Der Begriff der Religionsgesellschaft im deutschen Naturrecht der Aufklärung und den ersten Kodifikationen

Description

Religious societies (Religionsgesellschaft) as a legal concept is still present in today's German (constitutional) law, in particular in the incorporated articles of the Weimar Constitution. In this study, Christian Sturm examines the roots of the concept of religious societies in the natural law of the enlightenment and describes its development up until the first German codices. The author shows that the concept of religious societies must not only be seen in the presently prevailing liberal context. Its function was initially rather statist, though it swiftly advanced to become the precursor of a state-church law based on parity and state restraint.