Quentin Skinner’s study of the development of modern political thought offers a helpful analysis of how the concept of the modern state emerged from Luther’s and Calvin’s reforms. He points out that the accepted notion of the modern state as a political society which exists for political purposes is a secularized notion that has developed over time. This was not the sixteenth century understanding of the civil domain. Calvin’s expectation alongside his fellow reformers was that “all temporal rulers had a duty to uphold godly as well as peaceable government,” and that this was perfectly compatible with the expectation of his Catholic adversaries: “They all insisted that one of the main aims of government must be to maintain ‘true religion’ and the Church of Christ.”

Joan Hedrich Wooten, “A Necessary Connection: The Doctrine of the State in Relation to the Church in the Theology of Calvin and Schleiermacher” PhD Diss., Union Presbyterian Seminary, 2018, 172-173.

Despite the historical evolution of the form of the state from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Calvin’s and Schleiermacher’s theological convergence in four parallel core convictions is evidence of their common cause in addressing the state and in conceiving of its relation to the church. Specifically, their shared understanding of the role of conscience in connecting “the two kingdoms” justifies a level of political activism that may be distinctive to the Reformed tradition. Both Calvin and Schleiermacher passionately addressed the political realities of their time and applied their full energies to awakening the popular religious conscience. Each had his inconsistencies, as has been discussed. Calvin waffled between obedience to and overthrow of rulers; and Schleiermacher tipped the balance he himself had constructed between the critical and technical study of the state. Nevertheless, in theory as well as practice they bore witness to an important principle about the relationship between church and state: though separate, they are interconnected and necessary for each other.

Joan Hedrich Wooten, “A Necessary Connection: The Doctrine of the State in Relation to the Church in the Theology of Calvin and Schleiermacher” PhD Diss., Union Presbyterian Seminary, 2018, 175.