{"id":553,"date":"2014-06-03T13:33:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T18:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/?p=553"},"modified":"2017-12-18T19:01:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T01:01:32","slug":"martin-luther-on-studying-theology-and-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/2014\/06\/03\/martin-luther-on-studying-theology-and-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Luther on Studying Theology and Reading Scripture"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Moreover, I want to point out to you a correct way of studying theology, for I have had practice in that.\u00a0 If you keep to it, you will become so learned that you yourself could (if it were necessary) write books just as good as those of the fathers and councils, even as I (in God) dare to presume and boast, without arrogance and lying, that in the matter of writing books I do not stand much behind some of the fathers.\u00a0 Of my life I can by no means make the same boast.\u00a0 This is the way taught by holy King David (and doubtlessly\u00a0used also by all the patriarchs and prophets)\u00a0in the\u00a0hundred nineteenth Psalm.\u00a0 There you will find three rules, amply presented throughout the whole Psalm.\u00a0 They are Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio<\/em><\/strong>.” Martin Luther, “Preface to the Wittenberg Edition of Luther’s German Writings,” Luther’s Works<\/em>, vol. 34, p. 285.\u00a0 [Italics in original]<\/p>\n

Prayer, meditation, and tribulation (Anfechtung<\/em>)\u00a0laid the foundation for Luther’s understanding of Scripture. \u00a0Here Luther seeks to demonstrate the proper means to study theology and he begins with\u00a0Psalm 119.\u00a0 Studying theology takes place as a part of\u00a0true piety and within the\u00a0struggles of the Christian life.<\/p>\n

“Firstly, you should know that the Holy Scriptures constitute a book which turns the wisdom of all other books into foolishness, because not one teaches about eternal life except this one alone.\u00a0 Therefore you should straightway despair of your reason and understanding….But\u00a0kneel down in your little room [Matt. 6:6] and pray to God with real humility and earnestness, that he through his dear Son may give {p. 286} you his\u00a0Holy Spirit, who will enlighten you, lead you, and give you understanding.” Ibid., pp. 285-86.<\/p>\n

Luther believed a true understanding of Scripture could\u00a0only take place through prayer inspired by true faith.\u00a0 The entire Trinity acts as we pray for God to enlighten our understanding by the Holy Spirit through the Son. \u00a0For Luther (as with many Christians before him) God acts through the devout, prayerful study of his Word:<\/p>\n

“Secondly, you should meditate, that is, not only in your heart, but also externally<\/strong><\/em>, by actually repeating<\/em><\/strong> and comparing oral speech and literal words of the book, reading and rereading<\/em><\/strong> them with diligent attention and reflection, so that you may see what the Holy Spirit means by them.\u00a0 And take care that you do no grow weary or think that you have done enough when you have read, heard, and spoken them once or twice, and that you then have complete understanding.\u00a0 You will never be a particularly good theologian if you do that, for you will be like untimely fruit which falls to the ground before it is ripe…For God will not give you his Spirit without the external Word; so take your cue from that.\u00a0 His command to write, preach, read, hear, sing, speak, etc, outwardly was not given in vain.”\u00a0 Ibid., p. 286. [Emphasis added]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Moreover, I want to point out to you a correct way of studying theology, for I have had practice in that.\u00a0 If you keep to it, you will become so learned that you yourself could (if it were necessary) write … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,21,10,80,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-martin-luther-history","category-reading","category-teaching","category-theology","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":836,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions\/836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}