Well, I finally made it through the Spanish Inquisition and into Volume 2 of The Story of Christianity (Gonzalez) and it feels like coming up for a huge breath of fresh air. Just for a moment there’s a break in all the killing while we listen to voices of reason and sanity.
So join me as we continue on the journey! Here are some quotes describing Martin Luther’s beliefs regarding the Word of God:
“Luther sought to make the Word of God the starting point and the final authority for his theology. …what he understood by the “Word of God” was more than the written word in the Bible. In its primary sense, the Word of God is none other than God. …”in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“Therefore, when God speaks, we are not simply given information; also, and above all, God acts. …When God speaks, that which is uttered is also created. God’s Word, besides telling us something, does something in us and in all creation. That creative and powerful Word was incarnate in Jesus, who is both God’s greatest revelation and God’s greatest action.”
“The Bible is the Word of God because in it Jesus, the Word incarnate, comes to us. Any who read the Bible and somehow do not find Jesus in it, have not encountered the Word of God.”
The second paragraph puts me in mind of Wycliffe’s original English translation of Genesis: “And God seide ‘Light be made’, and light was made.” As if it’s the most everyday of things to tell something to be made and it happens.
God’s Word is alive and powerful. It brings to light things in darkness, and brings to life what is not yet alive. That’s why speaking and preaching His Word turns people’s lives around — not speaking our words, but speaking His. Because His Word is active. It makes things happen.
[…] Filet Mignon for the Soul part 1 I wrote about Martin Luther’s theology of the Word; in this part I’d like to look at […]
Peg, your description and response to Martin Luther’s (and God’s) are powerful, too.
Thanks! 🙂 I was able to share Luther’s concept with the Bible study group last night and I think it really captured their imaginations.
(BTW we were studying the passage where Jesus says to Nicodemus “you must be born again” and I said I wondered if, rather than Jesus saying “here’s the rules, dude” what Jesus was really doing was speaking Nicodemus’ salvation into being at that very moment. Just a thought, don’t know how accurate it is, but it does give a whole new flavor to the passage.)