God and Government: Martin Luther's Political Thought by Jarrett A. Carty (review)

When I was first studying Reformation history and theology, I was taught that Luther's "two-kingdoms" theory on the relationship of church and state, while easily remembered in outline, was not as interesting or challenging to broader political currents as were the ideas of radical Reformers like Muntzer or Simons, on the one hand, or Reformed theologians like Zwingli or Calvin, on the other. Moreover, I was also taught that the two-kingdoms theory encouraged a Christian quietism and passivity of the Church in relation to the state, and this opened the door to greater state absolutism in the centuries that followed, leading all the way to the ascent of the Third Reich in the twentieth century.

Not only does Jarret Carty argue against such simplistic links and equations, but he also argues that Luther's political thought is much more critical a contribution and engagement with the larger political developments of his time. Moreover, he argues that Luther himself did not consider his writing on politics as in any way secondary to his other more primary theological and biblical writings. In fact, Caty argues that Luther saw a direct link between his theology and his political theory. Carty then analyzes why Luther has been misunderstood by so many political historians. Many who have been interested in Luther's political theory have read him with politically ideological agendas, or they have read his political writings without a broader understanding of his theology. Finally, many have read his early, more explicitly political, writings not realizing that Luther's political theory evolved over the decades in response to broader political and social upheavals of his time.

Carty not only makes these arguments, but he makes them in a clearly written, well-structured, and broadly accessible book for any student of the Reformation.

Carty relates how Luther first articulates his two-kingdoms theory in Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed (1523): Luther argues that humans are basically dual-natured with a spiritual and worldly identity; consequently, they are subject to two kingdoms—a spiritual or inner one and a temporal or outer one. The spiritual kingdom is ruled by the gospel and makes no use of worldly law or coercion of any kind. The temporal kingdom is ruled by secular government and uses laws, public morals, and coercion for governing citizens, caring for the needy and protecting the vulnerable from the greed and violence of the strong. The most important contribution Luther believed he was making against medieval political theory was the defence of secular government under God as independent from the reach of the Church. Secular government had responsibility for maintaining the social order and for the establishment of good churches, precisely as secular government. It was not the Church's business to interfere with the state's rule, unless there was corruption and abuse, but neither was it the state's business to interfere with the Church's rule, unless there was corruption or damnable theology. The state was legitimate and sacred before God in its own right, outside the sanction or interference of the Church.

Carty argues that the sanctity of the state as having legitimate authority before God independent of the Church was a vision for the state distinctive to Luther, and he was arguing for such a vision over against a more medieval conception of the Church as the unifying, centring, and legitimating institution for all secular government. Luther believed the medieval conception championed by Rome not only corrupted the Church itself, given that its focus should be on the sacred and spiritual dimensions of life, but also undermined the proper functioning of the state in its own sphere of responsibility and authority before God.

As can be imagined, theory is better within an ideal of a healthy church and a responsible state. In reality, however, Luther found himself in time arguing for...