In Which I Hate On Calvinism pt 1

Let me tell you about how much I dislike Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Let me do it in bullet form.

1. Calvinism is irrelevant, because nobody cares about Soteriology. I don’t believe in Salvation because I don’t believe in hell, and I am an amillenialist.  Calvinism actually really digsuts me because of its preoccupation with destiny and sin, two things which seem both trivial and indulgent.

2. If we are claiming that Weber is right here, which I am not, he is either missing a large portion of Christianity (which also happens to be the part I put weight in), or Calvinism is not Christianity (debatable).

3. Weber claims in his book that protestant ethics essentially caused capitolism to erupt in North America. Yet I don’t think true Christianity can be fully practiced in a capitalist society. In fact, countercultural anarchism and radical socalism speak much more to my version of Christianity than any imposed ecomonic system could.

4. Here’s why: the message of Jesus as I understand it is one of radical welcome and compassion: overwhelming inclusion, egalitarianism, lifting up of the lowly, care for the poor, etc. Tell me again how capitalism, a ladder system in which someone MUST occupy the lowest rungs, is real Christian, Weber.

5. Weber is completely confusing a bunch of things. A) why a strong work ethic is important to Protestants B) the difference between Protestant virtue and secular virtue C) why virtue or work ethic even MATTERS to Calvinists who are all pre-destined anyway D) how Protestantism evolved in what was already a hierarchical serfdom/pre-capitalist society anyway and E) Everything. Protestantism did not erupt overnight in a vacuum and create capitolism as it’s ideal way of being. Protestantism places importance on work ethic as a) a way of maintaining enthusiasm for work that needs to get done for the common good and b)a way of placing God into an already existing class system. Secular Capitalists engage with this because a strong work ethic can be turned into productivity and thus easily confused with individualism and greed.