Evangelicals in the U.S. – their roots in Calvinism and its links to capitalism; ‘the cult of individualism’
It was perhaps inevitable that the Reformation, with its (rightful) emphasis on the need for personal salvation through the individual’s faith and relationship with God, would spawn an, at times, unhealthy reliance on the Christian as individual rather than as part of the Church as a whole. Although we have to recognise that the pre-Reformation Catholic Church was not quite the monolith with a united front that some evangelicals would like to think (consider in particular the Catholic-Orthodox schism of 1054 and the split within Catholicism between Rome and Avignon 1378-1417), it is nevertheless true that in destroying the concept and ideology of a united ‘Great Church’ with universally-held and certain doctrines and uniformity of observance and worship, the Reformers created a problem for themselves and future generations of Christians: if the Catholic Church hierarchy is no longer the arbiter of doctrine, discipline and Biblical interpretation, then who is, and by what right and on what basis? Two solutions presented themselves – and still do today. The first is that it is the individual Christian who determines what is right and proper by revelation from God and by the Spirit illuminating the Bible as the Word of God. This is of course a recipe for both anarchy and heresy as well as the culture for the emergence of Godly, gifted and anointed Christians. The second solution was to set up an alternative church with its own doctrines and own hierarchy (different, of course, to that of the Catholics), which is what Luther essentially did. The second solution, however, presents a problem – who decides what form this church takes and what its doctrines are, and on what basis? So, again we are thrown back on the individual ultimately, and the second solution has large elements of the first in it.
Thus in replacing corporate objectivity which was in error with largely individual subjectivity which was equally prone to error, the Reformers created the climate for further splits within Christendom. After all, if Luther (who was he after all?) could start his own church, why couldn’t anyone else? This is, of course, the fundamental weakness of Protestantism; that any old Tom, Dick or Harry (yes, it’s usually men who are the problem here) can set up shop on his own, attract a following and declare himself to be the sole repository of all truth.
Therefore Protestantism, taken to its logical conclusion, and despite its stated reliance on the Bible as the revealed Word of God, is nevertheless dependent ultimately on individual conscience and interpretation of that Word. Thus it is fair comment to say that the individual (and his/her relationship with God) is at the heart of the Protestant creeds.
Basic Protestant individualism then had added to it fairly quickly another important factor in the development of Right-wing thought: the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. Without wishing to delve into the theological controversies surrounding this doctrine, it is fair to say that this had a profound sociological effect, the legacy of which is with us today: by teaching that some individuals were predestined for salvation, whilst others were to be damned, Calvinist leaders had to find some way of telling the two categories of persons apart. Sometimes they were able to make the distinction by some reference by the individual concerned to having a kind of encounter with God or being touched by the Almighty in some other way; more often than not, and increasingly, Calvinists took material prosperity as a sign of God’s blessing and Divine providence and thus were able to determine that that individual was amongst the elect. Campolo endorses this view: “…certain Protestants, particularly those in the Calvinistic traditions, have twisted Reformed theology in order to make wealth the evidence of divine election…there were some Calvinists who wanted concrete evidence that God had chosen them to be saved. The doctrine of predestination declared that God had already decided who would be saved and who would be lost. However, these Calvinists still wondered what the evidence or signs of divine election might be…Many Christians answered that the saved would know of their election because they would economically prosper. Thus, prosperity became the evidence of a right relationship with God.” This doctrine of, as it were, earthly rewards for Christ and His Elect is a hallmark of the Right-wing today.
Calvinist teaching of the above kind shaped the formation of the Puritan wing of the Anglican church after the Elizabethan Reformation settlement in England of 1559 (many English Protestants had taken refuge in European countries where Calvinism was flourishing and had absorbed its teachings during the persecutions under Elizabeth’s predecessor Mary). Finding themselves marginalised and hounded out of the Church of England under the early Stuarts, many took refuge in North America, the Pilgrim Fathers of course being the most well-known. Whilst it is true that Calvinism has remained a stream within American Christianity ever since, more importantly the ethos of the Puritans played a fundamental role in shaping the society and institutions of the United States, in particular by extolling work and wealth-creation and by fostering individualism. It is unlikely that the US would be the great capitalist nation that it is today had it not been for Puritanism. This link between Calvinism and capitalism has been highlighted by social commentators such as Weber and Campolo: “….as a result of the Protestant work ethic, people have endeavoured to accumulate wealth as a symbol of salvation. The clearest evidence of this is the materialism of America, which has resulted from a belief system that makes economic success evidence of one’s personal wealth and standing with God. Often without knowing why, people in this tradition work incessantly to accumulate as much money as possible. Subconsciously they want to assure themselves that they are God’s elite…Economic success assures them they are God’s people.”
To be fair, not everyone agrees with this view of Puritanism; Adair, in his work on the subject, adopts a more measured approach, arguing that the picture was not so simple: “Also Winthrop [one of the leading lights of 17th Century New England] came to understand the paradoxical truth that it is easier to be a Christian in times of affliction than prosperity. Puritan self-discipline can be seen as a kind of self-imposed affliction designed to maintain the feeling of dependence on God in each minute.” “…the competitive qualities – the desire to move up the economic and social ladder, the obsession with winning – are not traceable to the Puritan spirit. One manifestation of that win-or-lose attitude – making as much profit from one’s neighbours as possible – struck them as both unchristian and immoral. Indeed, the ‘Puritan work ethic’ is too often made a scapegoat for modern qualities and ideas which the Puritans actually abhorred and discouraged. The common idea that Puritans looked upon success, especially material riches, as sure evidence of their election, is well off the mark. If they fell into that trap, which savoured of salvation through works, their preachers quickly pointed out their error.” However, despite whatever their original intentions and ethos may have been, the Protestant work ethic, with its emphasis on thrift and the accumulation of wealth as a sign of God’s providence, remains the abiding legacy to North American Christendom.
Roman Catholic ecclesiology and its influence on Catholic Social teaching; ‘the cult of corporatism’
Conversely, the Roman Catholic Church has placed far more emphasis on the corporate rather than the individual. This is perhaps best summed up by their maxim extra ecclesia nulla salus; the individual can only be saved as part of a wider whole within the Church. This is fact goes beyond simple koinonia or fellowship; it is Christ through His Body, the Church, who imparts salvation to us. Therefore, only by being joined to the Church, by partaking in Her community life and Her sacraments, can salvation be obtained. Whereas Protestantism emphasises the vertical – the individual’s direct relationship with God – Catholicism stresses the horizontal – relationship within the Church.
Flowing from this, the role of the individual is played down; it is the corporate, the collective, that is important. In the same way therefore that Protestantism, and in particular its Calvinist variant, has close parallels with capitalism, so in turn can it be fairly said that Catholic ecclesiology bears some striking similarities to socialism, even communism, on a sociological level.
)So it seems that Thatcherism was a bit of an anomaly, and that things are now returning to 'normal'.