M.ヴェーバーの「プロテスタンティズムの倫理と資本主義の精神」(九)

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Weber finds in Methodism the characteristics as follows: -emotional moment in the religious mind and at the same time asceticism in the way of life, (2)indifference to, or ignorance of, the Calvinistic doctrine as the foundation of its asceticism. For these he calls it 'the English-American counterpart of the Continental Pietism'. Methodists, like Pietists, thought that the recognition of one's own state of benediction was to be gained as emotional conviction. However, the factor of emotion here was stressed more than there in Pietism, because the mission in Mehodism was intended from the beginning to the mass, and it advanced sometimes to the uttermost of enthusiasm. The emotional factor was supposed to appear, first, in getting the recognition that one was blessed when he could feel this directly from the spirit of God which worked in his soul, and second, in attaining joyfull sensation of his 'completeness' i.e. of the state free of all the sins, which was sure, as the effect of God's spirit in him, to succeed the .first. Both of these stages of emotion were thought to necessitate the methodically systematic ethics in the conduct of life, and especially it was asserted that completeness in the second stage, once attained, had to be proved to onself and others with the evidence of the very deed of methodical life. This, says Weber, is peculiar to Methodism. It makes Methodism differ from Pietism. Methodism did not premise that 'the blessing' was obtainable by the holy deed of methodic life, but supposed that merely 'the recognition' of, or 'confidence' in, one's own blessed state was attainable -with similarity to the idea of Calvinism-, whereas - with difference from this - it required, in addition, the moment of emotion as inevitable for the recognition. The recognition, the emotional conviction, was said to be attained in the course of tortuous life of methodic ethics nearly at the end of the career and attainable only by some limited circle of persons. This idea made some persons strong enough to continue their methodic torture to get the exclamation of self-confidence, but brought the residual the collapse of the ethical life, while, as it was observed, Methodism's mission was from the first intended to this residual, the mass. The result was that Methodism could not exeed nor be compared to Calvinism even in its general influence of the asceticism in the way of life, though it had something more than Pietism. The detachment of the state of its believers, the enthusiasm of the few saints on the one hand and the collapse of the methodical life of the many on the other, then, together with the indifference to the religious doctrine, brought in Methodism the anti-Calvinistic idea that God's blessing was possibly lost. This idea strengthened its power by the in- fluence of Lutheranism. However, it must be admitted that, in spite of this, Methodism stimulated and awakened generally the religious mind and thus even the consciousness of the doctrine of selective blessing in Calvinism which was in the midst of temporal sleeping. Like Pietism, Methodism could not sustain the doctrine of Calvinism nor make any in that place. Its idea of 'completeness' is not so much the doctrine as could replace that of Calvinism but rather merey the religious mind which had not solid doctrinal foudation as seen in Calvinism. Thus concludes Weber that Methodism did not add any novelty to the idea of 'calling' and so could be ignored in the following study.
2003-03-25

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笠原俊彦
長崎大学経済学部

M.ヴェーバーの「プロテスタンティズムの倫理と資本主義の精神」(九)

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