Martin Luther's Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development

13. Luther's Dispute With the Sacramental Teaching of His Time

Chapter 13 LUTHER'S DISPUTE W I T H THE SACRAMENTAL TEACHING OF HIS TIME ( I 5 I 9 / I 5 2 0 ) THE SERMONS ON THE SACRAMENT FROM 1519 The debate arising over Luther's Ninety-five Theses spread wider and wider. First, if the polemics of his traditionalist opponents set the topic of papal authority at cen­ ter, the teaching on die sacraments soon came to be intensively discussed. In his Explanations of the Ninety-Jive Theses (1S18) Luther stated diat it is not the sacrament but radier faidi that justifies. At die Augsburg hearing Cajetan had contested diis statement.' It is hardly surprising diat die question of die sacraments soon came to be heatedly discussed. Soon after his hearing before Cajetan, Ludier dealt widi die doctrine of die sacraments in detail. In doing so he furdier developed an impulse observable in his early lectures.2 He presented die result of his reflections in various "Sermons" of 1519 and 1520, a literary genre diat he had used as early as 1518 for writings diat were partly in Latin and partly in German. It is also clear diat die sole audiority of Scripture, given more and more stress as early as in die indulgence controversy, was also decisive in discussing sacramental doctrine. Just as on die question of die 1 LW, vol. 31, p. 107; WA 1,544, 40-41 ;LW, vol. 31, p. 261; WA 2,7,35-40. 13,6-16, 12. See above, pp. 112-15. 2 See above, pp. 57-59, 78-80. 127 128 LUTHER'S THEOLOGY IN ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT authority of pope and council, so now on the doctrine of the sacraments, Luther was no longer prepared uncritically to follow certain church decisions. He tested these decisions by the statements of Scripture, though in diis early phase of his teaching he did not yet openly attack medieval decisions. Three of Luther's sermons on the sacraments come down to us from the year 1519: The Sacrament ofPenance, The Holy and Blessed Sacrament of Baptism, and The Blessed Sacrament of the Holy and True Body of Christ, and the Brotherhoods. Luther gave no rea­ son for dealing with only these three, but in a letter to Spalatin from December 18, 1519, he wrote that no one should expect sermons from him on the others, since he could not recognize them as sacraments. In this letter Luther went on to state that we may speak of a sacrament only where a divine promise is expressly given, since God never deals with his creatures apart from the Word of promise and the faith that receives it.3 The remark indicates that Luther had already arrived at broader insights than his sermons make clear. In the early years of his dispute with Rome he was often more cautious in German than in his Latin writings or letters.4 Despite this tension between his published position and his actual opinion given further development, diese sermons have their special and to a certain extent also enduring significance. The sermons are dedicated to the widowed Duchess Margarethe of BraunschweigLiineberg . Luther had been urged from various quarters to speak on the sacraments, since there were many troubled and anxious consciences "who do not know die holy and gracious sacrament, nor know how to use it," something diat Ludier had also expe­ rienced.5 In the meantime he had discovered a new relation to the sacrament diat was clearly not only theological but also personal. It thus took on importance for him as a means of grace and a strengthening of faith in the midst of inner conflict. Statements in his 1S17/1S18 lecture on Hebrews indicated a new impulse in this direction.6 Now he had made further progress. In all three sermons Luther gave a unique definition of the sacrament that is without precedent in all die tradition. According to Luther, what is first to be dis­ tinguished is the sacrament or sign, then its meaning, and diird, faith.7 What is 3 WA Br 1 Nr. 231, 19-24: "De aliis sacramentis non est, quod tu vel ullus hominum ex me speret aut exspectet ullum sermonem, donee docear, quo loco queam ilia probare. Non enim ullum mihi reliquum est sacramentum, quod sacramentum non sit, nisi ubi expressa detur promissio divina, que fidem exerceat, cum sine verbo promittentis & fide suscipientis nihil possuit nobis esse cum Deo negotii." ("Neither you nor anyone else should look for or expect a word from...