Esquisse d'une sociologie de la Bible chez Max Weber

Abstract

Max Weber's sociology of religion includes reflections on the New Testament, which can be seen as the beginnings of the project he heralded in 1919 which was to have dealt with primitive eastern and western Christianity. These reflections emerged at the time he began this sociology. They arose in connection with his thesis on the novelty of the idea of religious calling in Luther. When Max Weber studied the New Testament more closely, two main issues preoccupied him: the relationship of the first Christians to the world, and whether and how their religious culture might induce action. Weber discovered that the first Christians had a complex relationship with the world, typified by tension, indifference and adaptation. Furthermore, he observed that their conception of faith did not lead to action.