How did the Protestant belief in individualism impact democracy and capitalism?
A question from a reader: How did the Protestant belief in individualism impact democracy and capitalism?
A question from a reader: How did the Protestant belief in individualism impact democracy and capitalism?
The Protestant Church arose, like others, from the Reformation dpearheaded by martin luther in germany of the 1500s. At that time, the Gutenburg printing press came to be, and copies of the Holy Bible (which theretofore had been sequestered by the Roman Catholic Church and kept OUT of the hands of the general populace) were disseminated and widely translated. There, St. Paul stated in Romans that we did not need a priest to serve as our intermediary with God, that Christ was intermeidary in heaven. This passage led to the rejection of the Pope during the Reformation.
Political and economic developments paralleled, or soon followed, this doctrine. The colonies were isolated by a three-month ocean voyage from Europe, and became – OF NECESSITY – self sufficient and self reliant. It was, therefore, a small step to impose the new spiritual doctrine on the secular world. Why would the colonies need a central government in Europe, when local government would serve them better? Why should tax money flow to such a government – or any government – when such government did so little to support and preserve day-today life in the colonies. In such environment, John Locke (whose name the convservative John LOcke Foundation carries today), proposed that men had certain inalienable God-given rights . . . a revolutionary concept reflected in our founding documents.