Are Christianity And Capitalism Really Compatible?

Trade alone does not make capitalism. Columbus for example was commissioned by the crown meaning that the profits went to the crown rather than people keeping what they make which is one of the most fundamental features of capitalism.

Capitalism developed from mercantile trade. The Americas were found by Columbus in the process of expanding trade routes.

EDIT to clarify: I don't mean trade only existed as a path for capitalism either. Different nations traded with each other in order to get necessary supplies prior to capitalism. Trade did provide a convenient route for the development of capitalism as feudalism began to wane though.

My point was that a Christian society invented capitalism. You then said that capitalism predates America. I responded it does not in fact predate America and was thus invented by a Christian society.

Merchant capitalism is a term used by economic historians to refer to the earliest phase in the development of capitalism as an economy and social system. Early forms of merchant capitalism were developed in the medieval Islamic world from the 9th century, and in medieval Europe from the 12th century.[1][2][3] In Europe, merchant capitalism became a significant economic force in the 16th century, depending on point of view. The mercantile era drew to a close around 1800, giving way to industrial capitalism. However, merchant capitalism remained entrenched in some parts of the West well into the 19th century, most notably the Southern United States, where the plantation system constrained the development of industrial capitalism (limiting markets for consumer goods) whose political manifestations prevented Northern legislators from passing broad economic packages (e.g. monetary and banking reform, a transcontinental railroad, and incentives for settlement of the American west) to integrate the states' economies and spur the growth of industrial capitalism.[4]

Merchant capitalism was mostly not based on industrialization and the factory system (at which point capitalism completely displaced feudalism), but on merchant houses backed by financiers acting as intermediaries between simple commodity producers. Thus, merchant capitalism preceded the capitalist mode of production as a form of capital accumulation. The transformation of merchant capitalism into industrial capitalism involved, according to Karl Marx, a process of primitive accumulation of capital, resulting in a rapid expansion of industrial wage labor.

if you are talking about industrial capitalism, that started in England, so yeah.
So I'm with Jaerik on this one.

My point was that a Christian society invented capitalism. You then said that capitalism predates America. I responded it does not in fact predate America and was thus invented by a Christian society.

I would argue that it did not become full fledged capitalism in England until after it had done so in America, but even if you wanted to attribute it to England, England was still a Christian country at that point in history.

I would argue that it did not become full fledged capitalism in England until after it had done so in America, but even if you wanted to attribute it to England, England was still a Christian country at that point in history.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments was written by Adam Smith in 1759. It provided the ethical, philosophical, psychological, and methodological underpinnings to Smith's later works, including The Wealth of Nations (1776), A Treatise on Public Opulence (1764) (first published in 1937), Essays on Philosophical Subjects (1795), and Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms (1763) (first published in 1896).

@Vinvv
Do you think that Christianity is on the decline then? Leading to a rise in capitalism or you don't think the two are related at all?

@Vinvv
Do you think that Christianity is on the decline then? Leading to a rise in capitalism or you don't think the two are related at all?

I don't think the two can be related, but just as much as islam is on a rise because of democracy lol.
the two may have some connections but aren't mutually exclusive by any means.

Minor point, but even if capitalism didn't predate America, there is no logical necessity that Christianity invented capitalism.

However, capitalism most certainly did predate America.

My point was not that Christianity was a necessary condition for the existence of capitalism, merely that because it came about in a nation that was predominantly Christian at the time the two by definition must not be incompatible. If they were capitalism could not have come about in such a society to begin with.

I don't think the two can be related, but just as much as islam is on a rise because of democracy lol.
the two may have some connections but aren't mutually exclusive by any means.

i will say that Christianity is much more prolific than Islam and many other belief systems in the states, but it's been that way for years.

So if the US starts having channels like IBN(islamist broadcasting network), so on and so forth...you might be able to get a better idea about how the world works.
but cable companies=the big problem with that.
same reason fox news is blasted all day long and cable companies won't play al jazeera.

You guys are redefining "capitalism" to whatever fits your given argument.

If you mean "the particular brand of confederated industrial free market enterprise with minimal government anti-trust oversight popularized in the US," then yes, the US came up with it. You're setting up your own goalposts.

If you're talking about the concept of a "free market" in general, that's actually been the default economic model for most of human history.

I think they're related to a degree. Not that they're dependent or can't coexist, but if there's too much Christianity involved with government, the free market would feel an effect.

As too how much, I can't say. As I think you went into is that we don't have a major channel like al jazeera but equivalent to Christians.

The problem with the word 'capitalism' is there is no precise definition as to what exactly it is, just the elements that are included.

wut?

wut?

I was more wuting along the lines of the fact refresh said that truly secular society isn't possible because governments cannot be truly secular for some reason, so therefore we must all strive for greater secular humanism.

true neutral will not have a Title i just added i added Secular Humanism do to it being as far as humans got to in this present reality