Lutheranism and the Nordic Spirit of Social Democracy: A Different Protestant Ethic by Robert H. Nelson (review)

Nelson is an economist, not a theologian. He is well-known however for the novel thesis that modern, secular economic theories are guided by utopian ideals and therefore are inherently mythological, indeed religious. Here Nelson expands on Max Weber's well-known thesis that capitalism emerges from a "Protestant ethic," chiefly Calvinism, by showing that democratic socialism is a natural outgrowth of the Lutheran folk church in the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland). The Protestant ethic latent in these societies was not Calvinist, but instead Lutheran. Indeed, for Nelson, Nordic democracy is nothing other than a secular Lutheranism, a modernized bearer of the heritage of traditional Christianity as it had been adopted in Scandinavia (12).

At the heart of the Nordic ethic is not only the goal that all who are able to work should have a job but also, with Martin Luther, that people should not seek self-interested profit but instead serve the good of all (19). Hence the "two pillars of the welfare state," full employment and social security, are an economic outworking of the Lutheran perspective on vocation as well as the priesthood of all believers (37), albeit in a secular mode where salvation is no longer to be found in a new heaven and earth but instead on earth as guided by science and the economy (41). In this secular salvation, the social democratic state replaces the church, the "people" replaces the traditional Christian God, and nationalism replaces the traditional Lutheran faith (42). For Nelson, secularism does not mean that religion disappears from the world but instead it continues to narrate human life mythically, indeed drives the world, but no longer in traditional Christian terms (63).

Nelson points out that Lutheran theology advocated a "two kingdoms" approach to government in which the gospel was one way God ruled over people through the church while God orders human behavior for the sake of human safety through the government. Nevertheless, the establishing of Lutheranism as a territorial church resulted not in two kingdoms but instead a "one kingdom" approach, since in his own lands the ruler ends up having an authority similar to the pope (93). While naturally Lutheranism rejected good works as efficacious for salvation, good works were seen as necessary for Christian living (115). Capitalism divorced money from human needs and created an economy of acquisition (117). But that is inherently at odds with Luther's stance that self-interest is not to reign in the Christian life (118).

A "second Reformation," Lutheran Pietism, with its advocacy for temperance, women's suffrage, and high esteem for the worker, and a place for trade unions, reinforced both the Lutheran valuation for labor and the conviction to support those unable to work. Medieval Catholicism had sanctioned begging since giving alms helped one achieve merit. In contrast, Protestants worked to stamp out begging (176) by providing either jobs or welfare for the poor.

Economic success, along with new perspectives in science and philosophy, led to secularism in Scandinavia. With the raise of greater opportunities due to more wealth, the "traditional Christian God was no longer necessary; creating this new heaven on earth would depend on human thoughts and actions that would be sufficient in and of themselves to abolish all economic deprivation and thus also sin in the world" (188). But all this substantiates Nelson's point: Even though the Christian God was no longer necessary in Scandinavian life, the Lutheran ethos survives (188).

Scandinavian-Americans sometimes puzzle over the low numbers of Scandinavians who attend church on a regular basis. Nelson would tell us that in spite of their lack of attendance they are still good Lutherans, albeit deeply secular ones.