Martin Luther: The Problem with Faith and Reason: A Reexamination in Light of the Epistemological and Christological Issues

by David Andersen, John Warwick Montgomery (Preface by), Paul Helm (Foreword by)

Overview

Luther's critics have consistently charged him as an irrationalist and pessimist concerning reason's capabilities, and even by his followers as a fideist who sees little or no relationship between faith and reason. In this book, David Andersen offers a fresh and timely re-evaluation of Luther and his understanding of the relationship between faith and reason based upon a thorough engagement with Luther's mature writings. Dr. Andersen persuasively argues that, far from being either an irrationalist or a fideist, Luther stands within an empiricist tradition and that his pronouncements on fallen human reason can be understood only from that philosophical perspective. Based upon recent research into the writings of William of Ockham, who positively influenced Luther in this area, Dr. Andersen also shows that Luther can no longer be charged as a pessimist concerning human knowledge. Reason has an important role to play for Luther in bringing one to faith, and the objectivity of Christ's resurrection serves as that focal point that validates all Christian discourse. In subordinating itself to the facts of the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, reason's created function is restored to some extent as it receives that forgiveness in the words of Holy Scripture and the visible means of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725254220
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	196
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

David Andersen holds a Ph.D. in theology from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford/Coventry University and has taught at several American universities. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.
John Warwick Montgomery is Professor Emeritus of Law and Humanities, University of Bedfordshire, England; Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University Wisconsin; and Director, International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights (Strasbourg, France). He holds ten earned degrees, including a Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, the Doctorat d'Universite in Protestant theology from the University of Strasbourg, France, and the LL.M. and LL.D. from the University of Cardiff, Wales/UK. He is an English barrister and a member of the Paris bar. A frequent contributor to Christianity Today, Montgomery has been honored by inclusion in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in France, Who's Who in the World, and the Dictionary of International Biography. He is the author of some fifty books in the areas of theology, philosophy, law, and church history. He pleads cases before the European Court of Human Rights and has received the Patriarch's Medal of the Romanian Orthodox Church for his efforts in behalf of religious liberty. He is an ordained Lutheran pastor.
Paul Helm is a Teaching Fellow at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada. He held the Chair of the History and Philosophy at King's College, London, 1993-2000. He is the author of several books, including John Calvin's Ideas (2004) and Eternal God (2nd ed., 2010).

Table of Contents

Preface John Warwick Montgomery 9

Foreword Paul Helm 11

Introduction 13

Part 1 Epistemology and Logic

Chapter 1 The Problem in its Historical Context 28

The Christian Era 35

Chapter 2 Luther's Beginning: Eden and the Fall 40

The Garden 40

Reason's Limits 44

The Fall 45

Chapter 3 Luther on Epistemology 49

A Brief Summary of Ockham's Position 52

Luther's Theory of Knowledge 56

Knowledge of God: Faith and Reason 63

Chapter 4 Logic Within Luther's Epistemological Framework 72

The Nature of Logic 73

Logic and Language 77

Summary and Conclusion 82

Part 2 Reason Brought Captive

Chapter 5 Reason and Speculation: Luther's Connection 90

Deus absconditus 92

Chapter 6 Luther's Christology Reexamined 97

The Relevance of Luther's Theology of the Cross 97

Luther's Theological Starting Point 104

The Significance of the Hypostatic Union 107

Three Interrelated Observations 111

Summary 121

Chapter 7 Theoretical Touchstone: Luther on 1 Corinthians 15 124

Chapter 8 Reason Set Within Limits: Luther's Notion of Marks and Signs 133

Impediments to Reason 137

Necessity of Externals 141

Illegitimate Deductions 145

Concluding Remarks 147

Part 3 Faith and Reason

Chapter 9 Luther's Faith/Reason Antithesis: Another Look 150

The Essence of Faith 150

Faith and Reason as Opposites 156

Faith and Reason Engaged in Combat 159

Conclusion 164

Chapter 10 Faith, Logic, and Fideism: Luther's Response 168

Chapter 11 Conclusion 177

Part 4 Secondary Literature: Another Look

Chapter 12 Gerrish's Thesis Revisited 184

Bibliography 191