Religion in Kayseri plays a central part in people’s lives. The city has a traditional reputation; the only place to get a drink is at the international hotel. But where in the past in Turkey business was dominated by the country’s secular elite, which firmly kept religion out of the boardroom, in Kayseri it has a central role.
And it seems to be a winning combination. Kayseri is booming. It holds the world record for the number of factories opening in a day – 190. The city boasts 50 out of 500 of the wealthiest people in Turkey.
But you would use never guess it walking on the streets of the city. There are few expensive cars, as ostentatious behaviour is frowned upon. Kayseri does have a rather puritanical feel to it. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, according Gerald Gnaus of the European Stability Initiative (ESI).
Gnaus recently published a report which draws a parallel with the 19th century Calvinists. Gnaus argues Kayseri buries the widely held belief that Islam and capitalism are incompatible.
“Many people in Western Europe — very serious thinkers too — have held that Islam is a fatalistic religion and that it suits a trading economy but not an industrial economy,” Gnaus says. “What we found in Kayseri is that on the contrary, the kind of characteristic traits that Max Weber attributed to the Calvinists – very hard working, very sober, not given to ostentatious displays of wealth – are the characteristic traits you find in businessmen in Kayseri.”
The term “Islamic Calvinism” caused a bit of a stir in Turkey, being angrily denounced by some in the Islamic media. But in Kayseri, most seemed quite happy with the label.
Mustafa Boydak is the head of the Kayseri chamber of commerce. He also runs one of the largest companies in the city Boydak. He also sees parallels with the 19th century puritans:
“In Calvinism there is this understanding that work is a form of worship, and Kayseri people share that understanding. Islam also teaches us to be tolerant, and open to new ideas, which is very important in business, and to people living here. But Christianity shares this ideal, and the influence of Christianity here is important. For centuries many Christian Greeks and Armenians lived here and were very involved in business, and this too has shaped people’s ideals.”
I’m not sure about the tolerance bit, though Mustafa Akyol makes as good a 2k case for Islam as any Western 2ker does for Calvinism. But when it comes to work ethic, the Turks would put many residents of Massachusetts to shame.
Old Life 
Will you visit this region?
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“In Calvinism there is this understanding that work is a form of worship.”
should read…
“In Neo-Calvinism there is this understanding that work is a form of worship.”
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Erik,
Work as worship is grounded in Rom. 12, as well as the historic Reformed understanding of vocation. Work in the end is service rendered from God. Where the article cited might seem ambiguous is that we view worship on the Lord’s Day as quite distinct from private forms of worship, placing greater weight on the corporate gathering of believers. Neo-Cals take vocation a step further, moving it from service rendered to God and neighbor to something redemptive.
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Jed,
How does one apply the regulative principle to plucking chickens?
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Are Christian rockers worshipping?
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Erik,
They don’t, RP applies to corporate worship. Vocation is a distinct doctrine, and neo-cals didn’t create it. Doctrines of vocation go all the way back to Luther, Calvin and the early Reformers who were reacting against the excesses of monasticism, as they began to formulate what implications Christian devotion had outside of corporate worship.
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David, yes. And you have to hold on to your wallet — because you want to buy all the rugs and pottery.
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I’m not sure about the tolerance bit, though Mustafa Akyol makes as good a 2k case for Islam as any Western 2ker does for Calvinism.
Excellent stuff, Darryl. I submit, however, that this new “Islamic Calvinism” comes at a time when Turkey is growing less secular, not more.
http://www.isranet.org/turkey-old-kemalist-order-decline-islamist-pm-reorients-eastward-and-%E2%80%A8fans-flames-anti-semitism#talking
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Jed,
I had forgotten where we were having this conversation until Tom revived it.
I notice in your second statement you don’t link vocation to worship.
Here’s why I have a hard time with vocation being worship. In my job I get to do unpleasant things from time to time like kick people out of their apartments and put everything they own in the public right-of-way between the sidewalk and the curb. An armed sheriff’s deputy is there and the tenant, if present, is understandably quite upset.
When I worship God I am looking toward a future time when there will be no more sin, no more sadness, and no more tears. My daily activities are common and while they have value and are upheld by God, I don’t presume that they rise to the level of worship. In a sense, if everything is worship, then nothing is worship.
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Tom, see Argo. Turkey is no Iran. And the shopkeepers in Istanbul, Izmir, and Urfa like it that way.
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Some Calvinists I know are very much like the atheist Marx in thinking that the meaning of life is
found in work. But, hey puritans, you really do have liberty to work whenever you get the opportunity.
Just don’t tell me it’s MY duty to make it as much as I can and save as much as I can.
About the only chapter (11) I liked in Stillman’s Dual Citizens was against the confusion of “vocation” with work.. Even when it came out, I thought that Stillman could have found somebody other than the Romanist (Calvinist-hating) Chesterton to make his case. Stillman does in fact quote a book I like: How to be Idle by the British writer, Tom Hodgkinson.
I take my sides with Jacques Ellul and Wendell Berry against those who aspire to be the next Os Guinness and talk as if work were sacred (or could be, or should be) The Bible does not confuse work with “calling”. Some of us work simply to pay the bills. Relax already.
Those who believe in assurance by work also tend to believe in justification and sanctification by work.
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Mark – How to be Idle by the British writer, Tom Hodgkinson
Erik – I have a book in the stack that is called something like “A History of Loafing”. I look forward to reading it if I can only find some time to loaf.
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Thus, the leaven of Christianity affects and infects the entire world. Will it advance the kingdom of God? Perhaps. Will they one day turn to Christ? When God convicts them that wealth and hard work and frugality don’t equate to the perfection God requires and that their own righteousness is not enough. Thus, the law of God leads to men learning their need for a savior. Without it, there’s no need.
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