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Comparing Max Weber's Protestant Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism

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Richard Torres McCoy SOC340A May 4th Wealth and God’s Favoritism and the Prosperity Gospel In the book, “Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” Max Weber argues that religion, and Protestantism in particular, gave rise to the aspect of capitalism in the society. Success and wealth are all part of God’s plan for his people, and those who attain the same reflect the aspect of God’s will in their lives. In a modern setting, the same idea is seen in the prosperity gospel that is available among protestant churches, where one is expected to express faith, work hard, and witness God’s favor being manifested in their lives. Weber argues that the religious beliefs of groups like the Calvinist was responsible for how the world viewed the …show more content…

The prosperity gospel is prevalent in the protestant churches of today, where pastors preach on the premise of riches being part of God’s promise to his people. There are messages in church today about individuals becoming wealthy as part of what they were promised by God, where all they have to do is believe. Most people go to church because of the prosperity gospel, where they are asked to claim their blessing and witness what God has in store for them in terms of how rich they can become. The message of today’s church is based on the notion of “name it and claim it,” where Christians are asked to name their blessing or what they want and claim the same from God because it is within their rights to acquire wealth. In this case, pastors encourage individuals to work hard, give tithes, and await God’s promises of riches in their life by claiming them. The prosperity message of today is characterized by the opinion that God wants his believers to be wealthy. Here, poverty is seen as something that symbolizes that an individual is not doing right by God. Pastors use Bible verses such as “God shall bless the work of your hands” to create the prosperity gospel. Here, individuals who work hard will automatically witness the will of God in their lives that shall be manifested through more riches. By working hard, they are exemplifying what God wants and intends for their life, which they thus expect to be translated into blessings in the form of riches. Hence, the prosperity gospel exemplifies the same attributes of success being a reflection of God’s favor in a person’s

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Wealth “Soft” from “Hard” Prosperity Gospel Bowler observed that, around 1990s, prosperity preachers combined their work with therapeutic services such as weight loss, emotional relief, fitness capacity to work, self-esteem among many more. Health and wealth were still the main ideas sold by the prosperity preachers just that they had introduced new products targeting women seeking to gain a better body shape and individuals with low self esteem. A good example of this prosperity gospel trend is Joyce Mayer, whose personal triumph over marital failure and childhood abuse brings her ministry to shape. Her audience is middle aged women who can associate themselves with the pains of weight loss and relational challenges. Victory Prosperity gospel

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Andrew Carnegie was the one who wrote the Gospel of Wealth and it was a positive idea for the people who are not wealthy. Carnegie says that the upper class has a responsibility to address the issues of the wealth inequality. In the Gospel of Wealth, Carnegie stated that the wealthy class can be a better state than the government or state. Carnegie also states that the wealthy should dispense wealth and it should be a way that does not promote drunkenness. Carnegie argues that there are two types of wealthy people.

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His 1889 article “The Gospel of Wealth” urged

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During His time, both classes never assorted together, and it was common for the rich not to help the poor. Kraybill aims to help the readers to see Jesus’ teachings from a different view. Kraybill believes

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Social Gospel was a Protestant Christian movement in the 19th and 20th centuries. In Social Darwinism, a person’s wealth, social status, and property showed their fitness. Poor people were considered lazy and fell under wealthy people and were seen as weak, or not fit to survive. Social Gospel covered excess urbanization and industrialization. Christian people helped workers and poor people and favored them over wealthy people.

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When Jesus Became God is written by Richard Rubenstein suggests that Jesus was divine, but they do not insist upon it. Hundreds of years after Jesus ' death, the Church councils made Jesus ' divinity a central tenet of belief among many of his followers. When Jesus Became God is a narrative of the history of the Christians ' early efforts to define Christianity by convening councils and writing creeds. Rubenstein is most interested in the battle between Arius, Presbyter of Alexandria, and Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. Arius the leader of the Arians said that Christ did not share God 's nature but was the first creature God created.

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One of the many Gospel of Wealth advocates was Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919, who was an industrialist who emigrated from Scotland to American in 1848 (Wall, ANBO). Carnegie’s “Wealth” written in 1889

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2.The three of these platforms have a wide range of views on poverty and the best course of action to eliminate poverty for good or at least get people on their feet. For starters, The gospel of Wealth written by Andrew Carnegie takes the viewpoint of the Wealthiest men in America. In his writings, he makes sure to explain that the reason that people are homeless and on the street is because they lack a good work ethic. The wealthy men are, “skilled and intelligent,” and view that being in “Poverty is a kind of character flaw.” Though he clearly does not feel sorry for these people because he believes it is deserved, the main point of the gospel is that the Wealthy should give back to the people.

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