Justification through faith and works- Martin Luther Flashcards
Who was Martin Luther prior to his change of religion?
Prior to being protestant he was a catholic worshipper, very dominant very obedient in the church He was essentially a disturbed god and disturbed by gods perfectness and how sinful he was and every act he did he would try and repay for as he felt so sinful
What was Luthers first solution while being catholic to try to be righteous?
Tried penance- one of the sarcraments to have confession with a. priest and be forgiven for his sins
spent 6 hours trying to be forgiven but still felt unforgiven it didn’t work
What was Luthers second solution to try and be right with god?
Tried to under go asectisim and starve, mysticism through transient experiences- self flagellation
tried to fast to get mystical experience. In some way he did feel transient and felt the power of god but it was only trasnicnet, it didn’t last very long. He thought he couldn’t ever be with god
What was the step towards being protestant?
He hated god “Love god? I hate him” He later went onto distract himself to study the bible and the scripture at the university of Wittenberg to try and deserve deep r into the bible
What is the changing of Luthers quotation?
“the righteousness will live by faith” - Romans 1:17
righteous is obtained only through faith- we dont need works
What themes can sola scripture link to?
Eccesliates- gods nature, problem of evil. salvation history, compassion
What is a sola fide quotation?
“the justice of gods righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy and justified faith”
we dont earn it it is a gif as holiness
What is Luthers conflict with the Catholic Church?
The catholic church remain on the side of doctrine of purgatory- remaining faithful and forgiveness. Luther dismisses authority oft he priest- diminishing power of priest hood. Luther argues we dont need the priest we need the bible
Who was tetzel?
Claimed that someone would be forgiven through paying indulgences signed by the pope and help the church- Luther didn’t like this
“when the coin of the coffer rings a soul from purgatory spring”
What did Luther encounter with poor people?
He saw poor people giving their money away In hope that they would be with their dead people in heaven- Luther saw this tha the church were ripping people off as you cant get into heaven through works
What were the 95 theses?
Arguments against the Catholic Church- nailed them onto the door of Wittenberg
containing the popes aurhtoity to allow this
the sale of indulgences
How did the 95 theses get spread/
Through the power of the printing press, copies spread throughout weeks. The reformation would have never happened without the press
Where was Luther summoned to?
Summoned to a meeting with the cardinal to say relate these criticism get rid of the theses. Luther refused and was subjected to trial in Rome for heresy
What happened with the pope and why did he describe him as the “an instrument of the anti christ”?
Essentially due to the catholic church being so in faofur of the pope and higher autority the pope said if you question me you are questioning god- cathedra.
What did Luther teach at the university of wittenburgh>
Sola scirptura
cant be saved through any works alone
the bible can be read and interpreted in any way not just by the chalice church- why there are so many different types of reformers
people interpret the bible diffeently
calvinsim- barth- tertuilllan th scripture is. metaphor
Which teachings did Luther allow?
He argued that baptism and the eucharist were still suffieicnet, but sacrament had no sacrificial meaning
How can James quotation in the bible be seen as going against Martin Luther?
James 2:24 “a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone”
How can Martin Luther being critical of chapters in the bible be critical and contradictory to his view of sola Scripture?
If Martin Luther argues that faith alone is better with sola scripture why does he dismiss some chapters and not some surely he should dismiss them all
What is the diet of worms?
convicted as a heretic,, excommunicated from catholic and hid to avoid arrest
during his hiding he translated the latin Vulgate to German- links to the western church
created litherisim
What was Luthers responses to judaism?
Said judaism was ridiculous as it only allowed for the doctrine of purgatory- salvation history this everlasting covenant with god
“on the jews are lies” treats
What Protestants can Luther be referred to?
Calvinism and John lock- own interpretation of the bible
What is Luthers belief on forensic justification?
We are made righteousness through crhsit alone- solo Christ’s
we receive Jesus’ righteousness in exhcngae for our sins our guilt
How did Luther describe our righteous and compare it with Jesus?
Jesus has this “alien righenouss” to us as Jesus isn’t sinful and we cant experience it, only through Jesus on the christ can we know this salvation. in exchange for our guilt. Through baptism god gives us this- through Holy Spirit (trinity link)
What is legal fiction?
How do we know our sins have been justified how do we know we are sinless?
What are protestants beliefs on legal fiction?
We will utlimelalty feel intrinsically sinful but through our guilt gods declaration and righrwnouss acts through Jesus which makes us unsinful - extrinsically
What is the latin phrase of simualtlenosly justified and sinners?
“simuljustus et peccator”
some protestants believed we have been relieved of this sin all together
What does John 6:298-9 say about only faith alone?
“what must we do to perform the works of god? to believe in the one he has sent”- only belief in Jesus is needed for salvation
What does the book of acts with the jailer say about faith alone?
“believe in the lord, Jesus and you will be saved- and your household”- just believe
What is the catholic view for faith and works?
justfifying faith saves, and good works contribute to this salvation
good works cant desire justification its mostly the divine gift of grace
What does grace give us?
Gives us faith in god
prepare our hearts to receive faith
its free
What is our grace for Augustine?
Our free gift of grace essentially gives us this power for our own free will to do good deeds, transforming ourselves to be more like Jesus- soul making theories links with John hick extensitalism
What is the Ephesians quotations to say abut augustines soul deciding theory?
“work out your salvation fear and trembling”
What is the bible evidence of genesis and Abraham fro catholics faith and works?
Praised for faith/obdeidnece and action secured justified
What does Matthews gospel say about faith nd works combined within Jesus?
“keep the commandments… but if yo want to be perfect go sell what you have and give to the poor and come follow me”
Jesus expects good works as basic requirements
follow him= perfection
What does the parade of the sheep and goat say?
Serving others brings you into a relationship with christ, even if no faith
What is the letter with James saying about faith itself?
“faith itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”- we need faith and actions
What does ep sanders say about Luther?
Believes Luther has misinterpreted Pauls letters
st Pauls letters suggest believers should avoid any hint of doing work to win salvation infant he is saying something else
What is ep sanders book about Paul and judaism
Ep sanders analysed Pauls writings and said merely Paul was using it as a way to reply to jews and new christians what they must do to have salvation and if the need to follow the old jewish mosaic law.
In ep sanders palestian judaism book what was he saying to christians?
Saying that they didn’t need to follow the mosaic law as it was part of the old covenant with god and wouldn’t save them they needed to follow the new covenant with Jesus to have salvation- like did they have to shave their hair on the sides/follow kosher
Why to pull didn’t the jews need to follow the old law?
AS it would mean Jesus’ salvation and Jesus’ crucifixion were pointless, to be saved we need faith in Jesus
What is the word to describe ep sanders methods?
Convental nominism
What is the antinomian doctrine?
Opposed to see ing the law as valuable- st Paul and Luther
What does ep sanders say is Pauls view on law?
it is a good training fo salvation
What is the corinthians quote of Pauls to contradict luthers view on Paul?
“keeping gods commandments is what counts”- corinthians 7-19
What do protestants differ to catholics?
Gods grace-faith-salavton
deeds cant lead to salvation
What is catholics view on grace?
Grace- faith- salvation with the combination of deeds.
contribute to salvation and are a by product
What does Calvin say about Luthers doctrine of faith alone?
Faith has a personal, rather than a purely hsitrocial reference
faith concerns trust inn the promises of god- developing a relationship
faith unites the believer to Christ
Why might philosophers like bultmann say faith alone is historically unreliable?
WE need to demythologise the bible and faith alone cant help, futile but does say we need faith
What did Luther say about the historical reliability of faith?
faith actually in terms of works can never be subjected to divert discussions on the reliability, believing christ died “pro nobis” for us and personally has given us the work of salvation
What does Luther say about the trusting of faith?
“Fiducia”- trust . everything depends upon faith and faith is trust
faith is like a ship we need to entrust ourselves on it and act upon that belief and relying on it
How does Luther describe faith as being a union?
Faith acts upon a union between christ and the believer. faith makes both christ and his benefits like forgiveness available to the believer.
What is the doctrine of justification for Fatih?
To say we need to believe I an account of works, Luther says that all we need to do as a sinner is receive the justification. God is active and we are passive
What does justification mean for us according to Luther?
God coves our nakedness with his garment- Ezekiel 16:8. faith is the right relationship to god
sin and rightenouess co exist, we remain sinners inwardly but we are rightness extrinsically. confessing our sins in faith is righenouess with god.
