Luther's Two Kingdoms Revisited: A Response to Reinhold Niebuhr's Criticism of Luther

A close reading of Luther's treatise on "Temporal Authority" and a review of the most pertinent Luther scholarship show why Luther's doctrine of the two kingdoms remains notoriously difficult to interpret. Reinhold Niebuhr's criticism of Luther in "The Nature and Destin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sockness, Brent W. 1962- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 1992
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 1992, Volume: 20, Issue: 1, Pages: 93-110
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:A close reading of Luther's treatise on "Temporal Authority" and a review of the most pertinent Luther scholarship show why Luther's doctrine of the two kingdoms remains notoriously difficult to interpret. Reinhold Niebuhr's criticism of Luther in "The Nature and Destiny of Man" is representative of widespread discontent with Luther's argument, but Niebuhr misses the soteriological point of Luther's distinction between the two kingdoms and the significance of salvation for life in society. Ironically, Niebuhr must cite Luther in such a way as to confuse the kingdoms in order to support his charge that Luther's position leads to "quietism" and "defeatism."
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics