Schoolwork: Martin Luther and Justification By Grace Essay

I don't think I've made any secret of my distaste for the Tales of ____ games. They're formulaic, unnecessarily complex, and the general system has lacked noticeable innovation since, well, Symphonia (I was gonna be bitter and say "Phantasia" but the introduction of the third dimension did alter the game). The Tales games do have a decent track record with music though; while much of it is sourced from Phantasia back in the day, it's still excellent, and the reason that Summoning of Spirits is my favorite OCRemix album. This track is from Vesperia, whose soundtrack is generally not worth noting for either quality nor lack of quality, it's just there. However, the town theme in Dahngrest is stellar. This is just a good song.
Also, go watch the ongoing Tales of Vesperia LP at the kuvosa youtube channel, it's got Vicas and Geop and Kuvo and other people who I'm not as used to hearing and it's very funny while actually doing a decent job of showing off the game.

So I've actually had this essay written for around 2 weeks, but haven't managed to get a good timing of circumstances to post it, but the stars have finally aligned. This is an essay for my class on Martin Luther. It's a pretty tough class, with a lot of reading, but it's really informative since I knew nothing about Lutheranism, despite going to a Lutheran university. This was essentially our midterm.

We had a selection of questions from which to choose our prompt, and here's the one I picked:

In his sermon on "Two Kinds of Righteousness," Luther offered a reforming insight concerning the relationship between God and humanity. What was his teaching on justification by grace (i.e. the gift of righteousness)? How was this view different than the teaching and practices with which he was raised? Why did he consider this teaching the core insight of his reform project?

It was probably the most broad of the topics. The others were about his adjusted view of Christ (no longer viewing him as a ruler and judge), his stance on the meaning and lens through which to view the Bible, his dedication to reform of the Mass, and his "paradoxical" view on the freedom and servitude of a Christian.

Let's disclaim!
As usual, this is my essay, made available so I can potentially receive feedback and to help others learn what I'm learning myself. I'm no expert, so seriously, none of the would-be paper thieves out there should use or even cite this. Still, I think I learned a lot to be able to write the essay, and hopefully you learn something too!
And if you know something about the subject, let me know if I got something right/wrong, or if you have interesting insights or thoughts about it! Same with folks who know things about writing essays! And I do love hearing when just other regular folks get some education out of my work.

On to the essay:

Max / Ego,[1] 10/29/13, Section II Essay, Word Count: 2162

Through Faith Alone: Justification by Grace as the Core

Element of Martin Luther's Theology

            In the opening years of the 16^th Century, a young German by the name of Martin Luther was growing increasingly frustrated by the Catholic Church and the practices of the Christian community. With the Black Death only 150 years prior and the Italian Renaissance winding down, there were major changes affecting European civilization. The Black Death had been catastrophic in ruining the laity's trust in God as the dead began to pile up. Terrified of the angry wrath of God and fearing for their immortal souls, Europeans demonstrated a sudden surge of interest in one of the Church's most important Sacraments: penance. This sacrament allowed the people to cleanse themselves of sins they'd committed in the here and now, rather than in purgatory, where “they would sweat out every unremitted sin before they could see the gates of heaven.”[2] The traditional method of penance, confession, was supplemented with certificates of indulgence, documents purchased to directly shave years off of one's stay in purgatory. The sale of indulgences was not the first time that the Church had placed salvation as a reward for monetary contribution (for example, crusading nobles had been able to make large donations to the Church in return for salvation), but it was the most blatantly monetary and the most widespread, made possible by Gutenberg's invention of the printing press; indeed, indulgences were one of the very first uses of the Gutenberg press[3]. Later, the same invention would allow Martin Luther an unparalleled audience for his teachings that would ultimately split the Church. Luther, a student of the humanist ideology of study of the classics and ad fontes[4], eventually uncovered an entirely new interpretation of Scripture that changed the nature of salvation from something achievable to something received by the grace of God. This idea of justification by grace and Luther's arguments for it and extrapolated from it was quickly deemed threatening, and later heretical, by the Church, but became revolutionary through the whole of 16^th Century Europe and provided the basis of the entire Lutheran movement.

            In order to better understand the gravity of the reforms Luther proposed, it is first important to understand the justification through works structure that was universal throughout Christianity (or at least Roman Catholicism). Prior to Luther, the Church was unanimous on the idea that, in order to get into heaven, one needed to complete good works. Christ was not only a sacrificial martyr, but a king and a judge, depicted “seated on his throne” and providing either a lily, “symbolizing the resurrection,” or a sword[5]: salvation or damnation. One was meant to, as one preacher put it, “Do what is within you!”[6] meaning that people who tried their best to do good would be saved, provided one important stipulation: that they followed the rules set out down by God through scripture and through the Church. Confession was intense, drawing up even the most minor of sins as a grave offense, and the burden was infinitely greater on monks. Martin Luther during his time as a monk was nearly overwhelmed by the burden, only barely avoiding despair thanks to his overseer and friend Staupitz[7], and the rigor with which he pursued the cleansing of his soul of even the slightest tinge of sin made him sickly and deprived his body, likely resulting in the severe systemic illnesses that plagued him later in life.[8] And though Luther was not the first to suggest alternative means of interpreting the process of salvation, all others, including mystic Johannes Tauler, humanist Erasmus, and the heretic Jan Hus were united in their understanding of salvation: “Christians must do something to persevere and be saved.”[9] After a long life of suffering under the pressures of this system, and spurred to dispute with the Church not only because of their method of providing indulgences but also because of their strong and oppressive refusal to even discuss their use, Luther came across a new interpretation of the nature of salvation. What Luther found, initially in an overlooked phrasing of Psalm 72[10] but later found throughout the whole of the Bible, was that “like the righteousness or strength or wisdom of God, it is that with which we are wise, just, and humble, or by which we are judged,”[11]which implies that righteousness is a gift from God, given without regard for works. Everything came together in late 1518 or early 1519, when Luther had an epiphany, putting all of his disparate thoughts about his interpretation of the Bible behind the single conviction that “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”[12] Within the year he'd released “Two Kinds of Righteousness”, and a year later released his most clear text outlining his complete position and argument for this idea of justification by grace, “The Freedom of a Christian”.

            “Two Kinds of Righteousness” puts forth, as the name suggests, two different forms of righteousness that both exist in the Christian. The first is alien righteousness, or “the righteousness of another, instilled from without.”[13] This righteousness is “given to men in baptism and whenever they are truly repentant” as a gift from God. The element that separates this idea from the traditional justification through works was the idea of what it took to receive this grace. Luther did not agree with the older belief that one needed to do good, to act as or  imitate Christ, God, or the saints in action. In fact, Luther often espoused the opposite belief, that attempting to embody Godliness was actively detrimental to one's salvation, as it creates a false sense of superiority and pride in the self, “setting himself up as an idol in his own heart.”[14] Instead, justification by grace requires that a person recognizes and accepts that nothing they do will ever satisfy the requirements of God. As evidence Luther puts forward the commandments, which he does not consider rules to be followed by messages through which we “recognize our inability to do the good, and they cause us to despair of our own powers.”[15] For example, no one can completely and always simply decide to not covet, and thus all people are sinners, and this concept is true to all the commandments. This was because, as Luther remarked early in his teaching career, “human beings can do nothing except love themselves.”[16] But of course, Luther's idea of justification by grace is not that none of us will be given heaven, meaning that Luther has also proposed a method through which righteousness is acquired, and for Luther that method involves faith in Christ. Christ died for the Christians, and through faith, “Christ's righteousness...,” which is infinite as the righteousness of God, “...becomes our righteousness and all that he has becomes ours.”[17] This idea that the faithful has all that is Christ's and that Christ takes on all that is theirs is a central idea throughout “The Freedom Of A Christian,” which characterizes this connection in the same terms that the Bible depicts marriage (referencing the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament by doing so)[18], and this bride and groom metaphor is consistent throughout that text. By taking on all of the faithful's sin, it is swallowed up in Christ's unending righteousness, “for it is impossible that sin should exist in Christ,”[19] and the faithful is priveleged with all of Christ's own righteousness. In this perfect union, even a flawed human sinner can be saved by faith in Christ. It is this alien, inner righteousness that a Christian becomes “lord of all, completely free of everything,”[20] untethered from the Law[21] (meaning the restrictions God places on man, not man's own laws on each other, which Luther supported as an institution to be followed[22] [23] [24]) and all the rules of scripture provided the faith is true.

            The second kind of righteousness, deemed “proper righteousness,” is a more complicated topic. Luther's explanation of justification by grace required the dismantling of justification through works, but Luther had no intent to condone or simply permit sin and violation of the Law simply on grounds of faith. Instead, he needed a rationale for restricting unruly and unchristian behavior without implying that external works had an influence on one's salvation. In “The Freedom of a Christian” Luther directly tackles this question. When asked why good works are commanded if faith alone is sufficient, and why one cannot simply be content, Luther responds that “this would be true if we were only inner or spiritual persons...For as long as we live in the flesh we only begin to make progress toward that which will be perfected in a future life,”[25] by which he means righteousness. This proper righteousness is linked to alien righteousness, used to cultivate that faith and at the same time the product of it. Proper righteousness “complete[s] the first for it ever strives to do away with the old Adam and to destroy the body of sin. Therefore it hates itself and loves its neighbor; it does not seek its own good, but that of another.”[26] And it is those two elements that comprise proper righteousness; as termed in “The Freedom of a Christian”, “Controlling the Body” and “Service to the Neighbor.” The former is about controlling the ego and acting without thought of gain, as God has already provided salvation. Though the flesh is selfish, “the spirit of faith cannot tolerate this,”[27] and disciplines the body toward humility – but not a self-satisfied humility that one was saved as Luther often feared,[28][29] but a humility that aided others even though they were a sinner thanks to their faith in Christ. This unselfishness should then be turned to the neighbor. However, Luther was not resentful of those who had not yet accepted Christ, who he called “weak in faith.” He did believe in resisting those that would enforce works as the means to salvation and press that belief on others, as he considered the ancient pharisees and the contemporary Church to be doing, succinctly summarized when Luther writes “we ought to accept and nurture the faith of those who are weak, but we should resist boldly those who obstinately insist on works.”[30] Christians should be not only dutiful in their responsibilities and compliant to ceremony and ritual not for righteousness's sake, but to be an example of faith for their neighbors[31] and not cause offense or scandal[32]. He urges the faithful to be as Christ to all others, accepting their sins and sharing the righteousness they are linked to through Christ.[33] Without fear of damnation, the faithful exercising proper righteousness can grow the Christian community, not for selfish reasons, but for the benefit of the potential community, all while acting in a behavior befitting the ancient prophets and Church fathers in the scripture.

            The largest impact Luther had was to upend the existing monopoly on European religion held by the Catholic Church, breaking down their supreme authority over the 'one true way' to interpret the scriptures. Through justification by grace flowed all of Luther's other arguments; for example, indulgences became improper as they were selfish concept on the Church's part, a system that enforced the idea of justification by works through fear, and an unrighteous act on the part of the buyer, who could have spent the money in an unselfish way. He discarded many sacraments for their reliance on works and their lack of support in scripture. He even opposed the very existence of a hierarchical church with authority over the lay people on the grounds that Christ is embodied in all faithful, and that all are equal with regard to salvation – the actions of of an ordained priest or an avowed monk makes them no more likely to be saved[34]. However, the flowering of other reformers who embraced parts of components of his justification by grace were often in conflict with him, and he became quite bitter later in life, debating and disputing his interpretation and others', despite having been the one to spark the fire of scriptural re-interpretation. He's left formal letters of argument against Zwingli's followers, the predeterminist Calvinists, the re-baptizing Anabaptists, the Swabian peasants who would use his beliefs to enforce their political rebellion, and other divergent threads of the Protestant Reformation. Despite all the alternative points of view though, Luther's justification by grace as presented in “Two Kinds of Righteousness” and “The Freedom of a Christian” started a complete revolution of religious reform that continues to this day.

---

[1]As it was not specified whether or not to use Ibid. in the citations, despite its common use in Chicago, I've not done so here

[2]    James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press,          2003), 42.

[3]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 42.

[4]    James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press,     2003), 39, 47.

[5]    James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press,     2003), 41.

[6]    James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press,     2003), 73.

[7]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 81.

[8]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 55.

[9]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 74.

[10]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 88-89.

[11]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 88.

[12]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 134-135.

[13]Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed.          Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 119.

[14]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 409.

[15]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 407.

[16]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 91.

[17]Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed.          Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 120.

[18]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 410.

[19]Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 120.

[20]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 404.

[21]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 408.

[22]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 421-422.

[23]Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed.          Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 124.

[24]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 93-94.

[25]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 414.

[26]Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed.          Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 120.

[27]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 415.

[28]James M. Kittleson, Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), 95.

[29]Martin Luther, "Two Kinds of Righteousness," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed.          Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 123.

[30]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 421.

[31]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 422.

[32]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 421.

[33]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 423.

[34]"The Freedom of a Christian," Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings Third Edition, ed. Timothy F. Lull, William R. Russell (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 413.

You know, for a paper with a minimum of 1250 words and a maximum of 1500, I wrote 2100, and there's another 700(!) in the citations which I'm allowed to discount. This is a beast of an essay.

But while I haven't received my grade for it yet, in another correspondence with my professor he mentioned that he had just finished reading my essay and that is was wonderfully-crafted with great insight and fluency, at a solid master's level, and that's making me feel pretty awesome.

Well, I have more to do for this class right now, so off I go to write an outline.

End Recording,

Ego.