Theories of Religion - Interpretivism Flashcards
What does interpretivist Weber believe religion to be?
Religion as a radical force for social change
What did the beliefs of Calvinism lead to the development of?
Led to the development of capitalism
What did Calvinists believe in? What did this create?
Believed in predestination
This created salvation anxiety among Calvinists
What did Calvinists look for from God?
Calvinists looked for a sign from God that they were to be saved
What did Calvinists see work as?
Work was seen as ‘God’s calling’ so Calvinists devoted themselves to a life of strict discipline and hard work
Idleness was seen as sinful
What did Calvinists see success through work as a sign of?
Those successful through work took it as a sign of external salvation from God
What did Calvinists do with wealth?
Wealth from work was reinvested into business
What was Calvinists work ethic based on?
Based on rational means to accumulate wealth
What is predestination?
God decides your destination after death
Heaven or hell
Why did predestination create ‘salvation anxiety’ for Calvinists?
God’s decision is unchangeable so there was uncertainty about their destination after death
Why did Calvinist beliefs lead to a capitalist society?
Belief and actions that making money was a sign from God that they’d been chosen to go to heaven encouraged change into a Capitalist society which is all about making money
Why does Calvinist beliefs leading to a capitalist society demonstrates religion can be a radical force for change?
The importance of making money is the very importance of capitalism, therefore the belief that God was rewarding them for making money caused society to change into a capitalist society
What are the criticisms of Weber?
Eisenstadt argued capitalism emerged first in Catholic countries such as Italy and Belgium before Calvinism appeared
It’s not clear why reinvesting money in business would appeal to God rather than giving money to the poor
It’s not clear what the appeal of Calvinism was
-followers could devote themselves to a life of hard work but there was still no guarantee that God had chosen them for salvation
Capitalism didn’t always emerge where Calvinism was strong. However, this was more due to a shortage of labour and investment capital which Weber recognised were necessary alongside religious beliefs to encourage capitalism
