Church and State from Martin Luther's Perspective

The relationship between church and state in all religious traditions is an important issue. This is of particularly importance in Protestantism and Martin Luther's thoughts. Luther's doctrine of "two kingdoms" gave religious legitimacy to the government and political power which implied a kind of primacy of the secular power and had some unpleasant practical consequences for Luther himself as much as finally forced him to limit the principle of religious legitimacy of state to secular realm and prevent it from encroaching into the realm of religious authority. However his early teachings were so much appealing to the governments that his subsequent amendment was neglected by them. For example one can claim that the Nazi's trespassing on German Church was a consequence of Luther's early teachings.