Lindberg says that “To Luther, the identification of any political program, regardless of its intrinsic merit, with the will of God subverts both politics and the Gospel.” Yet at the same time, he permitted city councils and princes to appoint parish priests (witness his accusation that even though the parish of Orlamünde wanted Andreas Karlstadt as their pastor, that really the University had the right to appoint that pastor). In your judgment, would Luther support the separation of church and state we have in the American Constitution?
One author has claimed that the “near consensus is that the 1520’s and 30’s were truly dark, not enlightened decades, and these events (the early Reformation) created new forms of bondage for all save a privileged few”. Given what you have read about Luther, Müntzer, Zwingli, and Calvin, do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give your primary reason and 1-2 brief examples supporting your argument.