The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber

Weber saw religion from a different perspective; he saw it as an agent for change. He challenged Marx by saying that religion was not the effect of some economical social or psychological factor. But that religion was used as a way for an explanation of things that cause other things. Because religious forces play an important role in reinforces our modern culture, Weber came to the conclusion that religion serves as both a cause and an effect. Weber didn’t prose a general theory of religion but focused on the interaction between society and religion. Weber believed that one must understand the role of religious emotions in causing ideal types such as capitalism. He explained the shift in Europe from the other worldliness of Catholicism to the worldliness of early Protestantism; according to Weber this was what initiated the capitalist economic system.
As he mentioned in his book The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism, capitalism isn’t about being rich. Weber said that there was a connection between religions. He mentioned that Protestants are more likely to be successful businessmen than Catholics. The reason for this was because he believed that a protestant earns money to accumulate savings, not for luxuries. By implying this, he claimed that modern capitalism arose in Western Europe and it is specific to protestant values and faith. Marx Weber goes on and explains capitalism, he explains the work ethic in terms of religious sentiment claiming that financial pursuits was rooted from work ethic and in turn become the new religion. "Man is dominated by the making of money, by acquisition as the ultimate purpose of his life." While Karl Marx views capitalism as a way to repress from having the elite control the wealth,...

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...ity beyond this world which manifests itself in our midst and makes itself known and brings about a change in our reality.” In other words, his study of religion is the examination of the different forms and places in which the sacred is manifested.
Weber and Eliade both argued that religion should be understood in its own terms. Although both Marx and Weber have different views about religion, they all agree that misery stems from the forces of society and capitalism. Marx believed that religion provides relief for suffering in the material world. Weber believed that motivation comes from the individuals wish to overcome problems, supported by religious work ethic to do well for the common good. Unlike Durkheim who mentions the sacred and the profane while relating it to societies needs, Eliade proclaims that the concern with religion is with the super natural.