IN THE CAGE OF VANITIES Cover Image

U KAVEZU ISPRAZNOSTI
IN THE CAGE OF VANITIES

Author(s): Miroslav Volf
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Published by: Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar
Keywords: Max Weber; cage of vanities;

Summary/Abstract: At the end ot The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Max Weber compared the "tremendous cosmos of the modern economic order" which has come to determine "the lives of all individuals who are born into" it, "with an irresistible force" to "iron cage." Taking its departure from an analysis of the ancient book of Ecclesiasts, the present article attempts first a theological examination of the character of "the cage" and its rootedness in insatiability, that is inherent to human nature. Second, the article examines the possible complicity of religion in the creation and maintenance of the cage of vanities. In the last section the article seeks to offer a way out, by claiming that the mystery of the infinite God is the only proper object of human insatiability.

  • Issue Year: 3/1994
  • Issue No: 14
  • Page Range: 589-609
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Croatian