Calvinistic Predestination Theme Analysis

Though the German monk Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation, French theologian John Calvin arguably played an equally significant role in early Protestantism. Living in Switzerland during the Reformation, John Calvin developed the set of doctrines known as Calvinism—most notably the doctrine of predestination, which states that all of humanity is utterly wretched and God simply chooses a small minority to grant salvation to, damning the rest as they deserve. Beyond Calvinism, this doctrine went on to influence many subsequent Protestant traditions, particularly the Puritans. In sociologist Max Weber’s view, Calvinism’s doctrine of predestination is “unique [and] of the utmost psychological efficacy,” developing several traits crucial to the rise of the “capitalist spirit.” Weber argues that Calvinism’s doctrines play an outsized role in developing the modern capitalist spirit, especially through the doctrine of predestination which encourages an “austere,” individualistic, and “methodical” approach to life, conducive to capitalist enterprise.

John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination teaches Protestants that their salvation is never certain, that they are constantly “being put to the test” by God, creating a deep insecurity within them and an obsession with their own performance. As Weber relates, Calvin’s doctrine of predestination teaches that God decides which people are granted salvation and which people are damned, even before they ever exist. Unlike Catholicism or Lutheranism—where one can earn salvation through repentance—Calvinism teaches its followers that their salvation is completely beyond their control.

However, the doctrine also teaches that the “elect,” those destined for salvation, will manifest their elected status by a virtuous life of “tireless labor.” Weber argues that, for Calvinists, this uncertainty regarding their own salvation results in deep insecurity, because they can never be sure if they are going to heaven or hell. However, by committing themselves to unceasing work and carefully monitoring their own virtue, Calvinists can provide their own “self-assurance” that they must be among the elect, since their lives reflect what a Christian life should look like. Weber states that this results in the Calvinists—and the Puritans, who inherited the belief—constantly feeling as if they are “being put to the test” to prove their salvation to themselves and each other, based on how faithfully they labor through life. Weber suggests that this insecurity results in an obsession with work—sitting alongside Luther’s concept of “calling”—and rigid virtuosity. While the Catholic can be lax in their daily life, since they can always repent and regain their good standing with God, the Calvinist approaches life and work with a severe rationality and an intensely “methodical” approach, even keeping journals to track their own spiritual and occupational progress. When Calvinists work and abstain from pleasures and emotions, they are not only being obedient to John Calvin’s ideal of God—they are also proving that they are among God’s elect and will be saved from hell, since good works are “indispensable as signs of election.”

Along with obsession with performance, Weber argues that Calvinism’s predestination creates a “tremendous inner loneliness” which results in the “pessimistically tinted individualism” that pervades the capitalist spirit. Calvinists believe that neither church nor community nor sacraments can bring salvation—only God’s sovereign will can. Weber thus argues that Calvinists are each “obliged to tread his path alone, toward a destiny which had been decreed from all eternity.” Weber states that this loneliness creates a strong-willed individualist mentality unique to Calvinist traditions, contrasting especially with Catholics, who believe that they stand united together before God. Weber finds this pessimistic individualism riddled throughout Puritan theology as well, since it descends directly from Calvinism. In the famous Puritan allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, the main character, Christian, lives in the City of Destruction (symbolizing damnation) with his wife and children. However, he feels compelled to go to the Celestial City (symbolizing salvation). Leaving his crying wife and children behind him, Christian puts his fingers in his ears and shouts, “Life, eternal life,” and runs away from them, not even considering their safety or well-being until he himself is safe in the Celestial City. Weber states that this story perfectly articulates “the mood of the Puritan [or Calvinist] believer who was basically only concerned with himself, and had thoughts only for his own salvation,” suggesting a selfish level of individualism in the belief system. Weber notes that Catholics tend to oppose the “striving after material gain which exceeded one’s own needs,” since it “only seemed possible at the expense of others, and must therefore necessarily be regarded as reprehensible.” However, his analysis of Calvinist individualism suggests that concern for others is largely eliminated through Calvinist thinking. Striving after gains, even at other’s expense, is no longer “reprehensible,” since the only people Calvinists must answer for is themselves.

Weber argues that Calvinism’s obsession with performance and pessimistic individualism are significant contributors to the development of the capitalist ethos, since succeeding in a capitalist economy requires ceaseless and methodical effort, as well as a certain level of apathy toward other people. These traits moved through Calvinism into subsequent traditions, such as the Presbyterians and especially the English Puritans, who shaped early American culture and fostered its intensely capitalistic national attitude. Overall, Weber is not kind to Calvinism and its doctrine of predestination, describing what he calls “the pathos of its inhumanity.” Nevertheless, he recognizes Calvinism as uniquely “logically consistent,” which explains its influence in Protestantism and its dominant role in developing the capitalist ethos.