What About the Lutherans?: Surveying Contemporary Lutheran Public Ecclesiologies for a Secular Age

As the church lost its privileged place in Western culture and the secular imagination began to dominate social and cultural configurations, lines were drawn between what was public and what was private. In the modern secular imagination, the church came to be thought of as disembodied, privatized and depoliticized. In response to this, several theologians have sought to recover the church’s identity as a distinct public in the modern world. But what about the Lutherans? How have Lutheran theologians sought to offer a public ecclesiology for a secular age? This presentation surveys the work of three contemporary Lutheran theologians who have taken up this question: David S. Yeago, Cheryl M. Peterson and Theodore J. Hopkins. After engaging with their respective thought, the presentation outlines several principles and distinctions to guide ongoing reflection on the question of a Lutheran public ecclesiology for a secular age with a focus on political and economic theology