Righteousness Islam Judaism Christianity
The term or concept ‘righteousness of God' has been heavily debated among scholars and researchers within the Judea/Christian circles for a long period of time. “[…] Righteousness refers to an important theological concept in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. […] It is an attribute that implies that person actions are justified, and can have the connotation that the person has been ‘judged or reckoned as leading a life that is pleasing to God.”
In Christian theology, righteousness is used to describe the essence of the diagnosis of the human problem and that God will provide a divine solution.
“[…] What is signified by the righteousness of God', and how is it manifested? What does it mean to affirm that God is ‘righteous'?” Within the book of Romans 1:17, the apostle Paul refers to this terminology by stating that “[…] for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Paul practically equates the revelation of the ‘righteousness of God' with this gospel. Martin Luther wrestled and struggled with the terminology used in this bible text for a long period of time to understand what this really meant and what was God saying about God.
Purpose of Study
This paper will assess and analyze Martin Luther's discovery of ‘righteousness of God' utilizing some of Luther's primary sources and other relevant sources that relate to this topic. In particular, I will attempt to analyze his view point and lectures from the period up to 1515, and his change of view on this topic from after 1515 to 1545.
Limitations
This paper will not dwell on all key areas of Luther's reformation, but I will briefly comment and make reference to his background and early rise to becoming a leading reformer of his era this event. I will attempt to highlight and focus on significant factors concerning ‘righteousness of God' such as Via Moderna, the concept of Iustitia Dei and autobiographical fragment.
Historical & Theological Background
Luther was born in a small town in Germany called Eisleben in 1483. “[…] He was educated at the University of Erfurt, initially studying within faculty of arts, […] before beginning the study of theology at the local Augustinian monastery.” At the University of Erfurt, Occamim was predominant in the teachings of philosophy and theology. Luther a German monk, theologian and renowned church reformer, he is also considered to be the founder of Protestantism. Luther's theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding that the bible is the sole source of religious authority and that all baptized Christians are a general priesthood. According to Luther, salvation was attainable only by faith in Jesus as the Messiah, a faith unmediated by the church.
In 1512, Luther “[…] gained an appointment as professor of biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg, and lectured on Psalms (1513- 15), Romans (1515-16), Galatians (1516-17), and Hebrews (1517-1518)” Luther's lectures at Wittenberg are considered and widely regarded as laying the foundations for his subsequent theological development. His ideas and religious convictions were further developed during and through his interpretation of the scriptures. Luther was concerned with the relation of God to human beings and from his relationship, with human self-understanding.“[…] At some point during the above mentioned lecture periods, Luther radically changed his theological views, […] there is an intense scholarly debate over both the nature and the date of this breakthrough.” Also, “[…] at the heart of Luther's faith and theology is a discussion about the righteousness of God”
Analysis Concept - Righteousness of God
Within the introduction, the question was asked what is the righteousness of God? Before we analyze and review Luther's discovery of this whole concept we need to first answer the question. “[…] an examination of the medieval exegesis of Romans 1:17 indicate that there was an early consensus among Pauline exegetes that Iustitia Dei (the righteousness of God) was to be understood as referring primarily to Gods righteousness as demonstrated in the justification of the ungodly, […] iustificatio impii, in accordance with Gods promises of mercy.” There are two main themes of interpretation that we can understand from this concept: “[…] 1) Iustitia Dei is the righteous by which God is righteous […] God promises to give salvation, faithful to what he has promised. 2) Iustitia Dei is the righteous who origin is God. […] The righteousness of God designates, not Gods personal righteousness, but the righteousness bestowed upon sinners in Gods gracious acceptance of justification.”
Both justification and via moderna influence derived from the modern Augustinian school which is where Luther was taught and these concepts became integral to Luther's reformation. Via moderna, ‘the modern way' “[…] was known as movement started in the fourteenth and fifteenth associated with scholars such as William Ockham. […] Via moderna had significant influences on European universities, in Paris, Heidelberg and Erfurt. […] The movement adopted a doctrine of justification which many critics branded as Pelagian.”
Luther became frustrated with the almost impossible difficulties of the idea and concept of Iustitia Dei. He wrote lectures on this concept and commented on the following books “[…] Psalms, Romans Galatians and Hebrews”. In one of his lectures commenting on Romans 1:17 he says “[…] for the righteousness, by which a person is worthy of such salvation, of God, by which alone there are righteous people before God, by which alone there are righteous people before God, is revealed in it, because formerly it was considered hidden and to consist in a persons own works.” The situation became even more challenging and difficult for Luther in late 1514 or early 1515. Luther asks himself the question “What happens if the sinner is incapable of meeting the basic precondition of the righteousness of God? What happens if sinners are so crippled and trapped by sin that they cannot fulfill the demand which is made of them?” In Luther's own discovery and understanding of Romans 1:17 did not correctly transmit Paul's view of righteousness of God. “[…] Luther was aware that his understanding agreed essentially with Augustine.” It seemed that “[…] Luther was unable to meet the precondition necessary to achieve salvation; there appeared no way for god to reward him with salvation. […] He cries out how can I find a gracious God (wie kriege ich einen gnadigen Gott)?”
The Break Through Period
Nobody knows exactly when this period began, possibly after 1515 “[…] scholars refer to this period as the discovery by means of the German term Turmerlebris, the tower experience. Luther's understanding prior to the tower experience led him to make every possible to be a just person, his new theological discovery enabled him to understand that the biblical concept of the righteousness of God was not to be understood by seeing God as an awful judge, but instead as a truth revealed in the promises of the gospel.
Luther wrote about his tower experience “I hated the words ‘righteousness of God' […] I had been taught to understand by teachers the active righteousness with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner.” Now, for the first time the word ‘righteousness of God' “[…] over which Luther agonized and which he had come to dread and hate, became for him the ‘sweetest word with a love as great as hatred with which I had before hated the word.” Luther comments about his teacher Augustine by saying that “[…] although the ‘righteousness of God' he expressed somewhat imperfectly, […] he is pleased that they both agree that we are justified by this concept.
Luther wrote in his “autobiographical fragment” (as it is usually known) “[…] Luther aimed to provide those readers with background information about the development of his vocation as a reformer.” He states that “[…] the God of the Christian gospel is not a harsh judge who rewards individuals to their merits, but a merciful and gracious God who bestows righteousness upon sinners as a gift. The understanding of Gods righteousness and the justification of the godless person is a good example of Luther's rejection of the prevailing theological tradition of his time and its interpretation of key biblical texts. For Luther “[…] all words take on a new meaning in Christ, because all the words we use in our talk of God have their meaning from their reference to the gracious and loving devotion of God to human beings.”
Conclusion
Martin Luther's discovery of the ‘righteousness of God' experience reminds me of the Apostle Paul's experience on the road to the Damascus found in Acts 22:6-11 "Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. 7 "And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' 8 "So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' 9 "And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. 10 "So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.' 11 "And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.” Saul was in ignorance persecuting the Christians and Luther was in ignorance hating God before he discovered and recognized the depth behind the texts and was transformed like Paul.
Luther early years were clearly influenced by Pelagian and Augustinian schools of thought, however he pursued to find out and understand for himself the true meaning of righteousness. I personally admire his passion and spirit, sometimes as Christians we want to be handed down information and not willing to dig and search so that we can grasp a deeper understanding of the word of God. Luther's search galvanized his faith even though he found this tough and difficult to begin with. However after this experience he found a new zeal and determination to spread the gospel and press forward with his reformation movement.
Finally, “[…] the righteousness of God does not condemn the unjust, but make an unjust person righteous. The justification of non believer and sinner is evident in the words of promise and hope which we find in Matthew 11:28 or John 3: 16.” Iustitia Dei according to Luther is “[…] 1) righteousness is a gift from God, rather than belong to God, 2) righteousness is revealed in the cross. For Luther this was his main point compared to the view of his teacher Augustine”
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