Theological Origins of Modernity

322 notes to pages 115–117
50. Packer and Johnston, “Introduction,” in Bondage, 47.
51. WA 18:684.26–686.13; LW 33:138–40. On Luther’s deus absconditus, see David C.
Steinmetz, “Luther and the Hidden God,” Luther in Context, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids:
Baker, 2002), 23–31.
52. Packer and Johnston, “Introduction,” in Bondage, 54.
53. Marius, Martin Luther, 187. See also Gerhard Ebeling, Evangelische Evangelienauslegung,
3d ed. (Tübingen: Mohr, 1991), 258. “Luther’s God comes to us in darkness
except for the light of Christ.” Marius, Martin Luther, 224.
54. Oberman, Luther, 156.
55. Marius, Martin Luther, 216.
56. Th is claim is repeated throughout Luther’s work. For a relatively early example see
his Second Christmas Sermon; Titus 3:4–8, taken from his Church Postil of 1522.
“God’s Grace Received Must be Bestowed, “ WA 10.Ia:95–128 .
57. Packer and Johnston, “Introduction,” in Bondage, 58.
58. Oberman, Luther, 164.
59. D. Martin Luthers Werke: Die Deutsche Bibel, 12 vols. (Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus
Nachfolger, 1906–61), 7:9.23–29 (hereaft er WADB); “Preface to the Epistle of St.
Paul to the Romans,” in Martin Luther: Selections from his Writings, ed. John Dillenberger
(New York: Doubleday), 23 (hereaft er, Dillenberger).
60. WA 40.I:235.15–17; LW 26:133. It is in this vein that we need to understand his advice
to Melanchthon to sin bravely. He does not encourage him to sin but reminds
him that we fi nite human beings are doomed to sin but that we must not forget
that God forgives us our sins if we believe in him.
61. “An Introduction to Martin Luther,” in Dillenberger, xxvi.
62. WADB 7:10.16–17; Dillenberger, 24.
63. Th is move has far-reaching consequences, not the least of which is the destruction
of traditional Christian ethics, for this view separates reward and merit and
deprives good works of their scriptural warrant. Oberman, Luther, 154.
64. WA 40.I:64.14–65.8; LW 26:21–22.
65. Marius, Martin Luther, 204.
66. Dillenberger, xxvii.
67. Marius, Martin Luther, 232.
68. WA 7:51.17; LW 31:346.
69. Marius, Martin Luther, 255. Ernst Bizer follows the texts carefully to his conclusion
that the “gospel” became for Luther not only revelation but the medium through
which a Christian achieved righteousness. Th e gospel wakened faith. Bizer, Fides
ex auditu: Eine Untersuchung über die Entdeckung der Gerechtigkeit Gottes durch
Martin Luther, 3d ed. (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1966), 166–67.
On this point see Marius, Martin Luther, 202.
70. “For Luther, as for many others in his time, the belief that there was a God without
knowing that He was a God for oneself was tantamount to atheism, that is, to
acting as if His existence made no diff erence. . . . Th e transition from un-faith to
faith occurs through the Word—usually the proclaimed Word—which is given
and received in the miracle of faith.” Dillenberger, xxvii.