▁before . ▁We ber ▁became ▁trem end ously ▁important ▁for ▁Par s ons ▁because ▁his ▁up br ing ing ▁with ▁a ▁liberal ▁but ▁strongly - rel ig ious ▁father ▁had ▁made ▁the ▁question ▁of ▁the ▁role ▁of ▁culture ▁and ▁religion ▁in ▁the ▁basic ▁processes ▁of ▁world ▁history ▁a ▁persistent ▁puzz le ▁in ▁his ▁mind . ▁We ber ▁was ▁the ▁first ▁scholar ▁who ▁truly ▁provided ▁Par s ons ▁with ▁a ▁comp elling ▁theoretical ▁" answer " ▁to ▁the ▁question ▁so ▁Par s ons ▁became ▁totally ▁absor bed ▁in ▁the ▁reading ▁of ▁We ber . ▁ ▁Par s ons ▁decided ▁to ▁translate ▁We ber ' s ▁work ▁into ▁English ▁and ▁approached ▁Marian ne ▁We ber , ▁We ber ' s ▁wid ow . ▁Par s ons ▁would ▁eventually ▁translate ▁several ▁of ▁We ber ' s ▁works ▁to ▁English . ▁His ▁time ▁in ▁Heidel berg ▁had ▁him ▁invited ▁by ▁Marian ne ▁We ber ▁to ▁" soci ological ▁te as ", ▁which ▁were ▁study ▁group ▁meet ings ▁that ▁she ▁held ▁in ▁the ▁library ▁room ▁of ▁her ▁and ▁Max ' s ▁old ▁a partment . ▁One ▁scholar ▁that ▁Par s ons ▁met ▁at ▁Heidel berg ▁who ▁shared ▁his ▁enthus ias m ▁for ▁We ber ▁was ▁Alexander ▁von ▁Sch el ting . ▁Par s ons ▁later ▁wrote ▁a ▁review ▁article ▁on ▁von ▁Sch el ting ' s ▁book ▁on ▁We ber . ▁Gener ally , ▁Par s ons ▁read ▁extens ively ▁in ▁religious ▁literature , ▁especially ▁works ▁foc using ▁on ▁the ▁soci ology ▁of ▁religion . ▁One ▁scholar ▁who