"Solus Christus" from Late Medieval Passion Piety to Reformation Faith
In the Late Middle Ages, an inward piety oriented toward the suffering of Christ, had become a central theme of spiritual and theological reflection. Famously, Johann Staupitz transmitted it to his spiritual advisee Martin Luther. Using the mystical language of bridal encounter, he depicted Christ a...
| Published in: | Lutheran quarterly |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2023
|
| In: |
Lutheran quarterly
Year: 2023, Volume: 37, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-26 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAF Church history 1300-1500; late Middle Ages KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance KDD Protestant Church NBF Christology |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In the Late Middle Ages, an inward piety oriented toward the suffering of Christ, had become a central theme of spiritual and theological reflection. Famously, Johann Staupitz transmitted it to his spiritual advisee Martin Luther. Using the mystical language of bridal encounter, he depicted Christ as an effective example for his disciples. Luther took part in this Christocentric piety and theology, as can already be observed in his early lectures. Framed by the humanist Lefèvre's hermeneutics, the Wittenberg monk claimed, that the entire scripture was to be understood through the perspective of Christ. Already in his interpretation of Romans, Luther began to develop this Christocentrism in contrast to human works. More and more, he spread his ideas through the vernacular, starting with The Seven Penitential Psalms of 1517. A highlight of his passion devotion can be found in his Sermon on the Contemplation of Christ's Holy Passion. While these writings still resonate with medieval spirituality, we can track an increasing juxtaposition of Christ over against work and merit related forms of medieval piety. A famous example for this is the confrontation in the Heidelberg Disputation between the theologus gloriae and the theologus crucis which points directly to the passion-Christology background. This formation of solus Christus as the clarion call for Luther's fight against the medieval church was reached a good year earlier than that of sola scriptura, which only emerged in its full form in the Leipzig Disputation in 1519. Here, hermeneutics, spirituality and ecclesiology merged to a basis for a full-fledged reformational theology, which still shows its roots in the Middle Ages. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2470-5616 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Lutheran quarterly
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/lut.2023.0001 |