루터 신학의 정치철학적 함의

Abstract

This treatise is basically an attempt to identify the aspects of political philosophy from Luther‘s theology. His doctrine of Justification and theory of Two Kingdoms had principles and dynamics to disintegrate church power and order of the empire. This was proven by the historical fact that his Reformation gave birth to Protestant churches and brought forth sovereign nations and, as a result, international order shifted from medieval feudal society to modern civil society. While, political theory of Spinoza who projected modern society since the Reformation sought to limit religion to an auxiliary role in politics for civic freedom. Though this might be a more flexible strategy than Hobbes's Social Contract seeking to control ‘the war of all against all’ by state power, it can't be considered as having treated the heritage of the Reformation rightly. While distinguishing religion from politics, Luther could maintain the originality and independence of religion. Though theology and politics have different points of view, they commonly deal with the reality of human lives. Furthermore, theology deals with the reality fundamentally or ultimately. As such, Luther's theological political theories suggested progressive alternatives with comprehensive unity. This stance was always maintained even at time of his accusation of churches, advocating of individual freedom or staging a war. It's because his theories were open to macroscopic viewpoints integrating human's reality 'vertically'. This becomes more distinct when we compare it with forming process and internal logics of modern political theories. The political theory of Realism in the early modern era had extremely ideological traits. Most of them were oriented towards 'securing of sovereignty' or 'acquiring of powers'. They grasped the scale of the 'reality' simply 'horizontally' and understood human lives only narrowly. 'Balance of Power' and the 'Social Contract' already implies the despair on the consensus of human's universal values. Those realist's political theories were often painted beautifully by some academics but historically they were not suggested as a positive alternative for justice and peace. They might be the outcome of despair packed with devastated spirits following the Thirty Years' War. This is also limit of today's political theories oriented to realism. In this light, Balance of Power' and the 'Social Contract' can't be considered to be a progressive planning for new order in the modern era. Because they were just concerned with strategy not to be dominated by religion - like in the medieval era - and ruling power of politics, rather than responding to opened order brought forth by Luther's theological insights. His theology sees what modern political philosophy can't see and tells us what it can't tell. And his theology preoccuphies for the future for human lives based on universal values in the historical horizon. Fundamental insights revealed at Luther's doctrine of Justification and theorie of Two Kingdoms may suggest an open prospective for alternative thinking to political philosophy in this 21st Century witnessing and experiencing worse dehumanization because of horizontal globalization.