From oeconomia to Nordic Welfare Societies: The Idea of a Third-Zone Lutheranism

In the Nordic countries, Martin Luther's doctrine of the three estates (ecclesia, oeconomia, politia) has significantly shaped social imaginaries about what makes a society workable and proficient for its citizens. While already Luther used the idea of the household (oeconomia) as a third zone...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theology today
Main Author: Gregersen, Niels Henrik 1956- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publ. [2019]
In: Theology today
Year: 2019, Volume: 76, Issue: 3, Pages: 224-232
IxTheo Classification:KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia
KDD Protestant Church
NCC Social ethics
Further subjects:B three-estate doctrine
B oeconomia
B Martin Luther
B Protestant social ethics
B Johannes Bugenhagen
B Nordic welfare state
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Summary:In the Nordic countries, Martin Luther's doctrine of the three estates (ecclesia, oeconomia, politia) has significantly shaped social imaginaries about what makes a society workable and proficient for its citizens. While already Luther used the idea of the household (oeconomia) as a third zone between civil government (politia) and church (ecclesia), Danish-Norwegian receptions of Luther's concept of oeconomia emphasized the mutual obligations between superiors and subordinates. Arguably, the parental expectation to the worldly government in early Nordic Lutheranism—together with the institutionalization of school education, public healthcare, and care for the poor—constitute a background condition for the emergence of Nordic welfare states in the twentieth century.
ISSN:2044-2556
Contains:Enthalten in: Theology today
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0040573619859013