Catholicism in the Late Ming Dynasty and Ledgers of Merit and Demerit from the Perspective of Weber’s Sociology of Religion

Abstract

According to Weber’s sociology of religion, Catholic moral book-keeping exhibits a tendency to offset merit with demerit, while that of Puritanism reflects a systematic and rational formation of a believer’s ethical life. This paper aims to prove that this distinction of Weber’s could be used to explain the tension between Catholicism in the late Ming dynasty and the traditional Chinese ledgers of merit and demerit at that time. Catholicism in the late Ming regarded the practice of keeping ledgers as representing not knowing God, leading to arithmetical moral practices that could undermine the purity of morality. Instead, what it required of its believers was a constant confession that enabled them to form a systematic self-examination and practice. This self-understanding of Catholicism is consistent with Weber’s interpretation of the Jesuit methodology of salvation.