Reviewed by: Lutheran Theology and Secular Law: The Work of the Modern State ed. by Marie A. Failinger and Ronald W. Duty Mark Mattes Lutheran Theology and Secular Law: The Work of the Modern State. Edited by Marie A. Failinger and Ronald W. Duty. ICLARS Series on Law and Religion. London and New York: Routledge, 2018. xiviii + 190 pp. The seventeen essays collected here address the question of the value of Lutheran social ethics for establishing law in wider, secular society. Fifteen authors are North Americans and two are Europeans. The essayists' bias tilts towards the social commitments of the Lutheran World Federation, not the International Lutheran Council. The concerns addressed are primarily "first world" concerns, such as proposed commonalities between faith and secular legal systems, the role of the family in a time of social transition, individual freedom of conscience, and the quest for peace, justice, and women's rights. In my judgment, those essays which are more theoretical tend to be [End Page 342] more persuasive than those attempting to handle specific injustices. In today's pluralistic world, it would be wise to include conservative perspectives as well as liberal ones if we wish to take a balanced approach to legal matters. German ethicist Stefan Heuser notes that Luther's "secularization" of human agency entails that human power must never assume a divine authority but instead should exist for building up community. The goal, then, of politics is not to "fulfill eschatological visions" but instead belongs to God's ongoing creation (6). Luther confines politics to its temporal, penultimate, procedural, and pluralist dimensions (6). Swedish ethicist Carl-Henric Grenholm claims that Luther's two kingdoms doctrine is compatible with modern democratic pluralism. In part, this is because it affirms that positive laws need not satisfy the demands of morality in order to be valid. Nevertheless, Luther's political views tend to be grounded in medieval hierarchies, and so need to be corrected by an ethics informed not just by the doctrine of creation, but also by Christology, where Christ humbles himself for human well-being, and by eschatology, which anticipates a future of equality and harmony (25). Paul Hinlicky tackles the question of whether or not Lutheran theology is inherently antinomian. In contrast to Anders Nygren, he argues that Luther should be seen through the Augustinian lens of "ordered love," so that creatures may be loved fittingly and not idolatrously. Lutherans can eschew any charge of antinomianism because the divine justification received externally through the word should be personally appropriated in individual and social behavior (31). The church best serves humanity when it cultivates a "culture of conscience" (37). Michael Kessler affirms Luther's conviction that the political realm is already holy since it is the place in which God secures order so that life may flourish. Luther likewise recognizes that Christians have "multiple layers of competing interests" which call for different strategies for being ethical such as the duty implied in one's vocation or the power of the gospel to enable one to be selfless (48). Turning towards how Lutheran theology bears upon specific legal practices, H. David Baer notes that Luther's social ethics side with "religious exemptions," such as a fundamentalist exercising the right [End Page 343] not to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, since it acknowledges that the state is limited and individuals' consciences are to be respected (75). Ted Peters argues that the most important social task of the church is to confer dignity to individuals and so "provide religious significance to political forms," thereby aiding human liberation (96). Kelly Denton-Borhaug asserts that contemporary America cultivates a "war culture," by valorizing war in multiple ways. She clearly opposes a "war culture" but has a hard time articulating a Lutheran case against it. A Lutheran reason for opposing a "war culture" can be found, however, in the ethical agenda, in sync with God's creative work, to sustain the "common good" seen as human flourishing. Mary Jane Haemig outlines early modern Lutheran preaching on the seventh commandment, "you shall not steal," and shows that such preaching did not merely condemn sin but also named injustice and advocated for specific...