Law and Gospel: Luther’s Teaching in the Light of the Disintegration of Normative Morality

LAW AND GOSPEL LuTHER's TEACHING IN THE LIGHT OF THE DisiNTEGRATION OF NoRMATIVE MoRALITY SINCE THE REFORMATION, the accusation has been raised against Luther that with his original and peculiar definition of the relationships between faith, grace, and good works he has destroyed the foundations of Christian ethics and has paved the way for a collapse of all moral striving. Already in his " Sermon on Good Works " of 15~0-at a time when Luther was neither excommunicated or even threatened with excommunication 1-he had to defend himself against the insinuation that he slighted good works: " Thus it happens, when I place so much emphasis on faith and reject faithless works as I do, they lay it up to me that I forbid good works, though in fact I will gladly teach the proper good works of faith, and want to do so." 2 Even so, not until our own century has the charge been laid to rest, that Luther, if not in his 1 This little book was written between March and May, 1520, and, as we learn from a letter of Melanchthon's dated June 8, was available in print in the beginning of June. The bull "Exsurge Domine," which threatened Luther with excommunication, was issued June 15, 1520. • 6/205, 11; cf. 10 I 1/410, 14; 56/233, 20; 286, 7. These page numbers refer to the complete critical German edition of Luther's works, Weimar, 1883- (called WA, = Weimarer Ausgabe): citations are given according to volume (in given cases, one must add half-volume and section: thus, 10 I 1), page and line. In these footnotes, the line indicated will be that at which the text in question begins, and thus the reader should understand "sqq." whenever this would apply. Besides the Weimarer Ausgabe we have also 0. Clemen's practical school edition: (8 v.) Luthers Werke mAU8Wahl (Berlin, 19666 ), which contains all of Luther's more important works; and the Munich edition: Martin Luther, Ausgewiihlte Werke, ed. H. H. Borcherdt and G. Merz, 6 v. + 7 suppl. v. (Munich, 19483 ), reprinted 1962/1963. This edition gives not only a German translation of Luther's Latin works but also a modern German version of his German writings. Both of these editions, moreover, indicate in the margin the corresponding pages of the WA, and thus also handy reference to the citations. 84 LAW AND GOSPEL 85 intention, at least in his effect in the de facto order, did open up the way for the modern decay of moral norms and solid ethical convictions.3 If we undertake to pass a moral theologian 's judgment on this decay and to this end inquire what Christian tradition has to say on the theme " Law and Freedom ," then an investigation of Martin Luther's theology takes on special importance. We must test out whether and to what extent Luther's theology really does occasion and justify the above accusation. And if not, then we should ask what judgment Luther's theology for its part would give concerning this modern decay of normative morality: is it the bastard child of an illegitimate union between his theology and modern secularism ? Or is it the neglected, spoiled child of an authentic Christian spirit brought to life by Luther? In which case, possibly, just a little care and rehabilitation could offer this child the chance for a new Christian generation. The question we have raised would fit squarely under the above-mentioned headings " Law " and "Freedom." Luther, for his part, considered "Law " and " Freedom " as opposed, contrary, antagonistic concepts: one need only think of his programmatic document of 15~0, " On the Freedom of the Christian Man," addressed in its expanded version to Pope Leo X, a document which Luther scholars and church historians count among the "classic Reformation texts." 4 Thus, among Luther scholars our theme is treated under precisely this rubric." However, "Law and Freedom" is for Luther no fixed technical formula. The way we stated the 3 Cf. K. A. Meissinger, Der katholische Luther (Munich, 1952), pp. 101-108. A large number of examples from Catholic textbooks of Dogmatics is assembled in A. Hasler, Luther in der katholischen...