Ascetic Protestantism Research Articles

Religious Orthodoxy and Emotionality

The relationship between religious orthodoxy and emotional feeling and expression is examined. Data are from questionnaires administered to a sample of Georgia high school students (N=1092). The principal findings are these: Religious orthodoxy is positively related to self-reported feeling and expression of love and happiness, and also to the importance the person attributes to institutionally based socio-emotional values. On the other hand, religious orthodoxy is negatively related to selfreported feeling and expression of hate, and it is unrelated to self-reported feeling and expression of sadness. Taken as a whole, these findings suggest that persons of high religious ortho? doxy are more likely than those of low religious orthodoxy to be influenced by biblically based norms encouraging the feeling and expression of approval/positive emotions and discouraging the feeling and expression of rejection/negative emotions. Possible approaches to integrating the present findings into a larger theoretical framework are noted. Although sixteenth century Calvinism held emotional experience to be illusory, and discouraged its expression, most forms of ascetic Protestantism were unlike Calvinism in this respect. Indeed, among the early Baptists and Methodists, a "feeling of grace," a highly emotion-laden experiencing of God's forgiveness, was considered to be absolutely essential (Weber, 1958). Today in the United States, orthodox Christianity has roots in both Calvinist and non-Calvinist forms of ascetic Protestantism; however, its main roots are nonCalvinist. In terms of sheer numbers, we find that Baptists and Methodists outnumber Presbyterians and Episcopalians by more than four to one (NORC, 1976). Moreover, it seems likely that, if only the most orthodox individuals were considered, the ratio would be higher still. But does the emotionality of the early churches remain? Or was it merely a peripheral, transient feature? Many attempts to analyze religious experience have acknowledged -or perhaps posited-the importance of the emotional dimension (see, for example, Fukuyama, 1961; Glock and Stark, 1965; Keene, 1967; Dittes, 1969). Religious experience and emotionality often are assumed to go hand in hand. Surprisingly, little, if any, systematic empirical study of the relationship between religious orthodoxy and emotionality has been carried out. While religious orthodoxy

Consistency Among Humanitarian and Helping Attitudes

In a series of articles, Benton Johnson has investigated the effects of ascetic Protestantism on political party preference. His findings indicate that among laymen exposed to teachings, religious involvement would vary directly with Republican party preference. However, among laymen exposed to teachings, religious involvement would vary inversely with Republican identification. This present study shows that church involvement and political party identification are not significantly related. A refinement of Johnson's liberal-fundamentalist dichotomy and his church interaction index again resulted in non-significant findings. Finally, a weighted least-squares procedure was employed yielding a set of linear estimation equations that again showed no significant effect. Results such as these should make the social scientist wary of the dangers associated with the measurement of religion and the contem- porary relevance of Weber's Protestant ethic. Under the Weberian banner Benton Johnson (1962) argues that religious factors have an independent effect in political party preference for those members of denominations referred to by Weber as ascetic Protestants. A further implication is that the Republican party has been a major beneficiary of this tradition al- though not at a uniform rate. Johnson qualifies his statement because he observes a division within ascetic Protestantism somewhat analogous to the two-party faction in the American political system. A bifurcation of the ascetic Protestant tradition resulted in a liberal and fundamentalist wing. Johnson places denom- inations stemming from the Calvinist, Pietist, and Revivalist tradition in the camp, whereas those not sharing these traditions, notably Episcopalians and Lutherans, were classified as liberal. Weber outlined the intrinsic similarity be- tween the religious temper of ascetic Protestant groups and the emerging needs of capitalism. Reduced to its bare essence, the Calvinist idea of predestination which encouraged the individ- ual to be diligent, frugal and dedicated in the religious sphere, produced a person totally compatible with the interests of rationalized business enterprise.' Accordingly, then, one * Research supported in part by the Graduate School, University of Wisconsin, Madison. The author is indebted to Gene F. Summers for his invaluable assistance during the course of this study. 1 It is not every aspect of capitalism that Weber seeks to link with Calvinism, but rather a certain capitalist temper. This spirit of capitalism con- dones affluence and profit when they stem from this spirit, a spirit that includes a sense of vocaThis content downloaded from 157.55.39.103 on Mon, 25 Apr 2016 06:37:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

The Protestant Ethic and Political Preference

In a series of articles, Benton Johnson has investigated the effects of ascetic Protestantism on political party preference. His findings indicate that among laymen exposed to fundamentalist teachings, religious involvement would vary directly with Republican party preference. However, among laymen exposed to liberal teachings, religious involvement would vary inversely with Republican identification. This present study shows that church involvement and political party identification are not significantly related. A refinement of Johnson's liberal-fundamentalist dichotomy and his church interaction index again resulted in non-significant findings. Finally, a weighted least-squares procedure was employed yielding a set of linear estimation equations that again showed no significant effect. Results such as these should make the social scientist wary of the dangers associated with the measurement of religion and the contemporary relevance of Weber's Protestant ethic.

Ascetic Protestantism and Political Preference: A Re-Examination

Ascetic Protestantism and Political Preference: A Re-Examination

Church and Sect or Church and Ascetic Protestantism: Ernst Troeltsch's Problem

Church and Sect or Church and Ascetic Protestantism: Ernst Troeltsch's Problem

Ascetic Protestantism and Political Preference

Ascetic Protestantism and Political Preference

On the sources of economic rationality

Professor Kurt Samuelsso n's recent critique1 of Max Weber has been widely acknowledged as a definitive rebuttal of Weber's thesis concerning the role of ascetic Protestantism in the development of modern rational capitalism. Samuelsso n's study expands on nearly all prior arguments against Weber's position and adds several new points as well. The present paper analyzes these criticisms in the light of the aims and analytic and historical context of Weber's own thought. Specifically, it is argued here that Samuelsso n's analysis is based on a faulty appreciation of Weber's intentions and, further, that it wrongly diverts attention from some of the principal factors in contemporary, as well as past, problems of economic development.

Ascetic Protestantism and Political Preference in the Deep South

Using survey data from a Pacific Northwest city, the author demonstrated in a previous paper that even when occupational class is controlled, Protestants who attend fundamentalist churches are more likely to be Republicans than are Protestants who attend liberal churches. The present paper reports an attempt to replicate these findings in a sample from a city in the Deep South. The southern findings duplicate the previously reported relationships in almost every respect. Owing, however, to differences in the distribution of liberalism and fundamentalism in these two citie, the over-all political consequences of these relationships are probably quite distinct in the two cities and in their surrounding regions.

Ascetic Protestantism and Political Preference

Although the influence of religion is less pronounced in this country than in many European countries, it is an important factor in elections and recently has attracted renewed interest among political analysts. Ordinarily, no distinction is made between the various segments of principal religious groups in such analyses. Here is a study which suggests that the liberal and fundamentalist factions within ascetic Protestantism have somewhat different political orientations that in part may counteract some of the class factors in American politics.

Calvinism, Capitalism, and the Middle Classes: Some Afterthoughts on an Old Problem

Previous articleNext article No AccessCalvinism, Capitalism, and the Middle Classes: Some Afterthoughts on an Old ProblemSidney A. BurrellSidney A. Burrell Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Modern History Volume 32, Number 2Jun., 1960 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/238463 Views: 2Total views on this site Citations: 5Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1960 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Milan Zafirovski A neglected gap in the Weber thesis? The long economic lag of capitalism from Protestantism, Social Science Information 58, no.11 (Mar 2019): 3–56.https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018419838492MILAN ZAFIROVSKI THE WEBER THESIS OF CALVINISM AND CAPITALISM-ITS VARIOUS VERSIONS AND THEIR “FATE” IN SOCIAL SCIENCE, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 52, no.11 (Nov 2015): 41–58.https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.21760Milan Zafirovski The sociological core vs. the historical component of the weber thesis: Some deviant cases revisited, (Dec 2013): 75–128.https://doi.org/10.1108/S0278-1204(2013)0000031002S.N. Eisenstadt Origins of the West, Cultural Dynamics 3, no.22 (Jun 1990): 119–153.https://doi.org/10.1177/092137409000300202Craig Johnston Ascetic Protestantism and bourgeois ideology, Politics 15, no.11 (Sep 2007): 45–49.https://doi.org/10.1080/00323268008401731

Ascetic Protestantism, Gambling and the One‐Price System

Ascetic Protestantism, Gambling and the One‐Price System

A Social Interpretation of English Puritanism

Previous articleNext article No AccessA Social Interpretation of English PuritanismCharles H. GeorgeCharles H. George Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Modern History Volume 25, Number 4Dec., 1953 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/237634 Views: 4Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1953 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Craig Johnston Ascetic Protestantism and bourgeois ideology, Politics 15, no.11 (Sep 2007): 45–49.https://doi.org/10.1080/00323268008401731

Ascetic Protestantism and alcoholism.

Ascetic Protestantism and alcoholism.

Ascetic Protestantism and the Development of Science and Technology

Affective neutrality is common to ascetic Protestantism and science; it should therefore reveal itself in a greater scientific and technological output of Protestant societies. Analysis of Sorokin's data on discoveries and inventions exposes their flaws. Tabulation of his figures in the form of population-productivity ratios reveals, contrary to Sorokin's interpretation of his data, the higher productivity of Protestant countries. Independent data confirm this and strongly suggest that a substantial proportion of Catholic countries' inventiveness came from people of Protestant background.

Usury Restrictions in a Mercantile Economy

Our present social sciences, with their concepts of “culture” and “personality,” have made us vividly aware of the interrelatedness of the particular aspects of human behaviour in societies. It comes no longer as a surprise that religion and economic expansiveness are interconnected.In his famous study, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber developed the idea that ascetic Protestantism in some way prepared the way for the calculating spirit of modern, rational capitalism. Here an ideal factor was regarded as an independent variable in history. Although the main thesis has found fairly general acceptance, important criticisms have been levelled at particular points of Weber's essay. While Weber demonstrated the affinity between such ideas as the religiously coloured “calling” and “innerworldly asceticism,” and the more utilitarian and secular economic ideas of later times (Franklin), he did not carefully analyse the precise nature of the influence of the earlier ideas. For that purpose, a detailed study of the economic structure of early modern Europe would have been necessary, and, at least within The Protestant Ethic, Weber abstained from such a study.

The New Year's Resolution and Ascetic Protestantism

the needs of organized labor, agency function and relationships between agencies, personnel standards and practices. For example, a critical situation which resulted from a decrease of local tax funds for relief purposes took on real meaning to them. They were able to see first hand what this meant to people and why funds were reduced despite the needs of the people. The role and the use of the citizen as a volunteer in social agencies became dearer. These students became constructively critical of current agency practices and were soon competent to recognize at least acceptable social work performance and to evaluate professional ethics and relationships. The need for professional skills obtained through graduate social work education, so frequently stressed in class work, became more apparent also. Added to all of this is the acquired self-confidence and poise and ability to function at least superficially in the work-a-day world. They acquire some added competence to manage money and to live within a budget as most of them had to do. They learn what it means to eat three meals a day away from home or college where most of the selection was already made for them. The girls, for example, learned a lot of the routine life of the working girl who comes home from work tired but who must wash out blouses and underclothes and then after seemingly just getting to sleep, get up in order to have breakfast and get to the office by 8:30 or 9:00. Even bus transportation as a necessary item of expense became something that had to be considered. They watched with much personal interest the move toward increasing bus fares throughout the city. In other words, most of them were taking the first step toward assuming the individual roles as independent adults in a productive world and they found this transitional experience to their liking.