But why is “gospel” such a magic word? Why is gospel so different from other sets of words? Luther raises the question himself immediately following his testy remarks about great scholars not being the best Christians: When, therefore, the question is raised why the gospel is called the word of the Spirit, a spiritual teaching, [...]
Let us begin in proper hermeneutical fashion with a text. It is taken from Luther’s Lectures on Romans where he is commenting on Romans 7:5-6 and struggling with the question of the “oldness of the letter” or “law:” The real difference between the old and the new law [read: gospel] is this: The old law [...]
But how then are we to regard the not-preached God? How then is God not preached to be related to God preached? This is the most critical point in the discussion. God must therefore be left to himself in his own majesty, for in this regard we have nothing to do with him, nor has [...]
The proclamation of the gospel comes effectively to those who have been brought to despair over sin through the law. Why then are some touched by the law and others not? Here, Luther insists, our theologizing has reached its limit. The ultimate answer to the “why lies in that hidden and awful will of God [...]
[The Law] cannot present itself as a new and perhaps higher kind of law which supposedly “saves” man. It must foster a proclamation which points to Christ…It must realize that the unity of law and gospel- that is , that the God of the law and the God of the gospel are one and the [...]
We find ourselves in a situation in which there is increasing talk about the theology of the cross but little specific knowledge of what exactly it is. In the absence of clear understanding, the theology of the cross tends to become sentimentalized, especially in an age that is so concerned about victimization. Jesus is spoken [...]
“I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live.” (Ezekiel 18:23) Erasmus argued that if God does not desire the death of the sinner, such death can only be due to the wrong exercise of free will. In other words, since God does not desire it, human [...]
The only solution to the problem of the abstract, naked, absconding God is the proclamation: God preached. The failure in systematic theology to attend to the fundamental distinction between God not preached and God preached has been disastrous. This distinction comes from Luther, though perhaps not even he exploited its full significance. Luther’s distinctions in [...]
Much of our conversation has revolved around the doctrine of the first use of the law. However, even though the doctrine has been talked about considerably, no consistent argument about what is involved has actually been made. We need therefore to ask more directly: Does the first use of the law provide “room” within which [...]
