What is the Catholic perspective on "Protestant work ethic"?

[sidetrack]

I’m just REALLY curious about this one.I dont think this is like other Protestant and Catholic contrasts like the authority of the Pope,the Apocryphal Biblical books,free will or predetermination etc.I mean it’s not like anyone really argues agianest work ethic right?.It’s developed historically in other countries like east Asian ones more out of a civic philosophy then a religious ones and things turn out good with that sense of work ethic right?.I’m just wondering.Thank you very much so for your time.

 

[Old_Medic]

The “Protestant work ethic” is NOT a religious doctrine, it is a philosophy, and one that our Church would do well to develop more fully. It essentially holds that in order to meet ones obligation to God, one must perform at their best at any labor they do, including laboring for others. That all work should be offered up to God, and that any offering to God should be the best that we are capable of.

 

[karebear92]

I think work ethic is more cultural than religious. Americans work much harder than much of of our first world peers. I think it has more to do with the American Dream than anything else. I think Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Atheists, Muslims, etc all have a similar work ethic. Some work hard and others don’t. I don’t think faith is indicative of work ethic.

 

[sidetrack]

The “Protestant work ethic” is NOT a religious doctrine, it is a philosophy, and one that our Church would do well to develop more fully. It essentially holds that in order to meet ones obligation to God, one must perform at their best at any labor they do, including laboring for others. That all work should be offered up to God, and that any offering to God should be the best that we are capable of.

Thank you for pointing that out Old Medic.Now that I think about it something similar to the Protestant work ethic philosophy is the “Ora et labora” (prayer and work) motto with the (Benedictine and Cistercian?) orders.

 

[TimothyH]

Anyone interested in this should read “The Spirits and Forms of Protestantism” by Bouyer.

I think Catholics can point to Opus Dei in relation to what is commonly called a “Work Ethic”

-Tim-

 

[Bohm_Bawerk]

It’s not a religious doctrine as it is a philosophy and an outlook on how to live. It was explained in Max Weber’s magnum opus The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

Although the “Protestant work ethic” isn’t a religious doctrine per se, you can’t divorce it entirely from Protestantism under the claim that “it’s just a philosophy”. For example, many Protestant denominations teach - or are close to teaching - what is called in theology as “prosperity gospel”. Prosperity gospel teaches that financial blessing is God’s will for Christians; as such, it is inextricably predicated on the Protestant work ethic. The prosperity gospel teaching is just one of many resultant teachings in certain protestant denominations that emerge from the protestant work ethic.

The Church doesn’t really teach anything as such about the protestant work ethic, but culturally speaking (from my own experience), I would say that Catholics don’t adhere or believe in it. I used to attend a Pentecostal service alongside Mass when I was younger, and one thing I noticed was that the Pentecostal service offered meetings and appointments to deal with marriage problems, financial problems, depression, etc. The Pentecostal service really focused on the practical aspect of life. Don’t get me wrong - they explained the underpinnings of the Bible and how to live a good life and not fall into sin, but they were also aware that people had lives outside of the service. This was in stark contrast to the Catholic Mass, which was orientated around the Eucharist and you went home straight afterwards. As I grew older, I witnessed the divergence grow. I noticed that Pentecostalism deplored suffering and promoted success whilst Catholicism deplored success and encouraged suffering. I think this divergence ultimately boils down to what part of the Bible do you emphasize most? In the Old Testament, those who were favoured in God’s sight led good lives. Illness was often perceived to be a punishment from God. Indeed, Jesus’ disciples asked him what sin a blind man must have done to have acquired his blindness, to which Jesus responds: "“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" (John 9:13). On the other hand, in the New Testament, illness is regarded as partaking in Jesus’ sacrifice. Pentecostalism focuses on the “now”, whilst Catholicism focuses on the future (Heaven).

Me, personally - I believe in the protestant work ethic. I believe the things we enjoy around us today are the result of people who work hard, and in doing so, have contributed to society. This is most exemplary in the case of science, which has prolonged and is currently prolonging human life expectancy. Even the very fact we can type on the internet is because of the intellectual contribution of computer scientists. None of this came from prayer, and none of it will come from prayer. Many historians regard Capitalism as having emerged from this very work ethic (and ironically, it’s the same system many CAF users are willing to defend to the death). Protestantism often gets a lot of bad press on this website, but perhaps you might learn a thing or two from them .

 

[MerryNic]

It’s Scriptural… different versions some paraphrasing…

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men… Col. 3:23

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God… 1 Corinth. 10:31

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might… Ecc 9:10

Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men… Eph 6:7

Come to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… Matt 6:28

Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for the mean which endureth unto everlasting live, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for him had God the Father sealed… John 6:27

Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. Eph 4:28

We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it… I Corinth 4:12

You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive… Acts 20:34-35

nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you… 2 Thess 3:8

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives… Titus 3:14

++++

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. I Tim. 5:8

We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies… 2 Thess 3:11

If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks…Ecc 10:18

 

[Vincent1984]

It’s not a religious doctrine as it is a philosophy and an outlook on how to live. It was explained in Max Weber’s magnum opus The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

The 'Protestant Work Ethic" is a myth. While some Protestant sects may (or may not) place extra emphasis on toil, the idea of a ‘Protestant Work Ethic’ should not be accepted.

The phrase and concept did not exist before Weber’s historical-economic analyses of different German cities. His research was flawed, but this didn’t stop people (Protestants?) spreading the idea as though it were self-evident truth. More recent work on the subject – Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History, Becker & Wößmann, 2007 – has traced the difference in economic growth to literacy, not harder work. Becker and Wößmann attribute this literacy to Protestant emphasis on reading the Bible. For some reason, Protestant cities in Germany had better schools than Catholic cities. Therefore it was a literacy ethic that enabled some German cities to become more prosperous than others, not a work ethic, work philosophy, or work outlook.

Even if someone thinks Weber was correct, it’s only a historical analysis of a very small portion of human history. To assume that Protestant cities in one country in one historical period growing faster than Catholic ones, means that Protestantism leads always and everywhere to better economic prospects, borders on bigotry. It’s bizarre. I don’t think even Weber himself would want his results to be projected unthinkingly onto other societies and times in this way.

As Catholics, we should be less eager to allow ourselves to be denigrated like this. As non-Catholics, you have a responsibility to think things through before spreading anti-Catholic propaganda.

 

[manualman]

There’s a flip side, of course. If, for the sake of discussion, you grant your protestant opponent something in his philosophy that leads to harder work and a more voracious appetite for acquisition, then it would necessarily follow that the same attribute would be why protestant-lead economies have “innovated” the world’s largest man made structures in history: modern waste landfills.

For if they are responsible for the benefits, they are also responsible for the side effects. I’m increasingly thinking that we, in the West, have lost all sense of what gluttony is.

 

[Bohm_Bawerk]

More recent work on the subject – Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History, Becker & Wößmann, 2007 – has traced the difference in economic growth to literacy, not harder work. Becker and Wößmann attribute this literacy to Protestant emphasis on reading the Bible. For some reason, Protestant cities in Germany had better schools than Catholic cities. Therefore it was a literacy ethic that enabled some German cities to become more prosperous than others, not a work ethic, work philosophy, or work outlook.

The higher literacy found in the Protestant cities was most likely to have been a result of Protestantism’s emphasis on sola scriptura, a method of interpreting the Bible with the belief that the Holy Spirit will guide you. There is also the historical backdrop of the Gutenburg printing press (created by a Protestant) which started the printing revolution and brought to an end the era in which the Church would “hoard” bibles to themselves.

As a person who actually studies economics, your claim that a literacy ethic enabled German cities to be more prosperous is actually a two-dimensional way of thinking. Most economists agree that in any economy there is the “short-run” and the “long-run” (cf. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, John Maynard Keynes). Higher literacy rates only results in economic growth in the long-run, as it means a labour force is more productive. In the short-run however, higher literacy rates do not result in any increase in material prosperity (reflected in real GDP). In fact, your suggestion that only higher literacy rates resulted in Protestants being more prosperous than their Catholic counterparts would actually result in Protestants being less well off. Protestant cities would have faced a general glut in the market, their local governments would have experienced budget deficits, and those who were employed would have been “overqualified”. Ultimately, it would have led to social disintegration, and would be regarded as a pars pro toto foreshadowing the same fate of many Arab countries who are currently undergoing revolutions. That wasn’t the case though.

Even if someone thinks Weber was correct, it’s only a historical analysis of a very small portion of human history. To assume that Protestant cities in one country in one historical period growing faster than Catholic ones, means that Protestantism leads always and everywhere to better economic prospects, borders on bigotry. It’s bizarre. I don’t think even Weber himself would want his results to be projected unthinkingly onto other societies and times in this way.

Simply because it disagrees with your worldview does not make it “bigotry”. Not everything that you read will put the Church in a favourable light, and you have to accept that.

And I’m not a religious determinist. I do not believe that simply because these cities were Protestant that they were more prosperous. What I did was freeze all other variables (i.e. ceteris paribus) and analyze using logic the pitfall of Catholic spirituality on suffering and Protestant’s outlook on working hard. There is nothing to be ashamed of. It isn’t even official Church teaching. The crux of the post is that you should work harder to change the world around you rather than sitting down to pray all the time: “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).