Saturday, October 29, 2005

Martin Luther quote (re: Reason):

from "A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians"--

"Reason feareth not God, it loveth not God, it trusteth not in God, but proudly contemneth him. It is not moved either with his threatenings or his promises. It is not delighted with his words or works, but it murmureth against him, it is angry with him, judgeth and hateth him: to be short, 'it is an enemy to God' (Rom 8[:7]), not giving him his glory. This pestilent beast (reason I say) being once slain, all outward and gross sins should be nothing."

-- He is saying something rather provocative, no? JAZ

5 comments:

Mattie said...

yes, john, he is saying something provocative. and, unfortunately, words muttered for provocation are (as in this case) often unmerited and inaccurate. reason, while not the primary way one comes to know God, is an essential and God-given utensil that God uses to feed us. luther just hated reason because he was so damn insecure about his own ability to engage in reasoning ;)

Anonymous said...

somehow i don't think luther was insecure about his capacity to reason...

Mattie said...

come on, simeon, luther was insecure about EVERYTHING. ;)

Zadok said...

better to be insecure than overconfident about something as failure-prone as human understanding. disagree? read Job. where does reason get Job's three friends? in need of intercession from the suffering righteous man - ring any bells?

Anonymous said...

i think the main thing to be said is that i am insecure about pretty much everything. there, i said it.