Kuinka Lutherin kanta esivallan vastustamiseen muuttui

Authors

• Jaakko Kiilunen

Abstract

Martin Luther never aimed to form a comprehensive doctrine on secular authority. His writings on the subject were reactions to ever-changing political situations. Daily political maneuvering was essential in reinterpreting the concept of secular authority in 1529–1530. The article re-enacts the context and debate between Lutheran theologians and princes. It also articulates the fundamental arguments of the debate that had a critical influence on European political thought. Luther renounced armed resistance to the emperor, but Lutheran princes managed to persuade him to accept that a paragraph in Roman law bound them to resist the emperor by force, were he to attack Lutherans on base of religion, thus elevating law above the emperor himself. The ability to reinterpret previous theories and arguments makes Luther an ingenious example of political theorist as a politician, especially as he managed to retain his rationale of non-resistance surprisingly consistently despite the apparent volte-face.