Page 373 - Stati inu obstati, revija za vprašanja protestantizma, letnik XI (2015), številka 21-22, ISSN 1408-8363
P. 373
SYNOPSES, ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN
UDC 274:316.35
261:284
Nenad H. Vitorović
Protestant Christianity and Pluralism
The present paper argues that although it was only through Enlightenment policies
(starting with the Peace of Westphalia and especially with the American and French
Revolutions) that pluralism in the sense of individual freedom of thought and speech of
equal citizens was finally being gradually institutionalized, its anticipation can be traced
back to the Protestant Reformation as a venture towards the source of Christianity.
The paper’s aim is not to claim any primacy of Protestantism (or Christianity) over the
Enlightenment, but rather to show that these accomplishments of modernity are by no
means Christianity’s Other, which Christianity would constantly have to either withstand
or conform to, but rather something that it actually calls for itself.
For this purpose the paper first establishes a common denominator of all the major
currents of the 16th century Protestant Reformation as being the “fresh” appreciation of
the very core of Christianity: the Gospel as an announcement, which in its most con-
densed form can be expressed as the claim that the crucified Jesus of Nazareth is the risen
Messiah, the Christ, i.e., the Son of God, the ruler of all creation, yet which, taking into
consideration the Protestant understanding of the New Testament interpretation of the
Old Testament, implies the justification of godless people solely by faith in him. However,
no matter how short the forms this message can take, it can never be abstracted from
the person of Jesus: his life; his character; his encounters with people, his teaching, his
suffering and atoning sacrifice, his resurrection.
In the light of the Gospel thus understood, the Reformers’ demand for a state-guaran-
teed monopoly of a certain form of Christianity (including a state-guaranteed monopoly of
the truth claim of the Gospel itself), turns out to be a distant consequence of controversies
between the factions of early Christians, once they were in a position to turn to their
worldly leaders for help: from the standpoint of historical impact a particular consequence
of certain sharpened arguments of St. Augustine, which were additionally strengthened
in connection with other factors throughout the following centuries. St. Augustine’s
interpretation of the relevant passages of the biblical texts which he relies on in order to
ground the need for coercion to orthodoxy via the force of worldly authorities is shown
to be unconvincing from the perspective of Protestant biblical exegesis. With it also falls
the foundation of the “public manifestation of religion”, as one of the primary tasks of the
worldly authorities, which was formulated by the leading Protestant reformers, despite
their emphasis on freedom of conscience.
371
UDC 274:316.35
261:284
Nenad H. Vitorović
Protestant Christianity and Pluralism
The present paper argues that although it was only through Enlightenment policies
(starting with the Peace of Westphalia and especially with the American and French
Revolutions) that pluralism in the sense of individual freedom of thought and speech of
equal citizens was finally being gradually institutionalized, its anticipation can be traced
back to the Protestant Reformation as a venture towards the source of Christianity.
The paper’s aim is not to claim any primacy of Protestantism (or Christianity) over the
Enlightenment, but rather to show that these accomplishments of modernity are by no
means Christianity’s Other, which Christianity would constantly have to either withstand
or conform to, but rather something that it actually calls for itself.
For this purpose the paper first establishes a common denominator of all the major
currents of the 16th century Protestant Reformation as being the “fresh” appreciation of
the very core of Christianity: the Gospel as an announcement, which in its most con-
densed form can be expressed as the claim that the crucified Jesus of Nazareth is the risen
Messiah, the Christ, i.e., the Son of God, the ruler of all creation, yet which, taking into
consideration the Protestant understanding of the New Testament interpretation of the
Old Testament, implies the justification of godless people solely by faith in him. However,
no matter how short the forms this message can take, it can never be abstracted from
the person of Jesus: his life; his character; his encounters with people, his teaching, his
suffering and atoning sacrifice, his resurrection.
In the light of the Gospel thus understood, the Reformers’ demand for a state-guaran-
teed monopoly of a certain form of Christianity (including a state-guaranteed monopoly of
the truth claim of the Gospel itself), turns out to be a distant consequence of controversies
between the factions of early Christians, once they were in a position to turn to their
worldly leaders for help: from the standpoint of historical impact a particular consequence
of certain sharpened arguments of St. Augustine, which were additionally strengthened
in connection with other factors throughout the following centuries. St. Augustine’s
interpretation of the relevant passages of the biblical texts which he relies on in order to
ground the need for coercion to orthodoxy via the force of worldly authorities is shown
to be unconvincing from the perspective of Protestant biblical exegesis. With it also falls
the foundation of the “public manifestation of religion”, as one of the primary tasks of the
worldly authorities, which was formulated by the leading Protestant reformers, despite
their emphasis on freedom of conscience.
371
