Tuesday, January 8, 2013

An Explanation of the Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms

I spent the program discussing two kingdom theology as expounded upon by the Lutheran church. I did an overview of the debate in the Reformed world over the issue, discussed the various approaches to the relationship between church and state, defended the two kingdom approach Biblically, and finally demonstrated why Lutheran two kingdom theology is distinct from the theology that goes under that banner in the Reformed world. Here's the program.

5 comments:

Martin Yee said...

Hi Jordan,

Excellent discussion of the Two Kingdoms. There is a myth floating around here in Asia that Luther's teaching of the Two Kingdoms gave rise to Nazism in Germany and Hitler's atrocities against the Jews. Wonder if that is true.

Did Luther derive his Two Kingdoms ideas from Augustine's the Two Cities?

Thanks.

Martin

J. Dean said...

Good discussion. Thank you very much!

Jason Nota said...

Been listening to many of your podcasts . I have had so many "light bulb" moments. Thank you for all your work that you have done at you blog and podcast.

Jason Nota said...

We have had many U.S. Presidents who claim to be Christian. They were or are members of the visible church. Examples are Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton (Baptist). Barack Obama is a member of a church. All three support abortion.

The Kennedy's are Catholic, but support abortion.

I just recently heard of a State Senator from Illinois who is a LCMS member vote in favor of same sex marriage.

Some might say I support these issues in the public/political realm, but not personally or in the church/spiritual realm.

I fully agree with what you are saying, but can we run into the danger of departmentalizing are Christian life?

Bruce said...

Maybe a bit lat to this discussion, but I am glad I found it. I work with a non-North American Lutheran church body. An influential application of the 2 Kingdoms here goes like this: Only the hidden (invisible) church is the Right Hand Kingdom. Grace is applied there. All work that deals with worldly things (e.g., paying bills, employment issues, disputes) are the work of the Left Hand Kingdom in the church. As a result there is no room for the Gospel in this 'Left Hand Kingdom work'. There appears to be some Antinomianism at work, some denial of the authority of the Word, and lots of human 'wisdom'. Very frustrating to deal with.