Martin Luther's Understanding of God's Two Kingdoms (Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought): A Response to the Challenge of Skepticism

by William J. Wright, Richard Muller (Editor)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441212689
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	880 KB

About the Author

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

Introduction
1. Interpretations of Luther's Idea of the Two Kingdoms During the Last Two Centuries
2. The Skeptical Challenge of the Early Italian Renaissance
3. Northern Humanism: The Context of Luther's Two Kingdoms
4. The Two-Kingdoms Worldview: How Luther Used the Concept in Diverse Contexts
5. The Reformer Applies the Two Kingdoms to the Christian Life
Index