The theologian of the cross has knowledge only through suffering and the cross. "God can be found only in suffering and the cross"…For Luther the cross of Christ and the cross of the Christian belong together…in the cross of Christ the relationship between God and man has become evident…To know God "through suffering and cross" means that the knowledge of God comes into being at the cross of Christ, the significance of "which becomes evident only to one who himself stands in cross and suffering.(P.20)
Luther's concept of a theology of the cross. Five aspects emerged as essential.
1.The theology of the cross as a theology of revelation, stands in sharp antithesis to speculation.
2.God's revelation is an indirect, concealed revelation.
3.Hence God's revelation is recognized not in works but in suffering, and the double meaning of these terms is to be noted.
4.This knowledge of God who is hidden in his revelation is a matter of faith.
5.The manner in which God is known is reflected in the prac¬tical thought of suffering.(P.22)
the Bible, too, remains a closed, book, for the cross of Christ is the only key… The cross of Christ is the fountain from which the understanding of Scripture is drawn.(P.23)
God's help remains invisible to man who con¬siders himself most forsaken by God when God's help is nearest.(P.29)
the hidden God is the God whose nature and work can only be recognized "under the opposite form."…God is hidden for the sake of revelation. Revelation is possible only in concealment, the revealed God must as such be hidden…In a sermon of 24 February 1517, the following explanation for the necessity oF God’s concealment is offered: "Man hides his own things in order to deny them, God hides his own things in order to reveal them. ... By his concealment he does nothing else than remove that which obstructs revelation, namely, pride"(P.30)
God confronts us first of all in his word. In his word he is "known to us" and "has dealings with us." In it he has offered himself to us. We are direct¬ed to Gods revelation in the word. God himself could not be grasped by us but would crush and annihilate us in his majesty, for he is a consuming fire. For that reason God wraps himself in his word. He becomes the "clothed" God. With him alone can we have any dealings. God must conceal himself in the word in order to be able to reveal himself. The revealed God is the clothed God.(P.33)
God has indeed revealed himself in his word, but God is greater than his word. God has not confined himself within the limits of the word…we must distinguish between "the word of God and God himself(P.34)
He is not only a hidden God, but a God who has concealed himself…Luther advises us to pay attention to the word, that is, the revealed God, and leave the secrets of the hidden God alone.(P.35)
God cannot be comprehended without a covering.Such coverings are "word" and "works"…God is concealed under the cloak of the word is the other thought that he is hidden in his works. Word and works were mentioned as the two coverings that God uses.(P.39)
Luther can still insist that the "back parts" are basically God's true counte¬nance.(P.41)
This twofold knowledge corresponds to the double relationship in which God stands toward the world—as its creator and its redeemer.(P.46)
The hid¬den God is God in his creator-relationship, while the revealed God is God as the redeemer. The hidden God is God "apart from Christ," while the revealed God is God "in Christ." Concretely stated, with reference to sinful mankind, this means distinguishing between the God of wrath and the God of grace.(P.46)
後記：17-49頁路德在創世紀與以賽亞書講義發展The Hidden God以及路德在The Bondage of the will與依拉斯母對以西結書18：23不同見解的論辯.
2010年5月29日 星期六
2010年5月22日 星期六
Luther's Theology of the cross-5
God assaults man in order to break him down and thus to justify him.(P.151)
by experiencing the delicious despair of Anfechtung, the sinner learns to trust only in God, as known in the cross of Christ, and thus comes to be justified. As Luther remarks, Anfechtung,in so far as it takes everything away from us, leaves us nothing but God: it cannot take God away from us, and actually brings him closer to us.(P.152)
The opus alienum is the destruction of human preconceptions of divine justice, wisdom and strength; the opus proprium is the establishment of the righteousness, the wisdom and the power of God within man in their place.Before God can build, he must first destroy.(P.156)
the 'righteousness of God' really is revealed in the cross of Christ, but it can only be discerned by the eye of faith.(P.158)
In the one unitary event of revelation in the cross, God's wrath and mercy are revealed simultaneously — but only Faith is able to recognise the opus proprium as it lies hidden under the opus alienum; only faith discerns the merciful intention which underlies the revealed wrath; only faith perceives the real situation which underlies the apparent situation.(P.165)
In a sermon delivered on 24 February 1517, Luther remarked: 'Man hides his own things, in order to conceal them; God hides his own things, in order to reveal them.... his opus proprium under his opus alienum; the future glory of the Christian under his present sufferings.(P.167)
In a remarkable sermon, delivered on 30 November 1516, Luther points to the crucifixion as a paradigm for the relation between faith and sense-perception: just as Christ was raised up from the ground upon the cross, so that his feet did not rest upon the earth, so the faith of the Christian is denied any foothold in experience.(P.168)
Christian life is characterised by the unending tension between faith and experience.(P.169)
the theologian of the cross recognises the presence and activity of the 'crucified and hidden God'... who is not merely present in human suffering, but actively works through it.(P.175)
The 'crucified and hidden God’ is the God whose strength lies hidden behind apparent weakness, and whose wisdom lies hidden behind apparent folly. The theology of the cross is thus a theology of hope for those who despair, then as now, of the seeming weakness and foolishness of the Christian church.(P.181)
It is not we who can sustain the church, nor was it those who came before us, nor will it be those who come after us. It was, and is, and will be, the one who says: 'I am with you always, even to the end of time.' As it says in Hebrews 13: 'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and for ever.' And in Revelation 1: ' Who was, and is, and is to come.' Truly he is that one, and no one else is, or ever can be.(P.181)
後記：歷經40多天，終於把麥葛福的Luther's Theology of the cross這本書給看完，其中算是一種突破與收穫，是對於拉丁文單字的學習瞭解，讓我更清晰瞭解作者對於路德神學思想所要強調的重點是什麼，當然，在書中也提到不同時代的人物，面對不同處境時，對路德十架神學思想的回應，包括被人所熟悉的Jürgen Moltmann.
by experiencing the delicious despair of Anfechtung, the sinner learns to trust only in God, as known in the cross of Christ, and thus comes to be justified. As Luther remarks, Anfechtung,in so far as it takes everything away from us, leaves us nothing but God: it cannot take God away from us, and actually brings him closer to us.(P.152)
The opus alienum is the destruction of human preconceptions of divine justice, wisdom and strength; the opus proprium is the establishment of the righteousness, the wisdom and the power of God within man in their place.Before God can build, he must first destroy.(P.156)
the 'righteousness of God' really is revealed in the cross of Christ, but it can only be discerned by the eye of faith.(P.158)
In the one unitary event of revelation in the cross, God's wrath and mercy are revealed simultaneously — but only Faith is able to recognise the opus proprium as it lies hidden under the opus alienum; only faith discerns the merciful intention which underlies the revealed wrath; only faith perceives the real situation which underlies the apparent situation.(P.165)
In a sermon delivered on 24 February 1517, Luther remarked: 'Man hides his own things, in order to conceal them; God hides his own things, in order to reveal them.... his opus proprium under his opus alienum; the future glory of the Christian under his present sufferings.(P.167)
In a remarkable sermon, delivered on 30 November 1516, Luther points to the crucifixion as a paradigm for the relation between faith and sense-perception: just as Christ was raised up from the ground upon the cross, so that his feet did not rest upon the earth, so the faith of the Christian is denied any foothold in experience.(P.168)
Christian life is characterised by the unending tension between faith and experience.(P.169)
the theologian of the cross recognises the presence and activity of the 'crucified and hidden God'... who is not merely present in human suffering, but actively works through it.(P.175)
The 'crucified and hidden God’ is the God whose strength lies hidden behind apparent weakness, and whose wisdom lies hidden behind apparent folly. The theology of the cross is thus a theology of hope for those who despair, then as now, of the seeming weakness and foolishness of the Christian church.(P.181)
It is not we who can sustain the church, nor was it those who came before us, nor will it be those who come after us. It was, and is, and will be, the one who says: 'I am with you always, even to the end of time.' As it says in Hebrews 13: 'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and for ever.' And in Revelation 1: ' Who was, and is, and is to come.' Truly he is that one, and no one else is, or ever can be.(P.181)
後記：歷經40多天，終於把麥葛福的Luther's Theology of the cross這本書給看完，其中算是一種突破與收穫，是對於拉丁文單字的學習瞭解，讓我更清晰瞭解作者對於路德神學思想所要強調的重點是什麼，當然，在書中也提到不同時代的人物，面對不同處境時，對路德十架神學思想的回應，包括被人所熟悉的Jürgen Moltmann.
2010年5月8日 星期六
Luther's Theology of the cross-4
Luther's discovery of the true meaning of iustita Dei....,Luther's discovery of the righteousness of God is but one step in the process leading to the theology of the cross.(P.99)
what is meant by iustitia itself?(P.100)
The most appropriate designation of the Hebrew terms sdq or sdqh is that of iustitia salutifera: God, in his righteousness, acts to redeem and sustain his people.(P.101)
God is righteous, in that he is faithful to his promises, irrespective of the merit of those to whom the promise is made.(P.102)
what is meant by iustitia itself?(P.100)
The most appropriate designation of the Hebrew terms sdq or sdqh is that of iustitia salutifera: God, in his righteousness, acts to redeem and sustain his people.(P.101)
God is righteous, in that he is faithful to his promises, irrespective of the merit of those to whom the promise is made.(P.102)
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