Lutheran Quarterly

Luther's two kingdoms doctrine, in which humans are simultaneously subjects of a spiritual, inner kingdom, and another temporal, outer kingdom, may seem to be a well-worn path in Luther studies, but Carty's book is valuable. It is highly readable and it addresses Luther's theology of politics found in his commentaries, and not [End Page 226] merely treatises such as "On Temporal Authority" (1523), and so provides new insights for examining Luther's theology of politics.

Carty notes that the two kingdoms are separate but coeval, that is, of the same age and duration, with neither to be favored over the other (5): the service provided by the government is as important as the service provided by the church (12). Rulers are to serve their subjects just as parents protect their children. Through the order that government provides, humans are given a habitat in which they can exercise their vocations and thus serve one another. The context in which Luther sought reform assumed a deeply politicized church in which the pope served not only as a spiritual ruler but also a political ruler in his papal fiefdoms and exercised power throughout dioceses and church properties in Europe. Luther's case against indulgences challenged this vision of the church which was so heavily invested in this-worldly economics. Not only did indulgences promote the false idea that a life of repentance was unnecessary, but also they consumed the money that otherwise could be used to support the poor, develop universities, promote upright living, and curb the quest for luxuries.

The two kingdoms doctrine grows out of Luther's distinction between law and gospel, which Carty describes as a "dialectical ontological dyad" (34). For Luther, magistrates have no legitimate jurisdiction over their subjects' spiritual beings. Instead, they are to exercise their power so as to promote peace and order, and to help their subjects love their neighbors (38). Dramatically, Luther claims that Christians as such do not need government. But government exists to help Christians as subjects in the temporal kingdom (42). Luther's doctrine of the "three estates" (church, household, government) is a supplement to (46), not a contradiction of, his two kingdoms doctrine. While a third use of the law is not highlighted in Luther, neither is it absent from his thinking (69). In stark contrast to medieval allegorizing, which saw the Song of Solomon as describing spiritual love between Christ and the soul, Luther interprets it as an affirmation both of worldly government and sexual relations between a husband and wife (80).

Often Luther is thought to be inconsistent in his theology of politics. Carty tackles two challenges: the Peasants' War of 1525 and [End Page 227] the Protestant resistance against the Holy Roman Empire. It seems that Luther, on the one hand, advocates freedom but, on the other, sells out the peasants who sought to rectify their grievances. It seems that Luther advocates that humans should submit to governing authorities, but then he advocates resistance against the empire. But, for Carty, Luther is not inconsistent. Luther thinks the peasants are thieves who violate both kingdoms since they confuse spiritual freedom with temporal freedom. Thereby, both divine grace and worldly peace are destroyed (95). Likewise, the 1530s saw threats of imperial war against the Protestants. This means that resistance is necessary precisely in order to respect what temporal authority is supposed to do: allow the Word to do its work through the evangelical congregations (105). Hence, Luther's view is not like contemporary secularism's separation of private faith from public politics, but instead distinguishes the saving Word from temporal power, the means by which the world is ordered (119).

In sharp contrast to contemporary conservative Reformed views, good government, for Luther, need not necessarily be distinctively Christian (145). In contrast to Luther's modern critics who charge that his views contribute to modern anomie (meaninglessness), Luther simply is honoring that humans have an inner aspect...