The Influence of Calvinism on European Legal Thought and Jurisprudence

Polgári Szemle, 20. évf. 1–3. szám, 2024, 112–117., DOI: 10.24307/psz.2024.0810

Dr. iur. Ddr. h. c. Gábor Hamza, professor, full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Ez az e-mail-cím a szpemrobotok elleni védelem alatt áll. Megtekintéséhez engedélyeznie kell a JavaScript használatát.).

Summary

According to Theodor Heuss, the spiritual and cultural unity of Europe is built on three hills, the Acropolis, the Capitol and Golgotha. The Capitolium is one of the foundations of European culture, and one of the pillars of Europe's entity that represents law. The Capitolium, as interpreted by Theodor Heuss, is Roman law. For centuries, the concept of law was understood to mean Roman law, codified and compiled in the Justinian Corpus Iuris in the 6th century AD. The fundamental tenets of Roman law are inseparable from European civilisation. The Calvinist Reformation is inextricably linked to Lutheranism. It should be emphasised that the work of John Calvin, compared with the Lutheran oeuvre, has a greater legal dimension. For Luther is essentially a theologian who considers all legal phenomena as negative. John Calvin, unlike Martin Luther, is a lawyer (iurisperitus, iurisconsultus).

Keywords: Lutheran conception of law and state, Protestantism, John Calvin, jurisprudence