From October 2017 until October 2018, Protestants around the world, especially Lutherans, are commemorating the five hundredth anniversary of the church catholic's Reformation. The coincidence of these celebrations with the rise of populist political movements has led some to ask: Is it important to understand Martin Luther in order to understand our political moment? Various writers have announced that Luther was the Trump of 1517 or that Luther and Trump have much in common. We're told that Luther “spawned” Trump.
Unfortunately, few of these hot takes engage with Luther's distinctive theology governing religious engagement in politics, which theologians call the “Two Kingdoms Doctrine.” In a recent article for The Nation, “How Martin Luther Paved the Way for Donald Trump,” Michael Massing discusses the Two Kingdoms Doctrine at some length. Unfortunately, Massing incorrectly states that Luther taught that “Christ's Gospel was to apply only in the spiritual realm; in the secular, the government's role was to maintain order and punish evildoers, not to show compassion or mercy.”
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