The necessity to work, according to John Calvin's duty of stewardship

Caroline Bauer

The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2017, vol. 24, issue 4, 689-707

Abstract: This article analyses John Calvin's argument for the necessity of hard, lifelong work. Paradoxically, his argument runs alongside a condemnation of the quest for personal enrichment and the pursuit of self-interest. This apparent contradiction can be resolved if it is understood within the framework of a duty of stewardship, according to which every man has to act as God would have done in his place. Our description of this duty leads us to outline the concept of work in Calvin's thought, and to locate it within the context of Max Weber's understanding of the ascetic Calvinist interpretation of work.

Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:24:y:2017:i:4:p:689-707

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DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2017.1332663

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