Religion und Politik im Christentum

The relationship between religion and politics has been a subject of controversial debate for many years. Does religion fundamentally incite violence? Do religions endanger or ensure peace in society? Are some religions, by their very nature, more peaceful than others? The author of this study traces the development of Christianity in order to answer these and other questions, and in doing so he discusses not only Christianity’s evolution into a dominant and, in many ways, intolerant religion, but also the disputes between the papacy and empires during the Middle Ages. The study also presents a detailed account of how the denominationalism of Christianity as a result of the Reformation led to conflicting religious factions finding a way to coexist peacefully. Of course, it was not until the second half of the 20th century, after a disquieting period of Christianity being politicised ideologically, that German Protestantism began to approve of religious freedom and pluralism to a greater extent. But still, because of this development Protestantism in Germany can be regarded as a prime example of how a religion can be civilised successfully.