1

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Weber’s interpretation of Luther’s translation: a critical

reading of Max Weber’s ‘Protestant ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism’ regarding the use of 1 Corinthians 1 and 7

Concluding paper by Ronald de Jong for the course ‘Classics II’

June 23, 2023

 2

1. Introduction
Art is weird. Some of it has the tendency to become famous despite initial critical reac-
tions. It takes some time for something to establish itself as a ‘classic’, but when it has,
there’s almost no going back. The year is 1905. French composer Claude Debussy, seen
by some as the first impressionistic composer, premiers his piece ‘La mer’. Initially the
work was not well received: people expected something big and colossal, “an ocean”, but
were served “some agitated water in a saucer”. The work has since then, however, estab-
lished itself as masterpiece, groundbreaking, inspiring composers such as John Williams
till this day. The same year, another work—now a classic in the field of history of reli-
gion—was published, though initially criticized: Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist
des Kapitalismus. It was published as two essays in the Archiv für Sozialwissenschaften
und Sozialpolitik and later compiled in book form. 1 It starts off with a ‘Vorbermerkung’,
after which Weber explores the relation between and influence of religious affiliation
and social stratification. The second chapter describes the spirit of capitalism by exam-
ple of Benjamin Franklin. The goal is profit: earning money in order to earn more money.
The third chapter, about Luther’s concept of the calling, discusses how Luther’s transla-
tion of vocatio with ‘Beruf’ meant a secularization of vocation as a monastic and spiritual
vocation. Obtaining salvation was possible in every profession. The fourth chapter deals
with the protestant branches of Calvinism (the most influential one for modern capital-
ism), pietism, methodism and the Baptist “sects”, in which Weber compares them to
each other and to Lutheranism. Weber closes off with a final chapter about asceticism
and the spirit of capitalism. Calvinism’s doctrine of predestination caused religious anx-
iety about one’s salvation. People wanted to show signs of their salvation, which trans-
lated into hard work, self-discipline, thriftiness, and reinvestment of profits. This inner-
worldy asceticism became the most important building block, the spirit of modern

1
In what follows, the English translation of T. Parsons will be used: Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. Talcott Parsons, Routledge Classics (London and New York: Routledge,
2001). For critique on this translation, such as translatory errors and inconsistencies, see Gordon C Wells,
“Issues of Language and Translation in Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic Writings,” Max Weber Studies 2, no.
1 (2001): 33–40.
 3

capitalism. Weber’s thesis has been criticized severely.2 Several have pointed out (1) the
influence of immigration on the capitalist spirit, (2) the role of psychology on ideas about
duty, (3) the problems about Weber’s posed ‘ideal-type’ of capitalist, (4) his superficiality
of used sources and, finally, (5) the incorrect idea that the notion of the calling was pe-
culiar to Lutheranism. It is the last point that sparked my interest as a theologian of
reformed background. On close inspection, Weber’s interpretation of (Luther’s transla-
tion of) Bible texts is sometimes simply wrong. This paper will assess if Weber’s inter-
pretation of Luther’s translation of κλησις with ‘Beruf’ in 1 Corinthians is right. The aim
of this paper is therefore modest; the big guns of criticism have already been pulled out
long ago by far better people. Nonetheless, exegetical and theological claims are claims
that need checking too. The focus of this paper is to look at Weber’s interpretation of
κλησις as Beruf in the first letter to Corinth. More specifically, to look closer to Weber’s
interpretation of the word κλησις (‘calling’, from καλεω) in 1 Cor. 1,26 and 7,20. The
guiding research question is: ‘To what extent is Weber’s interpretation in ‘The Protestant
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ of Luther’s translation of κλησις with ‘Beruf’ in 1 Co-
rinthians right? The structure is relatively simple: both texts will be addressed sepa-
rately. Within each chapter, first Weber’s remarks and interpretation and Luther’s trans-
lation will be introduced, and subsequently assessed both on compared to each other
and to a short exegesis of the Bible verses.

2. 1 Corinthians 1,26
2.1. Weber and Luther
Weber cites 1 Cor. 1,26 only once in his Protestant Ethic, and in a footnote at that:

Luther renders two quite different concepts with Beruf. First the Pauline κλησις
in the sense of the call to eternal salvation through God. Thus: 1 Cor. 1. 26 […] All

2
Alastair Hamilton, “Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” in The Cambridge Com-
panion to Weber, ed. Stephen P. Turner, Cambridge Collections Online (Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 2000), 161–65, https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521561495.Weber scholar Alastair Hamilton
summarizes: “If we judge a text by its capacity to provoke reaction – positive, negative, above all enduring
for almost a hundred years – then Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism must be
regarded as one of the most important works of this century.” Hamilton, “Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic
and the Spirit of Capitalism,” 161.
 4

these cases concern the purely religious idea of the call through the Gospel taught
by the apostle; the word κλησις has nothing to do with worldly callings in the
modern sense.3

When reading Luther’s first translation, a first problem arises: Luther does not render
κλησις with ‘Beruf’, but with ‘Ruf’: “Sehet an, liebe bruder, euren ruff. Nicht viel weisen
nach dem fleisch, nicht viel geweltige, nicht viel edle sind berufen.”4 Only the 1530 ver-
sion has “Sehet an lieben Brüder euren beruff”, and the 1545 version has yet another
rendering: ‘Berufung’.5 All of these words have clear undertones with the verb ‘rufen’ in
German, but do not convey the “purely religious idea of the call through the Gospel” that
Weber sees in them. Weber’s interpretation of κλησις in 1 Cor. 1,26 thus needs closer
attention—besides the fact that his argument does not even fly in the case of Luther’s
1522 and 1545 translation.

2.2. Κλησις in 1 Cor. 1,26 on closer inspection

Κλησις, normally rendered as ‘call’ or ‘calling’, is a Pauline term used to describe Gods
call to salvation in Christ.6 The context of 1 Cor. 1,26, however, makes clear that κλησις
alludes not to the act of call, but to the attendant circumstances in which the Corinthi-
ans were called,7 as well as their present circumstance.8 The examples Paul gives in v. 27
and following show God’s calling is despite the status the Corinthians had at the time of
God’s call. When Paul exhorts his audience to look at their calling, this is—in rhetorical
manner—to focus on the unfavorable status they had, which includes their social status
and place in society. It is despite this that God has called them.

3
Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 158, note 3.
4
Martin Luther, Das Newe Testament Deutzsch, 1522, accessed June 22, 2023, http://archive.org/de-
tails/DasNeweTestamentDeutzsch1522. The version used is Luther’s first translation, published by Mel-
chior Lotter the Younger.
5
The edition used is that of 1545 via “BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions
and 50 Languages.,” accessed June 22, 2023, https://www.biblegateway.com/.
6
Karl Ludwig Schmidt, “Καλέω, Κλῆσις, Κλητός, Ἀντικαλέω, Ἐγκαλέω, Ἔνκλημα, Εἰσκαλέω, Μετακαλέω,
Προκαλέω, Συγκαλέω, Ἐπικαλέω, Προσκαλέω, Ἐκκλησία.,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testa-
ment, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 1964), 487–536.
7
Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New
International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub-
lishing company; Paternoster Press, 2000), 180; Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Revised
Edition, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerd-
mans Publishing Company, 2014), 83.
8
Wolfgang Schrage, Der erste Brief an die Korinther, vol. 1, Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum
Neuen Testament 7 (Zürich; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Benziger Verlag; Neukirchener Verlag, 1991), 208.
 5

Weber’s interpretation that 1 Cor. 1,26 is “purely religious” is thus inaccurate.

Moreover, accusing Luther of translating and interpreting this as “worldly callings in a
modern sense” is too far-stretched, as Luther does not do this—his varying use of ‘Ruf’,
‘Beruf’ and ‘Berufung’ shows the connotation of κλησις is more mixed up than merely
that of a worldly profession.9

3. 1 Corinthians 7,20
3.1. Weber and Luther
Weber mentions Luther’s interpretation and translation of 1 Cor. 7,20 in a footnote:

In verse 20 Luther, following the older German translations, even in 1523 in his
exigesis of this chapter, renders κλησις with Beruf, and interprets it with Stand.
[…] Now, κλησις does not correspond to the modern Beruf. […] The passage in 1
Cor. vii. 17 does not […] use κλησις at all-in the sense of Beruf, a definite field of
activity.10

Once again, Weber is mistaken in assuming Luther renders κλησις with ‘Beruf’, at least
in the first versions of his Bible translation: both the 1522 and 1530 version have ‘ruf’: “Ein
jeglicher bleibe inn dem ruff / darinnen er berufen ist.” It is not till the 1545 version that
the word ‘Beruf’ is used (but Weber bases himself on Luther’s first translations).
The later translation brings up the question of why Luther did this. Has his theo-
logical opinion become too difficult to suppress, such that he changed translations as he
went? Did he put his conviction that all professions are of equal standing back into 1
Cor. 7? This would mean he did use ‘Beruf’ in the modern sense of the word, as Weber
argued. A more likely explanation is available, however. The first being that the words
‘Ruf’, ‘Beruf’ and ‘Berufung’ are used by Luther (and later by people like Martin Bucer)
conveying the same meanings.11 The linguistic similarities of ‘Beruf’ in the sense of ‘call’

9
Besides the fact that it is anachronistic to read the distinction ‘worldly’ and ‘spiritual’ regarding profes-
sions back into the text.
10
Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 160–61, note 3.
11
K. Holl, “Die Geschichte des Wortes Beruf,” in Ders. (Hg.): Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kirchengeschichte
(Darmstadt, 1964), 208; Wolfgang Schrage, Der Erste Brief an Die Korinther, vol. 2, Evangelisch-Katholi-
scher Kommentar Zum Neuen Testament 7 (Zürich: Benziger; Neukirchen-Vluyn; Neukirchener, 1991),
147, note. 548.
 6

and in the sense of ‘profession’ are indistinguishable, such that confusion is possible.12 It
is very well likely Luther chose this translation (‘Beruf’) for its linguistic similarities with
‘Ruf’ and ‘Berufung’.13 Second, ‘Beruf’—with clear similarities to the words ‘Ruf’, ‘Rufung’
and ‘Berufung’—is a linguistically effective way of pointing out the similarities between
τῇ κλήσει and ᾗ ἐκλήθη.
Luther’s opinion that all professions were of equal standing need not have led to
altering his translation of 1 Cor. 7,20. Reading a modern conception of ‘Beruf’ into Lu-
ther’s translation is perhaps more a case of Hineininterpretierung than it is of willfully
altering the text to one’s convictions.

The idea of Luther that there was no theological hierarchy in professions is not original, but
already appears in the early church.14 The interpretation of vocatio with ‘status’, an interpre-
tation already directed towards the modern concept of ‘Beruf’, is also not new.15 Already with
Johann Tauler (ca. 1300-1361), “der vermeintliche Widerspruch zwischen Kontemplation und
alltäglicher Erwerbsarbeit” was questioned.16 Luther’s levelling of spiritual and worldly voca-
tions is indeed “one of the most important results of the Reformation.”

3.2. Κλησις in 1 Cor. 7,20 on closer inspection

1 Cor. 7,20 is part of a pericope running from v. 17 till 24. The gist is that the state in
which one is called does not matter for who God does or does not call. Paul reiterates
the point made earlier in chapter 1: the calling of God was not because of favorable cir-
cumstances, but because of his own will.
Κλησις in this pericope denotes the circumstances in which one is called, and not
the act of God’s calling.17 Paul makes clear in v. 18, 19, and 21 that the circumstances did

12
This might even be likely, especially when one considers the fact that historians run the risk of retro-
spectively reading modern conceptions (or historical developments for that matter) back into a text.
13
‘Beruf’ is verbally of course the perfect middle way between ‘Ruf’ and ‘Berufung’.
14
Gerald Sailmann, Der Beruf: eine Begriffsgeschichte, Histoire, Band 147 (Bielefeld: Transcript, 2018), 26–
44.
15
[Es] ist … im Mittelalter nicht üblich gewesen, den »Beruf« im heutigen Sinne mit dem Begriff »Vocatio«
oder dessen deutschen Ent- sprechungen zu bezeichnen oder die theologische Vocatio explizit mit welt-
lichen Tätigkeiten zu verbinden. Allerdings ist 1Kor 7,20 spätestens vom Hochmittelalter an in diese Richt-
ung gedeutet worden. Belege hierfür gibt es im Kommentar des Heiligen Bruno († 1101) zum Ersten Korin-
therbrief, wo »Status« als »Vocatio« begriffen wird oder bei Hervaeus von Bourgdien († 1150), der von
»Vocationes vitae« im Anschluss an 1Kor 7,20 spricht. Sailmann, Der Beruf, 30–31, note 15.
16
Sailmann, Der Beruf, 147.
17
Paul Ellingworth and Howard Hatton, A Translator’s Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians,
Helps for Translators (London; New York; Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1985), 138–39; Archibald Ro-
bertson and Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St Paul to the
Corinthians, latest impression, The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old
and New Testament (Edinburgh: Clark, 1999), 147; Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, 552–53.
 7

not matter when God called them, and do not matter once they are called. Every cir-
cumstance is one in which Christians can serve God to answer their calling.18 C. K. Bar-
rett describes this aptly:

Since Paul in the same sentence, and repeatedly in the context, declares that it is
the will of God that the Christian should continue in this state, it acquires new
meaning: the slave, for example, becomes the Lord’s freedman. But it is mislead-
ing to import into this passage modern ideas of, for example, vocation to mission-
ary service, and still more misleading to speak, as the medieval church did, of
Christian vocation as exclusively vocation to monastic life. A man is not called (so
far as this passage is concerned) to a new occupation; his old occupation is given
new significance.19

4. Weber’s interpretation scrutinized

A summary of the above will answer the main question to what extent Weber’s interpre-
tation of Luther’s translation of κλησις in 1 Corinthians is right. For 1 Cor. 1,26, Weber’s
interpretation that it is “purely religious” is inaccurate. His claim that Luther translated
this as “worldly callings in a modern sense” is too far-stretched, as Luther does not do
this—his varying use of ‘Ruf’, ‘Beruf’ and ‘Berufung’ shows the connotation of κλησις is
more mixed up than merely that of a worldly profession. As to 1 Cor. 7,20, Weber claims
Luther translated κλησις with ‘Beruf’ already in 1523. As can be seen in his 1522 and 1530
translation, this claim is not true: only in Luther’s 1545 translation is the ‘Beruf’ used.
Weber’s claim that Luther uses this in the modern sense of the word as a definite field
of activity is contestable: ‘Ruf’, ‘Beruf’, and ‘Berufung’ are used interchangeably in 1 Cor.
7 without difference in meaning (in the case of the Book of Sirach the case is different,
but that is outside this paper’s scope) and need not be interpreted from the standpoint
of Luther’s theological conviction about every vocation being of equal standing: Luther’s

18
Schrage, Der erste Brief an die Korinther, 1:138–39. “Es [geht] Paulus entscheidend darum […] den Ort der
Berufung als den zugewiesenen Ort der Bewärhung anzunehmen. Auch der verachtete Sklavenstand ist
ein Platz, um dan Christuszeugnis | im gehorzam zu bewähren.”
19
C. K. Barrett, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Black’s New Testament Commentary (Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson Publishers, 1993), 170.
 8

translation does not necessitate such an interpretation. Luther’s theological convic-

tions—and translation of εργον and πονος in Sirach 11,20 with ‘Beruf’—must not be read
back into in all his translations of the word κλησις, but instead read as a linguistically
effective way of pointing out the similarities between τῇ κλήσει and ᾗ ἐκλήθη. Lastly,
dissolving the ambiguity in Luther’s ‘Beruf’ by stressing the meaning of ‘profession’ has
not been substantiated by exegetical proofs, such that Weber’s interpretation looks like
a case of Hineininterpretierung. One point, however, has to be granted to Weber: “diese
sittliche Qualifizierung des weltlichen Berufslebens [war] eine der folgenschwersten
Leistungen der Reformation und also speziell Luthers […], ist in der Tat zweifellos und
darf nachgerade als ein Gemeinplatz gelten.”20

20
“Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus – Wikisource,” 42, accessed June 23, 2023,
https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Die_protestantische_Ethik_und_der_Geist_des_Kapitalismus.
 9

Bibliography
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body, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993.

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Accessed June 22, 2023. https://www.biblegateway.com/.

“Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus – Wikisource.” Accessed June 23,
2023. https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Die_protes-
tantische_Ethik_und_der_Geist_des_Kapitalismus.

Ellingworth, Paul, and Howard Hatton. A Translator’s Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the
Corinthians. Helps for Translators. London; New York; Stuttgart: United Bible Soci-
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Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub-
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Holl, K. “Die Geschichte des Wortes Beruf.” In Ders. (Hg.): Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kir-
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Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians. Latest impression. The International Critical
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Sailmann, Gerald. Der Beruf: eine Begriffsgeschichte. Histoire, Band 147. Bielefeld: Trans-
cript, 2018.
 10

Schmidt, Karl Ludwig. “Καλέω, Κλῆσις, Κλητός, Ἀντικαλέω, Ἐγκαλέω, Ἔνκλημα, Εἰσκαλέω,
Μετακαλέω, Προκαλέω, Συγκαλέω, Ἐπικαλέω, Προσκαλέω, Ἐκκλησία.” In Theolog-
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mentar zum Neuen Testament 7. Zürich; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Benziger Verlag; Neu-
kirchener Verlag, 1991.

———. Der Erste Brief an Die Korinther. Vol. 2. Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar Zum
Neuen Testament 7. Zürich: Benziger; Neukirchen-Vluyn; Neukirchener, 1991.

Thiselton, Anthony C. The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text.
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Wells, Gordon C. “Issues of Language and Translation in Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic Writ-
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