<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In this essay, I want to engage Luther’s political theology by engaging Michael Laffin’s recent book, The Promise of Martin Luther’s Political Theology. I am fully aware of the debates around Luther’s political theology and realize that Laffin’s is only one interpretation, but it is a very nuanced interpretation that offers compelling arguments. I then want to illustrate affinities between Laffin’s interpretation of Luther and my own Orthodox political theology based on the realism of divinehuman communion, or theosis. I then want to end by relating this comparison to what is arguably one of the most pressing questions of Christian political theology – the Christian’s relation to political liberalism.</p></abstract>

In this essay, I want to engage Luther’s political theology by engaging Michael Laffin’s recent book, The Promise of Martin Luther’s Political Theology. I am fully aware of the debates around Luther’s political theology and realize that Laffin’s is only one interpretation, but it is a very nuanced interpretation that offers compelling arguments. I then want to illustrate affinities between Laffin’s interpretation of Luther and my own Orthodox political theology based on the realism of divinehuman communion, or theosis. I then want to end by relating this comparison to what is arguably one of the most pressing questions of Christian political theology – the Christian’s relation to political liberalism.

Love, Life and Politics: Comparing Lutheran and Orthodox Political Theologies

Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Love, Life and Politics: Comparing Lutheran and Orthodox Political Theologies"}

In this essay, I want to engage Luther’s political theology by engaging Michael Laffin’s recent book, The Promise of Martin Luther’s Political Theology. I am...

Love, Life and Politics: Comparing Lutheran and Orthodox Political Theologies

Published Online: Aug 30, 2018

Page range: 257 - 265

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ress-2018-0019

Keywords
political theology, Orthodox theology, Zizioulas, ecclesiology, communion, Luther, Russian Orthodoxy, human rights, liberalism

© 2018 Aristotle Papanikolaou, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Love, Life and Politics: Comparing Lutheran and Orthodox Political Theologies

Published Online: Aug 30, 2018

Page range: 257 - 265

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ress-2018-0019

Keywordspolitical theology, Orthodox theology, Zizioulas, ecclesiology, communion, Luther, Russian Orthodoxy, human rights, liberalism

© 2018 Aristotle Papanikolaou, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
political theology, Orthodox theology, Zizioulas, ecclesiology, communion, Luther, Russian Orthodoxy, human rights, liberalism