Weber identified yet another force operating in the Protestant Reformation that drives European society toward profound individualism. This force derives from the theology of a second reformer, John Calvin. As a Swiss lawyer who strongly believed in order and predictability, Calvin could not imagine that an omniscient and omnipotent God would allow his creation to operate in a disorderly manner, subject to the admonitions and prayers of priests or the specific “good” works performed by individual believers. Rather, Calvin’s God would create a university that operates like a finely crafted Swiss Watch. Everything would be determined (“pre-destination”) at the point when the world was created. Each human being is born into a specific pre-determined role – there is no free will—and will move on to a pre-assigned post-death existence in heaven or hell.
We can’t do anything to change God’s order and can only hope for his grace-ful assignment of us to an eternity of bliss rather than an everlasting agony. Calvin (and in particular his successors) suggested that God probably provides some sign of personal salvation for those of us, during our life, who are pre-destined to a heavenly hereafter.
Specifically, early Calvinists proposed that the chosen ones are likely to experience individual economic prosperity during their life on earth. This is an important shift in perspective, for European societies under the tight grip of the Catholic Church banned all forms of “usuary” (making money through the use of money—for example, interest on a loan). Usuary was identified as a cardinal sin and, as a result, only those who were already condemned after death (the Jews) were allowed to establish banks and other monetary institutions.
The Calvinist made the successful individual pursuit of wealth suddenly not only permissible but actually honored (as a sign of God’s grace). Poor people were obviously not among those pre-destined for graceful salvation. They were to be comforted (for it is not their fault that they are poor—it is predestined); however, one should not feel guilty about acquiring wealth (especially if this wealth is collected and displayed in a quiet and dignified manner). This set the stage for a new “Protestant Ethic” that reinforced and honored individual pursuit of success in business. It is an ethic that emphasized individual rights—especially the right to hold property, retain earned income, and build wealth. At the same time, the Protestant Ethic tended to dampen any community building or human service initiatives. This ethic discouraged any sense of collective responsibility.
There is a lingering paradox regarding Calvinist pre-destination and locus of control. On the one hand, pre-destination is the ultimate form of external locus of control. We are no more than cogs in God’s precisely designed and implemented Swiss-Watch universe. John Calvin defines as tight a control over destiny by God as do the Buddhist in their identification of karma. Yet, the Protestant Ethic, at the same time, calls for individual responsibility. We choose to do good or bad—and (this is the paradox) that choice is itself a sign of God’s assignment of us to a life (and afterlife) of good (sheep) or bad (goat).
