Religious, Confessional And Cultural Conflicts Among Neighbors: Observations On The Sixteenth And Seventeenth Centuries

Abstract

This chapter presents a discussion that distinguishes three aspects of a specifically early modern concept of respicere from each other as they relate to the Christian religion. The study of the Quran by learned ministers provide protection for Christian communities in the zones threatened by Turkish power. The fear of Jews stirred up by Margaritha, widely echoed in Protestant writings of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, stood against a culture of respect. As a rule, conflicts were not addressed through the operation of clear legal principles. Some examples of this kind of confessional conflict between neighbors are discussed from the vantage point of the Lutheran theologians who were consulted as assessors and consultants. Keywords: Christian religion; confessional conflict; cultural conflicts; Lutheran theologians