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12 Division of Labor: God’s Left and Right Hands The so-called two-kingdom or two-government doctrine is among Luther’s most controversial ideas. Especially in the twentieth century it led to some sharp clashes. In part it was theologically falsified and politically misused. It evoked a flood of secondary literature and quite a few misunderstandings. In particular, it makes clear what a great historical distance exists between the present and the time of the Reformer. Add to this the difficulties involved in the concepts he used, which today sometimes appear opaque or confusing. Finally, Luther stood within a history of tradition that he partly adopted, partly modified, but that no longer belongs to us at all. In what follows I do not propose to offer new theses on this vast subject or try to describe the complicated discussion. It is more important, as concerns Luther’s idea of the two “kingdoms” or “governments” to ask what about them is “evangelical” in the proper sense, what in all this serves the glory of God and the salvation of humanity. The concrete ethical implications of the concept represent a theme that must be handled separately. Contemporary Questions Changing times Luther made his core statements on the two-kingdoms or two-governments doctrine in his  writing, “Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should be Obeyed,” but “authority” in the sixteenth-century sense no longer exists. It has been replaced by the state built on equal rights and by democracy, to the origins of which Luther did, after all, contribute. When Luther engaged with the relationships between what we would call state and church, church and world, Christian and civil responsibility, he could assume as a matter of course that his addressees were essentially citizens of the Holy Roman Empire 313 314 The Theology of Martin Luther and Christians of the German nation; in the meantime we now have a Europe in which Christianity plays at best a marginal role and that must seek its place somewhere between non-Christian religions and religious indifference. The “Constantinian age of the church” is declining to its end; in Germany this is signaled by court proceedings against crucifixes in schoolrooms and against the pealing of church bells loudly enough to be heard; Sunday retains only limited protection, and church taxes are under scrutiny. In a countermovement , Islam is raising theocratic demands. Head scarves, the building of mosques, and the cries of muezzins carried over loudspeakers are the point of the spear. Despite the continued state support of the churches, and despite the immense diaconal engagement of the churches on behalf of society, the mutual relationship of the functions church and society have for one another needs a new theological clarification. Freedom of religion is up for discussion. Will the development of a “world ethos” reconcile the religions and cultures with each other, or do we need something like Luther’s twokingdoms /two-governments doctrine to protect a constructive mutuality and peaceful regulation of conflicts? Infinitely much has also changed in detail. Luther, in developing his teaching, was constantly concerned with “classes” or “orders.” Today not even the concept can be used; it survives only in such combinations as “professional order” or “class politics.” Work and calling, in the face of unemployment on the one hand and the preservation of free time on the other, have acquired a new caliber; marriage and family are largely in the process of dissolving, while the economy seems to be flourishing “independently of any laws,” and threatens so to destroy the possibilities for individual survival and the horizon of meaning for many. Capital markets and scholarship go their own, sometimes common ways. In this situation is it the duty of a church that appeals to Luther to make an effort to maintain or create structures and institutions that can be of assistance to individuals or groups? The society in which Luther lived was marked by the overwhelming power of the Roman church, which affected all aspects of life. In this context Luther’s interest had to lie in setting limits to the influence exercised by a controlling ecclesiastical system. Church should again be church in the true sense and at the same time give the world back its own dignity and value. Today, at least in Europe, the situation is reversed: economic and social policies also shape the lives of churches and congregations. The warning or encouraging voice of the Gospel rings...

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