In this article I consider the philosophical problems which are related to the meaning of religion for the rational model of a society, and Weber’s concept of the rational religion. Weber recognizes the huge impact of the rational religion on the shape of consciousness and the formation model of the society. He underlines the uniting power of religion which doesn’t limit human aspiration and motivation, but is able to seek the consensus between its rules and human social activities such as: aspiration for profit and personal abilities. Weber criticizes contemplative kinds of religion, because they separate an individual from the society or community. The philosopher argues that an individual can exist only inside a group, because no one is self-sufficient and everybody needs another member of community.
The author of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism perceives the radical changes in the history of religion. He recognizes the movement from magic to religion and from naturism to symbolism. However, life is more complicated and almost every religion consists of natural and symbolic features. For example: in the Protestant Church the bread and the grape juice symbolize the body and blood of Christ, whereas the Catholic doctrine holds that wine and bread become literally the blood and the body of Christ. Nonetheless revisions are appreciable inside the sphere of religion.
Weber concludes that Christianity contributes to the development of law, human rights and new shape of economy, because the reason and the motivation of religion come together in the western culture.