Being Perfect: A Lutheran Perspective on Moral Formation

Jennifer Herdt argues that Luther's account of human ethical action implies an absolute passivity before God that both leads to psychological paralysis and fails to appreciate the non-competitive nature of the relationship between divine and human agency. This article argues that neither accusa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: McFarland, Ian A. 1963- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2019]
In: Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2020, Volume: 33, Issue: 1, Pages: 15-26
IxTheo Classification:KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance
KDD Protestant Church
NBM Doctrine of Justification
NCA Ethics
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Summary:Jennifer Herdt argues that Luther's account of human ethical action implies an absolute passivity before God that both leads to psychological paralysis and fails to appreciate the non-competitive nature of the relationship between divine and human agency. This article argues that neither accusation can be sustained. Not only does Luther's work lack any evidence of the paralysis Herdt ascribes to him, but Luther's understanding of the relationship between divine and human action reflects a more theologically persuasive understanding of the distinct modes by which God relates to human beings in creation and redemption than does Herdt's nature-grace framework. The passivity of the human agent in Luther simply reflects the communicative situation in which Christian moral agency follows on hearing of the gospel, resulting in a model of moral formation in which the focus is on the good of the neighbour rather than one's own ethical qualities.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0953946819884550