Just one clarification — being Reformed definitely does not require one to believe “Two Kingdoms” theology. Many conservative Calvinists believe that Dr. Horton and the Westminster-West people have imported a Lutheran view of the state. I do not understand Lutheran doctrine well enough to make that claim and I don't want to bear false witness against Lutheran brothers. I'm “pinging” a Freeper who is a Missouri Synod Lutheran, Rev. Charles Henrickson, to see if he wants to comment.
I do know Reformed doctrine well enough to believe that “Two Kingdoms” theology, especially in its more radical forms, cannot possibly be reconciled with what Ulrich Zwingli did in Zurich, what John Calvin did in Geneva, what John Knox did in Scotland, what the Dutch burghers did in the Netherlands, and what the Puritans did in England and New England. I cannot imagine how anyone can say with a straight face that Calvinists historically did not believe their faith had direct political implications.
Some of the “Two Kingdoms” people admit that the “Old Calvinists” were, in their words, “theocratic” but say the American revisions of the Westminster Confession make that unnecessary to believe anymore. Others, including a Ph.D student in my own theological circles, are making serious efforts to prove that John Calvin himself advocated “Two Kingdoms” theology. I plan to read his doctoral dissertation or subsequent books, but I just don't see it.
Yes, Lutherans do teach the doctrine of the "Two Kingdoms," because it is the biblical teaching.
This is a huge subject. In fact, I taught a whole week's course on this subject at a pastors' conference in Indonesia in March, under the theme, "The Two Kingdoms: The Proper Distinction of Church and State."
Here is a blog report I wrote on that conference: The Luther Academy goes to Indonesia. I'll quote from that article now to give you a quick synopsis of the Lutheran view:
The topic on which I lectured . . . was “The Two Kingdoms: The Proper Distinction of Church and State.” . . .
We started with the distinction of Law and Gospel, since that is the basis for the distinction of how God rules in his two “kingdoms” (or “governments”), Church and State. The “first use” of the Law, written on human hearts, is how God keeps order in the world, especially through civil government. The Gospel is the special ministry of the Church, by which God saves sinners for Christ’s sake for eternal life. Law and Gospel, Church and State--these need to properly distinguished and not confused, so that each can do its necessary job.
The seminal work by Luther on the topic of the Two Kingdoms is his 1523 treatise, “Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed” (Luther’s Works, Volume 45). All subsequent Lutheran teaching on this topic stems from this essay. I led the group through this treatise, which was also a good way of getting at the key Bible passages, which Luther handles.
Next we went through the pertinent portions of the Lutheran Confessions, especially the following. From the Augsburg Confession: Articles IV, V, and VII, on Justification, the Ministry, and the Church; Article XVI, on Civil Government; and Article XXVIII, on Church Authority. Likewise, from the Apology: Article XVI, on Political Order. And from the Small and Large Catechisms: the Fourth Commandment and the Table of Duties.
After all of this, we were able to identify six key passages that Luther and the Confessions always were citing: Matthew 22:21, “Render unto Caesar”; John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world”; Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men”; Romans 13:1-7, government as God’s servant that bears the sword; 2 Corinthians 10:4, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal”: and 1 Peter 2:13-14, very similar to Romans 13.
Then we went through other biblical and historical examples of how the two kingdoms operate and how they often have been confused. From the Imperial Cult of Rome to Constantinian Christendom to the Medieval Crusades, from the Protestant Reformation to the Prussian Union to issues of Church and State today, history bears witness to the importance of keeping the two kingdoms in their proper perspective.
If anyone's interested, I can send you the three handouts I used at the conference, which give: an outline of the course; excerpts from Luther's essay on "Temporal Authority"; and excerpts from the Lutheran Confessions. Send me a freepmail with your e-mail address, and I'll send you the three documents as file attachments.
I'm planning to use this same material to teach a class at my congregations this fall on the same topic, "The Two Kingdoms: The Proper Distinction of Church and State."
BTW, Luther's important and helpful 1523 essay can be found online in pdf form: "Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed"
I'll post a comment on the particular subject of this thread here in a moment.