Two Kingdoms

Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. MATTHEW 22:21

Luther lived in a world where church and state were tangled together in every possible way. Bishops were princes, princes appointed bishops, the pope claimed authority over emperors, and heresy was a crime punished by fire. When the Reformation broke that world apart, a question pressed urgently on everyone: what is the proper work of the ruler, and what is the proper work of the church? Luther’s answer, worked out especially in a treatise of 1523 on temporal authority and how far it should be obeyed, is usually called the doctrine of the two kingdoms. It is one of his most influential teachings, and one of the most debated.

Two ways God rules

Luther taught that God rules the world in two ways. In His spiritual kingdom, He rules the hearts of believers by His Word and Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel. There is no compulsion here: faith cannot be forced, and the only weapon is the Word. In His temporal kingdom, God rules the whole world, believers and unbelievers alike, through law, government and the sword, to restrain evil and keep outward peace. Both are God’s. Both are good. But they must not be confused.

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight. JOHN 18:36

Luther saw a sign of this in the very circumstances of Christ’s birth. In his Christmas sermon he notes that Jesus was born at the time of Caesar Augustus’s census, and draws the lesson:

“By this Jesus shows that his kingdom was not to be of an earthly character nor to exercise worldly power and lordship, but that he, together with his parents, is subject to the powers that be.”

Why the sword is needed

If everyone were a true Christian, Luther reasoned, there would be no need for courts, police or armies. Christians, moved by the Spirit, would do right without being forced. But true Christians are few, and even they remain sinners. So God has ordained government to protect the innocent and punish the wicked. His Pentecost sermon states the principle bluntly: Christians, ruled by the Spirit, do not need the law’s compulsion, but “Those, however, who are not Christians must be controlled by laws, and be subjected to executioners and governed by the sword, in order that they be compelled not to do evil with the hand.”

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. ROMANS 13:1

For he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. ROMANS 13:4

This means that a Christian may serve as a magistrate, a judge or a soldier, as a calling from God and a work of love for the neighbour. For himself, the Christian turns the other cheek and bears injustice patiently. For his neighbour, he may take up the office of the sword to protect the weak.

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. MATTHEW 5:39

The limits of rulers

The other half of the teaching was a check on rulers. Temporal government, Luther insisted, has authority only over bodies and goods, over outward things. It has no authority over souls. No prince may command what people believe, and heresy, he wrote in 1523, cannot be driven out by force but only by the Word of God. When rulers command what God forbids, or try to rule consciences, Christians must refuse, suffering the consequences rather than obeying.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. ACTS 5:29

He also rebuked rulers for tyranny. In the spring of 1525, as the peasants of southern and central Germany rose against their lords, Luther wrote an Admonition to Peace. He told the princes plainly that they had brought the revolt on themselves by their greed and oppression, and he told the peasants that rebellion was not the way of the gospel. Both sides, he said, were in the wrong.

The Peasants’ War

Then the revolt turned violent, and Luther’s tone changed completely. Within weeks he published a short tract against the robbing and murdering hordes of peasants, urging the princes to strike them down without mercy, to stab and slay as one would a mad dog. It was published as the rulers were already crushing the rebellion, and in the battle of Frankenhausen and elsewhere many thousands of peasants were killed. When he was criticised, Luther defended himself and did not withdraw his words.

This must be said plainly: it was a terrible thing to write. Whatever the wrongs of the rebels, a pastor and teacher of the gospel called for the slaughter of poor men with language no Christian should use, and gave the powerful a warrant for cruelty. It cost him the trust of many of the common people, and it is hard to blame them.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? MICAH 6:8

A teaching to use with care

The doctrine of the two kingdoms has had a mixed history. At its best it protects both church and state: the church from becoming a political party, the state from claiming to rule consciences. It honours the ordinary work of government as a service of God. But at its worst it has been read as a reason for Christians to leave politics to rulers and keep their faith private, to obey the state without question, and to say nothing about injustice. Some historians have argued that this helped leave many German Christians passive in the face of later tyranny. Yet others in the same Lutheran tradition, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, drew from it the conviction that when the state abandons its God-given task, the church must speak and act.

Luther himself was not consistent. He denied the ruler’s right over conscience, yet leaned on the princes to order the churches. He rebuked tyrants, yet in 1525 sided with them against the poor with a violence that cannot be excused. The reader should take from him the true distinction between the two ways God rules, and take from Scripture the fuller word that rulers are servants of justice, answerable to God for how they treat the weak.

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. AMOS 5:24

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Pray this week for those in government — local and national — by name, that they may restrain evil and protect the weak.

2. Ask whether you have confused the two kingdoms: expecting the state to do the church’s work, or the church to win by worldly power.

3. Name one injustice in your community that grieves you. Consider what faithful, lawful action you could take for your neighbour’s sake.

4. Read Luther’s words in the Peasants’ War as a warning. Examine the way you speak of people on the other side of political divides.

5. If your job involves authority over others, offer it to God as a calling to serve and protect.

A PRAYER

King of kings, You rule the hearts of Your people by Your Word, and You rule the nations by Your providence.

Grant to those in authority wisdom to restrain evil and justice to protect the weak.

Keep Your church from seeking worldly power, and from silence in the face of wrong.

Forgive us when our words are cruel; and let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream, through Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is not of this world. Amen.