THE INFLUENCE OF PROTESTANT POLITICAL THEORY OF THE REFORMATION PERIOD ON THE LIBERAL CONCEPT OF LIMITED GOVERNMENT

Abstract

It is well known that J. Locke is considered the founder of the philosophy of freedom, known as “classical liberalism”, which “describes the growth of personal freedom in contrast to the power of the supreme ruler” (Raath & Freitas, 2002, p. 25). This definition of classical liberalism is offered by the modern conservative philosopher R. Scruton. The social contract, the rule of law, and the system of checks and balances were developed solely to protect personal freedom. In other words, the struggle against tyranny and the introduction of limited government were means of achieving the main goal: personal freedoms. Personal freedom is the central concept of liberalism, for the sake of which, essentially, everything else exists. The foundational root of liberal thought, in the interpretation of most liberal theorists, dates back only to the period of the Enlightenment. Liberalism appears to be a spontaneous phenomenon of a prominent intellectual era that arose without any influence from the previous intellectual tradition. A whole galaxy of outstanding thinkers has made titanic efforts to develop mechanisms of control and restraint of power in order to protect human freedom from oppression. That is, this is a problem of Western political identity in general, and in particular, the identity of liberalism as the first modern ideology. The issue addressed in this article precisely concerns the religious factor that influenced the formation of the liberal concept of limited government. That is, this approach tends to overlook the influence of the Christian religion, which had a total significance in the formation of European culture in the Middle Ages and Modern times, and political theory was no exception. That is, this is a problem of Western political identity in general, and in particular the identity of liberalism as the first modern ideology. The issue of this article addresses precisely the religious factor that influenced the formation of the liberal concept of limited government. After all, the deconstruction of the theory of the divine right of kings during the Reformation can be called a liberal phenomenon, because, as already mentioned at the beginning, liberalism is “about the growth of personal freedom in contrast to the power of the supreme ruler” (Raath & Freitas, 2002, p. 25).