Original Research

From Chrysostom to Luther: The roots of magisterial office in Martyr Vermigli’s political theology

Andries W.G. Raath
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi | Vol 39, No 1 | a376 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v39i1.376 | © 2005 Andries W.G. Raath | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 30 July 2005 | Published: 30 July 2005

About the author(s)

Andries W.G. Raath, Department of Constitutional Law and, Philosophy of Law, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

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Abstract

Peter Martyr Vermigli played a key role in developing and formulating the Reformational version of the political covenant for legitimating the political order. Three important perspectives shaped Vermigli’s covenantal views: first, St. John Chrysostom’s idea of political office; second, Luther’s work on the divine origin of magisterial government and third, Heinrich Bullinger’s commentaries on the Biblical covenant. These perspectives were integrated by Vermigli into an influential paradigm of covenantal politics. The impact of the ideas emanating from Vermigli’s theologico-political federalism was not limited to the 16th-century Reformation, but also exerted considerable influence on the development of political contractarianism in 17th - and 18th-century liberalism. In this contribution the emphasis is on Chrysostom’s and Luther’s contributions to Vermigli’s political theology.

Keywords

Bullinger; Chrysostom; Covenant Views On Luther; Magisterial Office Vermiglis Views; Vermigli Political Theology

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