Martin Luther's Understanding of God's Two Kingdoms : A Response to the Challenge of Skepticism

by Wright, William John

• ISBN13: 9780801038846
• ISBN10: 0801038847
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-01-01
• Publisher: Baker Pub Group

Summary

The concept of God's two kingdoms was foundational to Luther and subsequent Lutheran theology. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, that concept has been understood primarily as a political concept. But is a political reading of the two kingdoms a perversion of Luther's teaching?Leading Reformation scholar William Wright contends that those who read Luther politically and see in Luther a compartmentalized approach to Christian life are misreading the Reformer. Wright reassesses the original breadth of Luther's theology of the two kingdoms and the cultural contexts from which it emerged. He argues that Luther's two-kingdom worldview was not a justification for living irresponsibly on planet earth.

Author Biography

William J. Wright (PhD, Ohio State University) is professor of history and head of the history department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In addition to his many scholarly articles and presentations, he is the author of Capitalism, the State, and the Lutheran Reformation.

Table of Contents

Series Preface	p. 7
Acknowledgments	p. 9
Abbreviations	p. 10
Introduction	p. 11
Interpretations of Luther's Idea of the Two Kingdoms during the Last Two Centuries	p. 17
Mid-Nineteenth-Century Uses of Luther's Concept of Two Kingdoms
Turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century Developments
National Socialist Perversions and the Responses
Relevant Recent Treatments of the Two-Kingdoms Idea
The Skeptical Challenge of the Early Italian Renaissance	p. 45
Early Italian Humanism and Skepticism
Lorenzo Valla and Rhetorical Humanism
Italian Humanism and Neoplatonism
Critics of Neoplatonism
Northern Humanism: The Context of Luther's Two Kingdoms	p. 79
The Rhetorical Path and Valla's Influence
The Neoplatonic Path and the Influence of Ficino and Pico
Luther and Humanism
Earlier Twofold Conceptions
The Two-Kingdoms "Worldview: How Luther Used the Concept in Diverse Contexts	p. 113
The Early Use of the Two-Kingdoms Concept
Further Refinement of the Two-Kingdoms Distinction in Biblical Commentaries
The Creation Law and the Three Divine Orders of Human Institutions
Theological Certainty versus Skepticism in the Worldly Kingdom
The Reformer Applies the Two Kingdoms to Christian Life	p. 147
Luther's Commentary on Ecclesiastes
Christian Life as a Struggle for Faith
Pitfalls and Patience
Luther's Social Ethos
Bibliography	p. 173
Index	p. 205
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.