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 regard 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 Bonhoeffer. [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]
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 regard 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 Bonhoeffer. [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]