Parents, Authorities, and Disobedience in Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Sermons
The Lutheran Reformation is often portrayed as being slavishly obedient to secular rulers. This article examines printed Lutheran postil sermons on the Fourth Commandment, which was the Lutheran justification for obedience to secular rulers, between the momentous years 1530 and 1580. Postil sermons...
Published in: | Lutheran quarterly |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
The Johns Hopkins University Press
[2019]
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In: |
Lutheran quarterly
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IxTheo Classification: | CG Christianity and Politics KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance KDD Protestant Church NCB Personal ethics |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | The Lutheran Reformation is often portrayed as being slavishly obedient to secular rulers. This article examines printed Lutheran postil sermons on the Fourth Commandment, which was the Lutheran justification for obedience to secular rulers, between the momentous years 1530 and 1580. Postil sermons were model sermons intended to guide pastors in their creation of sermons and were also often read outright both in Lutheran pulpits and during worship services in the home. This article shows that these sermons universally commanded a conditional obedience to rulers and many even demanded disobedience in certain situations. Furthermore, obedience to rulers was a secondary matter after obedience to parents. Rulers were parents' helpers, not vice versa. |
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ISSN: | 2470-5616 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Lutheran quarterly
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/lut.2019.0078 |