Orders of creation

Orders of creation (or sometimes creation orders) ^[1] refer to a doctrine of theology asserting God's hand in establishing social domains such as the family, the church, the state, and the economy. Although it is commonly traced back to early Lutheranism^[2][3], the doctrine is also discussed within Reformed Christianity^[4] as well as modern Judaism^[5]. During the 1930s–1940s rise of European neo-orthodoxy, the meaning of this doctrine in regards to the foundations of church and state (e.g., how its interpretation by 19th century German theologians may have aided in legitimizing the then-contemporary Nazi party or how it would support the reality or non-reality of natural law) came into dispute amongst such famed theologians as Karl Barth^[6], Emil Brunner^[2], and Dietrich Bonhoffer^[7][8]. Though a specific 1934 controversy between Brunner and Barth over the interpretations of the doctrines of natural law and the orders of creation^[9] was not inherently political, Barth alleged that Brunner's position gave credibility to pro-Nazi "German Christians."^[2]

See also

• Natural law
• Natural theology

Notes

1. ^ John H. Leith Basic Christian doctrine. Westminster John Knox Press, 1993. ISBN 0-664-25192-7. p. 78
2. ^ ^{a b c} Alister E. McGrath, Joanna Collicutt McGrath. The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology. Blackwell Publishing, 2008. ISBN 1-4051-2691-4. p. 160.
3. ^ Carl E. Braaten. Principles of Lutheran theology. Fortress Press, 2007. ISBN 0-8006-3835-2. pp. 139, 152, 156–158, 164, 173.
4. ^ J. H. F. Schaeffer. Createdness and ethics. Walter de Gruyter, 2006. ISBN 3-11-019073-7. pp. 219–224.
5. ^ Norman Lamm. Faith and doubt: studies in traditional Jewish thought. KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2007. ISBN 0-88125-952-7. pp. 164–165.
6. ^ Ed. John Bainbridge Webster. The Cambridge companion to Karl Barth. Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-521-58560-0. pp. 218, 267–268.
7. ^ Stanley Hauerwas's "Bonhoeffer's Search for a Political Ethic" (pp. 143–144) in Eds. Peter Scott, William T. Cavanaugh. The Blackwell companion to political theology Wiley-Blackwell, 2004. ISBN 0-631-22342-8.
8. ^ Kathryn Tanner. The politics of God: Christian theologies and social justice Fortress Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8006-2613-3. pp. 81–99.
9. ^ John W. Hart. Karl Barth Vs. Emil Brunner: The Formation and Dissolution of a Theological Alliance, 1916–1936. Peter Lang, 2001. ISBN 0-8204-4505-3