ABSTRACT
The author had studied Max Weber’s famous essay on The Protestant Ethic as well as the large literature engendered by it, but his attention had been confined to the themes in Weber’s essay. In 1980, Wolfgang Schluchter initiated a series of conferences, sponsored by the Werner Reimers Stiftung in Bad Homburg (Federal Republic of Germany). When a participating church historian withdrew from the conference, Schluchter invited the author to prepare a paper on early Christianity. This chapter supplements Weber’s analysis by returning the concept charisma to its original, religious context, but with the aid of insights obtained through Weber’s secular use of the term. The first task is to elucidate the meaning of charisma with reference to Jesus. The second task consists of analyzing the transformation of charisma and the first signs of institutionalization in the Pauline mission. The chapter presents a brief reference to transformations of charisma which are embodied in the Christian martyrs and the veneration of saints.
