Thursday, December 20, 2012  Sacred poverty, sturdy beggars, and
the impotent poor Part V   In Part I of this series, I
summarized the theory of Sigrun Kahl, who argues that European
states have shaped their welfare policies in part because of the
influence of Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist doctrines
regarding poverty.  In Part II of this series, I explained how
the social landscape of the Roman Empire shaped Catholicism’s
doctrinal approach to poverty.  In Part III, I explained how the
social landscape of early-modern Germany shaped Martin Luther’s
theology on poverty.  In Part IV, I explained how Jean Calvin’s
experience with temporal powers, his own as well as those of
various European leaders, shaped his theology on poverty.  In
this post I will explore how the development of England’s poor
laws reflected Calvin’s theology of poverty.  In England,
Calvin’s teachings were adopted by Puritans during a time of
great social upheaval. The Reformation in England was a messy
business, spanning the reigns of e