Luther and Calvin on Secular Authority (Cambridge History of Political Thought Original Series Facsimile Edition)

Author: (German) Luther, (French) Calvin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: Martin Luther and John Calvin were the principal Magistral Reformers of the sixteenth century: they sought to enlist the cooperation of rulers in the work of reforming the Church. However, neither regarded the relationship between Church and rulers as a comfortable or unproblematic one. They were torn between the overriding imperative of uncompromising obedience to the will of God as revealed in Scripture, and their sense of the urgent need to maintain order and authority in Church and polity. The two texts translated here, Luther's On Secular Authority and Calvin's On Civil Government, constitute their most sustained attempts to find the proper balance between these two commitments, demanding a consideration of the nature of justice, the justification and scope of civil authority, the liberty of Christian subjects, and the place of the Church in the world. Despite their mutual respect, there were wide divergences between them. Luther's On Secular Authority was later cited en bloc in favor of religious tolerance, whereas Calvin envisioned secular authority as an agency for the compulsory establishment of the external conditions of Christian (as well as civil) virtue and the suppression of dissent. The introduction, glossary, chronology, and notes on further reading contained in this volume locate the texts in the broader context of the circumstances, theology, and vocabulary of their authors.