[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.For this reason, the belief in predestinationbecome greater importance in Calvinism as this religion became more "civilian" it hadbeen at the outset.The most characteristic difference between the Puritan and the Islampredestination is found in the relationship with secular rulership.The Puritan belief inpredestination was regarded by authorities everywhere as dangerous to the state and ashostile to authority, because it made Puritans skeptical of the legitimacy of all secularpower.On the other hand, in Islam the family and following of Umar, who weredenounced specifically for their "secular" allegation, were supporters of thepredestination, since they expected to see their rulership, which had been established byillegitimate means, legitimized by the predestined will of Allah.Clearly, every use ofpredestination to determine concrete events in history, rather than one's destiny in theworld beyond, immediately causes predestination to lose its ethical, rational character.The belief in predestination practically always had an ascetic effect among the simplewarriors or the early Islamic faith, which in the realm of ethics exerted largely externaland ritual demands, but the ascetic effects of the Islamic belief in predestination were notrational, and for this reason they were repressed in everyday life.The Islamic belief inpredestination easily assumed fatalistic characteristics in the beliefs of the masses,namely, kismet, and for this reason predestination did not eliminate magic from thepopular religion.(I.3.d) Chinese DestinyFinally, the Chinese patrimonial bureaucracy, in correspondence with the character of itsConfucian ethic, considered knowledge of "destiny" as the guarantee of noble attitude.On the other hand, the Confucian notion of "destiny" inevitably entailed fatalisticcharacteristics in the magical religion of the masses, though in the religion of theeducated it assumed approximately a middle position between providence and fate(moira).For just as the moira, together with the courage to endure it, nurtured the heroicpride of warriors, so also did predestination feed the "pharisaical" pride of the heroes ofcitizenry asceticism.(I.3.e) Aristocracy of PredestinationBut in no other religion was the pride of the aristocracy of predestined salvation soclosely associated with the person of a vocation and with the idea that success inrationalized activity demonstrates god's blessing as in Puritanism (and hence in no otherreligion was the influence of ascetic motivation upon the attitude toward economicactivity so strong).Predestination too is a belief of virtuosi, who alone can accept thethought of the everlasting "double decree." But as this doctrine continued to flow into theroutine of everyday living and into the religion of the masses, its gloomy severenessbecame more and more intolerable.Finally, all that remained of it in Occidental asceticPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com Protestantism was a remains (caput mortuum), the contribution which this doctrine ofgrace made to the rational capitalistic orientation, namely the concept of the methodicaldemonstration of vocation in one's economic conduct.The Neo-Calvinism of Kuyper nolonger dared to maintain the pure doctrine of predestined grace.Nevertheless, thedoctrine was never completely eliminated from Calvinism; it only altered its form.Underall circumstances the determinism of predestination remained an instrument for thegreatest possible systematization and centralization of the "ethic of heart." The "totalpersonality," as we would say today, has been provided with the accent of eternal valueby "God's election," and not by any individual action of the person in question.(I.3.f) This-worldly DeterminismThere is a non-religious counterpart of this religious evaluation, one based on a worldlydeterminism.It is that distinctive type of "shame" and, so to speak, godless feeling of sinwhich characterizes modern secular person precisely because of systematization of theethic of heart, regardless of its metaphysical basis.Not that one has done a particulardeed, but that by one's unalterable qualities, acquired without one's cooperation one "is"such that one could commit the deed --this is the secret anguish borne by modern person,and this is also what the others, in their "Phariseeism" (now turned determinism), blamehim for.It is a "merciless" attitude because there is no significant possibility of"forgiveness," "contrition," or "restitution"-- in much the same way that the religiousbelief in predestination was merciless, but at least it could conceive of some impenetrabledivine rationality.(J) RELIGIOUS ETHICS AND THE WORLD(J.1) Internalization Of Religious EthicThe more a religion of salvation has been systematized and internalized in the directionof an ethic of heart, the greater becomes its tension toward the reality of the world.(J.1.a) Ritualistic ReligionThis tension between religion and the world appears less and least as a matter ofprinciple, so long as the religion is a simple ritualistic or legalistic kind.In these forms,religions of salvation generally exert the same effects as those of magical ethics.That isto say, such a religion generally assigns inviolable sanction to those conventions receivedby it, since all the adherents of a particular god are interested in avoiding the wrath of thedeity, and hence in punishing any transgression of the norms.Consequently, once aninjunction has achieved the status of a divine order, it rises out of the circle of alterableconventions into the rank of sanctity.Henceforth, the sanctions of a religion are regarded,like the order of the cosmos as a whole, as eternally valid norm --only susceptible ofinterpretation, but not of alteration, unless the god himself reveals a new commandment.In this stage, the religion exercises a stereotyping effect on the entire realm of legalorders and social conventions, in the same way that symbolism stereotypes certainPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com substantive elements of a culture and prescription of magical taboos stereotypes concreterelationships to human beings and to goods.The sacred books of the Hindus, Muslims,Parsees and Jews, and the classical books of the Chinese treat legal prescriptions inexactly the same manner that they treat ceremonial and ritual norms.The law is sacredlaw.The rulership of religiously stereotyped law constitutes one of the most significantlimitations on the rationalization of the legal order and hence also on the rationalizationof the economy.Conversely, when ethical prophecies have broken through the stereotyped magical orritual norms, a sudden or a gradual revolution may take place, even in the daily order ofhuman living, and particularly in the realm of economics.It is self-evident, of course, thatthere are limits to the power of religion in both spheres of stereotyping and breakingthrough the order.It is by no means true that religion is always the decisive element whenit appears in connection with the aforementioned transformation.Furthermore, religionnowhere creates certain economic conditions unless there are also certain possibilities ofsuch an economic transformation.Of course, these power of religious sanction isconditioned by even more powerful drives toward the existing relationships andconstellations of interests.It is not possible to state any general formula that willsummarize the comparative substantive powers of the various factors involved in such atransformation or will summarize the manner of their "accommodation" to one another [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl centka.pev.pl
.For this reason, the belief in predestinationbecome greater importance in Calvinism as this religion became more "civilian" it hadbeen at the outset.The most characteristic difference between the Puritan and the Islampredestination is found in the relationship with secular rulership.The Puritan belief inpredestination was regarded by authorities everywhere as dangerous to the state and ashostile to authority, because it made Puritans skeptical of the legitimacy of all secularpower.On the other hand, in Islam the family and following of Umar, who weredenounced specifically for their "secular" allegation, were supporters of thepredestination, since they expected to see their rulership, which had been established byillegitimate means, legitimized by the predestined will of Allah.Clearly, every use ofpredestination to determine concrete events in history, rather than one's destiny in theworld beyond, immediately causes predestination to lose its ethical, rational character.The belief in predestination practically always had an ascetic effect among the simplewarriors or the early Islamic faith, which in the realm of ethics exerted largely externaland ritual demands, but the ascetic effects of the Islamic belief in predestination were notrational, and for this reason they were repressed in everyday life.The Islamic belief inpredestination easily assumed fatalistic characteristics in the beliefs of the masses,namely, kismet, and for this reason predestination did not eliminate magic from thepopular religion.(I.3.d) Chinese DestinyFinally, the Chinese patrimonial bureaucracy, in correspondence with the character of itsConfucian ethic, considered knowledge of "destiny" as the guarantee of noble attitude.On the other hand, the Confucian notion of "destiny" inevitably entailed fatalisticcharacteristics in the magical religion of the masses, though in the religion of theeducated it assumed approximately a middle position between providence and fate(moira).For just as the moira, together with the courage to endure it, nurtured the heroicpride of warriors, so also did predestination feed the "pharisaical" pride of the heroes ofcitizenry asceticism.(I.3.e) Aristocracy of PredestinationBut in no other religion was the pride of the aristocracy of predestined salvation soclosely associated with the person of a vocation and with the idea that success inrationalized activity demonstrates god's blessing as in Puritanism (and hence in no otherreligion was the influence of ascetic motivation upon the attitude toward economicactivity so strong).Predestination too is a belief of virtuosi, who alone can accept thethought of the everlasting "double decree." But as this doctrine continued to flow into theroutine of everyday living and into the religion of the masses, its gloomy severenessbecame more and more intolerable.Finally, all that remained of it in Occidental asceticPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com Protestantism was a remains (caput mortuum), the contribution which this doctrine ofgrace made to the rational capitalistic orientation, namely the concept of the methodicaldemonstration of vocation in one's economic conduct.The Neo-Calvinism of Kuyper nolonger dared to maintain the pure doctrine of predestined grace.Nevertheless, thedoctrine was never completely eliminated from Calvinism; it only altered its form.Underall circumstances the determinism of predestination remained an instrument for thegreatest possible systematization and centralization of the "ethic of heart." The "totalpersonality," as we would say today, has been provided with the accent of eternal valueby "God's election," and not by any individual action of the person in question.(I.3.f) This-worldly DeterminismThere is a non-religious counterpart of this religious evaluation, one based on a worldlydeterminism.It is that distinctive type of "shame" and, so to speak, godless feeling of sinwhich characterizes modern secular person precisely because of systematization of theethic of heart, regardless of its metaphysical basis.Not that one has done a particulardeed, but that by one's unalterable qualities, acquired without one's cooperation one "is"such that one could commit the deed --this is the secret anguish borne by modern person,and this is also what the others, in their "Phariseeism" (now turned determinism), blamehim for.It is a "merciless" attitude because there is no significant possibility of"forgiveness," "contrition," or "restitution"-- in much the same way that the religiousbelief in predestination was merciless, but at least it could conceive of some impenetrabledivine rationality.(J) RELIGIOUS ETHICS AND THE WORLD(J.1) Internalization Of Religious EthicThe more a religion of salvation has been systematized and internalized in the directionof an ethic of heart, the greater becomes its tension toward the reality of the world.(J.1.a) Ritualistic ReligionThis tension between religion and the world appears less and least as a matter ofprinciple, so long as the religion is a simple ritualistic or legalistic kind.In these forms,religions of salvation generally exert the same effects as those of magical ethics.That isto say, such a religion generally assigns inviolable sanction to those conventions receivedby it, since all the adherents of a particular god are interested in avoiding the wrath of thedeity, and hence in punishing any transgression of the norms.Consequently, once aninjunction has achieved the status of a divine order, it rises out of the circle of alterableconventions into the rank of sanctity.Henceforth, the sanctions of a religion are regarded,like the order of the cosmos as a whole, as eternally valid norm --only susceptible ofinterpretation, but not of alteration, unless the god himself reveals a new commandment.In this stage, the religion exercises a stereotyping effect on the entire realm of legalorders and social conventions, in the same way that symbolism stereotypes certainPDF Creator - PDF4Free v2.0 http://www.pdf4free.com substantive elements of a culture and prescription of magical taboos stereotypes concreterelationships to human beings and to goods.The sacred books of the Hindus, Muslims,Parsees and Jews, and the classical books of the Chinese treat legal prescriptions inexactly the same manner that they treat ceremonial and ritual norms.The law is sacredlaw.The rulership of religiously stereotyped law constitutes one of the most significantlimitations on the rationalization of the legal order and hence also on the rationalizationof the economy.Conversely, when ethical prophecies have broken through the stereotyped magical orritual norms, a sudden or a gradual revolution may take place, even in the daily order ofhuman living, and particularly in the realm of economics.It is self-evident, of course, thatthere are limits to the power of religion in both spheres of stereotyping and breakingthrough the order.It is by no means true that religion is always the decisive element whenit appears in connection with the aforementioned transformation.Furthermore, religionnowhere creates certain economic conditions unless there are also certain possibilities ofsuch an economic transformation.Of course, these power of religious sanction isconditioned by even more powerful drives toward the existing relationships andconstellations of interests.It is not possible to state any general formula that willsummarize the comparative substantive powers of the various factors involved in such atransformation or will summarize the manner of their "accommodation" to one another [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]