Rights of love and the dynamics of social benevolence: interpreting Martin Luther’s thoughts on social rights
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Abstract
English
A constructive interpretation of Martin Luther’s teaching on social rights reveals that
human rights are not the institutions or instruments of evil that some Christian viewpoints
take them to be. On the contrary, natural rights are gifts of God, inscribed on
humankind’s heart in the kingdom of creation for serving God and one’s neighbour
through love. Human rights are fundamentally rights of love, to be maintained for the
glory of God. In the social sphere both private and public social rights are of fundamental
importance in steering humanity towards attaining peace and justice in society.
Keywords
English
Martin Luther Human rights Martin Luther's writings Martin Luther's thoughts Foundations of social rights
Record information
Authors
Raath, Andries
Publisher
University of the Free State