Embodying Confident Agency: Luther's "Three Estates" as a Resource for Virtue Theory

Martin Luther's social writings (volumes 44-47 in the American edition) provide a robust account of human agency that might help Lutheran social ethics address contemporary crises of confidence. When Luther addresses concrete moral issues, he enriches his two-kingdoms frame with a focus on particular social roles such as ruler, merchant, soldier, parent, etc. This (often tacit) three-estates approach creates room for a distinctly Lutheran contribution to contemporary virtue theory by focusing on the functions served by particular social roles more than on individual self-chosen pathways of moral improvement. It also supports a prophetic affirmation of vocation against the contemporary breakdown of expectations and confidence in social roles.