Michael Horton Responds to Tim Keller on Two Kingdoms Theology

Dec 18, 2011

Michael Horton takes issue with a number of Keller’s claims about 2K theology. The post is well-worth a read, particularly for his brief discussion of Calvin’s theology of culture:

Calvin, who explicitly affirmed the “two kingdoms” in terms identical to Luther’s (for example, Inst. 3.19.15; 4.20.1), not only opposed medieval confusion on the point but also the radical Anabaptist “fanatics” who disparaged God’s common grace in culture (2.2.15). Like Luther, Calvin was convinced that Christ’s kingdom proceeds by Word and Spirit, not by sword, but that Christians could be soldiers and magistrates as well as bakers and candlestick makers. The power of the gospel is not the same power of the state, nor indeed the power that we exercise in everday callings as parents, children, employers, employees, and so forth. The kingdom of grace is distinct from the kingdom of power (pace Rome), but not wholly opposed (pace Anabaptists). Like Luther, Calvin believed that the two kingdoms were God’s two kingdoms, not that there is a secular sphere in which the believer’s faith has no bearing on his or her vocations. And also like Luther, Calvin believed that these two kingdoms or callings intersected in the life of every believer. They are not two tracks that never touch; they are two callings that intersect.

What Keller and Horton’s posts make clear to me is that James Davison Hunters’ To Change the World has become the text at the center of conversations about Church and culture. Horton also shows how hard it is to talk about this issues accurately, fairly, and productively. More often than not, the other side’s perspective is more reasonable and complex than you make it seem. It is a healthy reminder that we all need to show more grace and speak with more charity in these debates.