Summary
After presenting the doctrines of Calvinism, Weber turns to three other
ascetic
Protestant religions, the first being Pietism. Historically, the doctrine of
predestination
was also the starting point of Pietism, and Pietism is closely linked to
Calvinism. Pietists had a deep distrust of the Church of the theologians, and
they tried to live "a life freed
from all the temptations of the world and in all its details dictated by God's
will." They
looked for signs of rebirth in their daily activity. Pietism had a greater
emphasis on the
emotional side of religion than orthodox Calvinism accepted, and Lutheran
strains of
Pietism existed. However, insofar as the rational and ascetic elements of
Pietism
were dominant, the concepts necessary for Weber's study remained. First,
Pietists believed
that the methodical development of one's state of grace in terms of the law was
a sign of
grace. Secondly, they believed that God gives signs to those in states of
perfection if they
wait patiently. They too had an aristocracy of the elect, although there was
some room
for human activity to gain grace. We see that Pietism had an uncertain basis
for its
asceticism that made it less consistent than Calvinism. This is partly due to
Lutheran
influences, and partly due to emotionalism. This study thus explains some of
the
differences in the character of people under the influence of Pietism instead of
Calvinism.
Methodism represented a combination of emotional yet ascetic religion with an
increasing indifference to Calvinism's doctrinal basis. Its strongest
characteristic was its
"methodical, systematic nature of conduct." Method was primarily used to bring
about
the emotional act of conversion, and the religion had a strong emotional
character. Good
works were only the means of knowing one's state of grace. The feeling of grace
was
necessary for salvation. From our viewpoint, the Methodist ethic had an
uncertain
foundation similar to Pietism's. Like Calvinism, they looked at conduct to
assess true
conversion. However, as a late product, Methodism can generally be ignored,
since it
doesn't add anything new to the idea of a calling.
The Baptist sects (Baptists, Mennonites, and Quakers) form an independent source
of
ascetic Protestantism other than Calvinism; their ethics rest on a different
basis. These
sects are unified by the idea of a believers' church, a community of only the
true
believers. This worked through individual revelation, and one had to wait for
the Spirit
and avoid sinful attachments to the world. Despite having a different
foundation than
Calvinism, they too rejected all idolatry of the flesh as a detraction from the
respect due
God. They believed in the continued relevance of revelation. Like the
Calvinists, they
devalued the sacraments as a means to salvation, which was an important form of
rationalization. This led to the practice of worldly asceticism. An interest
in economic
occupations was increased by their rejection of politics; they embraced the
ethic of
"honesty is the best policy."
Now that we have seen the religious foundations of the Puritan idea of a
calling, we can
now look to the implications of this idea for the business world. The most
important
commonality among these sects is "the conception of the state of religious
grace...as a status which marks off its possessor from the degradation of the
flesh, from the world."
This could not be attained by magical sacraments or good works, but could only
be proved
through particular kinds of conduct. The individual had an incentive to
methodically
supervise his own state of grace in his conduct, and thus to practice
asceticism. This
meant planning one's whole life systematically in accordance with God's will.
Commentary
These forms of ascetic Protestantism are less central to Weber's study than
Calvinism,
and it is therefore less important to get a complete understanding of the
doctrine and
lifestyle of their followers. These religions are less rational than
Calvinism, because they
have a strong emotional element that introduces some of the "magic" that
Calvinism
rejected. These religions do encourage systematic and methodical living,
however, which
is an important trait of rationalization. The most important tie among these
different
religions is their worldliness and their belief in signs of religious grace.
This leaves
these religions with a concept of the calling that is centered in the practical
world. Look
in the next chapter for how Weber connects these ideas back to the spirit of
capitalism.
It is important to be aware of the fact that Weber is not trying to present
these beliefs in their full complexity. Each religion is being presented as
what Weber called an "ideal-type." An ideal-type is a simplified version of a
concept or institution, which captures its
most relevant characteristics for the study at hand. In this case, Weber is
ignoring much
of the diversity of religious belief among these different sects, as well as
many important
aspects of their theology. These issues are not relevant to his study, and
simplifications
are necessary because of the infinite number of perspectives that could be taken
on each
belief, and the infinite complexity of those beliefs. All of Weber's
characterizations,
including the spirit of capitalism and the ethic of ascetic Protestantism, are
ideal-types.
