The Lutheran stance is “Christ and Culture in Paradox,” which emphasizes the sinfulness of even “Christian” governments. As Luther put it, “It is one thing to change a government; another thing to improve a government.” This position has many positive features: It is based upon a biblical view of human nature and sin, it avoids unrealistic expectations of politicians, and it avoids turning the gospel into a soon out-of-date political message. But on the negative side, one of the tragedies of the