How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and the Success of the West

CERC ^ | 12.02.05 | RODNEY STARK

[Coleus]

Christian faith in reason and in progress was the foundation on which Western success was achieved.

When Europeans first began to explore the globe, their greatest surprise was not the existence of the Western Hemisphere, but the extent of their own technological superiority over the rest of the world. Not only were the proud Maya, Aztec, and Inca nations helpless in the face of European intruders, so were the fabled civilizations of the East: China, India, and Islamic nations were "backward" by comparison with 15th-century Europe. How had that happened? Why was it that, although many civilizations had pursued alchemy, the study led to chemistry only in Europe? Why was it that, for centuries, Europeans were the only ones possessed of eyeglasses, chimneys, reliable clocks, heavy cavalry, or a system of music notation? How had the nations that had arisen from the rubble of Rome so greatly surpassed the rest of the world?

Several recent authors have discovered the secret to Western success in geography. But that same geography long also sustained European cultures that were well behind those of Asia. Other commentators have traced the rise of the West to steel, or to guns and sailing ships, and still others have credited a more productive agriculture. The trouble is that those answers are part of what needs to be explained: Why did Europeans excel at metallurgy, shipbuilding, or farming?

The most convincing answer to those questions attributes Western dominance to the rise of capitalism, which took place only in Europe. Even the most militant enemies of capitalism credit it with creating previously undreamed of productivity and progress. In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels proposed that before the rise of capitalism, humans engaged "in the most slothful indolence";

[Coleus]

Amy Welborn's blog on Capitalism and Catholicism

Saturday, December 17, 2005

The Acton debate on the relationship has featured blog posts on Rodney Stark and David Brooks’s column on Starks.

Amy Welborn’s site has more in these two posts (here and here), with a somewhat lively debate in the comments sections.

Several of the comments regard Max Weber’s thesis on the Protestant work ethic and capitalism, and reveal a misunderstanding of what makes for economic growth in Ireland and the lack of it in Latin America.

It’s pretty obvious there are few Actonites or economists taking place in the debate over at Amy Welborn’s. If they had been reading the Journal of Markets and Morality, they could have saved themselves a lot of time.

Capitalism and Christianity, Part II

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Jordan Ballor’s recent post on “Christian Reason and the Spirit of Capitalism” hit onto something big.

In today’s New York Times, op-ed columnist David Brooks weighs in with a piece entitled “The Holy Capitalists”. (Once again, the Times has blocked access to non-subscribers. If you aren’t a subscriber, buy today’s Times just to read this column - it’s worth it.)

Brooks calls the debate over the foundations of success the most important in the social sciences today and praises Rodney Stark’s book “The Victory of Reason” for its unconventional take on Western progress.

“Religion didn’t stifle economic and scientific ideas - it nurtured them. [...] Catholic theology had taught [European scientists and economists] that God had created the universe according to universal laws that reason could discover.”

He concludes, “Ideas and culture drive civilizations. The Catholic Church nutured one of the most impressive economic takeoffs in human history. Today, as Catholicism spreads in Africa and China, it’s important to understand the beliefs that encourage people to work hard and grow rich.”

Some of these themes can be found in Pope Benedict XVI’s recent World Day of Peace Message (albeit in less provocative language). And they are also of great interest to the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, headed by Prof. Mary Ann Glendon.

Maybe this discussion will be joined on the letters page of the “newpaper of record”. And maybe the Times will even allow non-subscribers to take part.

This entry was posted by Kishore Jayabalan on Thursday, December 15, 2005 at 05:40. and is filed under Business and Society. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own blog. All new comments are subject to moderation before being displayed.

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

1. Amy Welborn's blog on Capitalism and Catholicism

   The Acton debate on the relationship has featured blog posts on Rodney Stark and David Brook’s column on Starks. Amy Welborn’s site has more in these two posts (here and here), with a somewhat lively debate in the comments sections. SeveWeblog: Acton Institute PowerBlog
   Tracked: Dec 17, 09:36

2. A Stark Contrast

   Kishore has helpfully pointed out the discussions going on elsewhere about Rodney Stark’s piece and the related NYT David Brook’s op-ed. He derides some of the commenters for their lack of economic understanding, but I’d like to applaud Weblog: Acton Institute PowerBlog
   Tracked: Dec 20, 10:28

[Coleus]

Christian Reason and the Spirit of Capitalism

Monday, December 12, 2005

Here’s a far-ranging essay that has a central thesis which is quite possibly fatally flawed but still touches on some very important points: “A series of developments, in which reason won the day, gave unique shape to Western culture and institutions. And the most important of those victories occurred within Christianity. While the other world religions emphasized mystery and intuition, Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guides to religious truth.”

In “How Christianity (and Capitalism) Led to Science,” Baylor University Professor Rodney Stark examines the role that Christianity, especially rational Christianity, played in the flowering of Western civilization. Stark points out the flaw in Max Weber’s thesis that capitalism was founded on the Protestant work ethic (“the rise of capitalism in Europe preceded the Reformation by centuries”).

Stated elsewhere, Stark’s modified thesis is this: “But, if one digs deeper, it becomes clear that the truly fundamental basis not only for capitalism, but for the rise of the West, was an extraordinary faith in reason.” This “faith in reason” was most importantly manifest in Christianity, which, according to Stark, held a consistent dominant view from the church fathers, through the Middle Ages, and up through the Reformation and the Enlightenment. Quotes from Augustine and Tertullian are used to shore up his claim that “from early days, the church fathers taught that reason was the supreme gift from God and the means to progressively increase understanding of Scripture and revelation.”

Stark does debunk many pervasive myths in addition to the Weber thesis, such as that the supremacy of the West was based on the secularization and “overcoming” of religious barriers to progress. “Nonsense,” he writes. “The success of the West, including the rise of science, rested entirely on religious foundations, and the people who brought it about were devout Christians.” Stark also exposes “the incredible fiction that, from the fall of Rome until about the 15th century, Europe was submerged in the Dark Ages — centuries of ignorance, superstition, and misery — from which it was suddenly, almost miraculously, rescued; first by the Renaissance and then by the Enlightenment.”

Still, Stark’s depiction of the role of reason in the great history of Christian theology is rather markedly simplistic. There are a great many strands of different approaches to the relationship between faith and reason, and not all of them can be disposed of simply by juxtaposing “mystery” and “reason.” Augustine’s view of reason seems particularly distorted by Stark.

Stark makes no distinction between the rational Christianity of the Enlightenment, for example, and the view of reason in Christianity in the dominant Augustinian traditions in the Middle Ages and Reformation. One key aspect that is overlooked is the Christian regard not just for reason in general, but with the reason of regenerate Christians, as opposed to the fallen reason exercised by the unregenerate.

It may well be, in fact, that “the truly fundamental basis not only for capitalism, but for the rise of the West, was an extraordinary faith in reason,” but from this it does not follow that there is a unanimous Christian approach to reason throughout church history, or that the modern scientific age was not ushered in by an increasing emphasis on reason and rationality as external norms for Christian theology (something quite foreign to most premodern approaches to theology).

All in all, Stark’s piece is a valuable one, but should be approached with some critical caution. He is at his strongest when debunking myths about the rise of capitalism and doing good economic history and analysis: “Tyranny makes a few people richer; capitalism can make everyone richer.” He does a good job of tracing interest in science and technology to a general Christian regard for human reason. He stumbles, however, in his depiction of reason in relation to the enterprise of Christian theology. Stark’s contention that a univocal “faith in reason” existed throughout the last 2,000 years of Christian theology falls flat.

Update: A discussion of this piece is developing over at Mere Comments.

[i.l.e.]

Wasn't it an Italian monk and teacher named Paccioli who invented double entry bookkeeping? He invented it so that his pupils could keep track of their money from home and have enough to pay him for their lessons while they lived well off daddy's money?

Double entry bookeeping is the beginning of the organization of western business structure. Nothing else has come remotely close to providing the level of organization necessary for large economic endeavors.

[son of caesar]

interesting that you select an italian invention to illustrate your case. while italians were the locomotive of the renaissance, something kept them from exploiting their inventions while northern europe reaped a world empire from those same italian inventions. you ask what is that thing? well, the major difference is papism vs. protestanism, you make up your own mind. as evidence, look at the nations dominated by the catholic church vs those that embraced protestanism. again, you make the call. finally, why is it that columbus could not find three ships in all of catholic italy, but he did find three ships in catholic spain? ok, bad analogy huh? then how about italian verrazano needing to go to france to find ships for the new world or the italian caboto, renamed cabot by the english queen who financed his excursiosn into the new world for england, not for italy. point is three major european powers came to the new world, all led by italians who could not find one ship in pope controlled italy. hmmmmmmmm, that sounds like evidence to me.

[i.l.e.]

No question, that the locus of freedom and invention was not in Italy. But all said, it's still pretty neat that anybody invented double entry bookkeeping. It sounds simple but it provides organizational elegance to a previously nearly impossible accounting task.

The demand for freedom from corrupt government both religious and secular provided the energy and motivation for the rise of western civilzation. I can't imagine what ourlives would be like today if brave ancestors hadn't made hard choices and gone against the Roman church and its stranglehold on all things political.

[KC_Conspirator]

Stark also exposes “the incredible fiction that, from the fall of Rome until about the 15th century, Europe was submerged in the Dark Ages — centuries of ignorance, superstition, and misery — from which it was suddenly, almost miraculously, rescued; first by the Renaissance and then by the Enlightenment.”

I would agree with that. There were some setbacks from about 800-1200, but overall, when you get to the 13th century there are obvious advancements and the groundwork was laid for the Renaissance.

[Gamecock]

More specifically, the Calvinist branch of Christianity

[Nihil Obstat]

Very interesting article and links, thank you. Reminds me of the book "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization"

Table of Contents is listed here if you are interested.

The Indispensable Church
A Light in the Darkness
How the Monks Saved Civilization
The Church and the University
The Church and Science
The Origins of International Law
The Church and Economics
How Catholic Charity Changed the World
The Church and Western Law
The Church and Western Morality

A little from the "Church and Science" chapter is available here:

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0101.html

[Coleus]

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537941/posts?page=5#5

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537941/posts?page=43#43

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537941/posts?page=36#36

 

How the catholic church built western civilization

[Notwithstanding]

Dr. Thomas E. Woods Jr., author of the "Politically Correct Guide to American History", has a great book entitled

"How the Catholic Church Created Western Civilization".
Regnery Publishing, Inc. (May 2, 2005)
ISBN: 0895260387
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895260387/002-8453228-1059209?v=glance&n=283155

I bought them both and also got the audio books.

The Catholic one touches on the themes in this thread. Highly recommended.

[Notwithstanding]

I see you, too, are well-read...

[wardaddy]

I have always thought this. Providential.

But we are bad.