What does economic success have to do with what we consider honest, how we approach work, and how willing we are to stand up to those in power? More than 120 years after its publication, Max Weber’s work on the Protestant ethic still raises pressing questions for Hungary. Péter Ákos…
Essay
Is Christianity becoming fashionable? In recent years, we have witnessed a growing number of celebrities converting to Christianity or expressing an intense interest in it. The writer and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Jordan Peterson, and the former New Atheist Richard Dawkins, who now describes himself as a “cultural Christian,” are…
We are naturally inclined to divide humanity into two categories: “us” and “them,” and “they”—the other group—are perceived as a threat to “us.” For this reason, people build not only physical walls but also invisible barriers by which they seek to protect their identity. Referring to the conflict between Jewish…
According to Max Weber’s famous thesis, Protestant ethics was one of the key driving forces behind the emergence of modern capitalism. Does this mean, however, that the capitalist economic and social order can be theologically justified? The author argues that it cannot; indeed, capitalism may rather be understood as a…
This essay, responding to articles by Tamás Fabiny and István Gégény, examines the cultural contexts of the political use of biblical texts and concepts through the example of the David and Goliath metaphor. It approaches the issue on three levels: the theological interpretation of the biblical text, the cultural patterns…