{"id":215,"date":"2009-12-07T19:58:28","date_gmt":"2009-12-08T02:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=215"},"modified":"2009-12-07T19:58:28","modified_gmt":"2009-12-08T02:58:28","slug":"heiko-oberman-luther-man-between-god-and-the-devil-p-184","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?page_id=215","title":{"rendered":"Heiko Oberman, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, p. 184"},"content":{"rendered":"

Printable \t\t\t\t\tPDF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

THE UNEXPECTED REFORMATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

As bride and bridegroom exchange possessions in a marriage, so the sinner receives \t\t\t\tjustification from Christ, and Christ takes over the Christian’s sins. Luther later found an image \t\t\t\tfor the joyful exchange in Jacob’s ladder: Jacob’s dream has come true; Christ descends from Heaven, \t\t\t\tand the Christian ascends to be united with God.”<\/p>\n

Staupitz, too, spoke of the joyful exchange whereby Christ takes over guilt, thus becoming “unjust \t\t\t\tand a sinner” Himself \u2013 a concept that immediately provoked pious indignation.’ But the \t\t\t\tconclusion Staupitz drew was different from Luther’s: liberated from the burden of sin, the faithful \t\t\t\twill now find perceptible peace. The new condition of righteousness can be experienced; it is a sweet \t\t\t\tforetaste of eternity.”‘<\/span><\/p>\n

Luther, on the other hand, experienced the growing power of the Devil, who, challenged by the Gospel \t\t\t\tof the joyful exchange, directs his attacks at the faithful. The Devil cites Moses and his Ten Commandments \t\t\t\tagainst the “alien” righteousness of Christ; he breeds scruples, insists on good works, and relentlessly \t\t\t\tdrives the conscience to assuage the wrath of a just God. The “joyful exchange” of which Luther \t\t\t\tspeaks does not lead to the sweet experience described by Staupitz, for in the battle with the Devil \t\t\t\tthere is no rest, no peace, and no visible success.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through Christ’s exchange the faithful Christian is “simultaneously sinner and just” \u2013 “simul \t\t\t\tpeccator et iustus.” “He is a sinner because self-love and inner resistance against God remain unconquered; \t\t\t\the is just because he has been given the righteousness of Christ, which is valid before God. Luther \t\t\t\tfound the language and the model for a graphic description of this state of dual existence in Tauler \t\t\t\tand the Theologia Germanica<\/em>. The soul is taut with groaning over the burdens and sins of \t\t\t\tcreation; it is beyond earthly cares when it experiences the joyous union with God. In mysticism \t\t\t\tgroaning and rapture characterize the beginning and the end of the road from painful separation from \t\t\t\tthe world to joyous union. For Luther “groaning” and “rapture” are experiential terms for the simultaneity \t\t\t\tof peace and misery: peace is interspersed with the cruel reality of the Devil’s power \u2013 “simul \t\t\t\tgemitus et raptus.”<\/p>\n

Luther’s encounter with Augustinian theology through Staupitz and with mystical experience through \t\t\t\tTauler encouraged and confirmed him on his way to a new piety and a new way of thinking. Both of \t\t\t\tthese central experiences, tribulation and mystical ascent, diabolical remoteness from God and joyous \t\t\t\tunion with God, are no longer typical of the spiritually ill and the spiritual elite, two marginal \t\t\t\tChristian groups. All parts of the true Church suffer spiritual distress and are at the same time \t\t\t\tunited with God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Printable PDF THE UNEXPECTED REFORMATION As bride and bridegroom exchange possessions in a marriage, so the sinner receives justification from Christ, and Christ takes over the Christian’s sins. Luther later found an image for the joyful exchange in Jacob’s ladder: Jacob’s dream has come true; Christ descends from Heaven, and the Christian ascends to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":5,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-215","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/215\/revisions\/218"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}