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Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2025.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
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| _version_ | 1867614020277633024 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Keay, Elijah |
| author2 | Forster, Dion |
| author_browse | Forster, Dion Keay, Elijah |
| author_facet | Forster, Dion Keay, Elijah |
| author_sort | Keay, Elijah |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134654 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:45:23.741Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134654 Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology Keay, Elijah Forster, Dion Vosloo, Robert Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematic Theology & Ecclesiology. Protestantism -- Doctrines Theological anthropology -- History of doctrines Desire -- Religious aspects -- Christianity Capitalism -- Religious aspects -- Protestant churches Capitalism -- Moral and ethical aspects Christianity and culture -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600 UCTD Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. Keay, E. 2025. Reforming Protestantism: resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/b622e274-a404-41f5-93e0-c7c6eaba195e ENGLISH SUMMARY: A selection of Protestant anthropologies has been used to support capitalism’s capture of desire and reorientation of human ends, rather than to free desire and guide humanity towards its telos or final end in God. The common assumption that capitalism is a byproduct of Protestantism—a notion stemming from Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism—has since been challenged by research showing that capitalism predated the Reformation, flourishing within late medieval Catholicism. However, Protestantism did contribute to the ascent and subsequent dominance of capitalism. This dissertation demonstrates that the connection between Protestantism and capitalism is an anthropological one, rooted in a problematic theological thread within premodern Western Christianity. The method employed is a systematic-theological genealogy of Protestant anthropologies of desire that begins in the present-day United States and then retraces its history back to the Reformation, followed by a discussion demonstrating the links between Luther and his late medieval predecessors, and then between Luther and Augustine himself. Once that inquiry is concluded, the conversation will return to the present to reintroduce a premodern teleological anthropology that resists capitalism’s capture of desire. Contrary to what has often been assumed, a capitalism-supporting theological anthropology predates Luther and is found in the works of medieval Franciscan theologians. Because Luther never entirely escaped their problematic theological ideas, he perpetuated them. Furthermore, as an Augustinian monk and theologian who heavily relied on Augustine’s anti-Pelagian works, a comparison of Luther’s anthropology with Augustine’s, as well as that of another Church Father, was crucial. For this purpose, the author has chosen Maximus the Confessor. Such a comparison reveals that while Augustine does make statements aligning with Luther’s anthropology, many of his teleological ideas firmly place him among other Early Church Fathers, resisting the capture of desire by capitalism. Thus, Luther’s focus on Augustine’s anti-Pelagian works, rather than Augustine’s teleological and Christian Platonist theology, shaped an anthropology that ultimately undergirded capitalism. If Protestantism is to guide humanity toward its proper telos in God, it must adopt liturgies, practices, and sacraments that free humans from capitalism’s capture of desire, enabling them to desire the Source and End of all desires. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar. Doctoral 2025-12-22T08:44:40Z 2025-12-22T08:44:40Z 2025-12 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134654 en Stellenbosch University x, 329 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Protestantism -- Doctrines Theological anthropology -- History of doctrines Desire -- Religious aspects -- Christianity Capitalism -- Religious aspects -- Protestant churches Capitalism -- Moral and ethical aspects Christianity and culture -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600 UCTD Keay, Elijah Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology |
| title | Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology |
| title_full | Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology |
| title_fullStr | Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology |
| title_short | Reforming Protestantism : resisting capitalism’s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology |
| title_sort | reforming protestantism resisting capitalism s capture of desire through a teleological anthropology |
| topic | Protestantism -- Doctrines Theological anthropology -- History of doctrines Desire -- Religious aspects -- Christianity Capitalism -- Religious aspects -- Protestant churches Capitalism -- Moral and ethical aspects Christianity and culture -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600 UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134654 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT keayelijah reformingprotestantismresistingcapitalismscaptureofdesirethroughateleologicalanthropology |