Of the Nature and Qualification of Religion in Reference to Civil Society
By Samuel Puffendorf
$16.80
Publication Date: September 2002
About this book
The bounds of church and state
Samuel Pufendorf’s Of the Nature and Qualification of Religion (published in Latin in 1687) is a major work on the separation of politics and religion. Written in response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the French king Louis XIV, Pufendorf contests the right of the sovereign to control the religion of his subjects, because state and religion pursue wholly different ends. He concludes that, when rulers transgress their bounds, subjects have a right to defend their religion, even by the force of arms. Pufendorf’s ideas on natural law and toleration were highly influential in both Europe and the British Isles.
Hardback | 573 pages | 6×9 | Published September 2002 | ISBN 978-0-86597-370-1
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Davenant and Liberty Fund Partnership
In 2024, the Davenant Institute partnered with Liberty Fund to highlight some of history’s greatest works of political theology. Forgotten today, these works by the likes of Samuel Pufendorf and Emer De Vattel have been hugely significant throughout the centuries. With Protestant political retrieval on the rise, it is the perfect time to rediscover these foundational texts, all sold at a generous discount of up to 40% via the Davenant bookstore.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ix
Introduction
1
Of the Nature and Qualification of Religion in Reference to Civil Society
141
Selected Bibliography
i43
Index
About the Author and Editor
Samuel Pufendorf (1632–1694) taught natural law and was court historian in both Germany and Sweden.
Simone Zurbuchen is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.