The Bible and Western Culture - Luther and the Reformation
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Martin Luther fundamentally transformed Western civilization by shifting religious authority from institutional church hierarchy to individual conscience and scripture, which, though not intended as political, eventually liberated the individual ego and established the intellectual foundation for Enlightenment democracy and universal rights.
- Luther's 'sola fide, sola scriptura' (faith alone, scripture alone) moved salvation from external works and clerical mediation to internal faith and direct relationship with God
- The priesthood of all believers eliminated the distinction between spiritual and secular classes, undermining arbitrary hierarchies and corporate identity
- Luther's legitimization of individual conscience and the individual ego over institutional authority created the intellectual bridge from medieval corporate society to modern individual rights and Enlightenment political theory
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The connection between Luther's liberation of the individual soul (in theological terms) and Enlightenment individual rights (in secular terms) is disguised by the terminological shift from theological to secular language, but represents a direct conceptual lineage.
“the difficulty in seeing the connection between the liberation of the individual soul that we get in luther and the individual and the liberation of the individual citizen that we will see in the enlightenment is the connection between these two is in some respects disguised by the fact that luther couches his arguments in theological terms but by the time we get to lock or to other thinkers natural rights social contractarian thinkers of the enlightenment these ideas will be largely secularized but if you can make allowances from the move between the movement of or the argument made in theological terms to an argument made in secular terms you will see a direct connection between the democratizing and liberating tendencies of the lutheran revolution and the democratizing and liberating tendencies which are extended over a much wider domain when we come to the political theory of the enlightenment”
Luther has as much influence on the development of the German language as Shakespeare has on English, being the first great stylist of German and the first major author writing in the German vernacular rather than Latin.
“luther has a formative influence on the german language it his influence on german is incalculable he is in the right place at the right time it is he's in the midst at the center of a theological controversy which involves all of europe and particularly involves all of german-speaking europe and the printing press is in place now so that his words can be magnified and amplified and pushed all across german-speaking europe the key thing here is that luther has as much influence on the development of the written or printed german language as shakespeare has on the written printed development of the english language he is in the right place at the right time he is the canonical stylist the first great stylist of the german language”
Luther initially did not intend to provoke the political and military dislocation associated with the Protestant Reformation; he was an extremely conservative thinker whose intention was to cleanse the church of borrowings and traditions lacking scriptural justification
“luther initially did not intend to provoke the kind of political and military dislocation that was associated with the protestant reformation in fact he is an extremely conservative thinker what luther intended to do was to cleanse the church of borrowings and of traditions that it insinuated themselves within the body of church doctrine for which there is no scriptural justification”
This absence of connection between freedom and democracy in German tradition will have 'the greatest and most important consequences for the later development of German thought,' particularly evident in Hegel, who thought he was a good Lutheran and believed in the philosophy of freedom but was not a democrat.
“and this is going to have the greatest and most important consequences for the later development of german thought think of someone like hegel who's always talking about the philosophy of freedom and the gradual increase in freedom in the west hegel thought he was a good lutheran hegel was not a democrat worth noting”
Luther exhibits a messianic tendency, claiming in a 1522 letter that his doctrine cannot be judged by anyone, not even by angels, and that 'he who does not receive my doctrine cannot come to salvation'
“there's a certain sort of messianic tendency in luther as he said in a letter of 1522 i do not admit my doctrine can be judged by anyone even by angels he who does not receive my doctrine cannot come to salvation”
The printing press was a relatively new invention crucial to the Protestant Reformation's success, as it allowed Lutheran doctrine to be disseminated widely while the Church could neither suppress all copies nor eliminate all printing presses, unlike earlier reform attempts
“the printing press is a relatively new invention and is going to have enormous implications for the protestant reformation it is i think arguable that one of the things that impeded the progress of the reformation of the church in earlier centuries was the difficulty of disseminating these doctrines the church was quite effective at finding troublemakers at finding heretical fire brands and eliminating them the problem is that although they could find luther they couldn't find all of his books and they couldn't find all of the printing presses and for that reason the change in the technology of communication is one of the things that should not be ignored”
Protestantism makes its greatest inroads in northern Germany, the further from Rome, because the closer you are to Rome, the easier it is for papal authorities to keep people in line and enforce orthodoxy.
“a comforting doctrine like that cannot help but find a happy audience right in german politicians and the further away they are from rome the more attractive it turns out they find that lutheranism makes its greatest inroads in northern germany the further you are from rome the more likely the protestant reformation is to work the closer you are to it the easier it is for the papal authorities to keep people in line”
The Protestant Reformation was largely a Northern European response to Catholic Church abuses and became most popular in Scandinavian, English, and Northern German territories
“the protestant reformation is largely a northern european response to the catholic church to its abuses it is most popular in the northern parts of europe it ultimately becomes dominant in the scandinavian peninsula and in england and in the northern parts of germany”
Luther moved away from an Aristotelian doctrine of virtue (that good habits lead to good character) and instead argued there is no necessary connection between faith and works—one can do good works and be evil, or be evil but receive God's grace at death and be saved.
“taking these books together what we find is that we have a doctrine of faith as opposed to works and this is this is luther's way of jettisoning aristotle jettisoning the tradition of athens which he thinks has adulterated and corrupt corrupted the tradition of western christianity remember that aristotle in the nicomachean ethics says that the uh that the good man is has good habits and habitually does good things well luther flatly denies that he says that there's no necessary connection between being a good man and doing works that we would be inclined to describe as praiseworthy it is entirely possible to do good things and be an evil man and it is also possible to be an evil man and have the grace of god infuse you just before you die and you may not have done any good works there is no necessary connection between faith and works”
Luther's 1521 statement to the Diet of Worms—'Here I stand, I can do no other, you must prove me wrong by scripture or I will not accept the proof'—demonstrates his powerful, independent conscience and his refusal to accept ecclesiastical or political authority without scriptural justification
“he was well known for his statement in 1521 to the diet of worms this was when uh of worms when catholicism decided that it had to deal with luther when luther obviously posed a great threat he was asked to recant what we were regarded as heresies he was told that he would be driven out of his academic and ecclesiastical position and in fact he would suffer the fate of all heretics luther bravely and to his great credit to his everlasting credit um said here i stand i can do no other you must prove me wrong by scripture or i will not accept the proof”
Martin Luther was the most important figure in initiating the Protestant Reformation, which is the most significant political, theological, and religious change in Christianity in the last five hundred years or perhaps ten centuries, certainly since Eastern Orthodox Christianity split off
“martin luther was the most important figure in initiating the protestant reformation and the protestant reformation is certainly the most important political and theological and religious change in christianity in the last five or perhaps 10 centuries certainly since eastern orthodox christianity split off”
Prior to receiving God's grace, freedom is impossible—humans are enslaved to the world and creatures of sin with no free will; only those given God's grace have the choice between good and evil, and without grace there is no choice at all.
“so it turns out that prior to getting god's grace freedom is just not possible we are all enslaved to this world we are all the creatures of sin that's one possible and very radical reading of the idea of original sin there's no such thing as free will among the vast majority of the world only those who are given god's grace have free will there's no guarantee that they will use their free will properly it's entirely possible once god illuminates your life that you should go out and do wicked things you but then and only then do you have the choice of whether you shall do good or whether you shall do evil prior to that there is no choice you are simply damned for all time you are incapable of wanting the good”
In 'The Freedom of a Christian Man' (1520), an open letter to Pope Leo written in Latin (later translated to German), Luther argues that without faith man is completely egocentric and incapable of free will, and that only God's inscrutable grace enables freedom.
“the final the last one of his three great works from 1520 is called the freedom of a christian man and this is one of the great landmarks in the history of western theology it is a conciliatory open letter to pope leo and this is very different in tone from the earlier two works because they are far from conciliatory... he makes the argument that without faith man is completely egocentric and incapable of free will this if you stop and think about it is essentially an augustinian argument we need god's inscrutable grace”
Luther was an authoritarian political thinker despite (or because of) the democratic implications of his theology—he believed God created political order hierarchically and stable, and suppressed peasant revolts mercilessly.
“he was strangely enough an authoritarian political thinker now in some ways we can kind of see that in the the degree of desk pounding that he does in his theological writing but also if you stop and think about it um he never really shrugged off the traditions of hierarchy he didn't threaten for example landed aristocracy he didn't develop the democratic political implications that are buried in the marrow of protestantism he in fact issued these implications in fact he wrote against them and wrote quite vehemently against the democratizing implications in the reformation”
Luther was an extraordinarily devout individual whose sins were relatively mild (unlike Augustine's), and he became an Augustinian friar due to his powerful religious faith
“luther himself was an extraordinarily devout individual you can't take anything away from the seriousness of his piety for most of his life he had been fairly unsurprised a follower of catholicism he his sins were not remarkable he was not like saint augustine a real bad boy when he was young his sins were relatively mild and he had such a powerful religious faith that he was easily moved easily driven into the choice of becoming an augustinian friar”
Luther was contemptuous of reason and the Aristotelian tradition, believing that reason was the devil's and that Aristotle and scholasticism had led Christianity astray and done great evil to Christian believers
“the downside in some ways is that luther in the first place was rather contemptuous of reason he often thought that the tradition of athens led people astray it's not that he was incapable of understanding aristotle or plato he had a very deep and powerful intellect the problem was is that as he described it reason was the devil's and he thought that aristotle had led christianity astray and that the scholastics had done a great evil to christian believers by trying to reconcile athens in jerusalem through scholastic logic”
Erik Erikson, a psychiatrist-psychologist, wrote a book called 'Young Man Luther' in which he offered an interesting psychological reading of Luther's decision to become an Augustinian monk—triggered by terror during a thunderstorm when he cried out to Saint Anne that he would become a monk if spared, and then seriously kept this oath
“eric erickson wrote a very fine book called young man luther in which he talked about luther's early life and his conversion experience... he's in the midst of a thunderstorm and it terrifies him and a tree nearby is struck by lightning and the awesome and terrifying force of this storm causes him to cry out in a moment of panic by saint anne i will become a monk if i am spared well it turns out import very importantly for the history of the west that he was spared and he was sufficiently devout to take his oath uttered under great duress seriously”
Luther's famous doctrine 'sola fide, sola scriptura' (by faith alone and by scripture alone) means that for a human to be justified in God's sight, saved, or blessed, the only way this can happen is through faith and scripture in an Augustinian sense, not through works, rituals, or accumulated church traditions
“luther's famous phrase solafide sola scriptorum means by faith alone and by scripture alone in other words for a human being to be justified in god's sight for a human being to be saved or blessed the only way that that can happen is in the augustinian sense by faith and by scripture it is not possible to do so by works or by rituals or by any of the traditions that have accumulated or had accumulated on catholicism up to the time of which he wrote”
Luther spent considerable time studying scripture before publishing the 95 Theses, particularly writing on Romans and the Psalms, emphasizing faith as the key to salvation, particularly Romans 1:17 ('he who through faith is righteous shall live')
“luther was before he actually wrote and published the 95 theses spent a great deal of time studying scripture and publishing uh works on the scriptures his uh remarks on romans and his remarks on the psalms in particular emphasize this notion of faith and that by faith you are saved particularly the passage in romans 1 17 where it says he who he who through faith is righteous shall live”
In 'The Babylonian Captivity of the Church,' Luther attacks the Catholic sacramental system, initially concluding that only three of the seven sacraments are valid (Lord's Supper, Baptism, Confession), and eventually reducing this to only two (Lord's Supper and Baptism)
“the catholic church has seven sacraments after looking over scripture very carefully luther concludes that only initially he concludes that three of the sacraments are valid and four are not valid the ones he thinks are valid are the lord's supper baptism and confession towards the end of his life confession or the sacrament of penance is given up as also being unscriptural so at the end of his life luther only believes in two of the seven sacraments”
Luther was not primarily a political thinker, yet he may have had as much influence on the development of Western political thought as Marx, because everyone had to either be a Lutheran or anti-Lutheran within a century—no one could remain indifferent.
“let's stop and think and finish off in our consideration of luther by examining his political theology he was not primarily a political thinker and yet it's arguable that he has as much influence on the development of political thought in the west as someone like marx he had everyone had to answer him within the century you had to either be a lutheran or an anti-lutheran but everyone had some opinion you could not remain indifferent to the challenges presented by the protestant reformation”
The wars of the Reformation killed a third of the population of Germany, causing loss not just of people but also of property and accumulated civilization and culture, making the Reformation's practical consequences devastating even if the theology was sound.
“it split christianity in a way that was unprecedented and it generated a whole series of political and military in interventions that did justice and did credit to neither side a third of the population of germany was killed during the wars of the reformation so that means that they lose not just people but also property and also the advantages of civilization and culture which they may have accumulated during that century”
In the Reformation debates, reformers seeking radical change like Luther conflict with moderates like Erasmus and Thomas More who sought minor reforms without schism, and reactionaries defending traditional practices like indulgences; the failure of the moderate center to prevail meant that only the radical course remained.
“there's a constant back and forth between those elements who are pushing for fairly radical reforms within the church and those who are dragging their feet looking for minor reforms and here i would think of people like erasmus or thomas more and the true reactionaries who said i want to defend things like a paper like the selling of indulgences and things like that it's the fact that the center group that wanted to engage in a process of reform that wouldn't lead to schism and wouldn't lead to the wars of the reformation the fact that they weren't able to take over the center means that the only way out is the radical course that luther ultimately does take”
Luther attacks the papal claim to sole authority for interpreting scripture, arguing that all Christian believers should have access to scripture and that restricting access to an authoritative self-appointed group of interpreters is both unscriptural and unchristian
“luther also attacks and undermines the papal claim to being the sole authority for interpreting scripture he says no in fact all christian believers are supposed to have access to the word and the idea of restricting access to the word to an authoritative and self-appointed group of interpreters is both unscriptural and unchristian because it impedes the progress of religious conversion and religious devotion within the souls of the individual believers”
Luther's theology lifted the great weight and institutional burden of Catholic tradition from Western Europe, not just from kings and princes but from individuals, who no longer needed church mediation to understand scripture or find spiritual salvation
“the great weight of catholic tradition the great institutional burden of the catholic church has been lifted from western europe and not just from the kings and princes who ran western europe it has been lifted from the individual you no longer need the mediation of the church in order to find out what scripture says you no longer need the rituals of of things like uh penance or the rituals like a marriage or any of these sacraments which lucifer thinks are unscriptural”
Luther's second great work, 'The Babylonian Captivity of the Church' (October 1520), is written in Latin for educated clerical audiences rather than the vernacular, representing a different rhetorical strategy aimed at converting learned clergy to the priesthood of all believers doctrine.
“a second great work from 1520 before he goes on i mean it's just after he finishes the christian nobility in august in october he writes a piece called the babylonian captivity of the church... obviously harkens back to the babylonian destruction of jerusalem... he wants to talk to so naturally he makes a different set of arguments... he writes it in latin and very clearly he's writing it for educated people and that means essentially clerics at the time that he's writing”
The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) receive secondary significance in Luther's theological hierarchy, which is a remarkable turn of events given their central role in Christian tradition.
“all three of the synoptic gospels are of secondary significance which is a remarkable turn of events and it's a very peculiar theological stance”
Luther's idea of having only a good will as the basis for morality was later extrapolated and developed into Kant's moral theory, showing how Luther's theological ideas, while modified, contributed foundational concepts to German philosophy.
“there's no guarantee that they will use their free will properly it's entirely possible once god illuminates your life that you should go out and do wicked things you but then and only then do you have the choice of whether you shall do good or whether you shall do evil prior to that there is no choice you are simply damned for all time you are incapable of wanting the good uh later on this idea will be extrapolated and developed into a part of kant's moral theory those of you who know the foundations of the metaphysics of morals know that kant says that the only good thing is a good will well it turns out that many of the kind of embryonic ideas of german philosophy are going to be founded by luther although he is an important theologian an important political figure do not underestimate the significance of his philosophical contributions”
In his preface to the German Bible translation, Luther articulates the hermeneutical principle 'do not make a Moses out of Christ'—meaning that Christ adds something new to the Mosaic law and transcends it rather than merely replicating it.
“in his preface to the german translation of the bible he makes a number of very interesting arguments and he states some of his hermeneutic principles which turn out to be of great use when we go back and read his theological writings he says first of all do not make a moses out of christ now that's a very peculiar idea in some ways it depends on how you read it on one level it is obviously true if the idea is that christ adds something to the mosaic law the new covenant adds something to the old covenant we've superseded somehow the idea of an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth”
An indulgence is essentially a 'get out of purgatory free card' that the Catholic Church sold, allowing people to buy remission of punishment for sins without having to suffer penance, which Luther saw as fundamentally inconsistent with Christian teaching
“the idea that god judges people when they die sends them either to heaven or hell is supplemented by the idea that there's a purgatory a place where people that haven't committed damnable sins but are not sanctified in god's sight can work off the punishments and thus eventually become sanctified... decided that it would be a good idea to sell indulgences so what that means is essentially that you could buy a get out of hell free card or get out of purgatory free card”
Luther identifies John's gospel and 1 John as the best and most important books of the New Testament, followed by Paul (especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians), and then Peter's first epistle, with everything else 'a great downhill slide.'
“he says the best and most important are john's gospel and the first epistle of john and then of course paul especially romans galatians and ephesians now he spends a tremendous amount of time glossing paul to the romans you will be saved by faith alone your faith is saved your only faith is going to save you it would seem that the pauline version of christianity is the lutheran version of christianity in spades paul is the decisive influence on luther's conception of scripture he likes peter's first epistle as well and then everything else is a great downhill slide once we get past his favorite books of the bible”
After giving Luther a charitable reading that he was trying to inform ignorant people where to go for edification in scripture, one still finds that Luther did a 'tremendous amount of overt and very dubious special pleading' to get out from under the Epistle of James by calling it straw.
“i do not believe that he would have had us eliminate any of the books of the bible but i have a feeling that he would have done a tremendous amount of overt and very dubious special pleading to get out from under the epistle of james right if it says works and he's going to emphasize the importance of faith alone well then you have to do quite a bit of finessing in order to make this idea of the epistle of james being straw to make that work”
Luther vacillates between uncertainty in himself and absolute certainty in his own righteousness when he feels infused with the spirit of God, and it is not easy from the outside to determine how to evaluate this psychological pattern.
“he certainly seems to vacillate between uncertainty in himself and an absolute certainty in his own righteousness when he feels that he is infused with the spirit of god the problem is is that sometimes from the outside it is not easy to decide how to think about that it has its attractive and unattractive qualities”
Earlier reformers attempted to reform Catholicism from within before Luther, but they failed continuously in the previous century, making Luther the decisive breakthrough figure.
“there are earlier reformers who attempt to reform catholicism from within but they fail fairly continuously in the previous century”
Henry VIII wrote or published a book called 'The Defense of the Seven Sacraments' (actually written by Thomas More) in response to Luther's attack on the sacraments, demonstrating how controversial this issue was across European rulers.
“when henry viii wrote or at least published a book under his name called the defense of the seven sacraments which was in fact written by thomas more the reason why he did this the thing that provoked it was luther's attack on the sacraments”
Luther lived from 1483 to 1546, and his most noted achievement was nailing the 95 Theses on the cathedral door in 1517
“he lived between 1483 and 1546 but his great achievement or the achievement for which he is most noted is the 1517 nailing of the 95 theses on the door of the cathedral”
Luther's theological work is enormous, and he produced a large body of publications on a wide variety of biblical texts, making him prolific in the manner of German philosophers
“his theological work is enormous luther was like so many german philosophers wonderful at producing publications he could write and write and write and there are few people who produce a larger body of work on a larger variety of biblical texts”