Commemoration of Martin Luther: Doctor and Confessor . . . Why is Martin Luther One of the Greatest Theologians in the Church’s History?

Lutheran theologian Hermann Sasse answers the question well:

“Why is Luther the greatest in what has been a long line of teachers in the church who have proclaimed the Word of God from generation to generation? It is because none of the others understood the Word of God so profoundly. The Word of God is greater than human words, which have limitations. The time will come when nobody remembers Homer, or Shakespeare or Goethe, but the Word of God will endure forever. Human words can certainly accomplish much – the command of a powerful ruler or of a general can decide the fate of nations, but sooner or later their power ceases to be. No mere human word is almighty. But God’s Word is always living and active because it is the Word of the eternal, almighty God, the Word through which all things were created. It is the Word of the Judge of all who live. It is the Word of forgiveness, the Word of redemption, the Word which no human word can contradict. It is the Word which, as John says, has become flesh in Jesus Christ. He is himself the eternal Word of God; ‘his name’, it is written in Revelation (19:13), ‘is called the Word of God’. To proclaim the Word of God is to proclaim Jesus Christ. ‘To him all of the prophets bear witness’, according to the apostle Peter (Acts 10:43). ‘We preach Christ crucified’ says Paul in regard to the preaching of the apostles (1 Cor 1:23). He, Jesus Christ, is the content of the church’s preaching – that he is the Redeemer and the Lord is the proclamation of the teachers of the church from its very beginning. That is the message which has been handed down from one generation to another. The proclaimers come and go, but the proclamation itself remains the same: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. That and nothing else is the content of the Christian proclamation. Luther again and again reminded the church of this – a church which had forgotten it, and indeed which had almost buried the one Word of God under so many human words of religion and philosophy.

Luther is one of the great Christologists, the great witnesses to Christ in the church. Like the great theologians of the early church – an Irenaeus or an Athanasius – he stood in reverence before the great mystery of God’s revelation: ‘the Word became flesh’ (John 1:14); ‘great is the mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16). All of his life Luther stood prayerfully and reverently before the incomprehensible mystery of the person of Jesus Christ, ‘where God and man meet and all fullness appears’. What the Greek fathers of the 4th and 5th centuries acquired by deep study of Holy Scripture with reverent and prayerful meditation, what the ancient church confessed in her ecumenical councils and stated contrary to the reasoning of philosophy – that Jesus Christ is true God, God from God, Light from Light, very God of very God, of one being with the Father, and at the same time true man – Luther thought through these powerful truths and took them even further in his theology in connection with the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. However, he tried to speak of these things so clearly and simply that even the simplest Christian – yes, even a child – could grasp them. ‘He whom the world could not contain, lies on Mary’s lap. He who upholds all things becomes a little child’. That is the teaching of Nicea. Or we think of how Luther expressed the doctrine of Chalcedon, the teaching of the two natures of Christ, in his catechism – ‘I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord…’ This explanation of the second article of the creed has been called by some the most beautiful sentence in the German language – it is the most beautiful sentence in the German language, but not only because of its structure, which reveals a master of language, but also because of its content. Here we find the eternal Word of God, the eternal Gospel: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

From a sermon given on Reformation Day 1943 in Erlangen, Germany.
HT: Pastor Mark Henderson

A Painting that Preaches Christ

To this day, the painting that stands over the altar at the St. Peter and Paul Church in Weimar, Germany, glows with a radiance that takes the viewer’s breath away. It is the most remarkable example of the uniquely Lutheran use of altar paintings to confess the Gospel rediscovery in the Sixteenth Century Reformation. Below the painting you will find an explanation, a guided-tour of the painting. 

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“A picture is worth a thousand words.” This is certainly true of the centre panel of the altar painting in the church of Sts Peters and Paul, Weimar, Germany. It was begun by Lucas Cranach (1472-1553) and was completed by his son, also of the same name, in 1555. (To distinguish them, they are called Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger.)

The heart of the 16th century Reformation and indeed of the Christian faith, is the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ. This is how Luther expresses it in part 2 of the Smalcald Articles.

“The first and chief article is this, that Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, “was put to death for our trespasses and raised again for our justification” (Rom 4:25). He alone is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “God has laid upon him the iniquities of us all” (Isa.53:6). Moreover, “all have sinned,” and “they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, by his blood” (Rom. 3:23-25).

Inasmuch as this must be believed and cannot be obtained or apprehended by any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that such faith alone justifies us, as St Paul says in Romans 3, “For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law” (Rom. 3:28), and again, “that he [God] himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

If the doctrine of justification is to be properly taught, law and gospel must be properly distinguished. The Formula of Concord of 1577 says (Article 5),

“We must … observe this distinction with particular diligence lest we confuse the two doctrines and change the Gospel into law. This would darken the merit of Christ and rob disturbed consciences of the comfort which they would otherwise have in the holy Gospel …”

That Lucas Cranach clearly understood the central teaching of the Lutheran reformation and the proper distinction between Law and Gospel is illustrated by his altar painting at Weimar.

In the centre background, Moses is shown teaching the ten commandments to the Old Testament prophets. They are standing on a circle of barren path, along with a figure representative of all human beings who are under the law’s condemnation. Man is shown here being chased into the fires of hell by death (pictured as a skeleton holding a spear) and the devil (in the form of a monster wielding a club). The prophets taught, as did Moses, “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them” (Deut. 27:26 ESV, compare Jer. 11:13). Yet it’s not only our actual sins that condemn us, but also the prior sin that we inherit from our parents (original sin). To quote the Smalcald Articles once again,

“Here we must confess what St Paul says in Rom. 5:12, namely, that sin had its origin in one man, Adam, through whose disobedience all men were made sinners and became subject to death and the devil. … The fruits of this sin are all the subsequent evil deeds which are forbidden in the Ten Commandments …”

The good news is that God in mercy and compassion saves all who put their trust in His Son. When the people of Israel in the wilderness sinned and were bitten by snakes, God provided a way of escape that prefigured His Son’s death on a cross. All the Israelites had to do to be saved was look at the snake mounted on a pole (Num. 21:4-9). In Cranach’s painting, this is shown in the background on the painting’s left.

Directly in front, Martin Luther is standing with open Bible in hand. His feet and hands are positioned like those of Moses. His message, however, is one of gospel, not law. On his face is a look of steadfastness and serene confidence. He stands on lush grass in which flowers grow, unlike the bare, stony ground on which Moses stands. Of three passages written in German on the open Bible, the third one reads, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so also must the Son of man be lifted up, so that all [who believe] in [him may have eternal life]” (Jn 3:14).

Dominating the painting is Christ on a cross. The amazing message of the Gospel is that by his death, Christ takes away the world’s sin. The message written in Latin on the transparent banner held by the lamb in the centre foreground declares that Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). His outstretched arms and generous loincloth are also reminders that He is the world’s Saviour. This was John the Baptist’s message, and John is shown standing underneath the crucified Christ on His left side. With right hand pointing up at Christ on the cross and left hand pointing at the lamb, John is shown proclaiming the meaning of Jesus’ death to Lucas Cranach, the painter. Cranach represents all who believe. A stream of blood from Christ’s pierced side splashes on to this head. It is as the first verse on Luther’s Bible says, “The blood of Jesus Christ purifies us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7). Therefore like Luther, Cranach also stands confidently.

There is another verse on the open Bible, to which Luther’s finger points directly. It reads, “Therefore let us approach the seat of grace with joyousness, so that we may receive mercy within and find grace in the time when help is needed” (Heb. 4:16). Such approach is possible because Jesus is our victorious high priest. Having paid for sin, He has defeated death and the devil and now lives to intercede for us. Jesus is shown on the painting’s right as the risen One, youthful and full of life, standing on death and the devil, with the staff of his victory flag pushed in the monster’s throat. His gold-edged cloak flows toward the lamb’s banner and the cross. As a result it’s actually both banner and cloak that bear the words, “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.

Believe in God; believe also in me,” the Lord says (Jn 14:1). From this painting His eyes meet ours, inviting us to believe in Him. The other set of eyes that meet ours belong to Cranach, the painter. His feet face in the direction of Christ. But he has turned from his adoration of Christ to look at us also, inviting us to believe and be saved along with him.

Article 4 of the Augsburg Confession expresses the heart of Lutheran teaching this way:

“[W]e receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us.”

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). This, in summary, is the message of the Lutheran reformation and of its foremost artists, Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Younger.

–Pastor David Buck

Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel

A friend of mine recently pointed out a book to me that I’d been meaning to acquire for a long time: Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel. It was first published in the Library of Christian Classics series. It is now reprinted by Regent College. I managed to snag a first edition from a used book site. What is it? A collection of letters by Martin Luther, many of which were never translated before. It is edited and translated by Theodore Tappert and was done before the American Edition of Luther’s Works project got underway. There is quite a lot here in English that is available nowhere else.

A Diet of Worms

Earthworms

New weight-loss program? Another weird Guinness Book of World Records attempt? Nope. Today is the day that Emperor Charles V opened a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1521, some time later a certain monk showed up and was told to recant his writings, or else! Some of our Wisconsin Synod fellow Lutheran blogging pastors, have a nice blog site with good information on Luther’s appearance before the Diet of Worms.

So, while Luther may have, in effect, told them to go eat worms, to my knowledge there was no intentional worm eating taking place there. Truth be told, Worms, pronounced in German as “Woorms” is actually a city, and the word “Diet” means “A formal general assembly of the princes or estates of the Holy Roman Empire.”

Link: Preach. Teach. Confess.: On this date in history.

Bach Marathon Deemed Huge Hit

Link: Guardian Unlimited | Arts news | Bach in demand: listeners hail Radio 3 festival a huge success.

Bach in demand: listeners hail Radio 3 festival a huge success

Charlotte Higgins, arts correspondent
Thursday January 5, 2006
The Guardian

Radio 3′s decision to devote its schedules to the complete works of Bach for 10 days before Christmas proved a runaway success. Its website received a record number of hits in December, with 3.1m page impressions during the season itself and 2.4m in the runup to it.

Precise listener figures will not surface, however, because Rajar, which measures radio audiences, does not monitor the period around Christmas. Nearly 2,000 emails, more than 90% of them positive, were received by the network, according to the Radio 3 controller, Roger Wright.

Listeners are still adding to the 7,000 postings on the Bach messageboard. Discussions include a request by a woman for “a handsome wealthy guy who can live with Bach and me”. It has elicited 383 responses. Although not everyone enjoyed the superabundance of baroque music (one wrote that the event was “in keeping with the western attitude of flogging, dismantling, and murdering the life blood out of every cultural phenomenon”) most agreed with the listener who described being “intoxicated” by Radio 3′s “brilliant achieveme

Bach-fever also made itself felt commercially. Tony Shaw, buyer of classical music for the chain HMV, said Bach sales had doubled. “People say that classical music is dying, but when it is featured heavily on TV or radio there is a huge response,” he said.

When Radio 3 broadcast the complete works of Beethoven earlier in 2005, it also allowed listeners to download, free of charge, his complete symphonies from its website. The popularity of the scheme, with more than 1m downloads, and furore in the recording industry, meant that a similar facility was not offered this time.

Mr Wright said there were no immediate plans to broadcast complete works of other composers; Mozart’s 250th birthday this month will be celebrated “throughout the year”, he said.

Just as well for one listener, on whom the effect of Bach has been so powerful that he described Mozart as “frivolous junk” on the messageboard, and proposed a Bach-only radio station.

Bach for Dummies

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A friend contacted me in reference to my recent Bach post. Perhaps others might like to chime in and make recommendations.

Paul, I grew up listening to the Beatles and continue to be a huge Paul McCartney fan.  But in reading your posts and others, I’ve decided that in 06 I’d like to add some Bach to my CD library.  The problem is this – where to begin?  I visited my local Borders the other day and they carry quite a selection of Bach’s music.  Too many selections.  I had no idea where to begin.  Is there a “Bach for Dummies” book I can read for ideas.  A “Bach for Beginners” post on your weblog would be helpful for a guy like me.  Any suggestions?  Thanks and God’s best to you and yours. Thanks, George.

Great question George. I’m not aware of a “Bach for Dummies” type of book, but it sounds like a good idea. I’d appreciate it. There is a helpful Classical Music for Dummies that offers a nice overview.

Bach is known today chiefly by his instrumental works.
His choral works are less well known.
And, least known of all are his church cantatas.

As for recordings…there is a debate that rages among Bach lovers. It has to do with whether or not to listen to Bach recording on original instruments in what are known as HIP, historically informed performances, that is, performances that
attempt to come as close as possible to what Bach intended when he originally wrote the pieces. Obviously, that is a subjective effort, since we simply can not say for 100% what Bach intended when he wrote his music, but….honestly….most any and every good recording will provide the newcomer to Bach with beautiful music. The more advanced Bach listener will develop a library of recordings by certain conductors and performers, etc. I appreciate the work of Gardiner and Koopman. I’m collecting each of their complete recordings of Bach’s Cantatas.

Perhaps the best way to begin listening to Bach is…to begin listening to Bach. If you want a single CD that offers you a nice overview of Bach, here is the one I would recommend.

When, or if, you want to listen to entire pieces, perhaps you might want to check with your local library and check things out before you commit to buying them. Where to begin? That’s a  tough one. Here is what I would suggest.

Instrumental Works

Brandenburg Concertos
Orchestral Suites
Cello Suites

Choral Works

Mass in B Minor [often said to be the greatest piece of music ever written]
The St. John Passion
The St. Matthew Passion

Cantatas

You can find various collections of Cantatas. There are several complete collections. The newest collection is still in production, by Gardiner.

I would suggest you check this web site. It is part of the Bach Cantata group. Here you will find a lot of secularists who listen to the Cantatas mostly for the music, when of course, the words, which Bach obtained from various sources, are crucial as well. You can pay as much, or as little, attention to their debates and squabbles over how precisely to sing the Cantatas. Huge arguments will break out over whether or not one voice, or several, should be used for the various parts of the Cantatas. [I tend to believe single voices was the way Bach had it in his day, using only a group of voices for the chorale parts].

Then, pick out the Cantatas you are interested in hearing…for instance, BWV 80 for Reformation Day, and then find a collection of Cantatas with it on it.

I do prefer original instrument recordings that are historically informed. I do not prefer a “big orchestra” sound to Bach’s works, for he never wrote for large orchestras, which came after his time. Look for recordings that are all digital DDD for the best sound quality.

A word of caution. You can go as far, and as deep, as you want into this. But the further you get you will find that, as in all fields, there are fierce debates raging among the experts. Debates that are oh-so-important to them, but strike many of us as silly.

One thing to be careful about is to realize that many Bach lovers today want to enjoy Bach separate from the faith that drove him to do what he did. They want to listen to Bach purely as music devoid of any connection to his Orthodox Lutheran commitments. And, of course, that is possible. But to know Back best, and to enjoy him most, is to do so from the point of view of the faith he confessed, and that of course, was a hearty Orthodox Lutheranism.

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Please let me say a word about musicians and music.

I’ve found that sometimes, unfortunately, musicians can really take the joy out of music. There are sensitive egos involved, and they are very easily bruised. I’ve learned that every musician knows, deep inside, that he truly does know the “right way” to perform any given piece of music and so you have to be careful when evaluating what musicians have to say about music. There is much to learn and I admire those who truly understand the wonderful intricacies, but don’t let them intimidate you.

This is somewhat akin to tasting wine. Just start tasting. When you find something you like, you’ll know it. You should not have to have a 500 page book or a Ph.D. in wine to know a good wine when you taste it. Similarly, with Bach and his music. Just listen. Read the liner notes for historical background and interesting information, but listen for a good long while before you start consulting too many experts. They have a way of sucking the wonder of it all right out of it. Somewhat like studying poetry too closely. So, study with discernment.

I hope this helps George. God bless your enjoyment of J.S. Bach.

Paul

Christmas and Vocation

I believe my friend, Dr. Gene Edward Veith, will appreciate how Luther uses the narrative of our Lord’s birth to make good points about the doctrine of vocation. I found this quote and its accompanying footnote in an article by Professor John Pless. Here is what Luther had to say:

Here is another excellent and helpful lesson, namely, that after the shepherds have been enlightened and have come to a true knowledge of Christ, they do not run out into the desert-which is what the crazy monks and nuns in the cloisters did! No the shepherds continue in their vocation, and in the process they also serve their fellow men. For true faith does not create people who abandon their secular vocation and begin a totally different kind of living, a way of life which the totally irrational monks considered essential to being saved, even though it was only an externally different way of existence. [Klug, Luther’s House Postils, Vol. 1:48]

Professor Pless comments:

In Luther’s homiletical treatment of the shepherds, we are given an excellent window into his doctrine of vocation-a doctrine that contemporary Lutheranism desperately needs to recover in light of the “neomonasticism” of contemporary American Evangelicalism. One may see Harold Senkbeil, Sanctification: Christ in Action (Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1989), 12-15. In his treatise of 1520, “On the Freedom of a Christian,” Luther writes (LW 31:371): “We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in Himself, but in Christ and in the neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor.” This is expressed liturgically in the Post-Communion Collect “We give thanks to you, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore you that of your mercy you would strengthen us through the same in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another. . .” Homiletically, Luther gives expression to this in his Christmas sermons. For example in a 1521 Christmas sermon Luther says (Lenker, 146): “These are the two things in which a Christian is to exercise himself, the one that he draws Christ into himself, and that by faith he makes him his own, appropriates to himself the treasures of Christ and confidently builds upon them; the other that he condescends to his neighbor and lets him share in that which he has received, even as he shares in the treasures of Christ.” Contra Richard Caemmerer’s distinction of “faith-goal sermons” from “life-goal sermons” (Preaching for the Church [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 19591,179-190), Luther preaches faith which is active in love.

Source:
John T. Pless, “Learning to Preach from Luther in Advent and Christmas,” Concordia Theological Quarterly, Fort Wayne: Indiana, Volume 62, No. 4, October 1998, pg.

Dr. Kurt Marquart

Please remember in your prayers my dear friend and father in the faith, The Rev. Dr. Kurt Marquart, who has learned he has ALS disease. For quite some time he and his dear wife Barbara have been searching for answers to continuing medical problems Kurt has been facing. A recent trip to the Cleveland Clinic provided answers, but answers none of us ever would have wanted to receive.