Layman Following Up on a Previous Post
I was going to write specifically about a post about Luther, but the week got so busy that those specific thoughts I had seem to have receded to the "back 40" of my mind.
My thoughts instead have been shaped by current events and I've been thinking about Luther more generally. In my later years, Luther got downplayed a lot in the WELS; leaders were very concerned about "worshiping Luther" as much you have noted their fear of "making faith into a work." One of my early WELS pastors told me it was more about the condition of the heart than what we see on the surface (since the surface isn't necessarily indicative of what's going on inside cf. 1 Samuel ...although you need to see what fruit is hanging from that tree as well.... ).
My first real exposure to Luther came from watching "the Luther movie" and reading the book What's going on with the Lutherans (NPH Impact Series book). The book, which I have not read in nearly 20 years was chock full of Luther quotations. In this way I got to know Luther. I was amazed at his profound observations and how they tracked Scripture so well. For me that was very important as having received the gift of faith in scripture; scripture above all else. I have read many, many good books since then.
What I didn't have in those days was a Christian upbringing and a firm theological footing (which every Christian should have to some degree). I was rather infected/influenced by echos of reformed theological notions from my extended family and the prevalent culture of my day. You had to work out/for your salvation, and I knew I was a long way off for that. And, so reading Luther, Lutheran theologians and listening to my early WELS pastors changed my thinking and really strengthened my faith like never before. Especially Luther.
Luther, you see, was not only a student of Scripture, but a student of the human condition. He understood it, and was so refreshingly and sometimes brutally honest about it. As I looked at my own life, I realized his observations were true. He understood the problem of the human condition like no one else in very intimate ways because he lived it (he has been quoted "my life was a living hell.")
One of the most profound things about Luther was his take on human reason. Luther had a remarkable mastery of human reason; it was his sharp, sharp tool. Yet, he knew the place and limitations of human reason (and its proper role as God's handmaiden). Reason should be subordinate to Faith. Faith cannot be apprehended by reason because 1) the limitations of our creation and 2) our corrupt nature. Faith is a gift from God. Our corrupt nature always wants to set human reason free, but then it can only become "the devil's whore" as Luther put it.
And, yet human reason can be such a beautiful and profound thing, and Luther used it with remarkable effectiveness. Zach's quote earlier this week was just one demonstration of what Luther could illustrate using reason to look at things in different and interesting ways. I have read things Luther wrote, and wondered "Where did this come come from?" I thought that this surely came from nowhere, but eventually I would find the origin in Scripture. Just the other day while reading Jeremiah, I wondered what Luther had to say about that conversation between Jeremiah and King Zedekiah before Jerusalem was taken. Every single word in Scripture has significance, and Luther has written on what would seem to be obscure passages of Scripture and find remarkable lessons in them. In today's day and age is it possible to know the scriptures as well has he did? We know he didn't "party in the MLC" to distract himself.
Worship of Luther? No, but from what I've seen written online, some pastors are worshiped. I've also seen what I term "folk Lutheranism." No worship of Luther for me, but rather a deep appreciation of what he did as a theologian and pastor....and also because I too can identify with his "living hell." We call that the "human condition."
SDG,
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| The laughing hyenas feeding off the corpse of Lutheranism favor Ramback and Quistorp (no seriously) and despise Luther. |