The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

In this chapter, Weber continues to track the development of a Protestant work ethic, tracing its connections with the spirit of capitalism that Weber identified in Chapter 2. The chapter opens with a discussion of English Puritanism, a branch of Protestantism that “grew out of Calvinism” and that Weber argues was one of the Protestant branches more focused on the importance of work (103).

To prove this point, Weber focuses on the writings of 17th-century English theologian Richard Baxter, whose ideas focused on bringing morality into one’s daily life. In some ways, Baxter appears to be critical of the rich, taking up ideas in the New Testament that vilified greed. However, Weber argues that Baxter’s concern is not with the actual earning of large amounts of money, but rather “the resting upon one’s possessions and the enjoyment of wealth” (104). Baxter believed that individuals should not live a life of rest or leisure, which would instead come to them in Heaven. Instead, Baxter advocated that individuals should devote every moment of their lives to furthering God’s will and living an ascetic life according to God’s wishes. The primary way that Baxter thought individuals could achieve such a life was through the act of toiling in one’s labor or

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