Luther's Views On The Relationship Between Church And State
The Protestant reformation was a time when religious views everywhere changed, but mostly in Northern Europe. Views on the relationship between church and state vary based on the branch of Protestant Christianity. There’s Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anabaptism, and they all have different views.
Luther, who Lutheranism was based off of, said that it was the obligation of the state to enforce God’s law. His opinion of church and state varied at many times in his life though, so at some points he also claimed that church and state should be completely separated. He published On Secular Authority in 1523, which really showed his views on church and state. He thought if the state was against the reformation, they should be separated from religion. …show more content…
These stated that God had two ways of ruling the world, by the gospel and by the government. They thought that God wanted everyone to live in peace and harmony, but the two
(gospel and government) had to be separated. The gospel itself could not help the society preserve peace and justice, while the government could not teach his people how to live and teach them salvation. That being their belief, they did not make an effort to bring their religion into the world as much as some religions, such as Calvinism, did.
A very big moral stressed in the Lutheran faith was obedience, to not only God, but to the government as well. Reformed theology taught that there needed to be a resistance against government. Luther, on the other hand, advocated that they only resist the government if they were getting in the way of preaching the gospel. They did have to use this when, in the 16th century, Emperor Charles V tried to extinguish Luther and reintroduce Catholicism. Some people believed that Luther wanted complete and total obedience of the government, but this wasn’t exactly the case. Luther also wanted resistance to unjust …show more content…
The reformers refused to separate at all from the church, and they were referred to by the Anabaptists as sub-christians, and by some, even demonic.
Anabaptists, or “Swiss Brethren” as they referred to themselves as, thought that the high point of Christianity and the church happened between when the apostles were around to the time of Constantine. They thought that the Edict of Toleration in A.D. 313 was when the church began it’s downfall because this Edict caused Christianity to be called a "permitted cult.” And after that, Constantine made Christianity the only religion. There was a lot of church corruption though, and eventually Constantine called for the death penalty for anyone who had a private gathering for anything with religious purpose. This was to drive men to come to church, completely disregarding the idea of salvation or even free will. Therefore, church and state were intertwined to the point that they were inseparable. The Anabaptists thought that the most damaging part that caused the fall of the church was the close relationship with the state. As said by William R. Estep, “When church and state were joined, the church ceased to be the
Luther, who Lutheranism was based off of, said that it was the obligation of the state to enforce God’s law. His opinion of church and state varied at many times in his life though, so at some points he also claimed that church and state should be completely separated. He published On Secular Authority in 1523, which really showed his views on church and state. He thought if the state was against the reformation, they should be separated from religion. …show more content…
These stated that God had two ways of ruling the world, by the gospel and by the government. They thought that God wanted everyone to live in peace and harmony, but the two
(gospel and government) had to be separated. The gospel itself could not help the society preserve peace and justice, while the government could not teach his people how to live and teach them salvation. That being their belief, they did not make an effort to bring their religion into the world as much as some religions, such as Calvinism, did.
A very big moral stressed in the Lutheran faith was obedience, to not only God, but to the government as well. Reformed theology taught that there needed to be a resistance against government. Luther, on the other hand, advocated that they only resist the government if they were getting in the way of preaching the gospel. They did have to use this when, in the 16th century, Emperor Charles V tried to extinguish Luther and reintroduce Catholicism. Some people believed that Luther wanted complete and total obedience of the government, but this wasn’t exactly the case. Luther also wanted resistance to unjust …show more content…
The reformers refused to separate at all from the church, and they were referred to by the Anabaptists as sub-christians, and by some, even demonic.
Anabaptists, or “Swiss Brethren” as they referred to themselves as, thought that the high point of Christianity and the church happened between when the apostles were around to the time of Constantine. They thought that the Edict of Toleration in A.D. 313 was when the church began it’s downfall because this Edict caused Christianity to be called a "permitted cult.” And after that, Constantine made Christianity the only religion. There was a lot of church corruption though, and eventually Constantine called for the death penalty for anyone who had a private gathering for anything with religious purpose. This was to drive men to come to church, completely disregarding the idea of salvation or even free will. Therefore, church and state were intertwined to the point that they were inseparable. The Anabaptists thought that the most damaging part that caused the fall of the church was the close relationship with the state. As said by William R. Estep, “When church and state were joined, the church ceased to be the