Martin Luther Character Analysis

The monastic style of life is now not only completely worthless as a means of justification before God (that much is self-evident), [Luther] also sees it as a manifestation unloving egoism and an abdication from secular duties. In contrast, labor in a secular calling appears as the outward expression of Christian charity.

The salvation of souls and this alone is at the heart of [Protestants’] life and work. Their ethical goals and the practical effects of their teaching are all anchored firmly here and are the consequences of purely religious motives. And we shall therefore have to be prepared for the cultural effects of the Reformation to be in large measure […] unforeseen and unwished for.

Tireless labor in a calling was urged as the best possible means of attaining this self-assurance. This and this alone would drive away religious doubt and give assurance of one’s state of grace.

For the Baptists sects the intensity of their interest in the economic aspects of the calling was considerably increased by various factors. One of these was the refusal to accept state office, which was originally regarded as a religious duty deriving from rejection of the world […] and the strict refusal to bear arms and swear on oath disqualified them from public office.

If we may sum up what has been said so far, then, innerworldly Protestant asceticism works with all it force against the uninhibited enjoyment of possessions; it discourages consumption, especially the consumption of luxuries. Conversely, it has the effect of liberating the acquisition of wealth from the inhibitions of traditionalist ethics; it breaks the fetters on the striving for gain by not only legalizing it, but […] seeing it as directly willed by God.

The monastic style of life is now not only completely worthless as a means of justification before God (that much is self-evident), [Luther] also sees it as a manifestation unloving egoism and an abdication from secular duties. In contrast, labor in a secular calling appears as the outward expression of Christian charity.

The salvation of souls and this alone is at the heart of [Protestants’] life and work. Their ethical goals and the practical effects of their teaching are all anchored firmly here and are the consequences of purely religious motives. And we shall therefore have to be prepared for the cultural effects of the Reformation to be in large measure […] unforeseen and unwished for.

Tireless labor in a calling was urged as the best possible means of attaining this self-assurance. This and this alone would drive away religious doubt and give assurance of one’s state of grace.

For the Baptists sects the intensity of their interest in the economic aspects of the calling was considerably increased by various factors. One of these was the refusal to accept state office, which was originally regarded as a religious duty deriving from rejection of the world […] and the strict refusal to bear arms and swear on oath disqualified them from public office.

If we may sum up what has been said so far, then, innerworldly Protestant asceticism works with all it force against the uninhibited enjoyment of possessions; it discourages consumption, especially the consumption of luxuries. Conversely, it has the effect of liberating the acquisition of wealth from the inhibitions of traditionalist ethics; it breaks the fetters on the striving for gain by not only legalizing it, but […] seeing it as directly willed by God.