Martin Luther and the Theology of the Two Kingdoms

Abstract

This chapter explores the nominalist orientation of Martin Luther’s separation of sacred and secular, signified by his two kingdoms framework. The aim is to show that his thinking about the nature of God, character of creation, and authority of Scripture resonates with the theory of imposed order. Luther gives priority to the will, as against reason, which follows from his preoccupation with God’s freedom and power. This points to an inner unity in Luther’s thought, whereby his theology informs a parallel understanding of reality that emphasizes the contingency of singular things, a system of external relations, and explanation in terms of efficient causes. Luther’s importance in this context is not discerned in what he contributes to political theory; he transmits the nominalist way of knowing and explaining reality that others would use to theorize political order. Consequently, his separation of the earthly kingdom and the spiritual kingdom does not de-theologize politics as much as signal the ascendency of the theory of imposed order and its theological commitments. In this respect, he contributes indirectly to a way of thinking and speaking about political order that stresses the nominalist vocabulary of will and artifice.