Post Tagged 'puritans'

July 13, 2021

Lessons from the Puritans for a post-COVID world

America is still slowly reopening and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns, and restrictions. Over the past year, our nation’s divisions were amplified. Polarization reared its ugly head, manifesting deep-seated hostilities across and among families, churches, and political parties. Continue Reading...

July 21, 2017

Did the Reformation lead to ‘economic secularization’?

In his famous work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber attempted to draw a clear link between the Protestant Reformation and the rise of capitalism, focusing mostly on the Puritans and their (faulty) connections between spiritual significance and economic prosperity. Continue Reading...

March 24, 2011

More Thoughts on ‘Christian Poverty in the Age of Prosperity’

In his recent lecture “Christian Poverty in the Age of Prosperity,” Rev. Robert Sirico reminded us that “We should not minimize the demands of the scripture but we should embrace them.” Continue Reading...

November 03, 2010

‘A’ for Austerity: The New Scarlet Letter

I introduced this week’s Acton Commentary yesterday with some thoughts about “The Audacity of Austerity.” In today’s “‘A’ for Austerity: The New Scarlet Letter,” I take to task the attitude embodied by Paul Krugman’s vilification of proponents of austerity measures. Continue Reading...

November 21, 2007

A Puritan Legacy

There’s no better time to re-examine the legacy of the Puritans than on the Thanksgiving holiday, which is so closely associated with the Pilgrim’s exodus to America in 1621. With that in mind, here are a few resources for understanding the worldview that Max Weber called a “worldly asceticism.” Continue Reading...