As I was thinking about some new possiblities for the blog in the new year I was hit by the possiblity of combining one of my New Years Resolutions with the blog (that’s always a score when two task can be combined!). I wanted to work at hitting the books some more in the year to come, picking up some of books that I’ve been collecting on my shelves and finally reading them, and probably adding a couple of good titles as well. I especially wanted to make an effort to add some more scholarly books to my regular reading list. Of course, this effort is great for me on an academic level, but what good is it if I can’t make it applicable. So that’s when I thought of the blog. If I could digest a chapter a week from some good book and bring the main idea or even just an important idea from that chapter to you in an understandable and intriguing way, that would be good stuff! So what’s up first? Well, Martin Luther’s Theology, A Contemporary Interpretation has been something I’ve been working on for a year now and I’m not finished. So here’s the way to get me going!
I’m actually going to begin with the introduction because they often have important things to say. This book is no different. In fact, there are a lot of big concepts in the introduction, but this is the thought that really struck me as I reviewed the chapter. Martin Luther understood that he lived in the modern world and he understood it better than I think many of us do today. Now I know most people think of Luther as ancient. Some would actually argue he was somewhat contemporary in the way he taught, used words, etc, but let’s be real, even if he was part of the modern world, he’s certainly not postmodern right?
Here’s the thing, Luther writes with the idea that there are two important ages. There the old aeon, the time before the cross, and the new aeon, the age of today and the age to come. Nothing in history is more significant than the cross. The cross is the beginning of the new creation. It is what reaches us as individuals and makes the most dramatic change in us, moreso than any book, video, social media, or other epistemelogical change.
And Luther stands on the same side of the cross as us. He recognizes that this new age is an age of grace, life lived in thankfulness for the cross, but that even in the age of grace, we live in the midst of a battle against evil. I don’t know if you can see it in this image of Luther up there or not, but it’s an artist’s rerendering of an old image. It’s got the stern faced Luther and in his body we see the cross standing out against warring factions.
Luther recognized that we’re in a war against evil. And that’s why Luther wrote so passionately. That’s why his theology was so varied and so deep. He wasn’t trying to systematize and make everything make sense. He was riding into battle with the Word of God as his sword, trying to help people take on the demons, the Devil, and our own flesh, all which can be warring against us. That requires passion. That requires insight. And as we all know, in the battle zone, things don’t always make sense, but you do what works. In many ways, that’s Luther’s theology. He writes as one who knows that only grace, only faith, and only the Word will help us get through this battle. And that’s true of today in the postmodern world as well. That’s something that I’m not so sure we understand as well as Luther. Do we recognize that we’re in a battle zone? Are we willing to embrace grace as we go into the fight? Let’s join with Luther and see how his writings and theology guide us in the weeks to come.
