Martin Luther's Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development

11. Luther's Dispute With Cajetan Over Justification, Faith, and Church Authority

Chapter I I LUTHER'S DISPUTE WITH CAJETAN OVER JUSTIFICATION, FAITH, AND CHURCH AUTHORITY THE SHARPENING OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LUTHER AND ROME After the spring of 1518 the conflict between Luther and Rome occurred on several levels. First, the questions broached by the Ninety-five Theses and the Explanations on indulgences were given wider treatment in the various literary disputes, with both points of view given greater clarity and precision. Next, preparations had begun for the canonical proceeding against Luther, all of which had its affect on Luther's position as well as on the literary debate. Finally, after the summer of 1S18, the temporal authorities were occupied with Luther's affair. On the one side, at die Diet of Augsburg in 1518, the aging Emperor Maximilian intervened. On August 5 he informed the pope by letter of the danger that Luther represented to die unity of faith and declared his readiness to help carry out ecclesiastical measures against him diroughout die German Empire.1 On die odier side, the Saxon elector was also occupied widi die affair. On August 7, 1518, Ludier received die summons to appear in Rome. On August 8 he appealed to his elector to secure a transfer of die proceedings to Germany, since a fair trial could not be expected at Rome. This development led to questions touching the relation to authority, die ecclesiastical 1 Maximilian's letter is now edited in CCath 42 (1991), 37-44. 110 LUTHER'S DISPUTE WITH CAJETAN III view of office, and even of ecclesiology, all at a time when for Luther the papal office had become more and more problematic. When, early in August 1518, Luther received Prierias's Dialogus, he allowed it to be printed widiout commentary. He thought the piece was so questionable diat it condemned itself.2 A short time later, when the reprint was sold out, he penned a response.3 Now, for the first time, he stated bluntly that pope and councils could err.4 Naturally, he had believed for a long time that die Roman church had not erred or deviated from die true faidi.5 His judgment of the papacy, however, was becom­ ing harsher. At the end of 1518, he first expressed die view diat the pope might pos­ sibly be die antichrist.6 Meanwhile, die hearing before Cajetan had taken place, die result of which likewise contributed to Ludier's ever-harsher judgment. CAJETAN On August 23,1518, Leo X commissioned Cajetan, die papal legate dien at Augsburg for die diet, to summon Ludier to Augsburg as a notorious heretic. Cajetan was authorized to extend clemency should Ludier recant, or to ban him should he resist.7 Ludier's elector took die side of his professor and extracted from Cajetan die promise to hear Ludier "widi fadierly gentleness," guaranteeing his return to Witten­ berg. In view of Rome's desire at all odds to hinder die election of Karl of Hapsburg as German emperor, it approved a settlement between Cajetan and Frederick die Wise without die summons of August 23, 1518, on diat account being cancelled. Cajetan dius was charged widi two different tasks in view of die impending hearing. However problematic die attendant circumstances, die curia could scarcely have entrusted Luther's hearing to a more capable person. Cajetan was then die most important dieologian. As a Dominican he had intensively studied Thomas Aquinas. He had written a commentary on Thomas's Summa Theologiae, in die early sixteendi century die most important achievement in Thomas interpretation, of influence even into die twentiedi century. In addition, Cajetan had long represented die papal versus die conciliar persuasion. He was actually an adherent of papal infal­ libility, diough he at least conceded die possibility diat even a pope could be a heretic. Neverdieless, on die basis of his theological presuppositions, he did not lack sympadiy for Ludier's blunt view of sin and grace.To a certain extent, he could even sympadiize widi Ludier's attack on indulgences. 2 SeeWA 1,644-46. 3 WA 1,647-86. *WA 1,656,30-33. 5 WA 1,662,31-38. 6 WABr 1 Nr. 121, 11-14 (letter to Linck of December 18, 1518). 7 LW. vol. 31, p. 286. WA 2, 23-25. 112 LUTHER'S THEOLOGY IN ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT Interestingly enough, in approximately the same period as Luther, Cajetan was occupying himself with the topic of...