The main ideas of Martin Luther briefly. Martin Ideas is London's strongest work. Natural and Divine Law

29.06.2020

Combined and separate spelling of “also” and “the same way”

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Heidegger Martin is a philosopher who, like Archimedes, turned the entire philosophy of the twentieth century upside down. You can understand him or not, treat him positively or negatively, but his influence on modern culture, especially linguistic culture, cannot be compared with any other thinker of the twentieth century. His areas of activity are phenomenology and hermeneutics. It was these areas that became the subject of research by later philosophers, his followers or opponents. Heidegger also carried out the so-called language revolution. He is considered the founder of linguistic philosophy along with Ludwig Wittgenstein. Martin Heidegger, whose philosophy and biography will be the topic of this article, is also the author of the doctrine of all-encompassing Being and the creator of German existentialism.

Early biography

The hero of our essay was born back in the nineteenth century, on the territory of the then German Empire, in the Grand Duchy of Baden (Upper Swabia). This happened on September 26, 1889, in the town of Meskirch, which is located south of Stuttgart. Heidegger Martin was born into a rather modest family. His parents belonged to the Catholic faith. His father, Friedrich, was a craftsman, and his mother, Johanna, was a peasant woman who owned a small plot of land. The family did not have the opportunity to give their son a full education, and he was sent to a boarding school in Konstanz with church money. His upbringing was greatly influenced by the Catholic theologian Konrad Graeber. Young Martin became so religious that he entered a Jesuit college, and even wanted to take monastic vows at first. But then it turned out that the young man had problems with his heart, and he abandoned his church career. However, in 1909 he entered the theological faculty of the University of Freiburg. Two years of study completely turned the young man’s life around, and he realized his calling. In 1911 he transferred to study at the Faculty of Philosophy. Four years later, he finishes it, having defended not one, but two dissertations - on judgment in psychologism and on the teachings of Duns Scotus. His attitude towards the church also changes. If, upon entering the university, Heidegger Martin wrote enthusiastic Catholic poetry, then by 1915 he actually broke with the church, declaring that from now on he had entered the path of thinking.

Independent life

Of course, such a turn was not easy for the future philosopher. The church stopped funding his education. Heidegger Martin experienced hunger and poverty. It was then that he realized what a “borderline situation” was like for a little man who had encroached on “the plans and secrets of the great.” He does everything to get a government scholarship. Begins to study natural sciences, especially physics and the new theory of relativity at that time. New areas of knowledge open up for the student. He is immediately fascinated by the problem of time. But his patron also turns out to be a Catholic, who demands, for payment of a scholarship, obedience and work on the specified topic - to study the teachings of Thomas Aquinas and remain within the boundaries of theology. But when in 1915 Martin Heidegger, whose philosophy had already begun to take shape, was enrolled as a privatdozent at the faculty, he thought that he could finally do his own research. But the First World War was in full swing.

Start of teaching activity

The philosopher was drafted into the army, but due to neurasthenia and heart disease, he was assigned to censor letters. It was unpleasant for him to do this, but it still left time for his favorite activities. Heidegger Martin began to read Nietzsche, who had been his idol since his youth, Dostoevsky, and Rilke. Genderlin became his idol. And the study of Fichte and Hegel helped him structure his thinking. As he admitted in his early autobiography, the lectures of Dilthey and Rilke helped him overcome the dislike of history that he had developed as a result of his interest in mathematics and the natural sciences. He became interested in the philosophy of the Middle Ages, and especially scholasticism, considering that the latter formulated the methodology of scientific evidence. Heidegger's teacher was Edmund Husserl, who appeared at the University of Freiburg. In 1916, Martin gave a course of lectures on analytical philosophy. They were written not without the influence of Husserl. He also begins to write sarcastic articles against the clerics. These traits - forced conformism, which later turned into violent attacks on those who subjected him to humiliation - were then preserved by the thinker for the rest of his life.

Marriage and friendship with Husserl

Heidegger's marriage also causes alienation from Catholicism. He married the Lutheran Elfriede Petri, the daughter of a Prussian officer, who had previously been his student. The wife immediately considered her husband a genius and always helped him in his work, playing the role of secretary. True, Martin was forced to constantly convince his family and loved ones that Elfrida was about to convert to Catholicism. In 1919 and 1920, they had two sons - Georg and Hermann. To earn money, Martin Heidegger, whose basic ideas were just beginning to crystallize, lectures for theology students. But they consider him abstruse and do not understand, but young people from secular faculties go to him with pleasure. The philosopher is increasingly interested in phenomenology. He begins a personal correspondence with Husserl and conquers the master with his charm. Their friendship lasted more than ten years, serving as great support for the young philosopher. Heidegger becomes an assistant to Husserl, who teaches a course in phenomenology in Karlsruhe. Its mission is to introduce students to the discipline. But already from the introductory lectures it is clear that he begins to comprehend phenomenology in his own way.

Professor

At this time he was already formally breaking with the church. Heidegger's wife refuses to baptize the child according to the Catholic rite. He writes a letter to his former curator Krebs. There he openly states that his research led him to reject the Catholic system, but Christianity and metaphysics took on a new meaning for him. At this time, the University of Marburg is looking for a candidate for the position of extraordinary professor. Husserl gives him a positive recommendation. His financial situation is strengthening, but the small town itself, where the philosopher is forced to move, irritates him. He settles in the Todnauberg countryside, in a mountain chalet. Martin Heidegger's brilliant ideas begin to emerge here. Walks in the forest, clean air, trips to Heidelberg and a new friendship with Karl Jaspers support his spirit. But he cannot get the position of a full professor, and his relations with his colleagues, with the exception of the Protestant theologian Bultmann, are very bad. During this period of 1925-1927 he writes “Being and Time”.

Martin Heidegger as a rising star. Reflections on Man and Mortality

This work has become a classic for the philosopher. He considers a special type of being or “dasein”. In this way he interpreted the Husserlian category of transcendental subjectivity. We are talking about a person, that is, about a being with consciousness and finitude. But the philosopher claims more. Through the category of “design” he longs to comprehend the meaning of existence in general. After all, it is man who is the starting point for such an understanding. It represents being-in-the-world. Its main characteristic is its mood. This is a specific feature of human “here-being”, which has an existential structure. After all, the meaning of our relationship to the world is not in contemplation, but in emotional and practical understanding. This is the only way to achieve what Husserl calls “contemplation of phenomena.” Heidegger calls this state “pre-understanding.” It is reflected in the very structure of language. The philosopher calls the method of human existence existence, which tries to ask what it is and how it exists. This is how people reveal their abandonment in the world. They are aware of the phenomenon of death. And this, in turn, leads to an understanding of “real” time, that is, finite for the “I”. We are talking about those periods of life when a person does not passively wait, but does something. Therefore, the history that records such acts is itself genuine time. When the work was published, and Husserl saw that “Being and Time” contained not the development of his phenomenology, but the original existentialism of Martin Heidegger, he was offended by the author, and a cooling occurred between friends.

Freiburg period

After the publication of Being and Time, Heidegger experienced triumph. In 1928, Husserl resigned and Martin took his place. This time he does not have to fight with competitors - in the eyes of the public he is a worthy successor to the teacher. A year later he reads his professorial speech. Later, a separate work on this topic will be published, for which Martin Heidegger also became famous, “What is Metaphysics.” After all, the attitude towards this area of philosophy in European thought in the twenties and thirties of the last century was very critical. Heidegger also perceived it in two ways. On the one hand, traditional metaphysics is outdated and needs to be “overcome.” On the other hand, it is the basis of all European culture. After all, it represents a way out of existence. If we combine metaphysics and “design”, we will get an understanding of being as a whole. These are the roots of all philosophy, as Descartes suggested. The calling of any metaphysics is to open, to “highlight” being and its secrets. Time helps to reveal beings in their finitude. And metaphysics is to reveal it in the light of being.

Nazi period

Martin Heidegger (we will talk briefly about his relationship with Nazism below) in the 30s was considered one of the greatest minds of our time.

One of the darkest points in the philosopher’s biography is his membership in the NSDAP. French sociologist Paul Bourdieu even wrote a book about this, “The Political Ontology of Martin Heidegger.” There he assures that even in the most abstract texts of the thinker of the thirties, his sympathy for National Socialism can already be traced. But this approach is subject to reasonable criticism. Many biographers of the philosopher believe that working among students inspired by national ideas, he did not particularly read either Mein Kampf or other writings of similar politicians. He took more into account the sentiments of young people and thus became involved in Hitler's organizations. He even hoped that the Nazi Party would be able to reform universities. In 1933, Heidegger was elected rector of the University of Freiburg. For this reason, he joins Hitler’s party, and in his “speech from the throne” one can trace theses about labor service and the service of students for the sake of the greatness of the state. But this is not all that the new curators demand from him. Now he must take a strong anti-Semitic stance. This is too much for Heidegger. In addition, he begins to be burdened by dependence on state ideology. He is surrounded by “colleagues” who are ready to do anything for the sake of their career. Two years later, the philosopher loses the post of rector and “goes into the shadows.” During the entire time he held an administrative position, he was unable to write a single line. Everything was spent on officialdom and fuss. And now Heidegger saves himself by philosophizing and studying cultural history. Of course, he remains a member of the party because he does not want to give up his life. This continues until 1945.

Condemnation, loneliness and support from friends

At the end of the war, Freiburg was occupied by French occupation forces. A special commission for denazification is created. A special case is being opened against Heidegger. He is accused of supporting Hitler in 1933-34. The commission removes Heidegger from teaching and prohibits him from lecturing in Germany. The philosopher himself, in one of his letters to Hannah Arendt, called this process “inquisitorial.” This woman herself, also a former student of Heidegger, as well as his lover, was Jewish by origin. As a victim of the Nazi regime, she explored the problem of totalitarianism in her books. But she was outraged by this attitude towards the brilliant philosopher and came to his defense. At the end of the forties, the thinker’s student Hans-Georg Gadamer also joined this campaign. He reminds the whole world who Martin Heidegger is. The philosopher's books are beginning to be published again, especially on his anniversary. And a new generation of young scientists and writers admires him again. Then the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Freiburg poses to the university senate the question of how a mind that can be put on a par with Hegel and Dilthey is removed from teaching. So the thinker reappears in classrooms crowded with grateful students.

Martin Heidegger, philosophy. Briefly about the post-war period of creativity

Despite all the political crises, the thinker did not waste time. Work was the best medicine for him. But the experience was not in vain for him. Many biographers believe that after the war, a kind of revolution took place with the philosopher. He focused on the study and description of Being, but not only “in time,” but as a category distinct from “existence.” He began to deny his connection with existentialism. In his lectures, he argued that he was no longer interested in personal existence, but in a certain meaning that allows all things to “be.” He became interested in Kiergegaard and subsequently had a huge influence on Sartre. The category of “nothing,” which in his early works had a positive character, now became frightening for him. He began to think not only about the “silence” of God, but also about His “absence” for humanity.

Man and Being

What was the main thing for such a brilliant philosopher as Martin Heidegger? Being. He first uses the term to describe man's way of existence, arguing that it is radically different from other forms of life because humans are aware of themselves and their finitude. But after the war, the philosopher begins to develop other aspects of this problem. Now he writes that a person has a choice. He may prefer real life, realizing his calling. Or he may choose an inauthentic existence, mindlessly adapting to established patterns of behavior. The ontology of Martin Heidegger in the late period lies in the fact that the analysis of “dasein” became with him the way to understand being as such. The method for this is phenomenology. That is, first we record and describe the experience of life as it is, without superimposing on it unnecessary concepts that only confuse everything. A person exists in an infinite number of ways - he does something, produces, studies, creates. But at the same time, he can become a mindless object, used and manipulated by others. It is not just banal, it is likened to a thing. Such a person is deprived of his “I”, reliability, authenticity. It’s as if he doesn’t really “exist.”

Heidegger and Nietzsche

The early Heidegger practically associated Being as essence and Nothing. A person feels emptiness, and this gives rise to fear and anxiety in him. This becomes the main meaning of his “design”. There is no support, only horror remains, in which Nothingness is revealed. Human life is the impossibility of breaking out of oblivion. After all, any of his aspirations for freedom is, in fact, a leap into Nothing. But the late philosopher argues differently. In his book “Nietzsche and the Void,” Martin Heidegger tries to explain the causes of the cultural crisis in Western Europe, consider Christianity as a phenomenon of the church, the institution of power and the state, and understand what nihilism is. Here he also reflects on Nietzsche's famous saying, “God is dead.” The cause of the humanitarian crisis is the loss of basic values, and, consequently, the disappearance of the highest purpose of existence. But didn’t axiology itself destroy these concepts, which absolutized them and turned them into something dead? What else could Nietzsche do except reject everything old and become a nihilist? However, along with this approach, the connection with the highest is lost, and a person is deprived of the opportunity to “question about being.” There is nothing left except the “will to power”, because this is the only goal that comes from nihilism and replaces everything else. Therefore, the consciousness of modern man is alienated from Being and has submitted to time, that is, to the path to death. This began since the time of Socrates, when man began to search for the objective meaning of the world. Western European philosophy began to confuse Being and existence. And in the era of modern times, the dominance of science, technology, the “death of God” and the “unauthenticity of life” everything only got worse. In Nietzsche and the Void, Martin Heidegger develops many of the ideas from his article “Letter on Humanism.” This term has deteriorated. Language has ceased to be the “house of Being”, and many terms have turned into ideologically compromised templates. Therefore, the point is not that God is dead, but that he denies us His presence.

Ontology

Martin Heidegger, whose books gained their former popularity in the sixties of the twentieth century, uses the structures of human consciousness, or, as he puts it, “existentials,” for real thinking aimed at the totality of Being. Unlike other “objects of existence,” people are associated with transcendence. Man has forgotten the truths of Existence. Therefore, the concern of modern culture should be the desire to lead people to “sacredness”. The fate of our existence is determined by language, and therefore it is more likely that it speaks to us than we speak to them. Why? Yes, because language contains the primordial phenomenon of “understanding” and “interpretation”. It is a way of contacting authentic Being, a breakthrough to “true living and thinking.” Understanding itself must have the structure of a circle, which Heidegger called hermeneutic. It will make it possible not to master Being, but to comprehend its depths, to discover its essence, and not the structure of the world. Humanity itself is the only method of correctly understanding ourselves. It makes us an “understanding being.”

Last years

Even for many scientists and philosophers, reading such an original thinker as Martin Heidegger was too difficult. His books are written in complex, sometimes bizarre language, which, for example, seemed “unbearable” to Berdyaev. He invented new words and their combinations, as if “encrypting” his works for a select few. But at one time Hegel was criticized for the same thing, and Heidegger’s style is characterized by both special expressiveness and literary form. Despite such elitism, the philosopher had enormous popularity. The most famous mind of the twentieth century is, without a doubt, Martin Heidegger. His quotes are still an example of philosophical thinking and acute perception of reality. Especially the message that he left us in the last years of his life: “Man is not the master of existence. This is the shepherd of Genesis." Heidegger died in May 1976 and was buried in his hometown.

The biggest controversy on this issue was the meeting at the Council of Trent, which lasted until January 13, 1547. This session was intended to criticize Luther's doctrine of justification. In the end, criticism of the Trent meeting could be divided into points, of which there were only four:

1. The nature of justification. What did Luther understand by the nature of justification? Martin Luther believed that a person who sinned, through improvement and work on himself, became better and kinder, that is, he tried to get closer to the ideal - Jesus Christ. That is, it could be called a process that made a person better and kinder before God, who is ready to forgive this person.

However, as we know, Luther's views changed, and this topic was no exception. At a later time, he no longer considered this a long process, but took it as an event, that is, he considered it a quick action, which was only accompanied by an improvement in the human soul. That is, at some point the person seemed to be reborn into another, innocent person. The Council of Trent was against Luther's later ideas.

They fought for his original idea, which was based on the teachings of Augustine. They argued that justification is a transition to some other, more perfect state of a person, and this did not happen instantly, but was achieved only when the person himself wanted God’s forgiveness and wants to change and become better. That is why, because of this dispute, people were already confused about such a term as “justification”, after which this word began to be used in these two meanings.

2. The nature of justifying righteousness. What is it? Luther said that a sinner is a person to whom such a concept as righteousness is alien. That is, he argued that a person who has committed a sin himself can never earn God’s forgiveness, because he has nothing in his soul that God loves and protects. That is, even if a person claims that he has repented, this repentance will only be on the outer surface, but inside he will not feel guilty. But even here, the Council of Trent adhered to the ideas and positions of Augustine, that is, they believed that forgiveness can only be within. They even emphasize this by calling internal repentance the only way to be justified by God, ignoring the ideas of Martin Luther.

3. The nature of justifying faith. Luther's term "justification by faith alone" was also not accepted by the people at the council. Luther believed that justification by faith alone is when a person is confident that God will have mercy and forgive him. But the Council of Trent was afraid that some people might think that in order for God to forgive them, they don’t need to do anything, that is, they don’t need to be spiritually enriched and improved, that is, God will forgive a person’s sins. But they simply misunderstood Luther's ideas because he didn't even think about it. He believed that a person’s path to justification lies, first of all, through faith, and good works are the consequences of faith, that is, they flow from a person’s faith. In other words, if a person truly believes, then he becomes better, he already strives and wants to do good deeds. In this context, the Council of Trent still agreed with Luther, because they also were of the opinion that faith is the most important path to saving humanity from sins and darkness.

4. Assurance of salvation. And, finally, a person’s confidence in his salvation. Luther believed that it was possible to believe and be confident in one's salvation. That is, according to him, if a person believes in God, then he believes in himself, since we are all connected with God, we are in some kind of spiritual mystical contact with him. It’s not for nothing that they say that faith in God gives self-confidence and makes us better.

However, by human nature, one cannot be completely sure of anything, and this topic is so beyond a person’s control that he certainly cannot be one hundred percent sure. This also does not mean that if a person says that he believes in God, then God believes in him, because more and more faith is becoming something superficial, unfortunately. Fewer and fewer people know what faith really is, which is why fewer and fewer people are confident in themselves, harmonious with themselves and with the world (not only with ours, but also with God’s world).

The best definition of the term “faith” was once given by Calvin, where he said that faith is when we know that God is favorable to us. We not only know this, it lives with us, we always remember it, because it remains inside us forever.

But at the same time, Calvin emphasizes that confidence should not be too strong, that is, a person who truly believes in it will still worry. On the contrary, a person who worries about this and thinks about what faith really means for him is a real person who believes. And someone who simply says that he believes in something and says that he is confident in it, on the contrary, does not inspire any confidence. God does not need to prove anything, He sees everything, and what is not visible to others, for Him it lies in the palm of your hand, so first of all, you must prove to yourself and believe for yourself that you believe.

The Council of Trent thought differently; it was frightened by such a statement and such a position. They were afraid that people might misunderstand the confidence that the reformers of that time were talking about. That is, a person may think that the meaning of justification lies only in this confidence, and not in God’s forgiveness. However, even here, as the reformers argued, the scientists of the Council of Trent misunderstood them.

Thus, you can see how difficult it was for Martin Luther when he was criticized on all points, on all his positions and ideas. It was precisely because he withstood the blows of those who completely disagreed with him that he became very famous, and he subsequently had many followers around the world. This is what shows how important his figure was at that time, because his ideas and views influenced history, and one might even say, changed it.

Plan

Revival: concept and characteristic features
Political and legal views of Nicolo Machiavelli
Reformation: concept and characteristic features
Lutheranism. Ideas of Martin Luther
Calvinism. John Calvin
Thomas Munzer and his views
Current of Monarchomachus, or Tyrannoclasts
J. Bodin's doctrine of the state
Utopianism of T. More and T. Campanella

Revival: concept and characteristic features

Renaissance, Renaissance (14-16 centuries) - a period of spiritual, cultural and political-legal transformation of Western Europe. Chronologically, it crowned the dark years of the late Middle Ages, and in the political and legal sense it was the forerunner of the New Age. This was a period of great achievements in science and art, great geographical discoveries. Europe is rediscovering antiquity with its cult of man, thirst and glorification of life. The man seemed to be awakening and being reborn. The figures of Renaissance culture saw their immediate task in turning to the spiritual heritage of pagan and Christian antiquity: increasing attention to the problems of politics, state and law. Strong monarchies are beginning to emerge in a number of countries. In the process of overcoming feudal fragmentation, large feudal lords are deprived of their former power, and the political authority of the Catholic Church, which until then was the real and only unifying force of Western Europe, is falling. At the same time, the actions of social forces fighting against feudalism and the church continue to be largely determined by the religious worldview.

1. Political and legal views of Nicolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli(1469-1527). Born into a lawyer's family, he received a good education and knew Latin and Greek. As a resident of Florence, he also experienced its fate: first the power of the Medici merchant family, then their expulsion and the proclamation of a republican constitution led by the Dominican monk Savonarola, then the period of an enlightened secular republic. In 1498-1512. Machiavelli served as secretary of the Council of Ten and carried out diplomatic assignments. In 1512, after the restoration of the tyranny of the Medici family in Florence, he was imprisoned as an employee of the previous regime, then released and exiled to the village, where he died in 1527. The last period of Machiavelli’s life was engaged in literary activities. He wrote his most famous work, The Prince, around 1514.

Main works:“Discourses on the first decade of Titus Livy”, “The Prince”, “History of Florence”, “On the art of war”. He also wrote sonnets, short stories, carnival songs, and the comedy “Mandrake.”

State. Machiavelli distinguishes between the concepts of “state” and “society”. The state is a political state of society, expressing the relationship between rulers and subjects, based on the love and fear of the latter. At the same time, fear should not develop into hatred. The purpose of the state and the basis of its strength is the security of the individual and the inviolability of property.

Origin of the state. Reproduces the ideas of ancient authors about the emergence of the state. People lived, multiplied, then united, chose the bravest and began to obey him. Living together, they realized what was good and bad, in accordance with this, laws were established, justice appeared, i.e. we can talk about the emergence of contract theory.

Forms of government. The thinker identifies six forms of state, traditionally dividing them into correct (monarchy, aristocracy, democracy) and incorrect (tyranny, oligarchy and ochlocracy). According to N. Machiavelli, having reached the limit of perfection, the form of the state tends to decline, turning into its opposite. Monarchy is replaced by tyranny, tyranny by aristocracy, aristocracy gives way to oligarchy, and is replaced by democracy, which develops into ochlocracy. He considers the best form to be a mixed one, a moderate republic - a combination of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy.

The relationship between politics and morality. N. Machiavelli is considered the founder of political science. It was he who determined the subject, method and laws of politics. He saw the task of politics as identifying: patterns of development of various forms of state; factors of their sustainability; their connection with the balance of political forces; conditionality of policy by economic, military, geographical, psychological factors. Machiavelli separates politics and law from morality on the basis that if morality operates with such concepts as good and evil, then politics is benefit and harm, morality is the sphere of the eternal, and politics and law are the sphere of everyday interests. Policy should not be based on moral principles, but should be based on expediency and a specific situation. It is subordinated to the achievement of certain goals, the choice of which depends on circumstances, and not on morality. Therefore, the actions of rulers must be assessed not from a moral point of view, but only by their results, in relation to the good of the state. Later, the policy based on the cult of violence and immorality was called « Machiavellianism» .

Right. N. Machiavelli attached great importance to law and legislation, repeatedly emphasizing that thanks to the laws created by Lycurgus, Sparta existed for 800 years. He linked the inviolability of laws with ensuring public safety. Law is force, it is a way and means of domination of one group of people over another, it is an instrument of power, which is served by “good laws and a good army.”

Religion. Considers religion as one of the means of controlling people, considering it an important means of politics. That is why, N. Machiavelli believed, all the founders of states and wise legislators referred to the will of the gods. However, he did not approve of contemporary Christianity, condemned the Catholic Church and the clergy, and considered it necessary to return to ancient religion, which was entirely subordinate to political goals. Note that the Roman Catholic Church in 1559 introduced the works of Machiavelli into « Banned Books Index» .

The works of N. Machiavelli had a huge influence not only on the subsequent development of political and legal theory (his provisions were adopted by Spinoza and Rousseau), but also on the real policies of a number of statesmen (Napoleon, Mussolini, Stalin).

3. Reformation: concept and characteristic features

Reformation (from Latin perestroika) is a complex religious and social movement, a struggle against the comprehensive dominance of the Catholic Church in the spiritual, political and economic fields. In a narrower sense, the Reformation is a religious transformation aimed at freeing believers from the daily tutelage of the church. The ideologists of the Reformation, with all their differences, agreed on one thing: a person does not need the mediation of the church to save his soul, that the guarantee of salvation is not in the external manifestation of religiosity, but in faith. The reformers proclaimed the Holy Scripture to be the only source of faith. During the Reformation, new Christian denominations arose that still exist today. Reformation and its trends - Lutheranism, Calvinism (by the names of ideological leaders) prepared the moral and legal ground for bourgeois revolutions and significantly influenced political and legal doctrines. The beginning of the Reformation is associated with a speech in Wittenberg (Germany) by M. Luther: on October 31, 1517, he nailed his “95 Theses” to the church doors, in which he spoke out against the existing abuses of the Catholic Church, in particular, against the sale of indulgences. On the basis of his teachings, a powerful reform social movement was formed, which was not limited to Germany, but spread to other countries of Western and Central Europe. The end of the Reformation can be considered the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which marked the end of the Thirty Years' War, and as a result of which the religious factor ceased to play an important role in European politics.

4. Lutheranism. Ideas of Martin Luther

Martin Luther(1483-1546) was born in Saxony, graduated from the university, and received a master's degree in theology in 1512. In 1517 Luther published the previously mentioned 95 theses on indulgences. By 1519, he radically disagreed with the Catholic Church and formulated his position in programmatic works, which, thanks to the development of printing, became widely known. In 1521, he rejected demands to renounce his teaching, for which he was condemned by the emperor as a heretic, and a year earlier the pope excommunicated him from the church. During the Peasants' War (1524-1526), Luther not only did not support the uprising, but also sharply condemned it, calling on the authorities to suppress it. In the last years of his life he was seriously ill and died in 1546.

Main works:“Towards the Christian nobility of the German nation”, “On secular power”, “On the slave will”, “On the Babylonian captivity of the church”, “On the freedom of a Christian”.

The relationship between spiritual and secular power. In his main religious and political work “On Secular Power. To what extent should it be obeyed? (1523) Luther developed the doctrine of “two orders” - spiritual and secular and, accordingly, of two systems of law - divine and natural. This concept itself was not new; it was formulated in the work of A. Aurelius “On the City of God.” Distinguishing between the religious and secular spheres, Luther believed that the religious sphere is outside the jurisdiction of the state, and secular power is engaged in economics, politics, and education of the people, and has no right to impose any worldview on a person.

State. M. Luther believed that the state is a creation of reason, and the activities of the Christian state cannot diverge from the interests of the Christian church. The need for the state is due to the sinful nature of man. If human society consisted exclusively of true Christians, then this would mean there was no need for a state, laws, or punishments. But since the Christian world is far from this, the need for a state arises. At the same time, the institutions of state power are sanctified by divine authority, therefore subjects do not have the right to resist the authorities.

Right. Divides law into divine and natural. Secular order is achieved through the reliance of the institutions of secular power on natural rather than divine law (although natural is ultimately derived from the will of God). Officials are obliged to be guided in their activities by the norms of natural law. With this statement, M. Luther not only freed secular power from the church, but also secular (civil) law from the tutelage of canon law. However, he warned that secular law cannot take into account the whole variety of social conflicts, and therefore should not be elevated to an absolute. Natural law allows secular power to control only the external behavior of people, property and things.

5. Calvinism. John Calvin

In the 40s of the 16th century. In Geneva, a new radical Protestant movement is born - Calvinism. Calvinism - one of the main trends Protestantism , named after its founder J. Calvin. The most important dogmatic position of Calvinism is the doctrine of absolute predestination, according to which God initially, even before the Fall of man and even before the creation of the world, predestined some people to salvation, others to eternal torment in hell. At the same time, faith and a pious life are not the basis for salvation, but are only a sign of a person’s chosenness. A person’s chosenness is manifested in successful worldly, professional activities. The Protestant ethic is clearly expressed: the cult of hard work, enterprise, business honesty, personal asceticism. Calvinism became widespread in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, a number of regions of Germany, Scotland, England, Hungary, etc.

John Calvin (Jean Covin)(1509-1564) was born in France into the family of a bishop's secretary. He studied at college in Paris, initially preparing for a career as a clergyman; later, at the insistence of his father, he received a law degree at the university. In 1531, having completed his studies, he received the degree of licentiate in law. Under the influence of the ideas of M. Luther, in 1533 he renounced Catholicism and created a community of his followers. Persecuted by the church, he left France in 1534 and moved to Basel and then Geneva. It was Geneva that became the place where Calvin's reformist views found practical application. Since 1541 he was actually the dictator of Geneva. Although Calvin never wielded secular power, the city gradually became subject to a harsh regime of dominance by the reformed church, beginning a theocratic dictatorship. Calvin also held a professorship in theology (from 1559) at the Academy founded on his initiative (now the University of Geneva). At the end of 1562 his health deteriorated sharply, and in 1564 he died.

Main works: " Instructions in the Christian Faith", "Church Establishments", etc.

The relationship between state and church. Calvin develops Luther's ideas about the "two orders." The two powers are united into a single whole under the dominance of the church. Calvin believed that cooperation between ecclesiastical and secular authorities was necessary. The state was established by God, therefore a protest against power, even the toughest, is “insolence against God’s will.” But still, he recognized the right of his subjects to passively resist authorities that violate God’s regulations.

State form . According to Calvin, the state can have any form if it is established by God. Of the political regimes, he considered the democratic to be the worst, and the aristocratic or oligarchic to be the best. The reformer considered the optimal form of organization of political power to be an aristocratic republic, which is in many ways similar to the model of a self-governing religious community, which was the basis for the structure of the Protestant community in Geneva.

Implementation of the ideas of J. Calvin. Calvin began to implement his ideas after coming to power in Geneva, giving religious institutions the force of state law. The city was divided into quarters. Believers were united into communities led by presbyters (elders) of laymen and preachers who received appropriate training, but did not have rank. They formed a consistory that governed the religious life of the community. The elders were charged with the duty of monitoring compliance with moral standards and strictly punishing violators. The punishment was expulsion from the city and execution. Church sacraments, except baptism and communion, and church holidays were abolished, and decorations and utensils were removed from churches.

6. Thomas Munzer and his views

Thomas Munzer(c. 1493-1525) German revolutionary. He belonged to the most educated people of his time. Münzer became a pastor in Uteborg at the insistence of Martin Luther and was distinguished by brilliant oratorical abilities, but at the same time he relied too much on personal revelation, which he always accepted as the voice of the Holy Spirit. Later, as a pastor in the city of Zwickau, Münzer and three prophets from that city, two of whom were weavers, insisted on more drastic reforms, that is, the removal of icons, the abandonment of the old Eucharist, and even the abandonment of the baptism of children.

In 1523, Münzer became a pastor in Alstedt (Thuringia), and then in Mühlhausen, after which, because of his convictions, he left the pulpit and led an uprising known in Marxist and Soviet historiography as the Peasants' War in Germany. He believed that he was in direct communication with God, and God was speaking His word into the interior of his soul. The Peasants' War, which engulfed most of Austria and Central and Southern Germany, resulted in numerous casualties and, having seriously undermined the authority of Protestantism, ended in complete defeat. Münzer himself was captured in 1525, tortured and then executed.

Main works:"Prague Manifesto", "Exposing the false faith of a godless world."

The relationship between state and church: T. Munzer formulated a bold radical program. Giving his teaching a religious, theological form, he essentially criticized not only the Roman Church, but also the dogmas of the Christian faith. He considered it wrong to contrast faith and reason, believing that faith is nothing more than the awakening of reason in a person. He refused to acknowledge belief in the other world, in hell, in the devil, in the magical meaning of communion, in the condemnation of sinners. Christ, in his opinion, was a man, not a god, he was simply a prophet and teacher.

T. Müntzer considered man as a part of the divine universe and preached the most complete possible unity of him with the divine whole. For this, he demanded the suppression of all personal inclinations of a person and the subordination of the individual to the interests of society.

State: T. Müntzer demanded the immediate establishment of the kingdom of God on earth by returning the church to its original state and eliminating all institutions that were in conflict with this early Christian, in reality a completely new church. But by the kingdom of God, T. Münzer understood nothing more than a social system in which there would no longer exist either class differences, private property, or separate state power opposing members of society and alien to them. All existing authorities, if they do not submit to the revolution and do not join it, must be overthrown; all trades and property become common, the most complete equality is established.

To implement this program, T. Munzer considered it necessary to found an alliance and believed that princes and gentlemen should be invited to join this alliance. If they do not want this, he called for them to attack them with weapons in their hands and kill them all.

7. Current of Monarchomachus, or Tyrannoclasts

In France they are deployed in the 16th century. “religious” (Huguenot) wars between Catholics and Huguenots (Calvinists) - the noble opposition to the king.

The political thought of the Calvinists, justifying open action against the crown, developed the doctrine of the right to resist tyrants. There is a current of so-called Monarchomachs, or tyrant fighters.

Among the followers of J. Calvin, the idea of resistance to the king grows into a whole theory, passionately and persistently developed in a number of pamphlets and treatises, most of which were written in France during the years of the “religious” wars of the 16th century. In these works, the authors, trying to justify the right to resist tyrants, most often put forward the ideas of popular sovereignty and the contractual origin of power.

From these ideas, the “tyrant fighters” draw a conclusion about the right of resistance to the king, which they attribute, however, not to the masses, but to officials - representatives of the estates. Their teaching represents the theory of the “third estate” and to a certain extent is an anticipation of the later natural law ideology, although it mainly still reflects the theory and practice of an estate-representative monarchy.

The very doctrine of the contractual origin of state power reflects medieval ideas about the feudal agreement between lords and vassals.

The theories of the Monarchomachians also resurrect the distinction between monarch and tyrant put forward by Aristotle.

One of the French jurists of the 16th century is one of the writers of this trend. Francis Gottman.

In his essay “Franco-Gaul,” F. Gottman, relying on historical data, tries to prove that royal power in France has been limited since ancient times and the people have always elected and deposed their kings. He concludes that supremacy belongs to the people in France and that there is no basis for unlimited royal power, and therefore speaks out in favor of maintaining the Estates General, which from the end of the 15th century. in the conditions of emerging absolutism, they were rarely convened.

Thus, when speaking about the people, F. Gottman does not mean the true people, but only those relatively limited circles of society that were represented in the Estates General.

Not content with historical arguments, F. Gottman defends the estate monarchy as the embodiment of a mixed form of government, which combines three principles - monarchical, aristocratic and democratic - and tries to substantiate the advantages of this form, following in this regard Aristotle, Polybius, Thomas Aquinas. Having a negative attitude towards royal absolutism, he opposes such a state form in which everything depends on the arbitrariness of one person and where, as he puts it, the people do not have the right to form assemblies and through them participate in government.

F. Gottman's book was a great success among his contemporaries and retained its influence on minds until the very beginning of the 18th century.

The pamphlet also belongs to the literature of the “tyrant fighters” Etienne de La Boesi(1530-1563) “Discourse on voluntary slavery,” containing a protest against the despotism of royal power.

In this work, the author brands the monarchy as tyranny, incompatible with the natural freedom and natural equality of people. He complains that the people have forgotten about their freedom, and speaks with indignation about the voluntary submission of an endless number of people to the tyranny that enslaves and oppresses them. E. de La Boesie states that if people really wanted freedom, they would acquire it.

It was a bold, fiery protest of the ideologist of the bourgeoisie against the feudal absolutist monarchy.

It is characteristic that the ideas of the contractual origin of the state and popular supremacy can also be found in some of the teachings of the Jesuits, the closest opponents of the Reformation.

8. J. Bodin’s doctrine of the state

Protestantism appeared in France in the first half of the 16th century. But this movement became widespread only in the 50s. French Protestants were Calvinists and were called Huguenots. The peculiarity of the French reform movement was that it covered mainly the nobility and townspeople. The religious struggle here acquired the character of resistance to royal absolutism. At the end of the 16th century. In France, there was already a fierce religious confrontation between Calvinists (Huguenots) and Catholics, which eventually took the form of a civil war. A threat to the existence of the state arose. In this situation, the idea that peace could only be ensured by strong royal power became increasingly stronger in the public consciousness. The theoretical justification for this idea was made by Jean Bodin.

Jean Bodin(1530-1596) was born in Angers into a wealthy family. A lawyer by training, from 1559 he was a professor at the university in Toulouse, from 1561 he held judicial positions in Paris, and in 1571 he entered the service of the king's brother, the Duke of Alençon. He was a deputy to the provincials, then in 1576-77 - to the deputies of the Estates General. Since 1584 - Prosecutor General of Lana (a city in northeastern France). Bodin took a compromise position between Catholics and Huguenots, for which he almost paid with his life on St. Bartholomew's Night. Died of the plague in Lana.

Main works:“The Method of Easy Knowledge of History”, a manual for the Inquisition “Demonomania of Sorcerers”, which replaced the outdated “Moloch of the Witches”, “Six Books on the Republic” - the main work in which he outlined his views on the origin of the state, its functions, and forms of government.

State.

Origin of the state. The state arises independently of the will of God or people, and their forms are influenced by the natural environment - climate, soil, etc. Regarding the origin of the state, Bodin points to three possible ways:

ordinary(the family gradually turns into a clan, then the elders gain power according to unwritten laws, and later this event is recorded “on paper”);
social contract(the ideal way when powerful empires are formed from weak clans);
collapse of large states.

According to Bodin's definition, a state is "the exercise by a sovereign power of the just government of many families and that which is in their common possession."

The main feature of a state is sovereignty. Sovereignty - it is the permanent and absolute power of the state. Sovereignty has five properties:

Sovereignty is one and indivisible. This means that it cannot be divided, for example, between the king and the people.
Sovereign power is permanent, i.e. it cannot be transferred temporarily or on other terms to any person.
Sovereign power is unlimited and above the law, i.e. the sovereign can change any laws at his discretion, but only human ones.
Sovereign power is subject only to divine and natural laws, not to religious dogma.
Sovereignty can belong either to one person, or to a minority of the country's population, or to all capable persons.

Form of state. Depending on in whose hands sovereignty is concentrated, Boden identifies the following forms of state: democracy, aristocracy and monarchy. Democracy is the worst way to exercise sovereignty, because... people are not able to come to the right decisions. Aristocracy and limited monarchy are unstable forms. The most rational and economical form is the absolute monarchy, which can restore order and unite the country even in times of turmoil.

Right. The obstacle to the transformation of absolute power into arbitrariness is the laws common to all peoples: divine, natural and human. Positive law established by sovereign power must not contradict these laws. His task is to prevent the monarchy from degenerating into tyranny. Law, as an expression of reason, includes norms that determine what is good and fair in the state. By “expression of reason” or “reasonable principle”, or “immutable requirements in law” Boden understood the protection of the right to private property, the right to an individual family, private family life. The “reasonable principle” is embodied in divine and natural law, international law, and the laws of the country, reflecting its historical development.

9. Utopianism of T. More and T. Campanella

The revival of interest in the ancient heritage has increased interest in Plato's work "The Republic". The development of Plato’s ideas about social justice led to the emergence in Europe of a new direction in political and legal thought - utopian socialism . Prominent representatives of the ideas of socialism in that period were Thomas More, who gave this movement its name, and Tommaso Campanella, who developed the ancient ideas of universal equality and adapted them to the realities of their time.

Thomas More(1478-1535). He came from a noble family and was educated at Oxford. At the age of 18 he settled in a monastery, but did not take vows, got married and began practicing law. Soon More, relying on connections with the London merchants, was elected to parliament and appointed Lord Chancellor. He disagreed with Henry VIII when the king, with the consent of parliament and the council of clergy, began the “apex reformation”, declaring himself the head of the Anglican Church. More was removed from office in 1532 and executed in June 1535 on charges of treason. Unlike the humanists of Italy and France, who sharply criticized the papal throne, T. More was a zealous Christian Catholic. Moreover, the Catholic Church canonized him as a saint in the 20th century.

Main work:"The Golden Book, as useful as it is amusing, about the best structure of the state and about the new island of Utopia" better known as "Utopia" (from two Greek words - no and place) was written in 1516 and many ideas in it were borrowed from Plato. “Utopia” was created in the era of great geographical discoveries and in form is a story about the wanderings of Raphael Hythlodeus (translated as “chatter”), who discovered the island of Utopia. The book is divided into two parts: in the first, More criticizes modern society, analyzes the order existing in England, the causes of social injustice and crime. In the second part, More depicts in every detail the social and political system of Utopia.

Utopia is presented as a federation of 54 cities. Control each of them is based on elective principles. Every 30 families are elected for a year Philarcha. At the head of the 10 phylarchs is protophylarch. The protophylarchs form a senate, headed by a prince, elected by the phylarchs by secret ballot from 4 candidates proposed by the people. All officials are elected for 1 year, with the exception of the prince, who holds his position for life unless suspected of tyranny. Functions of officials: monitoring compliance with laws, organizing and supervising public works. Thus, the executive and judicial powers are combined.

The most important issues - the length of the working day, the quantity of products necessary for society, their distribution - are decided by the people's assembly. It also elects most of the officials and hears their reports.

Form of government is of a mixed nature: the head of state is the prince, and there is also a senate and a people's assembly.

Religion. In Utopia, complete religious tolerance reigns: several cults exist at the same time, there are no restrictions associated with belonging to one religion or another, but atheism is not allowed. And yet, since More himself was a Catholic, the main religion on the island still exists - Catholicism, but rationalized and freed from everything that More considered unnecessary (for example, priests are elected by the people).

Right. Mohr was one of the first to emphasize that the complexity and complexity of modern legislation favors the interests of the rich and is directed against working people. Therefore, in Utopia there are few laws, their wording is so clear that there is no need for lawyers. There is no need for complex legislation also because disputes between residents are rare, because there is no private property and crimes are few.

Punishments. Criminals are not executed, but sentenced to community service. According to More, forced labor is a more humane punishment than the death penalty, which was widespread in his time. Utopians who have committed serious crimes are converted into slavery.

What difficulties lie in the way of building a new society? T. More saw the main obstacle in the greed and pride of the rich. He relied on the power of reason and historical incident.

Tommaso Campanella(1568-1639) was born in Calabria (Southern Italy) in the family of a shoemaker. Before becoming a monk of the Dominican Order (1583), he bore the name Giovanni Domenico. He was first arrested by the Inquisition on charges of heresy in 1594, endured four trials, accompanied by torture, and was released in 1598. In the same year, he took an active part in a conspiracy (he was discovered as a result of denunciation), the purpose of which was the liberation of his homeland of Calabria, from Spanish yoke, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment and spent 27 years in prison. While in captivity, he wrote many books on philosophy, theology, medicine, astrology, mathematics, and politics. Released in 1629, thanks to the intervention of Pope Urban VIII, he left for Paris in 1634, where he lived in poverty in recent years.

Main work:“City of the Sun” was written in prison in 1602, i.e. 100 years after T. More’s “Utopia” and one year with F. Bacon’s “new Atlantis”. Apparently, Campanella was familiar with More's work - his influence on the author of "City of the Sun" is very noticeable. The story is told on behalf of a traveler who visited this city, located on an island somewhere near the equator.

The City of the Sun is a city-state whose inhabitants lead a “philosophical community lifestyle.” They are characterized by community of property, including wives, and compulsory work (the hardest work is considered the most honorable). Only the scientist-priests who are involved in organizing production, as well as exercising spiritual and political leadership of society, are spared from physical labor.

City management. The City of the Sun is a theocratic republic organized along the lines of a monastic order. The state is governed by the supreme high priest - the Metaphysician (Sun), elected from among the wisest and most learned citizens. In his hands is secular and spiritual power, which he can refuse if, in his opinion, there is someone smarter. He is assisted by three co-rulers - Power, Wisdom and Love, who respectively manage the affairs of war and peace, art and sciences, childbirth, medicine, education and everything that concerns personal life and everyday life. These four are the only ones in the city whose decisions the people do not may have an influence. The remaining officials are elected. Officials are persons in charge of narrow specializations: Supreme Blacksmith, Potter, Cattle Breeder, Agronomist, Educator, etc., who form a board of senior officials. This is the so-called rule of the “knowing”.

Every two weeks, the Grand Council is convened - a meeting of citizens, which is attended by adults who have reached the age of 20. Everyone is given the right to speak out about the shortcomings existing in the state, to participate in the discussion of important issues, including candidates for senior positions.

Right. Having a negative attitude towards the confusing legislation of Italy, Campanella writes that among the solariums the laws are few, brief and clear, their texts are carved at the doors of the temple. Legal proceedings have also been simplified: the process is public, oral, and quick. Punishment comes for cowardice, pride, and negligence. For intentional crimes, the principle of talion applies. Punishments are death, corporal punishment, exile. Since Campanella was subjected to torture and imprisonment, torture is unacceptable at tanning salons and there are no prisons.

Let us note that the societies of Utopians and Solarians are essentially totalitarian police states, where the lives of citizens are strictly regulated and any deviation from the “norm” is strictly persecuted. The population is rationed, food is distributed, there is no private property and money, everyone must dress the same, productive work is required.

Thus, in the projects of ideal states proposed by T. More and T. Campanella, we are not talking about a free society, but about forced equality of citizens.

Educational and methodological literature

Anthology of world political thought. - M., 1997. T. 1-5.
Anthology of world legal thought. - M., 1999. T. 1-5.
History of political and legal doctrines. Middle Ages and Renaissance. M. 1986.
History of political and legal doctrines. Ed. V. S. Nersesyants. - M., 2003 (any edition).
History of state legal doctrines. Textbook. Rep. ed. V. V. Lazarev. - M. 2006.
History of political and legal doctrines. Ed. O. V. Martyshina. - M., 2004 (any edition).
History of political and legal doctrines. Ed. O.E. Leista. - M., 1999 (any edition).
History of political and legal doctrines: Reader. - M., 1996.
History of political and legal doctrines. Ed. V. P. Malakhova, N. V. Mikhailova. - M., 2007.
Rassolov M. M. History of political and legal doctrines. - M., 2010.
Chicherin B. N. History of political doctrines. - M., 1887-1889. T. 1-5.

Alekseev A. S. Machiavelli as a political thinker. M. 1980.
Whipper R. Yu. The influence of Calvin and Calvinism on the political doctrines and movements of the 16th century. - M., 1894.
Weber M. Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism // Izbr. works. - M., 1990.
Henry Meeter H. Basic ideas of Calvinism. - St. Petersburg, 1995.
Dolgov K. Humanism, Renaissance and political philosophy of Niccolo Machiavelli // Machiavelli. Selected works. - M. 1997.
Jean Bodin is the founder of the concept of state sovereignty. - M., 1990.
Calvin J. Instructions in the Christian Faith (in 3 volumes). - M., 1997-1999.
Calvin J. Instructions in the Christian Faith. - M. 1997-1999. In 3 volumes.
Kautsky K. Thomas More and his utopia. - M., 1924.
Lafargue P. Thomas Campanella. - M.-L., 1926.
Luther M. The time of silence has passed: Selected works of 1520-1526. - Kharkov, 1994.
Machiavelli N. Sovereign. Discussions about the first decade of Titus Livy. About the art of war. - M., 1996.
Mor G. Utopia. - M., 1976.
Osinovsky N. N. Thomas More. - M. 1974.
Rakitskaya I. F.. Political thought of the Italian Renaissance: Humanism of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. - L., 1984.
Smirin M. M. The People's Reformation and the Great Peasant War. - M., 1955.
Temnov E. I. Machiavelli. - M., 1979.
Thomas More. 1478-1978. Communist ideals and cultural history. - M., 1981.
Shtekli A. E. Thomas Munzer. - M., 1961.
Shatsky E. Utopia and tradition. - M., 1990.
Elfond I. Ya. Political teachings of the Renaissance and Reformation. (France). - Saratov, 1991.
Elfond I. Ya. Tyranny fighters: From the history of French political thought of the 16th century. - Saratov, 1991.
Eric G. Erickson. Young Luther. Psychoanalytic historical research. - M., 1996.

Questions for self-control and preparation for testing:

What is the concept and characteristic features of the Renaissance?
What is the relationship between politics and morality according to Machiavelli?
What is Machiavellianism?
What are the concept and main features of the Reformation?
What is the essence of M. Luther’s teaching about “two orders”?
How does the teaching of J. Calvin differ from the views of M. Luther?
What are the methods of origin of the state according to J. Bodin?
What is sovereignty according to Boden?
How do the ideal states of Plato, T. More and T. Campanella differ?
What are the features of law in the “city of the sun”?

Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) - Italian Catholic preacher, theologian, and public figure. He opposed the tyranny of the Medici, denounced the papacy, called on the church to asceticism, condemned humanistic culture (organized the burning of works of art). After the expulsion of the Medici from Florence in 1494, he contributed to the establishment of a republican system. In 1497 he was excommunicated and executed.

Index of prohibited books - a list of books recognized by the Catholic Church as harmful to faith and morals and, as a result, prohibited for distribution and reading by believers.

Peace of Westphalia - peace treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648 and concluded between the Holy Roman Emperor, Sweden, France and their allies. The provisions of these treaties dealt with three issues: territorial changes, the political structure of the empire and religious relations. In the religious field, the Peace of Westphalia equalized the rights of Calvinists with Catholics and Lutherans in Germany, legalized the secularization of church lands carried out before 1624, but deprived the German princes of the right to determine the religious affiliation of their subjects.

What are Martin Luther's main ideas and what was his role in the Reformation process? What was he up against and what were the consequences of his actions?

What was Luther's attitude towards the state as a whole and towards the church? We will try to answer these and other questions below.

The beginning of the Reformation and its goals

In the 16th century, the West was swept by a movement that was anti-feudal in its socio-economic essence, and anti-religious in its ideological form.

The activists of this movement, called the Reformation, pursued the following goals: changing the relationship between church and state, restructuring the official church doctrine, and completely transforming the organization of the Catholic Church. The main focus was Germany. What are Martin Luther's main ideas on this matter and how is it related to the Reformation movement? We will answer this question below.

Luther's 95 Theses as the impetus for the Reformation

In fact, the beginning of the Reformation was the famous 95 theses of Wittenbury University professor, Doctor of Divinity Martin Luther, which he nailed to the church doors. This was a form of protest against the sale of indulgences - remission of sins. The clergy claimed that the saints performed so many deeds and deeds that they could be sold to people as absolution. For these 95 theses, Luther was excommunicated from the church and fell into disgrace. If not for the German princes, Luther would have been put to death. However, Martin Luther's teachings gained more and more followers.

Ideas of Martin Luther

Luther argued, relying on Holy Scripture, that monasticism in all its manifestations and the vast majority of rituals are not actually based on the “authentic word of God.”

Referring to Luther, he said that in order to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, a person only needs faith. The Catholic Church, in turn, prescribed making contributions and performing numerous rituals to save the soul. This is one of the answers to the question of what are the main ideas of Martin Luther. It is not surprising that the church persecuted him, because according to the teachings of Luther, the believer must justify himself only before God and is his own priest. Thus, a person ceases to need the mediation of priests and is obliged to slavishly obey only God, and not the church. The teaching of Martin Luther states that all classes are the same and a priest is no different from a layman. According to Luther's teaching, only what is found in the Bible is sacred. Everything else is the work of human hands, which means it is not the truth and should be subjected to the strictest criticism.

Luther and the State

What are Martin Luther's main ideas regarding government? One of the key provisions of the doctrine is the distinction between secular and religious power. At the same time, Luther in his teaching speaks of submission to monarchs, humility and patience. He also calls not to rebel against the authorities. This approach becomes understandable if we take into account the fact that a good ruler was considered one for whom power is a burden, not a privilege. According to Luther's teaching, a ruler is a servant, not a master, of his people.

Secular power is designed to regulate people's relationships. The clergy also belongs to the common people, who are subject to secular authority.

Natural and Divine Law

What are Martin Luther's main ideas about the relationship between spiritual and temporal power? To put them in a nutshell, Luther believed that order should be achieved by relying on secular power not on divine law, but on natural law, despite the fact that it is a derivative of God’s will. According to Luther, concepts such as free will and his inner world cannot be subject to the jurisdiction of the state.

Attention, TODAY only!

The ideas of the teachings of Martin Luther, the man who initiated the Reformation in Germany, are summarized in this article.

Martin Luther's Basic Ideas

(1483-1546) - Augustinian monk and professor at the University of Wittenberg. He openly opposed indulgences in 1517. He marked the beginning of the Reformation in Germany.

The main ideas of Martin Luther's teachings about the church:

He proved, in fact, that monasticism and the church hierarchy in all their manifestations and rituals are far from the “authentic word of God.”
He said that in order for a person to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, only faith is enough. In turn, the Catholic Church prescribed numerous rituals and contributions to save the soul.
Only what is found in the Bible is sacred. The rest is the creation of human hands, which means it should be subjected to strict criticism.

These 3 theses were the reformer’s main ideas regarding the Church, for which she began the persecution of Luther. He argued that a believer can justify himself only in the face of the Lord and is his own priest. According to his teaching, a person does not need the mediation of priests and he can only obey God, and in no way be the work of the Church. Martin Luther also argued that all classes of society are the same and the life and activities of priests should not differ from the worldly.

Martin Luther's main ideas regarding the state:

Distinction between secular and religious power.
Opposes uprisings.
A good ruler is one for whom power is a burden, not a privilege.
The ruler is the servant of the people, not their master.
A good ruler deserves obedience, patience and humility from his people.
The clergy also belongs to the common people and must submit to secular authority.

Martin Luther's main ideas about the relationship between secular and spiritual power:

Order is achieved by basing secular power on natural law rather than on divine law.
Freedom, soul, and inner peace are not subject to the jurisdiction of the state.

We hope that from this article you learned what the main ideas of Martin Luther are.