Toward a Truly Christian Economic World View

"In pre-capitalistic economy the rich man showed his riches in glorious living: he built castles or mansions, or patrician houses - -and we still enjoy building houses today. But that is not the way in which Calvinism tried to show the people how to use their wealth. It should be partly used for endowments; as it is in this country, in which practically all culture is rooted (I. e. , through endowment) and partly for new investments. And this indeed is one of the best ways of supporting the capitalistic form of economy, namely to make the profits into investments, i. e., means for new production, etc., instead of wasting them, as the Calvinists would say, in glorious living."

- Paul Tillich, from "A History of Christian Thought".