{"id":584,"date":"2013-06-06T13:55:06","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T18:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/?p=584"},"modified":"2013-06-13T00:59:36","modified_gmt":"2013-06-13T05:59:36","slug":"luther-persecution-the-cross-and-martyrdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/2013\/06\/06\/luther-persecution-the-cross-and-martyrdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Luther, Persecution, the Cross, and Martyrdom"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am working on a presentation for a symposiusm at Saint Louis University from June 17 through June 19, 2013.\u00a0http:\/\/smrs.slu.edu\/<\/a>\u00a0My paper will examine the relationship between Martin Luther’s understanding of martyrdom and the theology of the cross.\u00a0 Particularly, it will focus on how Luther imagined martyrdom and persecution to be the\u00a0Christian’s bearing the cross.\u00a0 Here are a few quotes from Luther’s writings:<\/p>\n

“For where God’s Word is preached, accepted, or believed, and bears fruit, there the holy and precious cross will also not be far behind.\u00a0 And let no one think that we will have peace; rather we must sacrifice all we have on earth–possessions, honor, house and farm, spouse and children, body and life. Now, this grieves our flesh and the old creature, for it means that we must remain steadfast, suffer patiently whatever befalls us, and let go whatever is taken from us.” Martin Luther,The Large Catechism<\/em>, Third Part: Lord’s Prayer, sections 65-66,\u00a0in The Book of Concord<\/em>, eds. Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wingert (Minneapolis 2000), pp. 448-449.<\/p>\n

Luther included this statement in his\u00a0explanation of “May your will come about on earth as in heaven.”\u00a0 He observes how the devil,\u00a0the world, and our flesh collaborate to hinder God’s\u00a0will\u00a0on earth.\u00a0 If\u00a0other tricks don’t work, Luther writes that the devil and the world will inflict punishment and misfortune on Christians.<\/p>\n

“…no one should fear even if all the wisdom and power of the world oppose the Gospel, yea, even if they plan to suppress it by shedding of blood; for the more blood is shed, the more Christians there will be.\u00a0 The blood of Christians, as Tertulian [sic]\u00a0says, is the seed from which\u00a0Christians grow.\u00a0 Satan must be drowned in the blood of Christians….” Martin Luther, “Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity,” in Sermons of Martin Luther<\/em>, vol. 5, ed.\u00a0John Nicholas Lenker, [reprint of\u00a0The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther<\/em>, vol. 14, 1905], (Grand Rapids 1988), p. 299.<\/p>\n

Here Luther refers to Tertullian’s famous statement in defense of early Christians under the Roman Empire. (see Apology, chap. 50)http:\/\/www.tertullian.org\/articles\/mayor_apologeticum\/mayor_apologeticum_07translation.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

“Today is the day of the\u00a0discovery of the [relic of the]\u00a0Cross.\u00a0 Therefore, we want to see, how the cross may be\u00a0found.\u00a0 Actually, the cross means suffering that is bound together\u00a0with\u00a0shame and\u00a0disgrace (Schmach und Schande).\u00a0 Paul speaks of this (Phil. 2:8): ‘Christ became obedient to death,’ however\u00a0not to a bad death, but rather adds, “to death on a cross,” that is, to a disgraceful death. So Christ had to suffer most shamefully.\u00a0 For this reason, the actual suffering of the Christian is called the cross.\u00a0 For the Christian suffers differently than a Jew or heathen.\u00a0 So the martyrs still had to suffer all kinds of shame (Schmach), indeed even if they were not guilty at all.” Martin Luther, “Am Tage der Kreuzes Erfindung,”\u00a0[On the Day of the Invention of the Cross], St. Louis\u00a0Edition, vol. 12, col. 1856.\u00a0[My translation]<\/p>\n

In this sermon from\u00a0the early 1520s Dr. Luther\u00a0sought to turn his congregation away from the veneration of relics of the Cross toward a right understanding of the Christian’s cross.\u00a0 Notice that Luther equated the Christian’s cross with suffering shamefully for Christ’s sake and martyrdom.<\/p>\n

“For God appointed that we should not only believe in the crucified Christ, but also be crucified with him<\/em><\/strong>, as he clearly shows in many places in the Gospels…Therefore each\u00a0one must bear a part of the holy cross; nor can it\u00a0be\u00a0otherwise.\u00a0 St. Paul too says, ‘In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions’ [Col. 1:24].\u00a0 It is as if he were saying: His whole Christendom is not fully completed; we too must follow after, in order that none of the suffering of Christ may be lacking or lost, but all brought together into one.\u00a0 Therefore every Christian must be aware that suffering will not fail to come.\u00a0 It should be, however, and must be the kind of suffering that is worthy of the name and honestly grips and hurts, such as some great danger of property, honor, body, and life.\u00a0 Such suffering as we really feel, which weighs us down; otherwise, if it did not hurt us badly, it would not be suffering.” Martin Luther, “Sermon\u00a0at Coburg on Cross and Suffering,” Luther’s Works<\/em>, vol. 51, p. 198. [Emphasis added]<\/p>\n

In 1530, on the eve of the Diet of Augsburg, Luther preached this sermon\u00a0to the Lutheran princes, other\u00a0theologians and court officials of\u00a0Electoral Saxony at Coburg Castle.\u00a0 He intended this sermon as a promise and warning that suffering would come as a result of the bold confession before the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.<\/p>\n

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I am working on a presentation for a symposiusm at Saint Louis University from June 17 through June 19, 2013.\u00a0http:\/\/smrs.slu.edu\/\u00a0My paper will examine the relationship between Martin Luther’s understanding of martyrdom and the theology of the cross.\u00a0 Particularly, it will … 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":[1,60,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-martin-luther-history","category-martyrdom","category-persecution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584","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=584"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":593,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions\/593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.cune.edu\/matthewphillips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}