第一層藍色-律法與福音：表示上帝的話語向人顯明上帝的律法與福音。
第二層綠色-罪與恩典：表示上帝的律法與福音向人顯出人的罪的無望與上帝恩典的盼望。
第三層紅色-因信稱義：表示人對罪的無望與對恩典的盼望引領人接受邀請，以信心回應上帝所賜予人外加的義。
第四層紫色-耶穌基督並祂定十字架：表示因信稱義的核心建基於耶穌基督並祂釘十字架的救贖工作。
2010年12月28日 星期二
上帝話語所成就的工作
2010年8月16日 星期一
Suffer, Faith, Comfort ~From Luther’s sermons on John 14:1-14
1.Luther how to think about “suffer” on John 14:1-14?
a.Everyone cannot avoid suffer (trial).
b.We need to distinguish in the heat of battle between the suggestions of Christ and those of the devil.
c.Anyone who wants to terrify and dishearten you is surely the devil’s messenger.
d.For whenever Christ frightens someone away from unbelief and a sinful life into penitence and conversion, it is of short duration.
2.Luther how to think about “faith” on John 14:1-14?
a.All our teaching and faith must revolve about Christ and be centered in this one Person.as St. Paul states, 1 Cor. 2:2.
b.By faith;this is a spiritual sight. For I do not recognize a Christian by his external appearance and mien,by the fact that he is baptized and has God’s Word.
c.On John 14:6 ,Luther think:“Hold to Christ in faith; thus you make the right beginning.With these words Christ wants to tear and turn our hearts from all trust in anything else and pin them to Himself alone.
d.Christ alone must be everything And though I experience many trials and much opposition on the part of the devil, the world, and my own conscience, and must suffer even death because of this, I will still take my stand here.
e.On John 14:13-14,Luther think: by telling His disciples to pray Christ wants to point out that of and among themselves they do not have the power to do such great things.They will experience weakness, all sorts of trouble.Then they will exercise their faith in Christ all the more by prayer and petition, and will experience His power in weakness and in suffering the more surely.St. Paul in 2 Cor. 12:9: “My power is made perfect in weakness.”
3. Luther how to think about “comfort” on John 14:1-14?
a.On John 14:1, Christ admonished and consoled for ours that we might also learn to apply this comfort to both present and future need .
b.Christ would comfort those whom the devil wants to frighten and dishearten, and, He would intimidate those whom the devil makes smug and presumptuous.What the devil ruins and destroys, Christ must build up and restore; and what the devil establishes, Christ destroys, as we read in 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
c.Our three comforts are the dwelling places,Christ’s power,and Christ’s return.
d.Christians have the Gospel, Baptism, and the Sacrament,With these they also comfort, strengthen, and preserve poor consciences that are saddened and troubled by the devil and others
e.On John 14:12, “going to the Father” ,Christ means that He is to be made Lord and placed on the royal chair at the right hand of the Father,in Matt. 28:18 .“You will get the power to perform such works because you are My members and believe in Me;I shall enjoy at the right hand of the Father I will work in you who believe in Me and who have My Word, Baptism, and Sacrament, and remain faithful to these.
a.Everyone cannot avoid suffer (trial).
b.We need to distinguish in the heat of battle between the suggestions of Christ and those of the devil.
c.Anyone who wants to terrify and dishearten you is surely the devil’s messenger.
d.For whenever Christ frightens someone away from unbelief and a sinful life into penitence and conversion, it is of short duration.
2.Luther how to think about “faith” on John 14:1-14?
a.All our teaching and faith must revolve about Christ and be centered in this one Person.as St. Paul states, 1 Cor. 2:2.
b.By faith;this is a spiritual sight. For I do not recognize a Christian by his external appearance and mien,by the fact that he is baptized and has God’s Word.
c.On John 14:6 ,Luther think:“Hold to Christ in faith; thus you make the right beginning.With these words Christ wants to tear and turn our hearts from all trust in anything else and pin them to Himself alone.
d.Christ alone must be everything And though I experience many trials and much opposition on the part of the devil, the world, and my own conscience, and must suffer even death because of this, I will still take my stand here.
e.On John 14:13-14,Luther think: by telling His disciples to pray Christ wants to point out that of and among themselves they do not have the power to do such great things.They will experience weakness, all sorts of trouble.Then they will exercise their faith in Christ all the more by prayer and petition, and will experience His power in weakness and in suffering the more surely.St. Paul in 2 Cor. 12:9: “My power is made perfect in weakness.”
3. Luther how to think about “comfort” on John 14:1-14?
a.On John 14:1, Christ admonished and consoled for ours that we might also learn to apply this comfort to both present and future need .
b.Christ would comfort those whom the devil wants to frighten and dishearten, and, He would intimidate those whom the devil makes smug and presumptuous.What the devil ruins and destroys, Christ must build up and restore; and what the devil establishes, Christ destroys, as we read in 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
c.Our three comforts are the dwelling places,Christ’s power,and Christ’s return.
d.Christians have the Gospel, Baptism, and the Sacrament,With these they also comfort, strengthen, and preserve poor consciences that are saddened and troubled by the devil and others
e.On John 14:12, “going to the Father” ,Christ means that He is to be made Lord and placed on the royal chair at the right hand of the Father,in Matt. 28:18 .“You will get the power to perform such works because you are My members and believe in Me;I shall enjoy at the right hand of the Father I will work in you who believe in Me and who have My Word, Baptism, and Sacrament, and remain faithful to these.
2010年7月22日 星期四
路德在“Anfechtung ”中尋獲福音對宗教改革的歷史意義
一、路德在“Anfechtung”中尋獲福音之歷史背景摘要:
根據當時的神學傳統認為,每個人應該透過悔改並完成懺悔的工作來得到拯救。但對路德而言,再怎麼努力,仍無法確信自己可以擁有永恆救恩的把握，且不禁要問：在公義的上帝面前，上帝的恩典在哪裡?路德描述自己的景況說：自己的所面臨的掙扎好像落入無底的黑暗與焦慮(Anfechtung)之中。但透過奧古斯丁修會的院長茲道比次(Staupitz)對路德的指引”仰望基督並祂的十字架”，以及從奧古斯丁的著作中獲得啟發,”如果人必須被拯救,那必定是上帝的工作”。
1513年,路德閱讀保羅書信並試著了解新約聖經關於上帝的能力和恩典的信息,從聖經當中所獲得福音信息,”上帝透過他自己的應許,讓路德從Anfechtung中看見得救的確據 .
二、路德在“Anfechtung”中尋獲福音對宗教改革的歷史意義
1.在認識上帝的方法上的改變：從外在的確認轉變為內在的確信，在中世紀的教會認為，一個人的得救與否，是從外在的，看的見的行為工作來認定上帝的恩寵，而路德在“Anfechtung”中發現，唯有信靠上帝的應許才能超越苦難試煉,看見隱藏在不友善之外表後面慈父的心 。
2.在認識聖經的焦點上的改變：從傳統規條的遵守到以基督為中心的啟示，在中世紀教會的神學傳統是建構在哲學思辯的基礎之上，其結果是，聖經成為神職人員的工具專利，信仰與人們的實際生活反而有著一道無法跨越的鴻溝，而路德在“Anfechtung”中發現，上帝恩典是透過上帝的話語施恩與人，也唯有透過上帝的應許，能夠真正安慰人在痛苦，掙扎，試煉中的心。
三、路德在“Anfechtung”中尋獲福音對宗教改革的歷史省思
1.提醒我們是否在認識上帝的方法上搖擺不定：“Anfechtung”是一個既普遍又個別，是基督徒必然經歷的信仰歷程，沒有人可以替代路德，就像路德無法替代我們去面對“Anfechtung”，但路德在“Anfechtung”中對福音的渴望，對上帝話語的確信，相對照於現今世代，強調看的見的豐盛成功，快樂滿足的價值氛圍之下，確實提供我們明確認識上帝的方法，看待“Anfechtung”的方向。
2.提醒我們是否在認識聖經的焦點上模糊不清：當基督徒在“Anfechtung”中，是否會和門徒有類似的想法：「這人生來是瞎眼的，是誰犯了罪」（約翰福音9:2），是因為我作了什麼不討上帝喜悅的事情，才讓我遭遇到磨難痛苦，或者在“Anfechtung”中，仍確信上帝的應許，眼光集中在聖經的焦點，耶穌基督並祂釘十字架的啟示之上。不再想試著用自己的方法解救自己，就讓上帝成為上帝，讓人成為人，以避免重蹈歷史覆轍。
根據當時的神學傳統認為,每個人應該透過悔改並完成懺悔的工作來得到拯救。但對路德而言,再怎麼努力,仍無法確信自己可以擁有永恆救恩的把握，且不禁要問：在公義的上帝面前，上帝的恩典在哪裡?路德描述自己的景況說：自己的所面臨的掙扎好像落入無底的黑暗與焦慮(Anfechtung)之中。但透過奧古斯丁修會的院長茲道比次(Staupitz)對路德的指引”仰望基督並祂的十字架”，以及從奧古斯丁的著作中獲得啟發,”如果人必須被拯救,那必定是上帝的工作”。
1513年,路德閱讀保羅書信並試著了解新約聖經關於上帝的能力和恩典的信息,從聖經當中所獲得福音信息,”上帝透過他自己的應許,讓路德從Anfechtung中看見得救的確據 .
二、路德在“Anfechtung”中尋獲福音對宗教改革的歷史意義
1.在認識上帝的方法上的改變：從外在的確認轉變為內在的確信，在中世紀的教會認為，一個人的得救與否，是從外在的，看的見的行為工作來認定上帝的恩寵，而路德在“Anfechtung”中發現，唯有信靠上帝的應許才能超越苦難試煉,看見隱藏在不友善之外表後面慈父的心 。
2.在認識聖經的焦點上的改變：從傳統規條的遵守到以基督為中心的啟示，在中世紀教會的神學傳統是建構在哲學思辯的基礎之上，其結果是，聖經成為神職人員的工具專利，信仰與人們的實際生活反而有著一道無法跨越的鴻溝，而路德在“Anfechtung”中發現，上帝恩典是透過上帝的話語施恩與人，也唯有透過上帝的應許，能夠真正安慰人在痛苦，掙扎，試煉中的心。
三、路德在“Anfechtung”中尋獲福音對宗教改革的歷史省思
1.提醒我們是否在認識上帝的方法上搖擺不定：“Anfechtung”是一個既普遍又個別，是基督徒必然經歷的信仰歷程，沒有人可以替代路德，就像路德無法替代我們去面對“Anfechtung”，但路德在“Anfechtung”中對福音的渴望，對上帝話語的確信，相對照於現今世代，強調看的見的豐盛成功，快樂滿足的價值氛圍之下，確實提供我們明確認識上帝的方法，看待“Anfechtung”的方向。
2.提醒我們是否在認識聖經的焦點上模糊不清：當基督徒在“Anfechtung”中，是否會和門徒有類似的想法：「這人生來是瞎眼的，是誰犯了罪」（約翰福音9:2），是因為我作了什麼不討上帝喜悅的事情，才讓我遭遇到磨難痛苦，或者在“Anfechtung”中，仍確信上帝的應許，眼光集中在聖經的焦點，耶穌基督並祂釘十字架的啟示之上。不再想試著用自己的方法解救自己，就讓上帝成為上帝，讓人成為人，以避免重蹈歷史覆轍。
2010年6月26日 星期六
Luther’s theology of the cross -Walther von Loewenich 3
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)
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)
2010年5月29日 星期六
Luther’s theology of the cross -Walther von Loewenich 1
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.
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.
訂閱：
文章 (Atom)