05-4 Theology of the..

Luther’s Augustinian Understanding of Justification
in the Lectures on Romans
AUGUSTINE’S STRUGGLE AGAINST PELAGIUS has direct bearing
upon Luther’s theology. In his Lectures on Romans,
Luther draws heavily on Augustine, citing mostly his anti-
Pelagian writings. Of these writings, Augustine’s De spiritu et littera
plays the greatest role. 1 Luther refers to it throughout his
comments on the first seven chapters. 2 This phenomenon invites
investigation concerning the influence of De spiritu et littera on
the Romans lectures. Does Luther adopt Augustine’s distinction
between Spirit and letter If so, what influence does it have on his
understanding of justification
SPIRIT AND LETTER
It may be helpful first to articulate Augustine’s view of Spirit and
letter in De spiritu et littera. The passage of Scripture to which
Augustine appeals is 2 Corinthians 3:6: “for the letter kills, but the
Spirit gives life.” 3 Augustine had once understood this passage as
a license to allegorize. The literal meaning of the Scriptures kills,
so one should seek the spiritual meaning.³ But he rejects that
opinion in De spiritu et littera, or at least relegates it to a secondary
place. His new understanding is that the letter is the law
(which kills), while the Spirit is the Holy Spirit who heals the sinner
and enables him to keep the law.
The law kills because it is external. Its demands can be kept
externally, but the law lacks the power to enable one to do these
works from the heart. Augustine states,
Even those who did as the law commanded, without the
help of the Spirit of grace, did it through fear of punishment
and not from love of righteousness [amore iustitiae]. 4
Augustine here identifies the help of the Spirit as the production
of amor. For Augustine, the factor that determines whether a
work is good or bad is not the external quality of the work, but
the internal disposition of the one who does the work. Works that
are not done from amor cannot be good works, and thus they
cannot give life. The distinction between Spirit and letter for
Augustine is a distinction between internal and external. The law
is external, while the Spirit, grace, and love are internal.
Augustine does not think, however, that the letter and the
Spirit contradict or exclude each other. He stresses not only the
difference, but also the congruity (congruentia) of the Spirit with
the letter. He finds evidence of this congruity in that there were
DAVID MAXWELL is an S. T. M. student at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis,
Missouri.
David Maxwell
11
fifty days between the Passover and Moses’ reception of the law
on Mt. Sinai just as there were fifty days between Jesus’ death
and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore,
the Holy Spirit, who is called the finger of God, wrote the
law on both occasions. In the Old Testament, he wrote it on
stones; in the New Testament he wrote in on hearts. Augustine
sums this up by saying,
When, to put fear into the mind of the flesh, the works of
charity [caritatis] are written upon tables, we have the law
[lex] of works, the letter killing the transgressor: when charity
[caritas] itself is shed abroad in the hearts of believers, we
have the law [lex] of faith, the Spirit giving life to the lover
[dilectorem]. 5
The congruentia between the Spirit and the letter is reflected in
that Augustine uses the same words to describe both. Both urge
caritas. Both are lex. The only difference is that the letter is caritas
written on tablets of stone (externally), while the Spirit is caritas
written on the heart (internally).
The congruity of the letter and the Spirit makes possible an
augmenting movement from the one to the other. The Spirit does
not contradict the letter, but provides a more inward and more
powerful version of the same thing. This inward movement is
also an upward movement toward God. Augustine describes this
ascent in Platonic terms:
[A man] receives the Holy Spirit, by whom there is produced
in his soul a delight and love of that highest
immutable good [summi illius atque immutabilis boni]
which is God. This happens even now when he walks by
faith, not yet by sight so that, since the love has been given
him as an earnest of God’s free gift, he might burn to cling
to the creator and be inflamed to draw near to the participation
[participatio] of that true light, in order to receive wellbeing
from the same one from whom he has being. 6
All of this activity is directed toward the highest and immutable
Good (summum et immutabile bonum). The goal is participatio
with the Creator’s light. “Participation” and the “highest and
immutable Good” are vital in the Platonic tradition. Neoplatonism
assumes a congruity between the One (or the Good) and all
things. All things have being because they “participate” in the
One to some extent. The goal of Neoplatonism is to raise the soul
to an ever higher and more intimate participation with the One.
Augustine’s use of the terms “participation” and “highest and