Martin Luther and the State

Abstract

This essay demonstrates how Luther’s attitude toward the means of grace made Lutheranism unique for its time in its struggle to keep church and state separate: Since only the gospel can create faith and preserve orthodoxy, the use of the sword, as exemplified in both the Roman sacral state and the Calvinist theocracy, was inherently foreign to Lutheran thought.

Wisconsin Lutheran College Professor Mark Braun (WLS ’78) shared his essay “Martin Luther and the State” where he explored Luther’s maturing positions on the Two Kingdoms—church and state—during his life and how they continue to affect churches and government today. In the end, however, “No other institution has the calling to proclaim the gospel in word and sacrament, and no other institution will carry on that responsibility if the church fails at that task.”