Der Kaiser als Verteidiger des Antichristen – Zur Legitimitätsfrage des protestantischen Widerstandes gegen den Kaiser in der Zirkulardisputation über Matthäus 19,21

Abstract

This article is concerned with the question whether the Lutheran circular disputation about Matthew 19:21, which was held in 1539, legitimized resistance against Emperor Charles V. Luther wrote the theses of this disputation in early 1539, when war with the emperor seemed imminent. But the theses apparently lost political relevance when the emperor and the Protestant estates made peace in the Treaty of Frankfurt on 19 April 1539. Nevertheless, the theses were debated on 9 May 1539, and Luther participated in the disputation. A close analysis of the disputation leads to the conclusion that the scholarly distinction between theological and political arguments was blurred in light of contemporary events. The Lutherans’ apocalyptic understanding of the struggle against the pope as the struggle against the Antichrist overlaps with the question of the legitimacy of secular resistance against the emperor. Therefore, it is likely that the theological aspect of the argument was used by the Protestant princes for their political purposes.