazy and indolent compared to the catholic french.From the account of Emmanual Van Meteren, Antwerp merchant>"The people are not so laborious and industrious as the Netherlanders or French, as they lead for the most part an indolent life...They keep many lazy servants, and also many wild animals for their pleasure, rather than trouble themselves to cultivate the land...The people are bold, courgaeous, ardent and cruel in war, fiery in attack and having little fear of death; they are not vindictive, but very inconstant, vainglorious, light and deceiving, and very suspicious, especially of foreigners, whom they despise."From a Venetian Vistor in the 1400s>Agriculture is not practised in this island beyond what is required for the consumption of the people ; because were they to plough and sow all the land that was capable of cultivation, they might sell a quantity of grain to the surrounding countries. This negligence is, however, atoned for, by an immense profusion of every comestible animal, such as stags, goats, fallow-deer, hares, rabbits, pigs, and an infinity of oxen, which have much larger horns than ours, which proves the mildness of the climate, as horns cannot bear excessive cold ; whence, according to Strabo, in some northern countries, the cattle are without horns. But above all, they have an enormous number of sheep, (6) which yield them quantities of wool of the best quality
>>25233574It's perfectly normal if you're an actual Christian. Calvinists/Reformed are modern day Pharisees.
>>25233585Are you taking bribes from the IRA or something to be posting this slop?
>>25233606This. Heretics are the modern day Pharisees.
>>25233513>covenant theology holds that the Old Covenant is essentially identical to the New CovenantHeresy breaks your brain: Exhibit 200 billion
>>25233624When did i state that being lazy is a bad thing?Why did weber pretend that dutch calvinists and english anglicans were exactly the same culturally?
>>25233872I'm talking about the book in the pic
>>25233892the origins of english individualism is a great book and you hating it shows that you've been filtered by it
>>25233929I haven't even read and don't plan it. Its propaganda. That would make as much sense as a black man reading Gobineau.
>>25233585> Protestant work ethic doesn't exist >Bonaparte said that britain was a nation of shopkeepers
>>25233549Christianity in Japan in very over represented in powerful figures. A lot of business leaders in Japan were Christian, as well and 10 Prime Ministers despite being less than 1% of the population. Even looking at statistics in the USA, Christian Chinese-Americans are some of the highest earning groups, whereas Buddhist/Folk Religion are some of the lowest.
>>25233574Calvinists generate a lot of seethe because they are so abundant and easy to point to and as such there is a lot of Calvinist media that follows the contemporary trend of smug self-assured commentary on anything that gets views. On the ground level, Calvinists are fairly diverse in terms of what they believe apart from the core doctrines of Salvation by Grace through Faith and also maybe Monergism (although most lay Calvinists probably don't even really understand the argument well enough to express the idea apart from just being "the Total Sovereignty of God"). Most Calvinists aren't even 5 point Calvinists.And while we're on the topic of it, most lay Calvinists (and I think that Calvinist/Reformed media and clergy have a big role in this deficiency) don't even know that Dispensationalism is strictly incompatible with Calvinism. Anyway, I'm going off the rails here but hating Calvinists is a lot like hating Roman Catholics. They are these big groups with many people who are a little bit different from the mainstream so it is easy for us to project our qualms onto them to make them out to be everything wrong with Christianity, the "bad" church so to speak. And yes, there are very real aspects of these respective institutions that need to be fixed up but they are largely overheated for the wrong reasons by adjacent groups.
>>25234357>Dispensationalism is strictly incompatible with CalvinismNot true, unless you mean full-blown classic Dispensationalism and not what most people mean by the word which is just that some OT prophecies pertain to a yet-future fulfillment for ethnic Israel, and unless you mean full-blown classic Reformed theology and not what most people mean by Calvinism which is the 5 points. Plenty of Dispensationalist theologians today are Calvinist.
>>25233477Frequently when I hear sermons about man's worldly vocations, Luther's "Priesthood of all believers" is referenced
>>25234473There's no such thing as "classical dispensationalism", you're thinking of historical premillennialism.I tend to agree with the anon you're replying to. There's a funny story John MacArthur told about John Gerstner (post-mil Jonathan Edwards scholar) come to speak at Macarthur's church and telling him "the only reason you're not a heretic is because you're not a.logical thinker"
>>25234493Also the idea that Calvinists "focus more on the Old.Testament" is new to me. Fairly absurd characterization, as Calvinism is rooted in Covenant Theology, which views the entire Bible as one unified story, with Christ at its center.
>>25234041Of course he did. His girlfriend/wife also whored around on him too.
