LAUSR

ABSTRACT This paper reexamines Martin Luther's legacy and ongoing importance by examining the insights and challenges in his response to the German Peasants' War by advancing two major claims. First, Luther rebuts the peasants' appeal to divine law by invoking the natural law and supporting the importance of public conversation and deliberation concerning political norms and outcomes. Second, Luther casts a vision of shared responsibility in response to systemic injustice. By placing Luther into conversation with the work of Iris Marion Young, this paper shows how Luther begins, but does not complete, the work of developing an account of shared responsibility that moves beyond strict liability and guilt. This reading invites a reconsideration of the function of the natural law and the role of public reason in Luther's thought, while also identifying the burdens that remain concerning questions of group interest and the construction of alternative political arrangements.