Leader of the great religious revolt of the sixteenth century in Germany;
born at Eisleben, 10 November, 1483; died at Eisleben, 18 February,
1546.
Theology
Luther was not a systematic theologian, but his work was subtle,
complex, and immensely influential. It was inspired by his careful
study of the New Testament, but it was also influenced in important
respects by the great 4th-century theologian St. Augustine.
A. Law and Gospel
Luther maintained that God interacts with human beings in two ways-through
the law and through the Gospel.
The law represents God's demands-as expressed, for example, in
the Ten Commandments and the golden rule.
All people, regardless of their religious convictions, have some
degree of access to the law through their consciences and through
the ethical traditions of their culture, although their understanding
of it is always distorted by human sin. The law has two functions.
It enables human beings to maintain some order in their world, their
communities, and their own lives despite the profound alienation
from God, the world, their neighbors, and ultimately themselves
that is caused by original sin. In addition, the law makes human
beings aware of their need for the forgiveness of sins and thus
leads them to Christ.
God also interacts with human beings through the Gospel, the good
news of God's gift of his Son for the salvation of the human race.
This proclamation demands nothing but acceptance on the part of
the individual. Indeed, Luther argued that theology had gone wrong
precisely when it began to confuse law and Gospel (God's demand
and God's gift) by claiming that human beings can in some way merit
that which can only be the unconditional gift of God's grace.
B. Sin
Luther insisted that Christians, as long as they live in this
world, are sinners and saints simultaneously. They are saints insofar
as they trust in God's grace and not in their own achievements.
Sin, however, is a permanent and pervasive feature in the church
as well as in the world, and a saint is not a moral paragon but
a sinner who accepts God's grace. Thus, for Luther, the most respected
citizen and the habitual criminal are both in need of forgiveness
by God.
C. The Finite and Infinite
Luther held that God makes himself known to human beings through
earthly, finite forms rather than in his pure divinity.
Thus, God revealed himself in Jesus Christ; he speaks his word
to us in the human words of the New Testament writers;
and his body and blood are received by
believers (in Luther's formulation) "in, with, and under"
the bread and wine in Holy Communion. When human
beings serve each other and the world in their various occupations
(which Luther called vocations) as mothers and fathers, rulers and
subjects, butchers and bakers, they are instruments of God, who
works in the world through them. Luther thus broke down the traditional
distinction between sacred and secular occupations.
D. Theology of the Cross
Luther asserted that Christian theology is the theology of the cross
rather than a theology of glory. Human beings cannot apprehend God
by means of philosophy or ethics; they must let God be God and see
him only where he chooses to make himself known. Thus, Luther stressed
that God reveals his wisdom through the foolishness of preaching,
his power through suffering, and the secret of meaningful life through
Christ's death on the cross.
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