The hidden life of the Christian is a reality but it is not perceived. …Sin and righteousness in the Christian are in the same relationship as reality and hope. His righteousness consists in God's imputation.(P.115)
Christ's suffering is still repeated daily in our lives…Therefore our sufferings are a work of the Holy Spirit.(P.118)
Through suffering we shall arrive at the Sabbath of the soul…suffering and Faith belong together is a characteristic of the theology of the cross…Sufferings are a sign of God's grace, proof that we are God's chil¬dren. For God's eyes are always directed toward the depth and nothing lofty can stand before him. But when a man is hidden in this depth he experiences God's wonderful, saving creative power…Of course, the suffering of the saints will come to an end only at the last day .But in contrast to the suffering of the ungodly, its purpose is not punishment and destruction but grace and cleansing.(P.119).
Christ's cross and the Christian's cross belong together…the cross is a school of understanding.(P.120)
Luther knew that the true meaning of Christ's suffering can be discovered only in the act of experiencing, acting, and suffering.(P.121)
The way of peace is the way of the cross. God himself is hidden under the cross, and therefore peace is to be found only under the cross and suffering.(P.124)
God himself reveals himself in concealment; and therefore Scripture, too, speaks in the cloak of a figure. The Word addresses itself to faith; and faith is directed to what is hidden.(P.128)
Three especially important marks of the life under the cross. They are humility, trial, prayer…For Luther humility becomes most intimately connected with faith. Faith teaches humility. For faith is denial of ourselves, total rejection of self and reliance on God’s grace.(P.129)
Luther notes that the Latin word humuitas has a twofold meaning, depending upon whether it is the translation of tapeinosis or tapeinophrosyne.(P.130)
The most severe trial comes upon a person when he believes he has been forsaken and rejected by God…. Faith alone is able, in trial, to hear "the deep, secret yea beneath and above the nay"(P.136)
We are in trials when that Word has been torn out of our heart. The trial is overcome when Christ again speaks to us, when we again hear the Word.(P.137)
"The flesh is beset by sundry trials and scruples, in order that (a) its smugness may be removed and (b) occasion may not be lacking for occupying oneself with the Word and (c) prayer.(P.138)
Trial teaches prayer, prayer overcomes trial…where there is no prayer, there is in reality no faith.(P.139)
prayer leads a person to know himself…True prayer is always a prayer with empty hands. The true praying man has nothing but God, and him only by faith…We must not look at our unworthiness but at Gods command and promise. For it is Gods word and promise alone that makes our prayer good and acceptable to God.(P.140)
"It is always the case that we understand our own work before it is done, but we do not understand the work of God until it has been done".…God often postpones granting our request in order to increase the zeal of our prayer. To the praying person God becomes hidden, so that faith in prayer penetrates from the hidden God to the re¬vealed God.(P.141)
the God of the theology of the cross is the God of historical revelation, he is always an acting God.(P.156)
Jesus himself is the model of humility. We must go the way of Jesus, for Jesus is the way of life. This way leads to cross and suffering... The cross is not seen, in the first instance, as God's way to man but as man’s way to God. (P.164)
In our investigation we have dealt with the fact of the theology of the cross, not with the question of its validity. If we wanted to pursue the latter, our study would be enlarged in two directions. First, we would have to undertake a thorough investigation of the New Testament(for example, also with regard to the relation¬ship of Paul to Jesus), and second, we would have to undertake a comprehensive systematic consideration that would mean nothing less than the setting up of dogmatic prolegomena. (P.167)
2010年6月26日 星期六
2010年6月16日 星期三
Luther’s theology of the cross -Walther von Loewenich 2
man can know God by natural powers; for the understanding is created in man together with his Higher nature. But here we must be careful. Man is by nature equipped with understanding, but his entire higher ability of the soul (understanding and will) has been seriously "weakened by original sin.(P.60)
the ability of the understanding to know the supersensory has been cor¬rupted. It can be restored only by grace.(P.60)
Understanding of the invisible is possible only where faith is. But faith points back to grace.(P.60)
Knowledge of the invisible depends on the knowledge of the person of Christ.(P.60)
faith is not a matter of appearances nor of things deduced from the apparent. Indeed, it is from heaven (P.61)
understanding and faith belong together
1.Faith along enables the understanding to comprehend the in¬visible.
2.Faith is at the same time the means to knowledge. The pur¬pose of faith is
knowledge
3.The intellectual side of faith is also strongly emphasized…. Understanding and
faith are frequently used indiscriminately (P.61)
"wisdom was made in¬carnate and is thus hidden and unapproachable except by under-standing, just as Christ cannot be known except by revelation"(P.62)
the knowledge of the invisible is bound to the knowledge of Christ.(P.63)
Faith joints back to revelation…The concept of the understanding of faith belongs within the realm of the theology of the cross.(P.64)
Law and reason are both a human activity. But this activity wants to glory in itself in opposition to God's work.(P.72)
The Occamists arrive at theology by way of criti¬cal reflections on knowledge, while Luther becomes critical of the means of knowledge by way of theology.(P.74)
The way of the cross means the surrender of human glory and a plunge into foolishness. One who has caught something of the wisdom of the cross knows that reason is a "dangerous thing"(P.75)
Reason and law are the two foundation pillars which support the theology of glory….. Wisdom and righteousness stand together as the abilities that man believes are exempt from Gods judgment.(P.76)
The first step faith takes, (a step that must be taken again and again) is the negation of our¬selves, the thoroughgoing demolition of all our own glory(P.78)
We must become nothing to the same degree as we were nothing before creation. This is Luther s "short way," that is, the way of the cross. There is no other way out for us but to live "in the bare confidence in his mercy".If we wanted to appeal to anything of value in ourselves, we would thereby make the hopeless attempt of wanting to steal a march on God. But we are to know or have nothing but God alone, "and in no other way than in faith". For that matter, what could we have in ourselves for which we could take any credit? There is "no form or beauty in us, but our life is hidden in God (P.78)
Faith and hope almost become synony¬mous…. For only faith deals not with visible things but with the Word…faith draws the believer away from all that is visible; as the assurance of things hoped for it directs him to eternal things, which are, however, not present but future…. True knowledge is therefore to be found where one knows that he knows nothing .One must be zealous for God "in pious ignorance and mental darkness," "without under¬standing, without feeling, without thinking". one must wait upon God's activity.(P.80)
Psalm l02:But to wake is to hold fast and to look to, and long for, the eternal good. But in this he is alone, and no one is with him; for all the others are sleeping. And he says, "on the housetop" as if he meant: The world is a house in which all men are enclosed and are sleeping. I alone am outside the house, on the roof, not yet in heaven and still not in the world. The world is below me and heaven is above me. I hover between the life of the world and eternal life, lonely in the faith…. Luther's Operationes in psalmos of 1519 to 1521 is an inexhaustible gold mine for his view of faith…He is doing theology in the face of death…it is a great miracle that man who feels nothing but his God-forsakenness may still believe in the gracious God. But faith lives in this miracle. for the "words of faith fight against appearance" (P.82)
Faith unites the soul with the invisible, ineffable, unutterable, eternal, unthinkable Word of God, while at the same time it separates it from all visible things. This is the cross and the Passover of the Lord, in which He preaches this necessary comprehension…. Having entered into darkness and blackness I see nothing; I live by faith, hope, and love alone and I am weak, that is, I suffer, for when I am I weak, then I am strong.(P.83)
The entrance into darkness that the theology of the cross has in mind means to be drawn into the event revealed to us in the cross of Christ. Thus it is not self-chosen activity, but it comes upon us as God's activity in us. It is not slanted toward timelessness but is oriented to a history. It is certainly not a theology of glory but a theology of the cross.(P.84)
Luther reports this himself in his commentary on Galatians of 1519 While faith was identical with hope earlier, he now sees its essence in faithfulness to God's promise.(P.85)
In this tabernacle we have a figure of the Christian man. His spirit is the holy of holies, where God dwells in the darkness of faith, where no light is; for he believes that which he neither sees nor feels nor comprehends. His soul is the holy place, with its seven lamps, that is, all manner of reason, discrimination, knowledge, and understanding of visible and bodily things. His body is the forecourt, open to all, so that men may see his works and manner of life.(P.86)
Thus our eyes are closed to worldly and visible things and direct their hope to eternal and invisible things; grace does all this through the cross into which the divine life, which is insupportable to the world, brings us"……To entrust oneself with closed eyes to the guidance of God on an unknown path, this is what it means to believe …. Faith, does not want to encroach on God's activity. (P.87)
the idea of the hidden God is intelligible only on the basis of the concept of faith. Both together constitute the foundation pillars of the theology of the cross.(P.92)
The faith that carries through in experience is love.(P.94)
In his sermon on John 4:46ff.(1516), Luther distinguishes three degrees of faith .the inchoate, the progressing, and the perfect. The first is faith directed to signs and wonders, the second is deprived of these props and directed only to the Word, and the third, the perfect faith, is no longer dependent on the external Word but is a constant inner readiness to do God's will…and the faith of the highest grade, which is fixed on the hidden God and is able to grasp God's proper work in the alien work.. The highest and most difficult of faith is when God In his activity not only delays but even conceals it under the opposite appearance.(P.96)
Since faith has a specific content, that content becomes my possession. And as faith is seen in the sense of hope, this possession will also be a possession of future blessings.(P.97)
Faith itself is a work and a power of God and therefore never a psychological given. Ultimately its subject is not man at all, but God himself(P.98)
Thus faith goes out into works and through works comes back to itself again, just as the sun goes forth to its setting and comes again at its rising. This is why the Scriptures associate the daytime with peaceful living in doing works, the right with a life of suffering and adversity. And so faith lives and works in both; it goes out and returns in both"….Experience flows from faith and flows back into faith. (P.99)
Christ is not only the principal object of faith but also the ground for making it possible… .Christ is also the entelechy of faith… .Without Christ faith cannot become what it should be in line with its object. Therefore "Christ and faith belong together….with faith the presence of Christ himself is posited. "Christ is the object of faith, or rather not the object but, so to speak, the One who is present in the faith itself.(P.104)
Because through faith Christ dwells in him, and pours His grace into him, through which it comes about that a man is governed, not by his own spirit but by Christ"…By faith we become "as one person" with Christ.(P.104)
Experience is called the school of the Holy Spirit. The experience of faith is a work of the Holy Spirit. He has been the teacher wherever we have experienced something of Gods good¬ness and love, wherever a holy joy has filled our hearts.(P.109)
the ability of the understanding to know the supersensory has been cor¬rupted. It can be restored only by grace.(P.60)
Understanding of the invisible is possible only where faith is. But faith points back to grace.(P.60)
Knowledge of the invisible depends on the knowledge of the person of Christ.(P.60)
faith is not a matter of appearances nor of things deduced from the apparent. Indeed, it is from heaven (P.61)
understanding and faith belong together
1.Faith along enables the understanding to comprehend the in¬visible.
2.Faith is at the same time the means to knowledge. The pur¬pose of faith is
knowledge
3.The intellectual side of faith is also strongly emphasized…. Understanding and
faith are frequently used indiscriminately (P.61)
"wisdom was made in¬carnate and is thus hidden and unapproachable except by under-standing, just as Christ cannot be known except by revelation"(P.62)
the knowledge of the invisible is bound to the knowledge of Christ.(P.63)
Faith joints back to revelation…The concept of the understanding of faith belongs within the realm of the theology of the cross.(P.64)
Law and reason are both a human activity. But this activity wants to glory in itself in opposition to God's work.(P.72)
The Occamists arrive at theology by way of criti¬cal reflections on knowledge, while Luther becomes critical of the means of knowledge by way of theology.(P.74)
The way of the cross means the surrender of human glory and a plunge into foolishness. One who has caught something of the wisdom of the cross knows that reason is a "dangerous thing"(P.75)
Reason and law are the two foundation pillars which support the theology of glory….. Wisdom and righteousness stand together as the abilities that man believes are exempt from Gods judgment.(P.76)
The first step faith takes, (a step that must be taken again and again) is the negation of our¬selves, the thoroughgoing demolition of all our own glory(P.78)
We must become nothing to the same degree as we were nothing before creation. This is Luther s "short way," that is, the way of the cross. There is no other way out for us but to live "in the bare confidence in his mercy".If we wanted to appeal to anything of value in ourselves, we would thereby make the hopeless attempt of wanting to steal a march on God. But we are to know or have nothing but God alone, "and in no other way than in faith". For that matter, what could we have in ourselves for which we could take any credit? There is "no form or beauty in us, but our life is hidden in God (P.78)
Faith and hope almost become synony¬mous…. For only faith deals not with visible things but with the Word…faith draws the believer away from all that is visible; as the assurance of things hoped for it directs him to eternal things, which are, however, not present but future…. True knowledge is therefore to be found where one knows that he knows nothing .One must be zealous for God "in pious ignorance and mental darkness," "without under¬standing, without feeling, without thinking". one must wait upon God's activity.(P.80)
Psalm l02:But to wake is to hold fast and to look to, and long for, the eternal good. But in this he is alone, and no one is with him; for all the others are sleeping. And he says, "on the housetop" as if he meant: The world is a house in which all men are enclosed and are sleeping. I alone am outside the house, on the roof, not yet in heaven and still not in the world. The world is below me and heaven is above me. I hover between the life of the world and eternal life, lonely in the faith…. Luther's Operationes in psalmos of 1519 to 1521 is an inexhaustible gold mine for his view of faith…He is doing theology in the face of death…it is a great miracle that man who feels nothing but his God-forsakenness may still believe in the gracious God. But faith lives in this miracle. for the "words of faith fight against appearance" (P.82)
Faith unites the soul with the invisible, ineffable, unutterable, eternal, unthinkable Word of God, while at the same time it separates it from all visible things. This is the cross and the Passover of the Lord, in which He preaches this necessary comprehension…. Having entered into darkness and blackness I see nothing; I live by faith, hope, and love alone and I am weak, that is, I suffer, for when I am I weak, then I am strong.(P.83)
The entrance into darkness that the theology of the cross has in mind means to be drawn into the event revealed to us in the cross of Christ. Thus it is not self-chosen activity, but it comes upon us as God's activity in us. It is not slanted toward timelessness but is oriented to a history. It is certainly not a theology of glory but a theology of the cross.(P.84)
Luther reports this himself in his commentary on Galatians of 1519 While faith was identical with hope earlier, he now sees its essence in faithfulness to God's promise.(P.85)
In this tabernacle we have a figure of the Christian man. His spirit is the holy of holies, where God dwells in the darkness of faith, where no light is; for he believes that which he neither sees nor feels nor comprehends. His soul is the holy place, with its seven lamps, that is, all manner of reason, discrimination, knowledge, and understanding of visible and bodily things. His body is the forecourt, open to all, so that men may see his works and manner of life.(P.86)
Thus our eyes are closed to worldly and visible things and direct their hope to eternal and invisible things; grace does all this through the cross into which the divine life, which is insupportable to the world, brings us"……To entrust oneself with closed eyes to the guidance of God on an unknown path, this is what it means to believe …. Faith, does not want to encroach on God's activity. (P.87)
the idea of the hidden God is intelligible only on the basis of the concept of faith. Both together constitute the foundation pillars of the theology of the cross.(P.92)
The faith that carries through in experience is love.(P.94)
In his sermon on John 4:46ff.(1516), Luther distinguishes three degrees of faith .the inchoate, the progressing, and the perfect. The first is faith directed to signs and wonders, the second is deprived of these props and directed only to the Word, and the third, the perfect faith, is no longer dependent on the external Word but is a constant inner readiness to do God's will…and the faith of the highest grade, which is fixed on the hidden God and is able to grasp God's proper work in the alien work.. The highest and most difficult of faith is when God In his activity not only delays but even conceals it under the opposite appearance.(P.96)
Since faith has a specific content, that content becomes my possession. And as faith is seen in the sense of hope, this possession will also be a possession of future blessings.(P.97)
Faith itself is a work and a power of God and therefore never a psychological given. Ultimately its subject is not man at all, but God himself(P.98)
Thus faith goes out into works and through works comes back to itself again, just as the sun goes forth to its setting and comes again at its rising. This is why the Scriptures associate the daytime with peaceful living in doing works, the right with a life of suffering and adversity. And so faith lives and works in both; it goes out and returns in both"….Experience flows from faith and flows back into faith. (P.99)
Christ is not only the principal object of faith but also the ground for making it possible… .Christ is also the entelechy of faith… .Without Christ faith cannot become what it should be in line with its object. Therefore "Christ and faith belong together….with faith the presence of Christ himself is posited. "Christ is the object of faith, or rather not the object but, so to speak, the One who is present in the faith itself.(P.104)
Because through faith Christ dwells in him, and pours His grace into him, through which it comes about that a man is governed, not by his own spirit but by Christ"…By faith we become "as one person" with Christ.(P.104)
Experience is called the school of the Holy Spirit. The experience of faith is a work of the Holy Spirit. He has been the teacher wherever we have experienced something of Gods good¬ness and love, wherever a holy joy has filled our hearts.(P.109)
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