Religion and the Rise of Capitalism. A Historical Study
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism. A Historical Study

Author(s): Richard Henry Tawney
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Economy
Published by: CEEOL Collections / Digital Reproductions
Keywords: Avarice; Individualism; Religion of Trade; Social Organism;
Summary/Abstract: FROM AUTHOR’s PREFACE: Since the appearance of this book ten years ago, the literature on its subject has considerably increased. The learned work of Troeltsch, the best introduction to the historical study of religious thought on social issues, can now be read in an English translation, as can also the articles of Weber on The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. The omission from my book of any reference to post-Reformation Catholic opinion was a serious defect, which subsequent writers have done something to repair. The development of economic thought in medieval Italy; the social forces at work in the Germany of Luther, and his attitude to them; the economic doctrines of Calvin; the teaching of the Jesuits on usury and allied topics; English social policy during the Interregnum; the religious and social outlook of the French bourgeoisie of the same period; the attitude of Quakers, Wesleyans, and other bodies of English Nonconformists to the changing economic world which confronted them in the eighteenth century, have all had books devoted to them. In the somewhat lengthy list of articles on these and kindred subjects, those by the late Professor Sée, M. Halbwachs, and Mr Parsons, and an article by Mr. Gordon Walker which has just appeared in The Economic History Review, specially deserve attention. It will be seen, therefore, that the problems treated in the following pages, if they continue to perplex, have not ceased to arouse interest

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