Page "Max Weber" Paragraph 44

Weber ended his research of society and religion in India by bringing in insights from his previous work on China to discuss similarities of the Asian belief systems.

He notes that the beliefs saw the meaning of life as otherworldly mystical experience.

The social world is fundamentally divided between the educated elite, following the guidance of a prophet or wise man and the uneducated masses whose beliefs are centered on magic.

In Asia, there was no Messianic prophecy to give plan and meaning to the everyday life of educated and uneducated alike.

Weber juxtaposed such Messianic prophecies ( also called ethical prophecies ), notably from the Near East region to the exemplary prophecies found on the Asiatic mainland, focused more on reaching to the educated elites and enlightening them on the proper ways to live one's life, usually with little emphasis on hard work and the material world.

It was those differences that prevented the countries of the Occident from following the paths of the earlier Chinese and Indian civilizations.

His next work, Ancient Judaism was an attempt to prove this theory.