Luther's "On the Freedom of a Christian" does not contain an agenda for political and social demands for freedom. What it signifies is the liberation of mankind from sin and guilt by the grace of God through the sinner's justification in the belief in Christ's redemptive act on the cross, an act which calls for and enables service to God and one's neighbor and which contributed considerably to church reform and the social and ethical transformation of the world. Since it only originates from the belief in the truth of the Gospel, Christian freedom is incompatible with a secular forced belief. This was fundamental in the abolishment of forced belief in the modern era, does however differ from the guarantee of religious freedom for all religions in the pluralistic constitutional and social system. This system, a general secular framework, protects the individual's belief in the truth from government intervention and infringements of other religions and enables the development of faith in many secular legal relations.

Enthalten in:
Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche; 2012/1 (2012)

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Serie / Reihe: Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche

Personen: Heckel, Martin Kirchhof, Paul (gefeierte Pers.)

Schlagwörter: Freiheit Luther Wirkungsgeschichte Staatskirchenrecht Kirchenrecht