Chapter 4: the Religious Foundations of Worldly Asceticism Summary and Analysis

There are four principal forms of ascetic Protestantism: 1) Calvinism; 2) Pietism; 3) Methodism; and 4) the sects of the Baptist movement. Methodism appeared in the middle of the 18th century but was not intended to form a new church, only to awaken spiritualism within the Church of England. Pietism split from Calvinism in England and remained loosely associated with orthodoxy until it became part of Lutheranism in the 17th century. Calvinism and Baptism were initially far apart in doctrine; however, in the latter part of the 17th century grew closer together. These movements were collectively referred to as Puritanism. The characteristics associated with the spirit of capitalism can be found in all the various denominations.

For the purposes of this work, it would seem best to focus on the moral practices of...