4. The origins of the churches' present understanding of work

Where are the roots of today's understanding of work to be found? Unbiased theological thought has always assumed that the Scriptures would supply this understanding. Thus, Fr. Hauck, who wrote a study about work and money, long considered a standard, said in 1921: "The Gospels contain no words of Jesus which are expressly about work; they illustrate in passing that, for Jesus, who was a skilled worker by origin, work was a given not needing further reflection. He simply accepts his people's way of looking at work; furthermore, the two major concerns of his gospel, the expectation of the end of things, and the fatherly love of God, pushed any concern about work into the background." [Die Stellung des Urchristentums zu Arbeit und Geld, in: Beiträge zur Förderung christlicher Theologie, Reihe 2, Bd. 3, Gütersloh 1921; the quote stems from a later work; Arbeit, in : Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, hrsg. von Th. Klauser, Bd. I, Leipzig 1942, pp. 588-589.]  And Ernst Troeltsch delivers the following verdict: "The fact, that God lets everyone work for a living, and, in case of need, love be the effective remedy, taken together with caution about the dangers of wealth for the soul, constitute the only teaching about economics to be found in the Gospels". [Die Soziallehren der christlichen Kirchen und Gruppen, Bd. I, Tübingen 1923, p.46]  This is seen again and again in the informative study of Walther Bienert, Die Arbeit nach der Lehre der Bibel, Stuttgart 1954.  This finding was a source of great embarrassment for many, and resulted in considerable effort being expended in search of other possibilities in the Scriptures. Whatever the individual insights and vistas these studies open up, taken as a whole, they go against the grain of the biblical texts.

When, then, did this idea take root, that God set humankind the task of working to progressively subdue the earth? From what point on does work come to be seen as the means for transforming oneself? The answer given in the pertinent literature generally says: the decisive watershed in the understanding of the nature of work is to be found in the Reformation. Luther and, afterwards, chiefly Calvin, began to see human endeavor in a new light. The high regard for the "vita contemplativa" is matched by an emphasis on the meaning of daily vocational work. Instead of seeing primarily the toil in work, the emphasis falls upon the fulfillment and joy of work. As we read by Max Weber: "One thing new here was the high esteem in which doing one's duty in a vocation was held; indeed this was seen to convey the highest attainable moral status". [Die protestantische Ethik, Bd. I, Hamburg 19733, p. 67]  And even more emphatically, a later writer tells us: "Work has become in fact a positive value, which goes beyond making a living to the point of providing a close relationship with God." [Klara Vontobel, Das Arbeitsethos des deutschen Protestantismus von der nachreformatorischen Zeit bis zur Aufklärung, Diss. Bern, 1946, p. 9]

Closer scrutiny shows that these judgments are not so self evident as it may first appear. In their evaluation of the role of work, Luther, and even Calvin, do not set themselves much apart from the medieval viewpoint, despite assumptions to the contrary. In fact, in a number of aspects, their pronouncements about work turn out to be one hundred and eighty degrees opposite to the understanding of work held by later generations, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. [Konrad Wiedemann, Arbeit und Bürgertum, Heidelberg 1979, p. 135]   The actual break in the history of how work is understood occurs, not in the Reformation, but in the early Enlightenment period. Whence, then, the "Protestant dogma" that it was Luther who gave us a radically different notion about work? [ibid., p. 35]  Two factors have played a role in this: first of all, the desire to set apart the conceptual world of the Reformation as clearly as possible from that of the Middle Ages, and then, to an even greater degree, the wish to claim the Reformation as a preliminary stage of the modern understanding of work. An example of how the contradictions between the two eras was papered over by supposed affinities can be found by Karl Holl: "The moral task consists of hearing the inner call of the Gospel, and harmonizing this with the voice which calls forth from the things themselves and with their inner necessities. As Bismarck put it: 'to hear the footsteps of God approaching as He strides through history, then to step forward and grab hold of the hem of his robes'" – this is truly Lutheran in its conception. This applies not only to the office of statesman but also to every position and service, if it is truly to be understood as a calling, i.e. as an office designated by God and therefore carried out in his Spirit." [Karl Holl, Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kirchengeschichte, Bd. III, Tübingen 1928, p. 219]   Such expressions about the "Spirit of the Reformation" are legion. Do they, however, hold up against the historical record itself? Have the sources in this case been contaminated by later thinking? As understandable as it is to want to have the support of the founders of the Reformation, this tendency must be resisted. The Reformers must simply be left to speak for themselves. Even the indisputable fact, that the later understanding of work developed in Protestant territory, must not be taken as proof that the origins of this new way of thinking therefore are to be found in the writings of the Reformers.

There can be no doubt about it, that Martin Luther construed things in a new way. He repeatedly emphasizes that work on earth has been commanded by God. Under no circumstance should the need to work be denied or work be shunned. Work belongs to the human condition as given by God. This viewpoint is not new. However, the duty to work takes on a new meaning as it is used by Luther in his polemic against monastic life, the calling of perfection. His understanding of the justification of sinners through faith alone had led him to the conviction that there could be no higher path to salvation. Monks had no particular advantage in God's eyes over common working people. "Shouldn't our hearts leap with joy and bubble over, when we go to work and do as commanded; isn't that better than all the holiness of the Carthusians, even if they fast themselves to death and spend their days kneeling in prayer?" [WA 30, 1, p. 149]   Anyone who obediently fulfills his duty towards God is on the only path to salvation. There is no particular class whose members walk closer to God. "God has ordained a variety of walks of life in which we are called to prove ourselves and to accommodate to, for some, marriage, for others, the priesthood, and for still others government; He commanded that all shall have toil and work and must learn to die." [WA 2, p. 734, cited by Wiedemann, op. cit. p. 118]

These quotes show as well how Luther judges work – it is toil to be taken upon oneself in obedience to God. He also speaks of fulfillment and joy in work. They are based on the fact that anyone who is obedient to God's charge to work, stands in communion with Him.

In connection with Luther's understanding of work, it is often pointed out, that he was the first to use the term "calling" to describe secular work. Reference is always made to the fact that in 1 Corin 7:20 he translated the Greek work "klesis" (condition, Befurtung) by "calling" (profession, Beruf). Quite aside from the question whether this translation is accurate (and most certainly it is not), it did start a new use of language. "Vocatio" (calling), which until then had been applied to the ecclesiastical class par excellence, or to monastic life, now was to be applied to all Christians. God's calling is fulfilled, not only by carrying out the evangelical councils, but also by daily toil in the world. A concept, which up until then, had applied only to clerics had been applied by Luther to all believers. Any Christian, who carries out his duty in the secular world, is living in vocatione. It remains open to question just how important this choice of words was in Luther's thought. Even before Luther, it was undisputed that God's calling could also be accomplished in a secular life, and what is more, even with Luther the concept "calling" never meant anything more than that each person was to follow God's calling whatever the station he found himself in. The notion that, "the true Godly calling was that which is carried out in the world and its work" was foreign to his thought. [Karl Holl, op. cit. p. 219. On the entire question of "calling" see Walther Bienert, op. cit. and Konrad Wiedemann, op. cit.]

This idea is unlikely insofar as it stands in contradiction to Luther's fundamental insight of justification through faith alone. Luther continually and emphatically discounts the notion that human effort of whatever nature could have merit. To work belongs to the human condition. It is a duty. Whatever success is bestowed upon it is owed exclusively to God. Humans err when they rely solely upon their own abilities or attribute whatever gains made to their own efforts. To trust in one's work is to open the door to trouble. "For it is whenever one totally gives one's self over to one's work that stinginess and worry begin, and one imagines being able to accomplish much through much work. Thus we stand before the contradiction, that some toil horrendously, though hardly have enough to eat, while others do their work in leisure, and everything they need comes their way. This is so, because God alone is due the honor as the one who makes things prosper." [WA 15, p. 366]   It is God who bestows, it is human beings who prepare the ground for God's blessing.

In order to understand Luther's view, it is important to recall that the Reformers had to develop their message along two fronts – on the one hand, vis-à-vis the now suspect spirituality of the mediaeval world, on the other hand, vis-à-vis the new ideal of humanity found in the Renaissance, Humanism, and among the ascendant bourgeoisie. The Reformation can certainly be seen as a part of the new picture of man which was emerging; at the same time, the Reformation stood in clear contradiction to this picture. The Reformers would be misunderstood if they were simply identified with the growing esteem in which mankind held itself and its accomplishments. The heart of the message of the Reformation is to proclaim anew God's dominion over humankind and the earth.

With John Calvin, as well, there is essentially the same picture. Let this be illustrated by a prayer he wrote late in his career:

A prayer for before beginning work

Dear God, Father and Lord, since it has pleased you to order us to work so that we may provide for our needs ... may it please You to help us through Your Holy Spirit, to the end that we may loyally exercise our rank and profession (état et vocation) without any falsehood or trickery, but that we may sooner seek to follow your will than to satisfy our appetite for riches; that it may please You all the same, to prosper our labour, that You give us the courage to sustain those who are in need ... that it may please You to give us the grace to trust in Your promises, to reassure us that You will nourish us always out of Your goodness, so that we not fall into disbelief; but, much more we wait patiently for You to fill us, not just with temporal blessings, but with Your spiritual blessings as well ...  [Oraison, opera Calvini VI, p. 137; for this entire section on Calvin, see André Biéler, La pensée économique et sociale de Calvin, Genève 1959]

Calvin emphasizes the central importance of the commandment to keep the Sabbath as a suitable understanding of work. Mankind has been commanded to work. However, the meaning, direction and goal of life are discovered when in relationship to God. The foremost thing is that one remain open to God and to His word. With that, limits are set on work. The seventh day is there so that one can renew one's relationship with God. "We must always remember the goal which we seek. For the Lord has not simply commanded human beings to rest every seven days, as though He took pleasure in our leisure; but, having been delivered of all other activity, to apply our minds all the more directly to recognizing the Creator of the world. In brief, it is a sacred leisure or repose which draws men beyond the obstacles of the world, to be able to dedicate themselves completely to God." [Comm. Moise, Genève, ch. 2, v. 3, Biéler, p. 393 f.]

Human beings are charged to work. This does not, however, make them independent from God. Calvin reminds us throughout his writing that human beings, whether they are working or doing something else, they remain dependent upon God acting. No matter that humans must carry out the work, this does not suffice to make it bear fruit. That comes from God's hand. "It is the true test of our faith that we come to look only to God for all things; and not just to acknowledge him as the sole source of all things, but to trust that His paternal kindness extends to even the smallest of matters." [Comm. N.T., Matthieu, ch. 6, v. 11, Biéler, p. 399 f.]  The blessing from work stems exclusively from God. By no means does Calvin conclude from this – and it is important to emphasize this in the face of current misunderstanding – that the extent of God's grace can be measured by material success. Although he emphasizes that if you work, you may trust in God's blessing, he warns emphatically against jumping to conclusions about the visible bounty. "For people tend to judge God's favor by the extent of something as fragile and transitory as happiness, and they tend to applaud the rich and others upon whom (as the saying goes) fortune has smiled; likewise they provoke with disdain those who suffer, and, in their foolhardy judgment, imagine that God hates the unfortunate when he does not spare them rejection. This perversity, to judge by faulting others, and to put things in the worst light, is a vice which has thrived in the world since the beginning of time."   [Comm. Psaumes, Ps. 41, v. 1, p. 311]

As these statements show, Calvin is far from seeing work as the means by which humans actualize them selves. Work simply serves as a means to make a living. Calvin warns not to accumulate riches. Above all, the idea that humankind was directed to transform nature through their work is foreign to his thinking. Genesis 1:28 plays no central role in his thinking.  [For example: "In fact, it is not a small matter that it pleased God to create us and to put us in this world, not just to live here like beasts of burden, but to rule here like his children and to have dominion over all creatures, "Sermon XLIII sur l'Epître aux Ephésiens, ch. 6, v. 1-4 Op. Calvini LI, p. 790, Biéler, p. 400]

Calvin condemns laziness and shirking work. "If God has wanted that man learn to cultivate the earth, he has endowed him as well with a penchant for leisure and nonchalance." [Comm. N. T., Ephésiens, ch. 4, v. 28, Biéler, p. 47]  Like Luther, Calvin railed against the parasitic conduct of monks. Characteristic is his emphasis on the social components of work. Work is not just done for one's own good, but for the benefit of society as well. Shirking work is paramount to denying this service. "Saint Paul accuses the do-nothings and useless who live from the sweat of others and meanwhile bring forth no means for helping anyone at all." [Comm. N. T., II Thessaloniciens, ch. 3, v. 10, Biéler, p. 408]

Calvin emphasizes as well, that the labour of others must not be exploited. He recalls the fourth commandment, which brings relief from work, not only to the few, but to all. He also advocates for fair wages. And he passionately urges that consideration be shown to the poor and particularly to foreigners.

In contrast to Luther, Calvin proves to be much more open to new forms of work. Although he too sees agriculture as the foundation of human work, he recognizes that God's commission can be fulfilled in many different ways. "Furthermore it must be noted that there are a variety of forms of work. For those who help and draw profit from a contribution to society, whether in running one's family, whether in administering public or private affairs, whether in giving counsel or in teaching others, or by some other means, such persons should not be numbered among the useless." [Comm. N. T. II Thessalonicien, ch. 3, v. 10, Biéler, p. 406]¨ Above all Calvin acknowledged the positive value of commerce; he was of the opinion that it promoted communication among people. This openness to the many forms which work could take led Calvin to come to grips with the question of choosing one's career. Just what kind of work one was to do was not a given. One must discover one's place in the scheme of things. The criterion for choosing must not be the potential material gain, but the service which one can render through the work. "Let us look a moment at how many kinds of work there are in the world which only serve to corrupt and are nothing but swindles ... consider whether a kind of work is both good and profitable for the community and whether it serves our neighbors. [ Sermon XXXI sur l'Epître aux Ephésiens, ch. v. 26-28, op. Calvini LI, p. 639, Biéler, p. 404]

The results are clear: neither with Luther nor with Calvin do we find a modern understanding of work. As much as the Reformation represents a certain break in the history of the conception of work, the Reformers are still far from seeing intrinsic value in work itself. Categorically, work is seen as subordinate to a relationship with God. A new view of work does not arise until later. Towards the end of the sixteenth century voices are increasingly heard which see work as the exercise of human ability and activity. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries human work comes to be taken as the essential quality of humans. A genuine glorification of work sets in.

The priority of the "contemplative life" over the "active life" had been shaken by the Reformation. But, they had held fast to the idea that it was necessary to orient all of human existence towards God and His word. In fact they had made the bold attempt to take this idea beyond its restriction to an elite spiritual circle and to extend it to the entire church. This finally broke down the preeminence of the "vita contemplativa". The active life now becomes the decisive dimension of human being. And, more and more, one hears of a commission or charge given to humankind to conquer the world and make it serviceable. Genesis 1:22 becomes ever more important. It is not simply in contemplating God's "good creation", but in manipulating it that humans are to find their highest fulfillment.

An early, and in German literature still isolated, example of this development can be seen with Johann Fischart (1585). In his poem "The Zurich Ship of Happiness", any reticence about the potency of human endeavor has vanished – in a paraphrase lacking the charm of his verse: 'there is truly no task so difficult or inopportune that cannot be mastered by human effort'. ["Denn nichts ist also schwer und scharf / das nicht die Arbeit unterwarf / Nichts mag kaum sein so ungelegen / welchs nicht die Arbeit bringt zuwegen." Johann Fischart, Das Glückhafte Schiff von Zürich, hrsg. von Georg Baesecke, Halle 1901, v. 41-42. - In another verse he especially praises the industry of the Swiss: "Hie sind dieselben Aidgenossen, / welche vollbrachten, was sie beschlossen / Wer will forthin meh sagen / das Arbeit nicht könn alls erjagen, ibid. V. 745-748. - On this topic see also Konrad Wiedemann, op. cit., pp 248-250.]  This self confidence becomes even more widespread in the following two centuries. The active life not only is to serve to extend human dominion over the visible world, but it is also meant to bring enrichment as well. Here again, the contrast to earlier views could not be sharper. In the Middle Ages one could read: "He who has enough to satisfy his wants ... and nevertheless ceaselessly labours to acquire riches, either in order to obtain a higher social position, or that, subsequently, he may have enough to live without labour, or that his sons may become men of wealth and importance – all such are incited by a damnable avarice, sensuality or pride." [H. Von Langenstein (fourteenth century), as quoted in Manfred Brocker, Arbeit und Eigentum, Darmstadt 1992, p. 427]  And, Luther and Calvin both still warned, as we have seen, about work which is undertaken with the goal of achieving wealth. This barrier now drops away entirely. It is now for humankind to do their duty by making the world, which God has spread before their feet, useful. Work is not just to be applied to God's gifts in satisfying material needs; it is also meant to transform the earth. The success of work is now measured by its productivity.

The prerequisite for this shift was a radically different image of humankind. Man is now given center stage. And, in his relationship to the visible world, he finds that he must depend upon himself. The world becomes a thing whose secrets are to be explored through experiment and systematic observation. The knowledge he gains enhances his mastery over the world. As Francis Bacon (1561-1626) said, "Knowledge and power coincide". ["Scientia et potentia in idem coincidunt", Novum organum, bk. 1, aph. 3]   Man is called, not just to observe the world, but to transform it for the good of all. Humans and their needs have become the "measure of all things".

The new assessment of human work is given its foremost theoretical formulation by John Locke (1632-1704). He developed the idea that work is the basis for property. His starting point is that humans are set above all other creatures by their God given rational powers: "Understanding ... set Man above the rest of sensible beings, and gives him all the advantage and dominion which he has over them." Along with this position comes the right "to use any of the inferior creatures for the subsistence and comfort of his life". [Essay concerning human understanding I, 1 and 92]  Man is not only endowed with the drive to survive, but also the drive to seek happiness. "All pain of the body of what sort so ever, and disquiet of the mind, is uneasiness, and with this is always joined desire ... desire being nothing but an uneasiness in the want of an absent good, in reference to any pain felt, ease is that absent good." This drive for fulfillment is always present, and since this urge can never be satisfied once and for all, this process is essentially without end: "No sooner is one action dispatched which by such a determination of the will we are set upon, but another uneasiness is ready to set us on work." [ibid. II, 21, 31 and 45]   The world was given in common to all. However, it is only as mankind cultivates and works the earth that the earth truly serves its purpose. This is brought about by human labour. Thus it is that this labour forms the foundation of human property. Whatever is gained from the earth should become one's property. Resources which have not yet been developed are seen, more or less, to be lying fallow. They cry out for development. What is more, human labour creates new goods. Humans are able to produce things and can enlarge the stock of goods in the world. Just as all things created by God belong to Him, so too humans can lay claim to that which they produce. Of course, one must be concerned that all get their just share. But, since in Locke's view, the earth and its resources were boundless, essentially everyone could partake in transforming the earth and creating property.

This meant that a completely new way of looking at work had established itself. From there a straight line leads to Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx, and, up until today, disputes about the purpose and sense of work are, by and large, carried out upon this terrain. Even the churches – especially the Protestant churches – sooner or later have appropriated this basic understanding. What Luther and Calvin taught not only was quickly forgotten, but it was also reinterpreted to meet modern needs. The Reformers had became the "Apostles of Work".

On the Roman Catholic side a similar process can be observed. The theological foundation for Roman Catholic understanding of work looks back to Thomas of Aquinas. Starting from his definition of God as "actus purissimus", 'the purest and most perfect action', it can be said that, when humans work, they approach God's very way of being and "consciously or unconsciously effect a resemblance to God". [ J. B. Kraus, Scholastik, Puritanismus und Kapitalismus, München und Leipzig 1930, p. 72 f.]   Work can thus be described as an "important building block in the great project rising towards a state similar to God's." [F. X. Eberle, Arbeitsmotive im Lichte christlicher Ethik, Erlangen 1912, p. 15]   "Humans come to resemble God through taking pleasure in their work." [O. Schilling, Die Staats-und Soziallehre des hl. Thomas von Aquin, Paderborn 1923, p. 285 f.]  It is truly difficult to see how such statements could follow from Thomas. In his Summa theologiae he unmistakably declares that the contemplative life is superior to the "vita activa": "Dicendum ergo est quod vita contemplativa simpliciter melior est quam activa." (30) ["One must say, that the contemplative life is thoroughly superior to the active life." II -II, qu.182 a. 1,2 See also Manfred Brocker, p. 416f.; Konrad Wiedemannn, op. cit., p. 90f.; Walther Bienert, p. 3f]   The contemplative life matches up to the best in humans, namely, to their reason, whereas the other tasks of ordinary concrete life require no more than what is held in common with animals. It is necessity alone which leads one to physical activity. Of course, work is part of the human condition. Its purpose is for earning a living, overcoming boredom, reigning in one's instincts, and enabling one to give alms. Once these goals have been reached, the duty to perform physical work drops away. No further energy should be drained away from the higher activity of spiritual reflection. Seen upon this background, Thomas stands behind the idea as well, that begging is permissible for sustaining oneself.

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