The Protestant Reformation and How It Affected European Countries and America

The Protestant Reformation was a major movement in sixteenth century Europe initially aimed at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church’s religious ambitions were supplemented with motivated political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of the Church, thus, select groups of people broke off from Catholicism. More than just a time of religious divergence, the Reformation has been recognized as a time of evolution in societal ideology, particularly in economics. With the development of technologies such as the printing press, ideas were rapidly spreading through Europe. Sociologist Max Weber noted that a new and more rational type of capitalism emerged from this movement. This version of sixteenth century capitalism ideology has developed and evolved to form the perceptions of twenty-first century modern day capitalism.

John Calvin and Martin Luther were two men who largely drove religious diversion from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation. With the technology of the printing press, their ideas were able to travel wildly and inspire others to push their catholic ideals aside for a new form of religion. Particularly, in respect to Calvinism, John Calvin and his new religion sought to rationalize human conduct to save their souls, instead of the Catholic method of sinning, repenting with a priest, doing good works, and repeating the cycle throughout one’s lifetime. Calvinism believed that by restraining individual want and living in moderation, humans could save their souls.

Through what Max Weber describes in his work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Calvinists acted according to a moral discipline or “worldly aestheticism” that required them to pursue their divine calling in a certain field of work. A key figure in the history of sociology, Max Weber, reflected on the effect the Reformation had on capitalism and its relationship with the religious changes that arose in the sixteenth century with Protestant Calvinism. Weber reasoned that the new forms of capitalistic success in the 1500s were due to the religious ethos of the Calvinistic community. Weber acknowledged Calvinism as a self-discipline. He concluded that the God of Calvinism held its worshipers to a life of perpetual good works, combined into a unified system.

The spirit of Calvinism refers to a set of values, or an ethos, particularly in hard work and continual progress. According to the religious ethos, one doesn’t care for materialistic things, such as wealth and possessions, but by dedicating one’s self to hard work through a job of spiritual calling, a byproduct of economic gain is possible. This byproduct, however, was merely an unintentional gain through religious devotion. Weber quotes Benjamin Franklin, who says, “seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings.3” In this sense, earning money within the modern economic order is the result of the expression of virtue and individual calling, which Weber believes was the basis of the beginning of modern capitalistic culture. Weber’s piece doesn’t come without flaws. I question why he focused on Protestantism as the sole, guiding religion that had the moral ethos to drive capitalistic process as a byproduct of their beliefs. Surely there were other religious and social groups that had found themselves in capitalistic situations where they adopted similar practices to those of the Protestants. For instance, the Jewish faith, which had been mentioned by Weber, but ultimately looked over and discredited despite the religious group having made economic strides in society. Additionally, Weber didn’t seem to attribute the evolution of this new type of capitalism to anything other than religion. There must be other factors contributing to the development of a new form of capitalism, like new technologies. With the introduction of machines came the faster production of clothing and other engineering feats, it could be assumed that more confounding variables aside from religion could explain why capitalism was able to grow and change its role in society. H.R. Trevor-Roper wrote a piece that responded to Weber’s ideas on the relationship between the Protestant Reformation and capitalism, and he found similar questions with those I have mentioned above. He did, however, acknowledge the validity to some of the observations Weber had made. Trevor-Roper established that Weber wasn’t arguing that capitalism didn’t exist before the Reformation, but rather he was talking about a new form of capitalism, created through moral discipline and not greed.

He additionally acknowledged that in some cases, the Reformation did represent the main factor in the formation of modern capitalism, in respect to the social climate of the sixteenth century. Trevor-Roper also stressed that Weber’s theory was, in a sense, farfetched due to its very generalizable nature. Trevor-Roper argued that there were many other factors that attributed to capitalistic entrepreneurs aside from religious affiliation. He argued that capitalism was the result of social change in the sixteenth century. People at that time did not want the Church to become too costly and impose taxes on the people, in-turn harming economic commerce. As a result, they fled to other countries and there can we see the development of a new capitalism. Additionally, there were cases where Weber’s theory on Calvinists didn’t come to fruition. They didn’t always perform better than other countries in respect to economic gain. He used an example of Calvinist Scotland, with important coal deposits, who did not record better economic development in comparison with England, dominated by an Anglican system.

He found that Arminian Amsterdam represented the core space for the manifestation of the energies that created the economic boom in the US, while another province, the Calvinist Gelderland, was dominated by a social class which it was proven to be an enemy for progress.8 Additionally, he noted Calvinist business men didn’t always prescribe to the “worldly aestheticism.” Some men grew their wealth for more than just the religious ethos and lived abundant lives. There are many similarities between the way capitalism was perceived during the sixteenth century as it is today. There is resemblance between the Reformation’s religious-based government’s and today’s secularized government’s relationship to capitalism. Today capitalism holds strong ties to a nationalistic identity, and national pride is found in the “American work ethic.” At the time of the Reformation, capitalism held similar ties, but to a religious figure of authority, Weber referred to these ties as a “Calvinistic work ethic.”

The way Weber describes these sixteenth century perceptions of capitalism strongly resembles the way capitalism is perceived in the United States, one of the most capitalistically driven economies. Weber says, “… when the social position of the Christian depended upon his admission to the Communion, the clergyman, through his ministry, Church discipline, and preaching, exercised an influence which we modern men are entirely unable to picture. In such a time religious forces which express themselves through such channels are the decisive influences in the formation of national character.”

At the time of the Reformation identity was largely tied to religion, as religion was one of the most defining features of a person. A lot of social being, practices and norms, in a time when the state was defined by the church, were shaped by the religious upbringing an individual was subjected to. In a Calvinistic society, that national identity was tied to their moral aestheticism that drove capitalism. In today’s modern America, national identity is no longer tied to religion, yet in a society so driven by capitalism, we still see capitalism driving an American national identity. Weber was correct in defining this as an age of a new capitalism. Through time, with the introduction of new technologies, new social forces, etc., what capitalism means has largely changed, but the same underlying ideology has remained.

When talking about society’s perception of capitalism in the time of the Reformation, Weber says, “This thankfulness for one’s own perfection by the grace of God penetrated the attitude toward life of the Puritan middle class, and played its part in developing that formalistic, hard, correct character which was peculiar to the men of that heroic age of capitalism.” That perception of the heroic middle class and its ties to capitalism hasn’t changed much, especially in the context of America. The middle class in twenty-first century America still largely defines itself by its ability to work efficiently, diligently, and for as long as they can to survive. “... It has the highest ethical appreciation of the sober, middle-class, self-made man. God blesseth His trade.” Though many Americans may not still believe God has blessed his trade in the same way Weber meant, a similar pride in the middle class for the self-made man America, referred to as it’s “rags to riches” storyline, ties to hard work and dedication to work similar to that of Calvinism.

The Protestant Reformation represented a break in figures of religious authority and led to the fostering of capitalism in Europe and the United States. Weber believed that capitalism spurred from the Calvinistic “moral aestheticism.” Though there were likely other variables that confounded this belief, like new technologies, and the want to escape religious financial oppression, the logic behind the Calvinistic work ethic, has prevailed through time. The perception of protestants in their own ethos has developed from a religious identity to a national identity and has left an impact on society that we can see reflected in twenty-first century America.