Martin Luther's Essay Concerning Governmental Authority

One of the greatest debates of history has been regarding how much separation there should be between church and state. Prior to the Reformation, the church had a significant amount of power in regard to the government and society. There was a lot of corruption and greed, as the people of the church were able to find ways to abuse this power for their own profit. This corruption was a major reason for the rise of Martin Luther and it set the basis for the Protestant Reformation as a whole. He was able to completely change the trajectory of the Christian religion. Luther recognized the corruption and excessive power within the church, and he believed it was neither good for the Christians of the church or for the rest of the people of society

to have the church and state so closely bonded. He believed that these realms should be kept separate, while he also found it important for Christians to participate in the government and for the power of the government to be controlled, as this would protect the purity of Christianity.
He wrote about this deeply in his essay titled Concerning Governmental Authority.

In terms of keeping these two realms separate, Luther firmly believed that they could both stay side by side and flourish wonderfully without any qualms. He moved on to describe the two types of governing authorities. The government of the earth; the temporal power, had the responsibility to take care of issues concerning worldly things like property and crime. Without the power of the temporal authority, the crimes committed by non-Christians would be out of control. It was a system necessary to keep relative peace on earth. God, on the other hand, dealt with peoples’ souls and faith, as he controlled the spiritual realm of the church. Luther found it pivotal that these two realms should not cross over each other, especially in terms of the temporal authority making laws over a person’s

soul.
One of Luther’s first topics in his article discussed why the government was necessary and why it needed to be kept separate from the church. Luther believed that having a structured government was pivotal for peace on earth, due to the fact that not all people governed themselves as Christians. One of Luther’s first defenses for his point of view was how, if everyone was a Christian, there would be no need for any temporal power. A true god following Christian would be a servant to all, and so there would be no greed or selfishness to cause issues among people. However, he stated how true Christians were quite rare, and so it was impossible to rule a non-Christian state in a Christian view. “But take heed and first fill the world with real Christians before you attempt to rule it in a Christian and evangelical manner” (Luther 74). He realized that trying to govern the masses under a viewpoint of the minority would be reckless and unsuccessful. It would not succeed in maintaining a peaceful and just community, or achieve the upbringing of true Christians. That is why there was a necessity for a government in his view. Though the Christians didn’t need a government to govern themselves, there needed to be a system for the non-believers to keep evil acts from being rampant.
Luther also described the church and the need for it to be kept separate from the temporal power. Just as non-believers needed a system to keep peace on earth and to keep them safe, Christians also required a system on earth. That system was the church and it was meant to help them connect with God and their faith. Luther knew that Christians were very rare because of how difficult it was to follow God on earth, so a church free of Government interference was pivotal to keep the Christians strong in their belief. With a corrupt church, it made it even more difficult to remain a true Christian, so Luther wanted to avoid that hindrance by keeping the two realms separate. So, the two realms were very necessary, but it was also very important for their success to stay separated.
After showing why the government was necessary, he commented on if Christians should live by the rules of the government and assist it.

This depended on the work of the temporal authority. Though Luther did not believe in the non-Christian population being ruled under a Christian methodology, Luther did believe that the temporal authority of the state should be doing the work of God. “In short, since Paul says here that the governing authority is God’s servant, we must allow it to be exercised not only by the heathen but by all men” (Luther 80). Luther showed here that the governing authority was a tool for God’s use. Luther believed that the government was an institution and a servant of God; something to further his bidding. He went on to further express what that should mean to Christians. “Therefore, you should esteem the sword or governmental authority as highly as the estate of marriage, or husbandry, or any other calling which God has instituted” (Luther 81). So, he also believed that it should be highly respected by Christians as it was an institution of God. Luther believed that it was the requirement of a Christian to help with the bringing of justice against those who had done wrong. He did not, however, think that they should do so when a wrong is done against them personally, but rather when a wrong is committed against their neighbor. “You should help him that he may have peace and that his enemy may be curbed, but this is not possible unless the

governing authority is honored and feared” (Luther 77). So, Luther viewed helping the temporal power of the government as another way to help one’s neighbor, which is something that a good Christian should do.
Now that he had asserted that Christians should live within the bounds of the government, the next question that Luther discussed was if Christians should actually wield the sword of the government. Going off the point that the government was an institution to further God’s work, Luther made it clear that a Christian should help spread the work of God through any way possible to them. “Therefore, if you see that there is a need of hangmen, constables, judges, lords, or princes, and you find that you are qualified, you should offer your services and seek the position that the essential governmental authority may not be despised and become enfeebled or perish” (Luther 78). Luther showed that if the government was in need of help, a Christian should offer their services as they were actually offering their services to God. He further commented that Christians, in fact, would be the most fitting wielders of the governmental sword, as they were most accustomed to being God’s servants. They would be the most effective at doing the job without corrupting the system, as they would be doing it for the glory of God, and not for selfish reasons. So, Luther did believe a Christian should offer their bodies to the work of the Government, as they would actually be offering to do the work of God. He also clarified that when there was no need for the temporal sword of the state, one should be free to do nothing for the government. Luther showed that the government was a thing of God that should be assisted by Christians, as long as the temporal authority was not commanding them to do acts against God.
After showing that Christians should take part in the government and in protecting justice, Luther found it quite important to set guidelines for the state in regard to how much power and control it should have. Luther firmly stated that the government did not have the right or power to rule over one’s faith or soul, as that responsibility lay solely in the hands of God. He deemed that the government should only have power over earthly things; things that they could touch, as they could not touch the soul. His main worry or trepidation was that the arms of the state would encroach on God’s ruling, which is why he made it clear that the government should be kept completely separate from the church. He also made it clear that he thought it wrong for the government to try and make people follow Christianity, as people would be forced to say they believed even if they did not truly have any faith in God. One who was forced to believe would not truly believe. As the Christian faith was already very hard to follow, watering it down with fake Christians would not be positive for the church. Another thing he discussed, was how much the temporal force should wield their power to punish. This would determine if the ruling authority was too forceful or not forceful enough, as both these situations could lead to problems. Luther thought it better to punish less, as “The world has plenty of scoundrels anyways and must continue to have them, but godly men are scarce” (Luther 83). This once again reinforced Luther’s view that Christians were very few and they must be protected. He deeply desired to keep the Godly people protected, and it can be seen that this was a big reason as to why he wanted to keep the church and state separated.
Just as Luther outlined how much power the state should have, he also described how far the arms of the church should reach. This responsibility and power to keep over one’s soul remained solely under God’s control. He did not want the realm of God interfered with, as that would interfere with the faith of the Christians, which he wanted to keep protected. Luther also made it clear that he did not want the church to interfere with the government as it was designed to keep evil acts from being done. Just as Luther found it wrong for the government to force religion on anyone, he also did not want the church forcing Christianity on anyone. A Christian must believe in God truly and for the right reasons, not because they were forced into it. The bishops did have the power to show the path to God, but no one had the authority to force anyone to believe as they would not truly have faith. Luther then discussed how the church had no need for any type of temporal power over the true Christians. “What kind of authority can there be where all are equal and have the same right, power, possession, and honor, and where no one deserves to be the other’s superior, but each the other’s subordinate?” (Luther 92). He believed that true Christians did not need to be ruled over because they were all on the same level as each other and were all serving one another. They lived life as equals humbling themselves to one another, so there was no place for a person of the church to correct them for their wrongs. The one ruler they needed was God, as he was the only one who could bring about change to their souls. So, Luther did not believe the church needed to have much power over the people of the church or over anyone else. The church was a system to keep the faith of the Christians secure, but the only sort of authority required was the authority of God.