Nach hundert Jahren. Ernst Troeltsch, der Protestantismus und die Entstehung der modernen Welt

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ernst Troeltsch’s lecture on the significance of Protestantism for the formation of modern civilization a century ago strongly stimulated discussion of the Lutheran and Calvinist Reformation. However, recent research has widely criticized his hypotheses. His distinction between Lutheran and Calvinist Protestantism, the former belonging to the Middle Ages and the latter far more to modernity, is rightly questioned, as is his assertion concerning the different impacts of Protestant and Roman Catholic Reform on early modern state and society. New answers have to take into consideration the diverging development of different areas of culture. In the field of law and political culture, the impact of the Protestant Reformation helped far more to develop public and civil law than was the case in the Catholic world, which was shaped by the Jesuits and Tridentine theology. Luther’s distinction between the two kingdoms became fundamental for Protestant jurists - both Lutheran and Reformed