2017, Vol., No.39

The Korean Journal of Chiristian Social Ethics 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.58

pISSN : 1229-8387 / eISSN : 2713-749X
https://journal.kci.go.kr/csethics

The purpose of the study is grasp the true meaning of Marx’s statement that “the revolutionary past of Germany was theoretical, and it would be the Reformation.” This study is conducted in three stages. First, we understand the anti-clerical attitude of Luther and Marx-Engels, and consider the revolutionary meaning of it. Anti-clericalism is a key issue not only in a mainstream right-wing of Reformation camp as Luther, but also in left-wing of Reformation camps such as Müntzer. It can be said that it was the origin of the Reformation and the original root of the revolution to expose and protest against the evil of the church and the corruption of the clergies. And it can be judged that the radical Republicans of the nineteenth century, Marx and Engels, have faithfully followed the precedent. Second, we discuss how Engels understands Luther’s Reformation in his book The Peasant War in Germany. It is clear that Engels was willing to position Luther as a strong advocate of the emerging bourgeois ideology at the time. Nevertheless, it is noted that Engels acknowledges that Luther had a profound influence on the revolutionary conduct of Müntzer and especially the Peasant War in 1525. Finally, this study discusses the revolutionary connection between Marx and Luther in the sense that Marx positively assessed Luther as a first-level accomplisher in the development phase of the German Revolution.

Luther’s Reformation was not simply restricted to the reformation of churches, but involved the reformation of the general social systems, with a special emphasis on ‘educational reformation.’ This study particularly concerns one of his elaborate efforts for educational reformation: the curriculum reorganization of German universities, including University of Halle-Wittenberg. This study will also focus on Philip Melanchton, called ‘Praeceptor Germaniae (teacher of Germany),’ who played a leading role together with Luther in the Reformation and education. Based on this analysis, this research compares Reformers with Martha Nussbaum as it focuses on her educational viewpoint which emphasizes the incessant reading and learning of humanistic texts and works in that they are similar each others as such that they are of one accord in thinking that education should not be limited to a personal dimension but be oriented to community, and that education should be the activities of listening to and learning the truth with struggle and agony and unceasing sharing. In light of the education intended by the reformers of 500 years ago, this paper reconsiders the necessity of the education that pursues ‘what needs to be learned,’ rather than ‘what must be done’ or ‘what can be done.’

Luther’s two kingdoms have been re-examined in a contemporary context of reinterpreting the relationship between the church and the nation and are subject to continued research. Although the study of Luther’s two kingdoms is actively conducted in the Korean theological community, its political-social implications are not sufficiently illuminated. This article focuses on the political and social implications of the two kingdoms in European society at the time of Luther. The attention to the political and social context of Luther is meaningful as an opportunity to break the medieval order characterized by the domination of the state by the Church. Luther’s two kingdoms have certain implications in relation to the emergence of a kingship state seeking to escape the dominance of the Catholic Church as a manifestation of the split of the medieval order, and are deeply related to a series of flows that later lead to the development of a sovereign state in European political societies. By paying attention to the significance of the two Luther‘s two kingdoms in a particular historical aspect of Europe, it is possible to avoid both extremes of the unilateral rejection or follow-up of the two kingdoms. Thus, this study will find important clues in seeking appropriate attitudes to the relationship between church and state and to the state power and its method of governance in the theological-ethical dimension.