Thank you for Kevin Rudd's essay 'Faith in Politics' (October 2006).

Kevin did not mention St Augustine's ‘City of God’, written in the early 5th century which has become the benchmark on political theology for church and politics ever since. Faced with the Goths' sacking of Rome he wrote a great treatise on politics, religion, the church, the state, political and social ethics, just-war theory, etc. etc. His scepticism of politicians may be gauged from this loose paraphrase of a part of 4/4:
'Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale? And what are criminal gangs but petty kingdoms?'

Kevin Rudd thinks Luther's doctrine of the Two Kingdoms was a great problem in 1930s Germany. I do not. The ruck of the Protestant churches patriotically followed Hitler, the Confessing Church named it him Anti Christ and separated from the State.

Finally Bonhoeffer did not found the Confessing Church although he was one of its great leaders. There was Karl Barth who wrote most of the 1934 Barmen declaration against Hitler saying that they should "follow the one Lord Jesus Christ in life and in death", who was kicked out of Germany from his teaching post when he would not take the oath of allegiance to Hitler. There was Martin Niemoller who was imprisoned for so long. There were others present at the creation.

I heard the address in the flesh and I am now grateful to have it in print. Thanks, Kevin Rudd.