Lutheran Theology and the shaping of society: The Danish Monarchy as Example

The Danish Monarchy as Example

Contributions by Theodor Dieter Contributions by Hans-Martin Gutmann Contributions by Thomas Kaufmann Edited by Bo Kristian Holm Edited by Nina J. Koefoed Series edited by Herman J. Selderhuis Associate editor Christopher B. Brown Associate editor Günter Frank Associate editor Bruce Gordon Associate editor Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer Associate editor Tarald Rasmussen Associate editor Violet Soen Associate editor Zsombor Tóth Associate editor Günther Wassilowsky Associate editor Siegrid Westphal

Book cover: Lutheran Theology and the shaping of society: The Danish Monarchy as Example

Extent: 365 pages

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Subjects: Religious Studies, Social Sciences 

Series: Refo500 Academic Studies (R5AS)

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(June 2018)

ISBN: 9783525551240

6.34 x 9.25 inches

Price: $125.00

In stock

The impact of Lutheranism upon society


From different perspectives this book studies the role of Reformation theology in the shaping of Danish society and the social dimensions of Lutheran confessional culture. The book develops an approach making it possible to draw strong conclusion about the social teaching of Luther and its impact on the development of the Danish society. It works on a conceptual level by analyzing the social dimensions of key Lutheran concepts and their translation into the doctrine of the three estates (church, household, and state), and on the level of lived experience of life within these three orders, not at least within the household forming the ideal form also for church and state. Thus the chapters in the book endeavor to connect the social ideas inherent in the Lutheran confession with the social formation of the Danish state from the Reformation into the period of Absolutism. A long mono-confessional situation within the Danish Monarchy makes it possible to study the impact of Lutheranism and the development of a confessional culture within a uniquely long timeframe. The focus is on basic mediums for the translation of Lutheran ideas into social practice: law, primarily connected to marriage and family; and the role of household, both as primary social relations and as basic social and political model. In this way the book offers important insights for theologians, historians, sociologists, and academically anyone interested in the relation between theology and sociality, confession and culture.

  • Contributions by Theodor Dieter
  • Contributions by Hans-Martin Gutmann
  • Contributions by Thomas Kaufmann
  • Edited by Bo Kristian Holm
  • Edited by Nina J. Koefoed
  • Series edited by Herman J. Selderhuis
  • Associate editor Christopher B. Brown
  • Associate editor Günter Frank
  • Associate editor Bruce Gordon
  • Associate editor Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer
  • Associate editor Tarald Rasmussen
  • Associate editor Violet Soen
  • Associate editor Zsombor Tóth
  • Associate editor Günther Wassilowsky
  • Associate editor Siegrid Westphal

"This volume has an internal coherence and consistency that is often lacking in multi-author volumes due, it would seem, to the careful editorial direction of Holm and Koefoed and by the process of participation in interdisciplinary research groups at Aarhus University in Denmark, which no doubt led to this well-conceived and executed volume." Granquist, Mark, Church History, March 26, 2021
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