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Chapter 24 SPIRITUS CREATOR LUTHER'S ATTITUDE TOWARD TRADITIONAL DOGMA With respect to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, Luther adopted die same attitude toward die doctrinal decisions of the ancient church and die tradition of Western dieology as he had advocated toward die doctrine of die Trinity generally and toward statements about God and Christ. His pneumatology nonetheless reflects some singularities that need to be carefully noted. Older research supposed diat the Holy Spirit had no further significance in Luther's dieology: He merely adopted die traditional statements widiout appor­ tioning to diem any particular weight. Above all, he did not strictly conceive die Holy Spirit as a third person of the Trinity.' Erich Seeberg's contribution marked a change in the evaluation of Ludier's pneumatology, indicating that it was christologically oriented. This is particularly true of Ludier during die controversy over die Lord's Supper.2 In what is still a foundational investigation, Regin Prenter described Ludier's pneumatology first in his confrontation widi Rome, dien widi die so-called fanat­ ics. Yet, however significant Ludier's distance from eidier side may have been, and allowing for all die differences between him and particular strands of the tradition, what diey shared may no more be overlooked dian die proprium of his position.3 By contrast, Albrecht Peters, widi Ludier's catechetical publications as a basis, 1 Thus Rudolf Otto in his dissertation of 1898. 2 E. Seeberg, in FS Reinhold Seeberg, 43-80. 3 In this respect H. Gerdes, LuJ 25 (1958), 42-60, has subjected Prenter's book to a full, sharp, critical review. 232 SPMTUS CREATOR 233 offered a comprehensive evaluation of Luther's penumatology that relegated polemics to the rear.4 On the whole, when compared with its statements about God, Jesus Christ, and theTrinity, pneumatology in the ancient church as well as in the medieval period was considerably less developed. The decisions of die first two ecumenical councils dealt only briefly with pneumatology. At the second ecumenical council of Constan­ tinople in 381, die Godhead of the Holy Spirit as well as his homoousia widi die GodFadier and Son was made a dogma. At diat time, die pneumatology of die West was strongly influenced by Augustine, who emphasized die total equality of die Spirit widi die God-Fadier and Son, but also deepened die distinction between die Spirit as persona and donum (person and gift), and sought to connect it widi his view of the Spirit's procession from die Fadier and the Son.5 In the medieval period it was chiefly Lombard who adopted Augustine's pneumatology and provided for its wide dissemination in die West. Though die later pneumatology did not follow him in everydiing, his identification of the Spirit widi die divine caritas had die great advan­ tage of directly connecting die doctrine of grace widi die doctrine of God. Of course, difficulties arose when it came to a more precise development of die doc­ trine of die Spirit. Ludier knew of and at times also adopted die distinction between the Spirit as person and as gift but on die whole accented more vigorously dian Lombard die Spirit's Godhead and personhood, without on diat account attacking die tradition. In a late disputation he cited die distinction between die Holy Spirit as person and gift: "So we distinguish the Holy Spirit as God in his divine nature and essence from die Holy Spirit as he is given to us.'^This passage makes clear diat Ludier linked his distinction between law and gospel to Lombard's distinction respecting the Spirit, for he went on to say that "God in his nature and majesty is our enemy; he inculcates die law in us and threatens transgressors widi death. But when he unites himself widi our weakness, takes on himself our nature, our sins, and evil, then he is not our enemy."7 Similarly, Luther elsewhere linked the medieval distinction to his Refor­ mation dieology, especially to his own distinction between the hidden and revealed God: "We are not speaking here of the office and service of die Spirit, nor of his 4 A. Peters, Kommemat zum Luthers Katechismen, vol. 2. 5 See Michael Schmaus, Die psychologlsche Trinitatslehre des hi. Augustinus (Miinster: Aschendorff, 1927, 2d ed. 1967, with supplements); Ekkehard Muhlenberg, "Dogma und Lehre im Abendland," HdBDThG, 1:428-32. A brief sketch of the dogmatic-historical development is given in Martin Anton Schmidt, "Heiliger Geist, dogmengeschichtlich," RGG 2 (1958), 1279-83. On...

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