The Place of Catholicism in Max Weber's Sociology of Religion
Max Weber's concept of Catholicism was far from realistic. Without giving it the close study he devoted to, e.g., Buddhism and Taoism, he asserted that Catholic theology was a form of polytheism and the Catholic cult a form of magic, and that both constituted a survival of, if not indeed a retu...
| Published in: | Sociological analysis |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
1968
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| In: |
Sociological analysis
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Max Weber's concept of Catholicism was far from realistic. Without giving it the close study he devoted to, e.g., Buddhism and Taoism, he asserted that Catholic theology was a form of polytheism and the Catholic cult a form of magic, and that both constituted a survival of, if not indeed a return to, primitive modes of thought and action. Behind this attitude lay not only current contemporary prejudice, but also the whole basic typology of religious life which Weber developed. In open departure from his own demand for a value-free science, Weber asserted that other worldly mysticism (as represented by Buddhism) and innerworldly asceticism (as represented by Calvinism) were the superior variants of the religious quest; he paid scant attention to innerworldly mysticism, the religion of the Gospels. The messianic consciousness of Jesus appeared to Weber as merely a case of self-induced belief in the possession of magical potencies. |
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| ISSN: | 2325-7873 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3710049 |