Romans 13 is a key text of the Christian Scriptures. Romans 13 therefore plays an important role in the theology of Martin Luther. When you see a reference to "Romans 13," what comes to mind? Perhaps you're thinking about Christian partisans of whoever the current president is who use this text to silence any and all criticism of "the government" or at least of "their" president--as if the president is "the government." Depending on who those partisans are, they might advocat

Luther was not someone who categorically ruled out war. But he was someone who taught that only defensive wars are wars approved by God. And even those wars should be engaged in when it is prudent to do so. As America is once again engaged in a war, I find Luther's way of thinking about war very helpful to assess what is going on from a sound Christian perspective. That's why I thought it's good to unpack what Luther has to say on these important issues. Maybe you find Luther

On my way home from work, I listened to a thought-provoking podcast by Dr. Russell Moore on The Russell Moore Show. In the podcast , Dr. Moore discussed what war can do to our souls. So, instead of discussing the legality of the current war against Iran or its morality (Luther thoughts on the morality of war are summarized here ) or its political or strategic impacts, he honed in on what war does inside of us--not as soldiers in the field but as, for lack of a better term, sp