ere composed of real Christians, that is, true believers, there would be no need for or benefits from prince, king, lord, sword or law.” (Luther, On Governmental Authority, p. 21) Luther interpreted the Scriptures, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed” to mean that man should be responsible for punishing the guilty as these laws were established by God. Luther became dependent on the kingdom of the world for his protection and the expansion of his ideas. Many lords and princes were in favor of Lutheranism because it placed power back in their hands. The Roman Catholic Empire was extremely powerful at this time and owned large amounts of land. “Where a state turned Lutheran it usually ‘secularized’ the church properties within its borders, a process which considerably enriched some of the Lutheran princes and gave them a strong material interest in the success of the Lutheran movement.” (Palmer and Colton, p.79). This would evidently increase the power and profit those princes. Thus, it benefited both the religion and the state to uphold Lutheranism. Although the temporal power was an important part of Lutheranism there were still boundaries placed upon it. The temporal power could not enforce religion. The only way a person could believe was through the heart: “In doing so they only compel weak and consciences to lie, to disavow, and to utter what is not in their hearts.” (Luther, How Far Temporal Authority Extends, p.28) Temporal power applies only to external things such as taxes, revenues, and over evil works. “The soul is not under the authority of Caesar” (Luther, How far Temporal Authority Extends, p.29). Thus if the temporal leader was to enforce you to believe in something that wasn’t in your heart, Luther would say resist without force: “If you give in to him and let him take away your faith and your books, you ...
