Lutheran Quarterly

Critics have pointed to two World Wars, the rise of German fascism, and the genocide of Europe’s Jews as proof of a faulty political ethics inherent in Lutheranism’s two kingdoms doctrine. The strongest criticism came from Karl Barth years before the Nazi seizure of power. As Barth pointed out in an exchange with Paul Althaus Lutheran teaching on the ordinances of creation necessarily and inevitably reinforces oppressive and unjust societal structures, and, for that reason, is nothing less than “the most evil of all theological doctrines.” Barth criticism is well taken. Ethnic segregation and racial essentialism have been thoroughly problematic byproducts of the misuse of the Schöpfungsordnungslehre. Using his deliberations on the “Jewish Question” to orient our discussion, I shall examine the völkisch theology of Paul Althaus (1888–1966) to illustrate the dangers of formulating the doctrine of the orders of creation in ways that yield a segregationist theological logic. The study will go on to show, however, that despite its real dangers, Schöpfungsordnungslehre has something to offer toward the formulation of a more humane Lutheran social ethics as civil and ecclesial communities are presently straining to meet the challenge of massive migration. The relationship between ethnic groups is once again a live issue for societies in Europe and North America where an influx of foreign nationals has, in some sectors, been met with a resurgence of nativist nationalisms. Schöpfungsordnungslehre is a vital resource for Lutheran theology in this situation precisely because it respects the particularity of each ethnic identity and the penultimate validity of political and national commitments.