The Church as Estate: A Reconsideration and Integration of Martin Luther's Ecclesiology

Abstract

The doctrine of the three estates (die Drei-Stände-Lehre), an integral category in Martin Luther's mature theology, has often been eclipsed by his doctrine of the two kingdoms or regiments (die Zwei-Regimente-Lehre). After introducing the ecclesia, oeconomia, and politia, this article explores two convictions of the reformer regarding these estates. First, the estates, which Luther can refer to as hierarchies, are in fact hierarchical. Second, within each of these hierarchies there obtains a hierarchical structure of authority that entails rule, obedience, and honor; this is also true of the church. Since a hierarchical church does not comport with standard presentations of his ecclesiology, a reconsideration of his ecclesiology that accounts for its integration in the structural category of the three estates holds significant and unrealized ecclesiological potential for ecumenical dialog with Roman Catholics and the Orthodox, and for Lutheran and other Protestant Christians in their own traditions.