The ideas that respond to strong psychological needs of social groups are those that become historical forces. This is true of Calvinism and Lutheranism that gained momentum due to the social demands of the moment.
Luther was a person dominated by the authoritarian character. After a childhood of beatings and harsh impositions its relationship to the authority turned to ambivalent himself playing in an authoritarian patterns that had formed. On one hand he hated the authority and it is relieved against the other admired and tended to undergo. This was reflected in the fact that throughout his life he had an authority which he opposed and one that was the subject of admiration. Within the established centers of authority admired in God an ultimate source of power, as he describes "the power and where it thrives, its existence and permanence are due to God's orders.".The rage that overcame him meant that his hatred was directed against himself and against others. As a result of this much of their ideological constructs were designed to seek to harmonize these contradictions in a system that was apparently consistent. On the other hand, the theology of Luther succeeded in expressing the feelings of the middle class struggling against the authority of the Church, and showed a grudge against the new moneyed class. The system then Luther gave independence to man in religious matters, robbing the church of her authority to grant the individual.
Luther assumed the existence of an innate evil in human nature, this evil that men had turned their will to evil, and therefore the man would then be in need of divine grace. Thus only if the man humbled himself by destroying his will and individual pride may come upon him to receive God's grace. This concept of innate evil, along with the idea of the lack of freedom to choose what is right is one of the main lines of his theory.
The question that haunted all his life Luther was not rational, came from the isolation and helplessness of a person under the influence of hatred and fear generated in its infancy. This kind of irrational doubt is not resolved by rational responses, but usually resolve by making the individual becomes part of a larger force that has some sense. In the case of Luther's revelation happened in 1518 and the message was that salvation is through the faith given to man by God. Crossing this message action Luther freed the people of the authority of the Church forced him to undergo a more tyrannical authority, that of a God who demanded as a condition for salvation of man's complete submission together with the annihilation of his personality.
Along with its accession to the contempt authority is powerless masses in a way similar to how it came contempt for weakness in Naziism. When the masses rebel within the limits it has set, is with them. But when they attack the authorities that he approves arises against them a strong hatred and contempt. In this quote, from his book "Against the hordes of robberies and killings of the peasants" (1525), he reflects this: "Therefore, let those who can not, punish, kill and injure openly or secretly therefore we must remember that nothing can be more poisonous harmful or devilish than a rebel. "
Calvin's theology should acquire to Anglo-Saxon countries as important as that of Luther in Germany, consistently shows a similar spirit. The humiliation of himself and the destruction of all man's pride as a means to obtain the assurance of divine power are also in the major schemes of this thought. Calvin said in "Institutes of the Christian religion" (Book III, Chapter VIII): "We do not belong, therefore, neither our reason nor our will should predominate in our deliberations and actions. [...] Instead, we belong to God, and therefore live and die for Him "
He also agreed with Luther in denying that good works can lead to salvation and the central recipient of the message, the conservative middle class. Despite the doubts generated by the collapse of the traditional estates of the Middle Ages provided a new safety Calvin also by submission.
But in Calvin's doctrine of predestination becomes more strongly than that of Luther. Salvation or damnation is predestined by God so that this is something that is not for men. The Calvinists believed that men are created unequal and that they were elected, while the rest would fall into the condemnation, which clearly puts clearly a general hatred and contempt for humanity that also serves the same type of psychological assumptions Nazism. Luther also differed in most exalting the importance of moral effort. Consequently the virtues that man should acquire were: modesty and moderation, justice (to give each one what it is) and religion (to unite man with God). In later developments of Calvinism the exaltation of the virtuous life together with the unceasing effort to gain dominance lead to the idea that success in mortality resulting from these efforts is a sign of salvation.
The constant effort was for Luther to Calvin as one of the ways to avoid the anguish caused by the irrational doubt. The frenetic activity is a form of forgetting oneself and thus defuse this problem. The irrationality of this relentless effort shows that there is a goal, but serves to reveal whether someone has been predetermined in advance. This mechanism is also typical of obsessional neurotics, than when they are immersed in some kind of doubt can be devoted to counting any random element and attribute to result in any type of property. In developing these schemes were mainly human energies employed in this work and that capitalism served to obtain such material budgets for expansion.
The middle class had developed a deep hostility and resentment toward the new moneyed classes of the newly emerging capitalism, the result of luxury and power so that the latter could afford. The doctrines of Luther and Calvin this hostility channeled to output requests that the middle class could not articulate as clearly as the lower classes, if they hated the rich who exploited them. While hostility toward others is generally conscious, which is directed to oneself for streamlining mechanisms to come out of an available form. This happened with Calvinism and Lutheranism stressing that they did their own wickedness and insignificance. This strengthened the psychological basis necessary for the establishment of the foundations of what would be the capitalist society.
Note: The picture is a portrait of Luther by Lucas Cranach made in 1529
Luther was a person dominated by the authoritarian character. After a childhood of beatings and harsh impositions its relationship to the authority turned to ambivalent himself playing in an authoritarian patterns that had formed. On one hand he hated the authority and it is relieved against the other admired and tended to undergo. This was reflected in the fact that throughout his life he had an authority which he opposed and one that was the subject of admiration. Within the established centers of authority admired in God an ultimate source of power, as he describes "the power and where it thrives, its existence and permanence are due to God's orders.".The rage that overcame him meant that his hatred was directed against himself and against others. As a result of this much of their ideological constructs were designed to seek to harmonize these contradictions in a system that was apparently consistent. On the other hand, the theology of Luther succeeded in expressing the feelings of the middle class struggling against the authority of the Church, and showed a grudge against the new moneyed class. The system then Luther gave independence to man in religious matters, robbing the church of her authority to grant the individual.
Luther assumed the existence of an innate evil in human nature, this evil that men had turned their will to evil, and therefore the man would then be in need of divine grace. Thus only if the man humbled himself by destroying his will and individual pride may come upon him to receive God's grace. This concept of innate evil, along with the idea of the lack of freedom to choose what is right is one of the main lines of his theory.
The question that haunted all his life Luther was not rational, came from the isolation and helplessness of a person under the influence of hatred and fear generated in its infancy. This kind of irrational doubt is not resolved by rational responses, but usually resolve by making the individual becomes part of a larger force that has some sense. In the case of Luther's revelation happened in 1518 and the message was that salvation is through the faith given to man by God. Crossing this message action Luther freed the people of the authority of the Church forced him to undergo a more tyrannical authority, that of a God who demanded as a condition for salvation of man's complete submission together with the annihilation of his personality.
Along with its accession to the contempt authority is powerless masses in a way similar to how it came contempt for weakness in Naziism. When the masses rebel within the limits it has set, is with them. But when they attack the authorities that he approves arises against them a strong hatred and contempt. In this quote, from his book "Against the hordes of robberies and killings of the peasants" (1525), he reflects this: "Therefore, let those who can not, punish, kill and injure openly or secretly therefore we must remember that nothing can be more poisonous harmful or devilish than a rebel. "
Calvin's theology should acquire to Anglo-Saxon countries as important as that of Luther in Germany, consistently shows a similar spirit. The humiliation of himself and the destruction of all man's pride as a means to obtain the assurance of divine power are also in the major schemes of this thought. Calvin said in "Institutes of the Christian religion" (Book III, Chapter VIII): "We do not belong, therefore, neither our reason nor our will should predominate in our deliberations and actions. [...] Instead, we belong to God, and therefore live and die for Him "
He also agreed with Luther in denying that good works can lead to salvation and the central recipient of the message, the conservative middle class. Despite the doubts generated by the collapse of the traditional estates of the Middle Ages provided a new safety Calvin also by submission.
But in Calvin's doctrine of predestination becomes more strongly than that of Luther. Salvation or damnation is predestined by God so that this is something that is not for men. The Calvinists believed that men are created unequal and that they were elected, while the rest would fall into the condemnation, which clearly puts clearly a general hatred and contempt for humanity that also serves the same type of psychological assumptions Nazism. Luther also differed in most exalting the importance of moral effort. Consequently the virtues that man should acquire were: modesty and moderation, justice (to give each one what it is) and religion (to unite man with God). In later developments of Calvinism the exaltation of the virtuous life together with the unceasing effort to gain dominance lead to the idea that success in mortality resulting from these efforts is a sign of salvation.
The constant effort was for Luther to Calvin as one of the ways to avoid the anguish caused by the irrational doubt. The frenetic activity is a form of forgetting oneself and thus defuse this problem. The irrationality of this relentless effort shows that there is a goal, but serves to reveal whether someone has been predetermined in advance. This mechanism is also typical of obsessional neurotics, than when they are immersed in some kind of doubt can be devoted to counting any random element and attribute to result in any type of property. In developing these schemes were mainly human energies employed in this work and that capitalism served to obtain such material budgets for expansion.
The middle class had developed a deep hostility and resentment toward the new moneyed classes of the newly emerging capitalism, the result of luxury and power so that the latter could afford. The doctrines of Luther and Calvin this hostility channeled to output requests that the middle class could not articulate as clearly as the lower classes, if they hated the rich who exploited them. While hostility toward others is generally conscious, which is directed to oneself for streamlining mechanisms to come out of an available form. This happened with Calvinism and Lutheranism stressing that they did their own wickedness and insignificance. This strengthened the psychological basis necessary for the establishment of the foundations of what would be the capitalist society.
Note: The picture is a portrait of Luther by Lucas Cranach made in 1529
This entry was published on
06 September 2009
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Erich Fromm,
Sociology
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