Summary
Historically, the four major forms of ascetic Protestantism have been,
Calvinism, Pietism, Methodism, and the Baptist sects. None of these
churches are completely independent of each other, or even from non-ascetic
churches. Even their strongest dogmatic differences were combined in various
ways, and similar moral
conduct can be found in all four. We see, then, that similar ethical
requirements can
correspond with very different dogmatic foundations. In examining these
religions,
Weber explains that he is interested in "the influence of those psychological
sanctions
which, originating in religious belief and the practice of religion, gave a
direction to
practical conduct and held the individual to it." People were concerned with
abstract
dogmas to a degree that can only be understood when we see how connected these
dogmas were with practical religious interests.
The first religion Weber describes is Calvinism. Calvinism's most distinctive
dogma is the
doctrine of predestination. Calvinists believe that God preordains which people
are saved
and which are damned. Calvinists came to this idea from logical necessity. Men
exist for
the sake of God, and to apply earthly standards of justice to God is meaningless
and
insulting. To question one's fate is similar to an animal complaining it wasn't
born a man.
Humans do not have the power to change God's decrees, and we only know that part
of
humanity is saved, and part damned. In the Calvinist outlook, God becomes "a
transcendental being, beyond the reach of human understanding, who with His
quite
incomprehensible decrees has decided the fate of every individual and regulated
the
tiniest details of the cosmos from eternity."
Weber argues that Calvinism must have had a profound psychological impact, "a
feeling
of unprecedented inner loneliness of the single individual." In what was the
most
important thing in his life, eternal salvation, each person had to follow his
path alone, to meet a
destiny already determined for him. No one could help him, and there was no
salvation
through the Church and the sacraments. This was the logical conclusion of the
gradual
elimination of magic from the world. There were no means at all to attain God's
grace if
God had decided to deny it.
On the one hand, this account shows why the Calvinists rejected all sensual and
emotional elements of culture and religion. Such elements were not a means to
salvation
and they promoted superstition. On the other hand, we see the origins of
today's disillusioned and pessimistic individualism. The Calvinist's
interaction with God was
carried out in spiritual isolation, even though he did belong to a church.
There was social
organization because laboring for impersonal social usefulness was believed to
be
required by God.
This account of Calvinism brings up an important question, however. How could
the
doctrine of predestination have developed in an age when one's afterlife was the
most
important and most certain part of existence? Each believer must have wondered
if he or
she was one of the elect; it must have dominated their thoughts. Calvin was
sure of his
own salvation, and his answer to such concerns was simply to be content with the
knowledge that God has chosen, and trust in Christ. Calvin rejected in
principle the
assumption that people could learn from other's conduct whether they were saved
or
damned--this would be trying to force God's secrets. However, this approach was
impossible for Calvin's followers. It was psychologically necessary that they
have some
means of recognizing people in a state of grace, and two such means emerged.
First, it
was considered an absolute duty to consider oneself to be one of the saved, and
to see
doubts as temptations of evil. Secondly, worldly activity was encouraged as the
best
means of gaining that self-confidence.
Why could worldly activity take on this level of importance? Calvinism rejected
the
mystical elements of Lutheranism, where humans were a vessel to be filled by
God.
Rather, Calvinists believed that God worked through them. Being in a state of
grace
meant that they were tools of divine will. Faith had to be shown in objective
results. What results did Calvinists look for? They looked for any activity
that
increased the glory of God. Such conduct could be based directly in the Bible,
or
indirectly through the purposeful order of God's world. Good works were not a
means to
salvation, but they were a sign of having been chosen.
