현대 기독교철학의 동향 깔뱅의 돈 이해에 대한 비판적 고찰 -짐멜의 문화이론 관점에서- = Critical Analysis of Calvin`s Understanding of Money -Through Simmel`s Theory of Culture-

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Reformer Jean Calvin, in the middle of a changing period from the medieval to the modern times, conditionally permitted usury (interest) which was strictly prevented by the medieval church through his own new biblical interpretation. His theological argument about usury was based upon his revolutionary understanding of money. The medieval church oppressed making profit by money and controlled the objective culture of money not to destroy the religious subjective culture which was built by the church for a long time. Medieval church, however, could not resist any more the apparent phenomenon of the development of capitalism. Money was expanding the objective culture created by its inner logic at that time. Calvin adopted this phenomenon rather than resisted and used usury system to solve the rapidly increasing problem of poverty of the city of Geneva. His idea was to permit receiving usury for capitalists to induce their money into the new industry and business of the poor. His idea was successful. Nevertheless, Calvin did not permit charging usury on the lending for the poor. From the perspective of Georg Simmel`s theory of culture, Calvin`s theological and pastoral stance was to balance between the objective and the subjective culture. This balance was broken after Calvin. The objective culture of money slowly took over the subjective culture for which the medieval church tried to keep for hundreds years through preaching and teaching at the church. Max Weber found this tragic cultural phenomenon, the victory of the objective culture of money, from the later Puritans. Though not intended, Calvin opened the way for the objective culture of money to prevail the present economic world which suffers from consumerism.