ABSTRACT
The modern nation-state is a European invention and is founded on the development of both states and nations throughout European history. It is interesting that the academic discipline of international relations (IR) has traditionally paid little attention to the phenomenon of religion. IR theorists have tended to share the Enlightenment and Rawlsian secularist idea that 'religion' is irrational and should not enter into relationships between states. One of the first breaches in this secularist understanding of international relations came with the passage in the United States of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) in 1998 by the US Congress. Both Luther's early writings and those of Calvin seemed to suggest that revolt against the civil and/or religious authorities was permitted if these authorities acted against God's commands and against a godly way of life. With the Reformation, the political situation changed dramatically alongside the rise of political nationalism and the first signs of the modern state, particularly in Protestant Europe.
