Since I tweeted about this a couple of people have asked for elaboration, so I'm posting it to my rarely used blog. Cheers!
Recently I read "People of God" which is a Catholic perspective on the history of Christianity and the Protestant Reformation. There was some discussion of John Calvin versus Augustine and it mentioned that one of the lines of thought that became prevalent among believers in John Calvin's doctrine was that worldly blessings were a sign of divine election to salvation. In a sense - the origin of the protestant work ethic - work hard, achieve success and well, looks like I'm elected based on how much God has given me! The premise mentioned in "People of God" is that the lack of ability to know one's election in pure Calvinism drove many to strive to at least appear to be elected by material acquisition and accomplishment. In the absence of any other way to know one's state of salvation, perhaps the attainment of worldly success isn't a bad indicator (although this seems to clash directly with Ecclesiastes, Job, and Jesus' teaching about the tower of Siloam, etc).
So my theory is, this byproduct of Calvinism is a component of our modern American culture of overconsumption and posturing over our neighbors and peers to appear successful and blessed. The culture of debt and indebtedness is so pervasive that, as Dave Ramsey points out, many worship at the altar of FICO. The desire to appear blessed that birthed the "Protestant Ethic" may also have aided in the creation of the American materialistic debt culture. It seems Americans feel our value is so closely tied to our possessions that we need to accrue highly irresponsible credit card debt to the tune of $8,329 per household at the end of 2008. (Source: Nilson Report, April 2009) I'm not saying that many Calvinistic Christians consciously follow this line of thought today, but rather that it could be a component of the cultural soup that drives many Americans to ruin our lives (and our country) through unsustainable and ruinous borrowing practices.
Also, I am not aware of this physical blessing indication of election being a legitimate teaching of Calvin - but rather a somewhat subconscious outgrowth of the protestant culture created by the doctrine.
9 comments:
I am amazed at how an individual's perspective affects what they retain what they read. I didn't retain the while Calvin thing when I read the book.
What'd Robin say??!!
As far as Calvinism's influence being partly responsible for the current crisis, I think this is interesting but a bit of a stretch. Clearly, it's a misinterpretation of Calvin's teaching and reformed thought.
It would be just as easy to tie the crisis to Armenianism whereby people who believe they have all the power to control their eternal salvation would be led to believe that they can have anything they want here on Earth. This can lead to the current cult of prosperity (which should be noted has more Armenian than Calvinistic traits).
In the end, I think it's symptomatic of the larger sin of pride and not one particular school of thought.
I think this is a correct view as we discussed the other day. Historians of Economic thought (with no interest in religious bias) point this out regularly. The Protestant Work Ethic and conspicuous consumption came directly from diehard Calvinists and was a direct result of feeling insecure (Am I among the Elect or not among the Elect?).
Arminianism may lead to the same; but, there are many who reject both Calvinism and Arminianism. Attaching Arminianism to non-Calvinists is the fallacy of the excluded middle or "false dilemma."
One who does not see God as arbitrarily choosing who will and won't be saved but sees salvation by grace (the faithful actions of Christ on the cross) through their own faith in Christ (decision to trust - as Abraham chose - Gen. 15/Rom 4), can live with confidence in salvation (they still must work the works of Christ as part of the covenant stipulations - Gal. 3-5; Rom. 6-8; etc).
Laying that aside, it is undoubtedly true that the evangelical world (predominantly influenced by Luther and/or Calvin) is rife not just with debt (they may listen to Dave Ramsey) but certainly with materialism. Liberals tend to ignore moral issues (esp. related to porneia) and focus on caring for the poor; conservatives (evangelicals) do the reverse (there are exceptions to both, of course). The influence of culture is extraordinary.
For McConrad. Robin said ...
Thought provoking, but the love of money, idolatry and covetousness are much more to blame and have been around a lot longer than Calvinism.
I agree with you. It started with the "fall".
For the record, I'm not saying Calvinism caused the financial crisis or the staggering debt of individual Americans. I do think that the insecurity that Calvinism can breed is a part of the American culture that makes it
"ok" for Christians to live a very materialistic lifestyle. Often that materialistic lifestyle requires excessive lending & debt. As mentioned, there are obviously many other motives in our culture as well - such as greed & envy. Thanks for all the interesting thoughts!
Duly noted, brother. :)
When I first read the subject line, I thought you were referring to Calvin and Hobbes...
If someone can tie Calvin and Hobbes to the financial crises, I will enjoy reading about it...
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