Both the blame and the credit for capitalism have often been placed at the feet not of an economist, but rather a sixteenth-century Christian theologian named John Calvin. Calvin’s belief in predestination and other tenets embraced by aggressive capitalists, is seen as giving the theological justification for a Protestant vision that propelled economic growth in Europe, Britain and, eventually, North America. [...]
Calvin’s vision involved a humanistic approach that included a revolutionary look at social questions. For one thing, Calvin, a happily married man, believed that sexual morality should apply equally to both men and women. He was a supporter of republican government over monarchy and saw everyday occupations as part of a calling from God, raising the most humble to an exalted status.
Calvin never accepted capitalism unconditionally. While the first Christian theologian to embrace the use of interest on money—the Catholic Church had long held rules against usury—he also qualified its use. He argued that it should never be used to exploit the poor and that borrowers should profit more from loans than from those they borrowed from. Some ethicists see his principles as a possible response to the worldwide convulsions in banking that occurred in the Great Recession and other economic downturns.
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