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M A
and J A L
E in
H and E
RR of P
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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RR of P
E in
H and E
M A
and J A L
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
While any stories in this book are true some names and identiying inormation may have been changed to protect
the privacy o individuals
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Martin Luther in the Circle o Reormers Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin Germany copy DHM
Bridgeman Images
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (print)
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-9830979830971048624983097-1048632 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reormation readings o Paul explorations in history and exegesis edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A
Linebaugh
pages cm
Includes bibliographical reerences and index
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (pbk alk paper)
1048625 Bible Epistles o PaulmdashCriticism interpretation etcmdashHistorymdashModern period 104862598309310486241048624- I Allen R Michael
editorBS104862698309498309310486249830931048626R9830921048627 104862610486241048625983093
10486261048626983095rsquo10486249830941048624983097mdashdc10486261048627
10486261048624104862598309310486241048626983095104862710486261048626
P 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 10486251048627 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 1048627 1048626 1048625
Y 1048627983093 1048627983092 10486271048627 10486271048626 10486271048625 10486271048624 1048626983097 10486261048632 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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C
Abbreviations 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Jonathan A Linebaugh
Galatians and Martin Luther
983089 Martin Lutherrsquos Reading of Galatians 983090983091David C Fink
983090 The Text of Galatians and the Theology of Luther 983092983097
John M G Barclay
Romans and Philipp Melanchthon
983091 Philipp Melanchthonrsquos Reading of Romans 983095983091
Robert Kolb
983092 The Text of Romans and the Theology of Melanchthon 983097983095
Mark Seirid
Ephesians and Martin Bucer
983093 Martin Bucerrsquos Reading of Ephesians 983089983090983091
Brian Lugioyo
983094 The Text of Ephesians and the Theology of Bucer 983089983092983091
Wesley Hill
983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and John Calvin
983095 John Calvinrsquos Reading of the Corinthian Epistles 983089983094983093
Michael Allen
983096 The Text of 983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and the Theology of Calvin 983089983096983095
Dane C Ortlund
he Letters of Paul and homas Cranmer 983097 Thomas Cranmerrsquos Reading of Paulrsquos Letters 983090983089983089
Ashley Null
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983089983088 The Texts of Paul and the Theology of Cranmer 983090983091983093
Jonathan A Linebaugh
In Conclusion he Story of Reformation Readings 983090983093983093Gerald Bray
Contributors 983090983095983093
Scripture Index 983090983095983095
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I
Jonathan A Linebaugh
T983144983141 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 983142983151983157983143983144983156 and conquered in the name of Paul
Reformation exegesis reads its own ideas into Paul in order to receive
them back again clothed with Apostolic authorityrdquo983089
So opens AlbertSchweitzerrsquos Paul and His Interpreters and much Pauline scholarship espe-
cially since the Second World War and the American civil rights movement
has echoed his diagnosis Writing in 1048625104863310486251048625 Schweitzer could complain that
ldquothe study [of Paul] continues to be embarrassed by a considerable remnant
of the prepossessions with which the interpretation of Paulrsquos doctrine was
approached in the days of the Reformationrdquo that it was then ldquoassumed a
priori that Pauline theology can be divided into practically the same indi-
vidual doctrines as that of Luther Zwingli and Calvinrdquo983090 Te only way
behind this apostle of Reformation faith and back to the Paul of history as
Schweitzer saw it was for ldquothe spell which dogma had laid upon exegesis
to be brokenrdquo983091 One way to characterize a major trend in Pauline research
since at least Krister Stendahlrsquos essay ldquoTe Apostle Paul and the Introspective
Conscience of the Westrdquo (1048625104863310486301048627) is to see it as a carrying out of Schweitzerrsquos
call to dis-spell the theological assumptions of the ReformationmdashPauline
1Albert Schweitzer Paul and His Interpreters A Critical History trans W Montgomery (New York
Schocken Books 1048625983097983094983092) p 10486262Ibid p 104862710486273Ibid p 1048626
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scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1636
G and
M L
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1736
983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1936
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 236
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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RR of P
E in
H and E
M A
and J A L
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
While any stories in this book are true some names and identiying inormation may have been changed to protect
the privacy o individuals
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Martin Luther in the Circle o Reormers Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin Germany copy DHM
Bridgeman Images
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (print)
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-9830979830971048624983097-1048632 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
and to the responsible use o natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reormation readings o Paul explorations in history and exegesis edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A
Linebaugh
pages cm
Includes bibliographical reerences and index
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (pbk alk paper)
1048625 Bible Epistles o PaulmdashCriticism interpretation etcmdashHistorymdashModern period 104862598309310486241048624- I Allen R Michael
editorBS104862698309498309310486249830931048626R9830921048627 104862610486241048625983093
10486261048626983095rsquo10486249830941048624983097mdashdc10486261048627
10486261048624104862598309310486241048626983095104862710486261048626
P 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 10486251048627 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 1048627 1048626 1048625
Y 1048627983093 1048627983092 10486271048627 10486271048626 10486271048625 10486271048624 1048626983097 10486261048632 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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C
Abbreviations 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Jonathan A Linebaugh
Galatians and Martin Luther
983089 Martin Lutherrsquos Reading of Galatians 983090983091David C Fink
983090 The Text of Galatians and the Theology of Luther 983092983097
John M G Barclay
Romans and Philipp Melanchthon
983091 Philipp Melanchthonrsquos Reading of Romans 983095983091
Robert Kolb
983092 The Text of Romans and the Theology of Melanchthon 983097983095
Mark Seirid
Ephesians and Martin Bucer
983093 Martin Bucerrsquos Reading of Ephesians 983089983090983091
Brian Lugioyo
983094 The Text of Ephesians and the Theology of Bucer 983089983092983091
Wesley Hill
983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and John Calvin
983095 John Calvinrsquos Reading of the Corinthian Epistles 983089983094983093
Michael Allen
983096 The Text of 983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and the Theology of Calvin 983089983096983095
Dane C Ortlund
he Letters of Paul and homas Cranmer 983097 Thomas Cranmerrsquos Reading of Paulrsquos Letters 983090983089983089
Ashley Null
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983089983088 The Texts of Paul and the Theology of Cranmer 983090983091983093
Jonathan A Linebaugh
In Conclusion he Story of Reformation Readings 983090983093983093Gerald Bray
Contributors 983090983095983093
Scripture Index 983090983095983095
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I
Jonathan A Linebaugh
T983144983141 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 983142983151983157983143983144983156 and conquered in the name of Paul
Reformation exegesis reads its own ideas into Paul in order to receive
them back again clothed with Apostolic authorityrdquo983089
So opens AlbertSchweitzerrsquos Paul and His Interpreters and much Pauline scholarship espe-
cially since the Second World War and the American civil rights movement
has echoed his diagnosis Writing in 1048625104863310486251048625 Schweitzer could complain that
ldquothe study [of Paul] continues to be embarrassed by a considerable remnant
of the prepossessions with which the interpretation of Paulrsquos doctrine was
approached in the days of the Reformationrdquo that it was then ldquoassumed a
priori that Pauline theology can be divided into practically the same indi-
vidual doctrines as that of Luther Zwingli and Calvinrdquo983090 Te only way
behind this apostle of Reformation faith and back to the Paul of history as
Schweitzer saw it was for ldquothe spell which dogma had laid upon exegesis
to be brokenrdquo983091 One way to characterize a major trend in Pauline research
since at least Krister Stendahlrsquos essay ldquoTe Apostle Paul and the Introspective
Conscience of the Westrdquo (1048625104863310486301048627) is to see it as a carrying out of Schweitzerrsquos
call to dis-spell the theological assumptions of the ReformationmdashPauline
1Albert Schweitzer Paul and His Interpreters A Critical History trans W Montgomery (New York
Schocken Books 1048625983097983094983092) p 10486262Ibid p 104862710486273Ibid p 1048626
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10486251048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486251048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1136
Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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RR of P
E in
H and E
M A
and J A L
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
While any stories in this book are true some names and identiying inormation may have been changed to protect
the privacy o individuals
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Martin Luther in the Circle o Reormers Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin Germany copy DHM
Bridgeman Images
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (print)
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-9830979830971048624983097-1048632 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
and to the responsible use o natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reormation readings o Paul explorations in history and exegesis edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A
Linebaugh
pages cm
Includes bibliographical reerences and index
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (pbk alk paper)
1048625 Bible Epistles o PaulmdashCriticism interpretation etcmdashHistorymdashModern period 104862598309310486241048624- I Allen R Michael
editorBS104862698309498309310486249830931048626R9830921048627 104862610486241048625983093
10486261048626983095rsquo10486249830941048624983097mdashdc10486261048627
10486261048624104862598309310486241048626983095104862710486261048626
P 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 10486251048627 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 1048627 1048626 1048625
Y 1048627983093 1048627983092 10486271048627 10486271048626 10486271048625 10486271048624 1048626983097 10486261048632 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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C
Abbreviations 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Jonathan A Linebaugh
Galatians and Martin Luther
983089 Martin Lutherrsquos Reading of Galatians 983090983091David C Fink
983090 The Text of Galatians and the Theology of Luther 983092983097
John M G Barclay
Romans and Philipp Melanchthon
983091 Philipp Melanchthonrsquos Reading of Romans 983095983091
Robert Kolb
983092 The Text of Romans and the Theology of Melanchthon 983097983095
Mark Seirid
Ephesians and Martin Bucer
983093 Martin Bucerrsquos Reading of Ephesians 983089983090983091
Brian Lugioyo
983094 The Text of Ephesians and the Theology of Bucer 983089983092983091
Wesley Hill
983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and John Calvin
983095 John Calvinrsquos Reading of the Corinthian Epistles 983089983094983093
Michael Allen
983096 The Text of 983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and the Theology of Calvin 983089983096983095
Dane C Ortlund
he Letters of Paul and homas Cranmer 983097 Thomas Cranmerrsquos Reading of Paulrsquos Letters 983090983089983089
Ashley Null
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983089983088 The Texts of Paul and the Theology of Cranmer 983090983091983093
Jonathan A Linebaugh
In Conclusion he Story of Reformation Readings 983090983093983093Gerald Bray
Contributors 983090983095983093
Scripture Index 983090983095983095
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I
Jonathan A Linebaugh
T983144983141 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 983142983151983157983143983144983156 and conquered in the name of Paul
Reformation exegesis reads its own ideas into Paul in order to receive
them back again clothed with Apostolic authorityrdquo983089
So opens AlbertSchweitzerrsquos Paul and His Interpreters and much Pauline scholarship espe-
cially since the Second World War and the American civil rights movement
has echoed his diagnosis Writing in 1048625104863310486251048625 Schweitzer could complain that
ldquothe study [of Paul] continues to be embarrassed by a considerable remnant
of the prepossessions with which the interpretation of Paulrsquos doctrine was
approached in the days of the Reformationrdquo that it was then ldquoassumed a
priori that Pauline theology can be divided into practically the same indi-
vidual doctrines as that of Luther Zwingli and Calvinrdquo983090 Te only way
behind this apostle of Reformation faith and back to the Paul of history as
Schweitzer saw it was for ldquothe spell which dogma had laid upon exegesis
to be brokenrdquo983091 One way to characterize a major trend in Pauline research
since at least Krister Stendahlrsquos essay ldquoTe Apostle Paul and the Introspective
Conscience of the Westrdquo (1048625104863310486301048627) is to see it as a carrying out of Schweitzerrsquos
call to dis-spell the theological assumptions of the ReformationmdashPauline
1Albert Schweitzer Paul and His Interpreters A Critical History trans W Montgomery (New York
Schocken Books 1048625983097983094983092) p 10486262Ibid p 104862710486273Ibid p 1048626
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scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
While any stories in this book are true some names and identiying inormation may have been changed to protect
the privacy o individuals
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Martin Luther in the Circle o Reormers Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin Germany copy DHM
Bridgeman Images
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (print)
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-9830979830971048624983097-1048632 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment
and to the responsible use o natural resources o learn more visit greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reormation readings o Paul explorations in history and exegesis edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A
Linebaugh
pages cm
Includes bibliographical reerences and index
ISBN 9830979830951048632-1048624-1048632104862710486241048632-98309210486249830971048625-983093 (pbk alk paper)
1048625 Bible Epistles o PaulmdashCriticism interpretation etcmdashHistorymdashModern period 104862598309310486241048624- I Allen R Michael
editorBS104862698309498309310486249830931048626R9830921048627 104862610486241048625983093
10486261048626983095rsquo10486249830941048624983097mdashdc10486261048627
10486261048624104862598309310486241048626983095104862710486261048626
P 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 10486251048627 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 1048632 983095 983094 983093 983092 1048627 1048626 1048625
Y 1048627983093 1048627983092 10486271048627 10486271048626 10486271048625 10486271048624 1048626983097 10486261048632 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 10486261048627 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 10486251048632 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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C
Abbreviations 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Jonathan A Linebaugh
Galatians and Martin Luther
983089 Martin Lutherrsquos Reading of Galatians 983090983091David C Fink
983090 The Text of Galatians and the Theology of Luther 983092983097
John M G Barclay
Romans and Philipp Melanchthon
983091 Philipp Melanchthonrsquos Reading of Romans 983095983091
Robert Kolb
983092 The Text of Romans and the Theology of Melanchthon 983097983095
Mark Seirid
Ephesians and Martin Bucer
983093 Martin Bucerrsquos Reading of Ephesians 983089983090983091
Brian Lugioyo
983094 The Text of Ephesians and the Theology of Bucer 983089983092983091
Wesley Hill
983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and John Calvin
983095 John Calvinrsquos Reading of the Corinthian Epistles 983089983094983093
Michael Allen
983096 The Text of 983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and the Theology of Calvin 983089983096983095
Dane C Ortlund
he Letters of Paul and homas Cranmer 983097 Thomas Cranmerrsquos Reading of Paulrsquos Letters 983090983089983089
Ashley Null
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983089983088 The Texts of Paul and the Theology of Cranmer 983090983091983093
Jonathan A Linebaugh
In Conclusion he Story of Reformation Readings 983090983093983093Gerald Bray
Contributors 983090983095983093
Scripture Index 983090983095983095
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I
Jonathan A Linebaugh
T983144983141 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 983142983151983157983143983144983156 and conquered in the name of Paul
Reformation exegesis reads its own ideas into Paul in order to receive
them back again clothed with Apostolic authorityrdquo983089
So opens AlbertSchweitzerrsquos Paul and His Interpreters and much Pauline scholarship espe-
cially since the Second World War and the American civil rights movement
has echoed his diagnosis Writing in 1048625104863310486251048625 Schweitzer could complain that
ldquothe study [of Paul] continues to be embarrassed by a considerable remnant
of the prepossessions with which the interpretation of Paulrsquos doctrine was
approached in the days of the Reformationrdquo that it was then ldquoassumed a
priori that Pauline theology can be divided into practically the same indi-
vidual doctrines as that of Luther Zwingli and Calvinrdquo983090 Te only way
behind this apostle of Reformation faith and back to the Paul of history as
Schweitzer saw it was for ldquothe spell which dogma had laid upon exegesis
to be brokenrdquo983091 One way to characterize a major trend in Pauline research
since at least Krister Stendahlrsquos essay ldquoTe Apostle Paul and the Introspective
Conscience of the Westrdquo (1048625104863310486301048627) is to see it as a carrying out of Schweitzerrsquos
call to dis-spell the theological assumptions of the ReformationmdashPauline
1Albert Schweitzer Paul and His Interpreters A Critical History trans W Montgomery (New York
Schocken Books 1048625983097983094983092) p 10486262Ibid p 104862710486273Ibid p 1048626
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10486251048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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10486251048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1936
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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C
Abbreviations 983097
Introduction 983089983089
Jonathan A Linebaugh
Galatians and Martin Luther
983089 Martin Lutherrsquos Reading of Galatians 983090983091David C Fink
983090 The Text of Galatians and the Theology of Luther 983092983097
John M G Barclay
Romans and Philipp Melanchthon
983091 Philipp Melanchthonrsquos Reading of Romans 983095983091
Robert Kolb
983092 The Text of Romans and the Theology of Melanchthon 983097983095
Mark Seirid
Ephesians and Martin Bucer
983093 Martin Bucerrsquos Reading of Ephesians 983089983090983091
Brian Lugioyo
983094 The Text of Ephesians and the Theology of Bucer 983089983092983091
Wesley Hill
983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and John Calvin
983095 John Calvinrsquos Reading of the Corinthian Epistles 983089983094983093
Michael Allen
983096 The Text of 983089 amp 983090 Corinthians and the Theology of Calvin 983089983096983095
Dane C Ortlund
he Letters of Paul and homas Cranmer 983097 Thomas Cranmerrsquos Reading of Paulrsquos Letters 983090983089983089
Ashley Null
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983089983088 The Texts of Paul and the Theology of Cranmer 983090983091983093
Jonathan A Linebaugh
In Conclusion he Story of Reformation Readings 983090983093983093Gerald Bray
Contributors 983090983095983093
Scripture Index 983090983095983095
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I
Jonathan A Linebaugh
T983144983141 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 983142983151983157983143983144983156 and conquered in the name of Paul
Reformation exegesis reads its own ideas into Paul in order to receive
them back again clothed with Apostolic authorityrdquo983089
So opens AlbertSchweitzerrsquos Paul and His Interpreters and much Pauline scholarship espe-
cially since the Second World War and the American civil rights movement
has echoed his diagnosis Writing in 1048625104863310486251048625 Schweitzer could complain that
ldquothe study [of Paul] continues to be embarrassed by a considerable remnant
of the prepossessions with which the interpretation of Paulrsquos doctrine was
approached in the days of the Reformationrdquo that it was then ldquoassumed a
priori that Pauline theology can be divided into practically the same indi-
vidual doctrines as that of Luther Zwingli and Calvinrdquo983090 Te only way
behind this apostle of Reformation faith and back to the Paul of history as
Schweitzer saw it was for ldquothe spell which dogma had laid upon exegesis
to be brokenrdquo983091 One way to characterize a major trend in Pauline research
since at least Krister Stendahlrsquos essay ldquoTe Apostle Paul and the Introspective
Conscience of the Westrdquo (1048625104863310486301048627) is to see it as a carrying out of Schweitzerrsquos
call to dis-spell the theological assumptions of the ReformationmdashPauline
1Albert Schweitzer Paul and His Interpreters A Critical History trans W Montgomery (New York
Schocken Books 1048625983097983094983092) p 10486262Ibid p 104862710486273Ibid p 1048626
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10486251048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486251048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1136
Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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983089983088 The Texts of Paul and the Theology of Cranmer 983090983091983093
Jonathan A Linebaugh
In Conclusion he Story of Reformation Readings 983090983093983093Gerald Bray
Contributors 983090983095983093
Scripture Index 983090983095983095
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I
Jonathan A Linebaugh
T983144983141 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 983142983151983157983143983144983156 and conquered in the name of Paul
Reformation exegesis reads its own ideas into Paul in order to receive
them back again clothed with Apostolic authorityrdquo983089
So opens AlbertSchweitzerrsquos Paul and His Interpreters and much Pauline scholarship espe-
cially since the Second World War and the American civil rights movement
has echoed his diagnosis Writing in 1048625104863310486251048625 Schweitzer could complain that
ldquothe study [of Paul] continues to be embarrassed by a considerable remnant
of the prepossessions with which the interpretation of Paulrsquos doctrine was
approached in the days of the Reformationrdquo that it was then ldquoassumed a
priori that Pauline theology can be divided into practically the same indi-
vidual doctrines as that of Luther Zwingli and Calvinrdquo983090 Te only way
behind this apostle of Reformation faith and back to the Paul of history as
Schweitzer saw it was for ldquothe spell which dogma had laid upon exegesis
to be brokenrdquo983091 One way to characterize a major trend in Pauline research
since at least Krister Stendahlrsquos essay ldquoTe Apostle Paul and the Introspective
Conscience of the Westrdquo (1048625104863310486301048627) is to see it as a carrying out of Schweitzerrsquos
call to dis-spell the theological assumptions of the ReformationmdashPauline
1Albert Schweitzer Paul and His Interpreters A Critical History trans W Montgomery (New York
Schocken Books 1048625983097983094983092) p 10486262Ibid p 104862710486273Ibid p 1048626
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10486251048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1136
Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1936
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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I
Jonathan A Linebaugh
T983144983141 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 983142983151983157983143983144983156 and conquered in the name of Paul
Reformation exegesis reads its own ideas into Paul in order to receive
them back again clothed with Apostolic authorityrdquo983089
So opens AlbertSchweitzerrsquos Paul and His Interpreters and much Pauline scholarship espe-
cially since the Second World War and the American civil rights movement
has echoed his diagnosis Writing in 1048625104863310486251048625 Schweitzer could complain that
ldquothe study [of Paul] continues to be embarrassed by a considerable remnant
of the prepossessions with which the interpretation of Paulrsquos doctrine was
approached in the days of the Reformationrdquo that it was then ldquoassumed a
priori that Pauline theology can be divided into practically the same indi-
vidual doctrines as that of Luther Zwingli and Calvinrdquo983090 Te only way
behind this apostle of Reformation faith and back to the Paul of history as
Schweitzer saw it was for ldquothe spell which dogma had laid upon exegesis
to be brokenrdquo983091 One way to characterize a major trend in Pauline research
since at least Krister Stendahlrsquos essay ldquoTe Apostle Paul and the Introspective
Conscience of the Westrdquo (1048625104863310486301048627) is to see it as a carrying out of Schweitzerrsquos
call to dis-spell the theological assumptions of the ReformationmdashPauline
1Albert Schweitzer Paul and His Interpreters A Critical History trans W Montgomery (New York
Schocken Books 1048625983097983094983092) p 10486262Ibid p 104862710486273Ibid p 1048626
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scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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10486251048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486251048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
scholarship as a kind of defense against the dark arts of Reformation dogma1048628
ake for example the ldquodrastic difference between Luther and Paul be-
tween the 10486251048630th and the 1048625st centuryrdquo that Stendahl attempts to expose bycontrasting the ldquorobust consciencerdquo of the apostle to the Gentiles and the
ldquointrospective consciencerdquo of Martin Luther983093 In Stendahlrsquos account Luther
is a ldquopioneerrdquo in the religious and social climate shaped by the ldquoBlack
Deathrdquo and ldquolate medieval piety and theologyrdquo with its ldquosystem of Penancerdquo
because he asked that worldrsquos question (ldquoHow can I find a gracious Godrdquo)
and dared to answer it with ldquoPaulrsquos words about a justification in Christ by
faith without works of the Lawrdquo1048630
For the student of Paul however thiscalls for research
Te first issue at hand is whether Paul intended his argument about justifi-
cation to answer the question How am I Paul to understand the place in
the plan of God of my mission to the Gentiles and how am I to defend the
rights of the Gentiles to participate in Godrsquos promises or if he intended it
to answer the question which I consider later and western ldquoHow am I to
find a gracious Godrdquo983095
Stendahlrsquos answer is evident in his opinion that the second question is
ldquolater and westernrdquo but it is given representative expression by James D G
Dunn ldquolsquoJustification by faithrsquo was Paulrsquos answer to the question How is it
that Gentiles can be equally acceptable to God as Jewsrdquo983096 On this reading
the reformers were right to ldquosee justification by faith as a polemical doctrinerdquo
but as N Wright suggests the ldquotarget is not the usual Lutheran one of
lsquonomismrsquo or lsquo Menschenwerkersquo but the Pauline one of Jewish national priderdquo1048633
Te reason for this change of target is that according to Wright ldquojustifi-
cation means that those who believe in Jesus Christ are declared to be
members of the true covenant familyrdquo and so the Pauline polemic against
ldquolsquojustification by worksrsquo has nothing to do with individual Jews attempting a
4N Wright speaks less of defense than contrition Pauline scholarship is ldquotrying to repent of
projecting late-medieval or Reformational soteriological categories back onto [Paul]rdquo (Paul and
the Faithulness o God [London SPCK 104862698308810486251048627] p 9830921048627)5Krister Stendahl Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia Fortress 10486259830971048631983094) pp 1048631983097 10486321048626-104863210486316Ibid pp 10486321048626-104863210486277Ibid p 1048625104862710486258James D G Dunn Te Teology o Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048632) p 10486279830929830889N Wright ldquoTe Paul of History and the Apostle of Faithrdquo yndale Bulletin 1048626983097 (104862598309710486311048632) 9830941048625-10486321048632
(on p 10486311048625)
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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10486251048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1636
G and
M L
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2536
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048627
kind of proto-Pelagian pulling themselves up by their moral bootstrapsrdquo but
rather ldquostrikes against all attempts to demarcate membership in the people
of God by anything other than faith in Jesus Christ particularly anyclaim to status before God based on race class or genderrdquo9830891048624
But what might the reformers say in response How as Stephen
Westerholm imagines in the introduction to Perspectives Old and New on
Paul might Luther react to the following words from E P Sanders
Martin Luther whose influence on subsequent interpreters has been enormous
made Paulrsquos statements central to his own quite different theology Luther
plagued by guilt read Paulrsquos passages on ldquorighteousness by faithrdquo as meaningthat God reckoned a Christian to be righteous even though he or she was a
sinner Lutherrsquos emphasis on fictional imputed righteousness though it
has oen been shown to be an incorrect interpretation of Paul has been in-
fluential because it corresponds to the sense of sinfulness which many people
feel and which is part and parcel of Western concepts of personhood with
their emphasis on individualism and introspection Luther sought and found
relief from guilt But Lutherrsquos problems were not Paulrsquos and we misunder-
stand him if we see him through Lutherrsquos eyes983089983089
What Luther is likely to say is probably not appropriate for this genre but
perhaps we can risk one of his milder criticisms ldquoYou are an excellent
person as skillful clever and versed in Holy Scripture as a cow in a walnut
tree or a sow on a harprdquo983089983090 Such a comment is unlikely to further the dialogue
but it does bring a reformer into the conversation And that in fact is the
point of this bookmdashto invite the reformers back into the discussion about
Paulrsquos texts and the theology they articulated as a reading of those texts
While contemporary writing on Paul is littered with references to the
ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo or the ldquoPaul of the Reformationrdquo what is equally conspicuous
is the absence of detailed engagement with the exegesis and theology of the
reformers983089983091 It is suggestive that one of the first Pauline scholars to use the
10N Wright What Saint Paul Really Said Was Paul o arsus the Real Founder o Christianity
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048625983097 104862598309498308811E P Sanders Paul A Very Short Introduction (Oxford Oxford University Press 10486259830979830971048625) pp 10486291048627
10486291048631-10486291048632 For Stephen Westerholmrsquos well-documented tour of criticisms and defenses of Augustin-
ian and Reformational readings of Paul see Perspectives Old and New on Paul Te ldquoLutheranrdquo
Paul and His Critics (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983092)12ldquoAgainst Hanswurstrdquo LW 98309210486251048626104862598309713Stephen Chesterrsquos forthcoming Paul Among the Reormers and the now-appearing Reformation
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10486251048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1036
10486251048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
label the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo later clarified that his critique was not of Luther
himself but of ldquoa figure derived from Luther but reinvented by the German
Protestant biblical scholarship of the mid-twentieth centuryrdquo9830891048628 Tere is itseems a disconnect between the ldquoLutheran Paulrdquo and the reader of Paul
Martin Luther Schweitzerrsquos claim for example that ldquothe Reformation fought
and conquered in the name of Paulrdquo while true as far as it goes forgets that
Lutherrsquos recollection of his early exegetical experience was one of fighting
against Paul and being conquered by the gospel of which the apostle was
unashamed Luther would be the first to admit that he ldquoread [his] own ideas
into Paulrdquo but these ideas were a ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of thePauline phrase ldquothe righteousness of Godrdquo that meant the ldquoformal or active
righteousness by which God is just and punishes unrighteous sinnersrdquo983089983093 Te
result of this reading was that Luther hated both ldquothe phrase lsquothe right-
eousness of Godrsquordquo and the ldquorighteous Godrdquo Tis is what he read into Paul
but because he was ldquodesperate and disturbedrdquo he ldquopersistently pounded
upon Paul in this passage [ie Rom 104862510486251048630-10486251048631]rdquo and ldquomeditated day and night
on the connection of the wordsrdquo until a definition of Godrsquos righteousnesscame out ldquothe lsquorighteousness of Godrsquo is that by which the righteous lives by
the gi of Godrdquo it ldquorefers to a passive righteousness by which the merciful
God justifies us through faithrdquo o borrow Schweitzerrsquos metaphor it was as
Commentary on Scripture series will be notable exceptions as is part one of Westerholmrsquos
Perspectives Old and New though Westerholmrsquos interaction with Luther and Calvin is more a
summary of their (Pauline) theology than it is a tracing and evaluating of their actual acts of
interpretation14Francis Watson Paul Judaism and the Gentiles Beyond the New Perspective (Grand Rapids
Eerdmans 10486269830889830881048631) p 1048626983094 Watson observes the need for ldquoa more nuanced account of what is
and is not wrong with the type of reading that reflects the ongoing influence of Martin Lutherrdquo
(p xii) and adds that ldquoto eliminate exegetical proposals on the grounds of a perceived proximity
to a lsquoLutheran Paulrsquo is simply to succumb to prejudice and dogmatismsrdquo (p 10486261048629)15Tis and the following quotations are from the 104862510486299830921048629 Preace to the Complete Edition o Lutherrsquos
Latin Writings LW 104862798309210486271048627983094-10486271048631 Lutherrsquos ldquophilosophicalrdquo understanding of the iustitia Dei is re-
lated to the so-called via moderna which following William of Ockham understood justifica-
tion in terms of a divine pactum (covenant) according to which God has promised to give the
grace that justifies to the person who does quod in se est (ldquowhat lies within themselvesrdquo) As
Stephen Chester has pointed out that Luther was ldquoreacting against a rather contractual under-
standing of justificationrdquo makes him an ironic target of Douglas Campbellrsquos critique of the
contractual framework of what he calls ldquojustification theoryrdquo For Campbellrsquos critique see parts
one through three of Te Deliverance o God An Apocalyptic Rereading o Justification in Paul
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048626983088983088983097) for Chesterrsquos observation see ldquoIt Is No Longer I Who Live
Justification by Faith and Participation in Christ in Martin Lutherrsquos Exegesis of Galatiansrdquo New
estament Studies 10486291048629 (1048626983088983088983097) 104862710486251048629-10486271048631 (p 104862710486271048627 n 1048631983092)
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1636
G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Introduction 10486251048629
Luther reminisced in 1048625104862910486281048629 reading Paul that broke the spell that ldquodogmardquo
had lain on the apostlersquos text
Tis of course is not to say that Lutherrsquos reading is a good one Tat is adifferent kind of question and one that will be asked by the Pauline scholars
in this volume But what it does recall is that the reformers were readers
Consider for instance Tomas Bilney who in 1048625104862910486251048633 obtained an edition of
Desiderius Erasmusrsquos translation of the Bible in order to savor the eloquence
of the Latin only to
chance upon this sentence of St Paul in 1048625 im 104862510486251048629 ldquoIt is a true saying and
worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world tosave sinners of whom I am the chief and principalrdquo Tis one sentence
through Godrsquos instruction working inwardly in my heart did so gladden
itmdashwhich before was wounded by the awareness of my sins almost to the
point of desperationmdashthat immediately I felt a marvelous inner peace so
much so that my bruised bones leapt for joy9830891048630
Te result of this exegetical experience was as Bilney remembers it a desire
to study the ldquoScripture [that] began to be more pleasant to me than honeyor the honey combrdquo983089983095 Luther and Bilney tell a common sixteenth-century
story reading leading to Reformation
It is the reformers as readers and specifically the readings offered by the
reformers of Paulrsquos letters that is the subject of this book Pairing a text or
texts of Paul with a reformer this collection of essays will consider in turn
Martin Luther and Galatians Philipp Melanchthon and Romans Martin
Bucer and Ephesians John Calvin and 1048625 amp 1048626 Corinthians and TomasCranmer and the corpus Paulinum Te hope is to catch the reformers in
action as exegetesmdashto follow them as they move from Paulrsquos texts to their
own theological comments By attending to the actual exegesis of the re-
formers their interpretations of Paulrsquos letters will be brought into focus pro-
viding a vantage point from which to take some initial soundings of the
relationship between the texts of Paul and the theology of the reformers that
resulted from reading them o facilitate this movement from historical
16John Fox Actes and Monuments (London John Day 104862510486291048631983088) pp 104862510486259830921048625-9830921048627 I am grateful to Ashley
Null for alerting me to the two versions of Bilneyrsquos correspondence with Bishop Cuthbert un-
stall during his heresy trail in 1048625104862910486261048631 that contain this account17Ibid
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486251048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
theological description to evaluation the reading of each reformer will be
considered twice first in a descriptive mode by a historical theologian and
second by a Pauline scholar who will curate a conversation between thePauline text(s) and their interpretation Te first essay will address issues
like the editions of Paulrsquos letters available to the reformer their structural
outline of the text the way the subject matter or argumentum is summa-
rized and the basic content and contours of the lettersrsquo theology as ex-
pressed by the reformersrsquo exegesis Te second essays are not responses to
the first so much as they are interactions with the reading of the reformers
o borrow an image from Dane Ortlundrsquos essay on Calvin and the Corin-thian correspondence
Picture a table At one end sits the scarred apostle short balding with a
penetrating gaze but overall very unimpressive At the other end sits the
pointy-bearded French reformer gaunt thin rather emaciated and equally
physically unimpressive We will listen in as Calvin tells us about the apostle
But as Ortlund adds ldquothe purposerdquo is not just to ldquolisten in as Calvin tells us
about the apostlerdquo but to ldquofacilitate a dialogue of sorts between Paul andCalvin in light of currents in New estament studyrdquo
ogether the essays and thus this volume hope (1048625) to understand the
reformersrsquo exegesis as authentic acts of interpretationmdashas readings of textsmdash
and (1048626) to ask aer the quality of the various interpretations of the reformers
in relation to the Pauline texts they are reading Wesley Hill provides a
helpful index of questions that guides the first goal
What is there in the text that causes the refomer to start off in such-and-such
a direction What does the refomer see here that causes him to say this Is
what he says there simply a ldquoruminative overlayrdquomdasha comment affixed to the
words of a text (Paulrsquos) to which they bear little or no relation Is this or that
comment of a reformer an actualization of some of the textrsquos own semantic
potential or is it better described as a theological ldquoperformancerdquo of a text that
says nothing about what the reformer goes on to say by means of it Above
all how is the reformerrsquos exegesis explicable as a reading of a text 983089983096
18Tis is adapted from Hillrsquos contribution to this volume for the original source of these questions
see Wesley A Hill ldquoTe Church as Israel and Israel as the Church An Examination of Karl
Barthrsquos Exegesis of Romans 9830971048625-1048629 in the Roumlmerbrie and Church Dogmatics II1048626rdquo Journal o Teo-
logical Interpretation 983094 no 1048625 (104862698308810486251048626) 10486251048627983097-983094983088 (on pp 10486251048627983097-983092983088)
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1636
G and
M L
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1736
983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1836
10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1936
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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Introduction 10486251048631
Tese kinds of questions enable a form of exegetical eavesdropping the
chance to listen in as the reformers read Paul and move from his words to
their own commentsBut suppose Paulrsquos texts want to talk back What if having demonstrated
how a reformer got from a first-century document to a sixteenth-century
comment there are philological historical and theological details in the
Pauline text that raise questions about the way they have been read It is the
commitment to ask these sorts of questions that creates the possibility of a
conversation between Paul and his Reformational readers But as John
Barclay asks in his essay on Luther and Galatians how should one evaluatea reformerrsquos reading of a Pauline text Hill notes that ldquointernal consistencyrdquo
and contemporary usability can be seen as partial criteria of what counts as
a ldquogoodrdquo reading Barclay adds that ldquophilological precision an account-
ability to the likely sense of the original Greek constitutes a core re-
quirementrdquo of exegesis None of our authors stops there however As
Barclay writes ldquoexegesis always draws on an interpretation of the text as a
wholerdquo and so any evaluation of a Reformation reading of Paul has to askwhat the reformer understood the ldquocentral subject matterrdquo of the Pauline
text to bemdashto ask not just what certain words or phrases ldquorefer to (eg what
lsquolawrsquo Paul means when he speaks of lsquoworks of the lawrsquo) but also what the
discussion is fundamentally aboutrdquo Within this frame of evaluation it is
possible that as Stephen Westerholm concludes his study ldquothe critics [of
the reformers] have rightly defined the occasion that elicited the formu-
lation of Paulrsquos doctrine [of justification] and have reminded us of its first-
century social and strategic significancerdquo and that ldquothe [reformers] for their
part rightly captured Paulrsquos rationale and basic pointrdquo9830891048633
As this dialogue between Paul and the reformers is listened tomdashas both
the data and the Sache of the Pauline letters converse with the comments
and theology presented as their interpretationmdashthere is in every essay com-
pliment and criticism But there is also a consensus that the reformers were
readers and that their readings are worth reading again (eg Mark Seifrid
19Westerholm Perspectives Old and New p 9830929830921048629 For an essay that both understands this distinc-
tion and works to think through the theology that results from the interplay between the impact
of the Christ event Paulrsquos Gentile mission and a continued interaction with Israelrsquos scriptures
see John Barclayrsquos contribution to this volume as well as his forthcoming Paul and the Gif
(Grand Rapids Eerdmans)
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1836
10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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10486251048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
declares it ldquohigh time that we gave heed to the Preceptor [Melanchthon] and
his interpretation of the apostle to the Gentilesrdquo and Ortlund feels it right
to ldquocommend Calvin to Christians today especially students and scholars ofthe apostlerdquo) In this respect Hillrsquos comment about attending to Martin
Bucerrsquos interpretation of Ephesians could be applied to the exegesis of all the
reformers considered in this book ldquoreading [a reformer] is not just a matter
of seeing how one interpreter has learned or failed to learn from a textrdquomdashthe
evaluative direction here would then be exclusively ldquofrom more distant past
(Paul) to more recent pastrdquo (reformer) Rather ldquoreading [a reformer] is also
or should be a way of seeing how a commentary may lead one back into thetext from which it originatedrdquomdasha backwards move ldquofrom past commentator
[reformer] to more distant past author (Paul)rdquo
And this finally is the raison drsquoecirctre for this collection It is or hopes to be
a hermeneutical talemdashthere and back again you might say (with apologies
to Bilbo Baggins) In his Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism Zacharias
Ursinus insists that the reason we study doctrine is to be returned to Scripture
as better readers noting that as ldquodoctrines are taken out of the Scripturesand are directed by them as their rule so they again lead us as it were by the
hand to the Scripturesrdquo9830901048624 A similar circularity is in play here from Paulrsquos
letters to Reformation readings and back to Paul Te goal is not simply to
establish Reformation exegesis as authentic acts of scriptural interpretation
the hope is having engaged the reformers as readers to invite them into the
ongoing conversation about Paulrsquos texts Hill is again helpful ldquoa commentary
generated by the Pauline text may cast light retrospectively as it were il-
luminating features of the Pauline texts that elicited the commentary in the
first place Paying attention to [the reformersrsquo] exegetical moves will
remind us that all interpretation depends on such a to-and-fro past-and-
present spiralrdquo Te reformers would insist that the finish line of reading their
interpretations of Paulrsquos letters is not reading their commentaries it is reading
Paulrsquos letters Remember Lutherrsquos fear ldquoIrsquod rather that all my books would
disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone would be read Otherwise wersquoll rely
on such writings and let the Bible gordquo983090983089 Perhaps though rather than distract
20Zacharias Ursinus Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism trans G W Williard (repr Phil-
lipsburg NJ PampR 1048625104863210486291048626) p 104862598308821able alk no 98309298308810486311048629 (Septemer 1048626983097 1048625104862910486271048632) LW 1048629983092104862710486251048625
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1636
G and
M L
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1936
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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Introduction 10486251048633
from Paulrsquos letters some Reformation readings of Paul can return us to his
texts in deep and surprising ways
For the reformers Scripture is the ldquoliving and activerdquo Word it is the voice of the one who acts by speaking (ldquoLet there be lightrdquo ldquoLittle girl get
uprdquo) and is therefore less an object for us to interpret than it is the sound
of the speaking God who interprets us Understood this way Scripture is
God speaking reading is listening and helpful commentary is simply that
which helps us hear Tat in the end is the criterion the reformers would
asked to be judged by having heard them read Paul are our ears more open
to the gospel he proclaimedmdashthe gospel the reformers like Paul were ldquoun-ashamedrdquo of because they like Paul confessed it to be ldquothe power of God
unto salvationrdquo (Rom 104862510486251048630 983147983146983158)
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G and
M L
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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G and
M L
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1736
983089
M Lrsquo
R of G
David C Fink
P
983137983157983148rsquo983155 983148983141983156983156983141983154 983156983151 983156983144983141 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 exercised a special fascination
for Martin Luther a fact recognized not only by generations of Lutherscholars but also by the reformer himself Oen quoted in this connection
is Lutherrsquos remark at the dinner table that he regarded himself as engaged
to the ldquodear epistlerdquo regarding his own efforts at expounding the text
however he was more ambivalent983089 Responding (negatively) in 1048625104862910486271048632 to a
proposal to reprint his collected works Luther feared that the mere sight of
so bloated a monstrosity as his commentary on Galatians would inspire
nothing but disgust983090 Eventually however Luther agreed to have the workreprinted and by 1048625104862910486281048627 he seems to have regarded it as one of his few writings
of any lasting value983091
Modern scholars have generally concurred in according a certain pride
of place to Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians (particularly his ldquocommentaryrdquo
of 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629) within his literary corpus and for good reason1048628 o begin with
1Epistola ad Galatas ist mein epistelcha der ich mit vertrawt hab Ist mein Keth von Bor WAR 983089983094983097(no 983089983092983094)
2WAR 983092983096983092-983096983093 (no 983092983088983090983093) LW 983093983092983091983089983089-9830899830903WAR 983093983090983088983092 (no 983093983093983089983089) LW 9830939830929830929830929830884Landmark studies include Karin Bornkamm Luthers Auslegungen des Galaterbries von 983089852021983089852025 bis
983089852021983091983089 Ein Vergliech Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 983091983093 (Berlin de Gruyter 983089983097983094983091) Peter MannsldquoAbsolute and Incarnate Faith Luther on Justification in the Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983089ndash983091983093rdquo
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10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1936
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2036
10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 1836
10486261048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
Luther consistently ranked the epistle as one of the clearest distillations
of the gospel within the canon of Scripture For example in his 1048625104862910486281048630
preface to the New estament he writes ldquoSt Johnrsquos Gospel and his firstepistle St Paulrsquos epistles especially Romans Galatians and Ephesians
and St Peterrsquos first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach
you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know even if you were
never to see or hear any other book or doctrinerdquo983093 Of the biblical books
that make up Lutherrsquos ldquocanon within the canonrdquo however it was Galatians
to which he continually returned publishing more on this one text than
on all the rest combinedMy goal in this chapter is to trace out the distinctive features of Lutherrsquos
interpretation of Paul in the letter to Galatians beginning with an as-
sessment of the place of this remarkable letter in Lutherrsquos career and body
of work Next I offer analysis of Lutherrsquos exegetical methods and inten-
tions including a detailed discussion of his sources and interlocutors
Following this I examine Lutherrsquos understanding of the argument and
structure of the epistle contrasting his approach with those of patristicand medieval exegetes In the final section I offer summary observations
on three theological themes that set Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians apart
from those of his predecessors My aim in this chapter is not to defend
Lutherrsquos exegesis against modern biblical scholarship but to facilitate a
more fruitful engagement with his ideas by setting them in the context of
the remarkably fecund period of intellectual ferment in which he lived
moved and had his being Lutherrsquos reading of Galatians has proven enor-
mously influentialmdashindeed it is probably not much of an overstatement
to suggest no other reading has loomed larger over the text in the modern
world at least within Protestantism For this reason it is all the more
imperative that any serious attempt to assess the merits of Lutherrsquos exe-
gesis proceed from a careful understanding of his historical context theo-
logical aims and exegetical practices
in Catholic Scholars Dialogue with Luther ed Jared Wicks (Chicago Loyola University Press983089983097983095983088) pp 983089983090983089-983093983094 Kenneth Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture as Seen in His ldquoCommentariesrdquo
on Galatians (uumlbingen Mohr 983089983097983097983091) Juha Mikkonen Luther and Calvin on Paulrsquos Epistle to the
Galatians An Analysis and Comparison o Substantial Concepts in Lutherrsquos 983089852021983091983089983091852021 and Calvinrsquos
983089852021852020852022852020983096 Commentaries on Galatians (Aringbo Aringbo Akademi University Press 983090983088983088983095)5WADB 983094983089983089 LW 983091983093983091983094983090
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048629
L983157983156983144983141983154rsquo983155 E983160983141983143983141983155983145983155 983151983142 G983137983148983137983156983145983137983150983155 A S983161983148983148983137983138983157983155
Luther was awarded the rank of Doctor sacrae scripturae in October 1048625104862910486251048626
the highest academic title in medieval Christendom Lutherrsquos biographersoen refer to him as a ldquoprofessor of Holy Scripturerdquo or as a ldquoprofessor of
Biblerdquo yet this ought not to suggest that Luther was engaged in the more
specialized (and modern) discipline of ldquobiblical studiesrdquo Luther was a pro-
fessor of theology and he occupied the same teaching position as medieval
luminaries such as Albert the Great and Tomas Aquinas1048630 Departing
from the typical practice to a considerable extent however Luther focused
his teaching energies almost exclusively on the Scriptures lecturing on thePsalms (1048625104862910486251048627ndash1048625104862910486251048629) Romans (1048625104862910486251048629ndash1048625104862910486251048630) Galatians (1048625104862910486251048630ndash1048625104862910486251048631) and Hebrews
(1048625104862910486251048631ndash1048625104862910486251048632) in the years leading up to his confrontation with the Roman
curia over the matter of indulgences Following the appointment of Philipp
Melanchthon to the more specialized post of professor of Greek in the
spring of 1048625104862910486251048632 Luther turned his focus in the classroom primarily to lec-
turing on the Old estament
Lutherrsquos lectures on Galatians from this early period survive in the formof student notes (Nachschrifen)983095 Tese have been of enormous interest to
modern scholars seeking to reconstruct Lutherrsquos early theology and thereby
identify the exact moment of his ldquoReformation breakthroughrdquo though gaps
still remain in the notes themselves983096 What is clear however is that these
lecturesmdashdelivered immediately prior to the outbreak of the controversy
over indulgences that inaugurated Lutherrsquos career as a reformermdashserved as
the basis for Lutherrsquos first published commentary on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048633
1048633
Writing to his friend and mentor Johann von Staupitz in October of that year
Luther describes his work in the following mixed terms
6Siegfried Raeder ldquoTe Exegetical and Hermeneutical Work of Martin Lutherrdquo in Hebrew BibleOld
estament Te History o Its Interpretation II From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment edMagne Saeligboslash (Goumlttingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht 983090983088983088983096) p 983091983094983093
7WA 9830939830959830908Hans Volz ldquoEine neue studentische Nachschri von Luthers erster Galaterbrief-vorlesung von983089983093983089983094983089983095rdquo Zeitschrif uumlr Kirchengeschichte 983092983094 (983089983097983093983092983093983093) 983095983090-983097983094
9Luther In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas F Martini Lutheri Augustiniani commentarius (LeipzigMelchior Lotther 983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983091983094-983094983089983096 LW 983090983095983089983093983091-983092983089983088 Four years later the Wittenberg printerJohann Gruumlnenberg issued a slightly abridged edition of the same work the title now reflectingLutherrsquos estrangement from his religious order In epistolam Pauli ad Galatas Martini Lutheri com-
mentarius (Wittenberg Johann Gruumlnenberg 983089983093983090983091)
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486261048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
I am sending you two copies Reverend Father of my foolish commentary I
am not so happy with it as I was at first and I see that it might have been
expounded more fully and clearly But who can do everything at once Indeedwho can manage to do very much for long Nevertheless I am confident that
Paul is made clearer here than he has previously been by others even though
it is not yet quite to my liking9830891048624
Tis remark highlights not only Lutherrsquos evolving perspective (no longer
pleased with a work barely two years old) but also his aim in exposition to
clarify the mind of the apostle for a contemporary audience In this regard
Lutherrsquos work is in keeping with the aims of many humanist scholars of hisgeneration including Desiderius Erasmus whose influence looms large in
this volume983089983089
Given Lutherrsquos ambivalence regarding his first effort at expounding
Galatians it comes as no surprise to find him returning to the letter once
again in 1048625104862910486271048625 It is important to keep in mind however how much had
changed for Luther in the intervening years At the time he had given his
first lectures on Galatians in 1048625104862910486251048630 Luther was an obscure friar fresh out ofgraduate school beginning his teaching career at a relatively new (and con-
sequently not very prestigious) university on the margins of European in-
tellectual life welve years later Luther had been excommunicated by the
pope declared an outlaw by the emperor hailed as a prophet by his sup-
porters and excoriated as a heresiarch by his detractors He had translated
the New estament into German from the original language and then
broken publicly with Erasmus the scholar whose retrieval of the Greek text
had made this possible And his voluminous popular writings had helped
first to precipitatemdashand then to suppressmdasha small civil war Over the
course of this period Luther and his followers had slowly shied their
stance from that of prophetic witness to apostolic missionmdashthat is they
had gone from being loyal Catholics calling the church back to its most
ancient and authentic traditions to becoming the founders of an alternate
ecclesial polity in the face of intransigent opposition983089983090
10Epistle 983089983094983090 (October 983091 983089983093983089983097) WABr 98308998309198309298308811Johannes Kunze Erasmus und Luther Der Einfluss des Erasmus au die Kommentierung des
Galaterbriees und der Psalmen durch Luther 983089852021983089852025ndash983089852021983090983089 (Muumlnster LI Verlag 983090983088983088983088)12David C Steinmetz ldquoTe Catholic Luther A Critical Reappraisalrdquo Teology oday 983094983089 no 983090
(983090983088983088983092) 983089983096983095-983090983088983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048631
All these developments came to a head in 1048625104862910486271048624 when representatives
from the ldquoProtestantrdquo (as we must now call them) territories of the Holy
Roman Empire sent representatives to the imperial diet meeting atAugsburg in hopes of persuading Charles V to side with them against
Rome Te emperor declined declaring instead his intention ldquoto remain
firmly faithful to the old true traditional Christian faith and religion and
[to] the honorable praiseworthy ceremonies and usages which have
always been performed in all the churchesrdquo983089983091 Aer nearly a decade of legal
maneuvers following the Diet of Worms Luther and his supporters were
forced to confront the reality that the empire would not aid in reformingthe church Within five weeks aer the end of the Diet envoys from the
Lutheran territories were meeting in the Turingian village of Smalkalden
to dra an agreement for mutual protection against their Catholic em-
peror9830891048628 If the gospel were to survive it would have to be defended by force
of arms rather than by constitutional appeals
All this serves to underscore the context in which Luther turned his
attention to Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians once more in July 1048625104862910486271048625mdashand toexplain the note of urgency that runs throughout his exposition When
Luther prefaced his lectures in July 1048625104862910486271048625 with the warning that ldquothere is a
great and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure
doctrine of faithrdquo he may have been indulging in polemical rhetoric but the
danger to his movement was real enough983089983093 Nevertheless Luther and his
students worked their way through the epistle at a much more leisurely
pace than in 1048625104862910486251048633 devoting six lectures to the first chapter (July 1048627ndash10486251048632 1048625104862910486271048625)
five to the second (July 10486261048628ndashAug 10486261048625) eleven to the third (Aug 10486261048626ndashOct 10486251048624)
six to the fourth (Oct 10486251048631ndashNov 10486251048628) six to the fih (Nov 10486251048628ndashDec 1048628) and
three to the sixth (Dec 1048629ndash10486251048626) Again student notes formed the basis for
the later printed edition which hit the presses with two editions in 1048625104862910486271048629
followed by a corrected reprint of the same material in 10486251048629104862710486329830891048630 It is this
13Tomas A Brady Jr German Histories in the Age o Reormations 983089852020983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088 (New York Cam-bridge University Press 983090983088983088983097) p 983090983090983088
14Tis brief summary of events follows the analysis in ibid15Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983091983097 LW 98309098309498309116Luther In Epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas commentarius ex praelectione D Martini Lutheri collectus
(Wittenberg Johannes Lu 983089983093983091983093 Hagenau Peter Brubach 983089983093983091983093) In epistolam S Pauli ad Galatas
commentarius ex praelectione D Mart Luth collectus Iam denuo diligenter recognitus castigatus
etc (Wittenberg Lu 983089983093983091983096) WA 983092983088983089 and 983092983088983090 Te Weimar edition tracks variations between
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 2236
10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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10486261048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
ldquofinalrdquo edition oen referred to as the ldquo104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 editionrdquo that would establish
Luther as the preeminent commentator on Galatians in the sixteenth
century and perhaps of the early modern era983089983095
T983141983160983156983155 983137983150983140 T983151983151983148983155
Of what tools did Luther avail himself as he set about his work of expounding
the text What commentaries did he consult andmdashabove allmdashwhat text of
the Bible itself Owing in large part to his work as a translator Lutherrsquos
linguistic handling of the text has received nearly exhaustive treatment by
modern scholars Heinz Bluhm has demonstrated that Lutherrsquos translationof Galatians in the 1048625104862910486261048626 Septembertestament was based on the most up-to-
date edition of the Greek text available in Germany at the time Erasmusrsquos
1048625104862910486251048633 Novum estamentum Omne983089983096 Tis edition was accompanied by Eras-
musrsquos own annotations on the Greek and a fresh Latin translation which
oen departed from the Vulgate in ways that would prove jarring even
controversial9830891048633 Luther made full use of these tools and his translation of
Galatians into German gives evidence of discerning linguistic and literary judgment Tis is evident Bluhm argues in the way Luther avoids a slavish
mechanical translation of the original at times preferring the Vulgatersquos
reading when it made better sense and at times even anticipating some of
the Greek readings of the Complutensian Polyglot a superior text un-
available to Luther at the time of his early translation9830901048624
Tere is no doubt but that Lutherrsquos exegesis of Galatians was rooted in a
deep understanding of the Greek text but what about his classroom practice
Despite his humanist conviction that sound exegesis of the New estament
must be rooted in the graeca veritas (the ldquoGreek truthrdquo) and delivered to
common folk in the common tongue Luther and his colleagues maintained
these editions and reproduces the Nachschrifen of Lutherrsquos student Georg Roumlrer on the upperhalf of the page
17Robert Kolb ldquoTe Influence of Lutherrsquos Galatians Commentary of 983089983093983091983093 on Later Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Commentaries on Galatiansrdquo Archiv uumlr Reormationsgeschichte 983096983092 (983089983097983097983091) 983089983093983094-983096983092 Lutherrsquos engagement with Galatians also extended to his work as a translator and preacher
18Heinz Bluhm ldquoTe Sources of Lutherrsquos Septembertestament Galatiansrdquo in Luther or an Ecumeni-
cal Age ed Carl Meyer (St Louis Concordia 983089983097983094983095) pp 983089983092983092-98309598308919Robert Coogan Erasmus Lee and the Correction o the Vulgate Te Shaking o the Foundations
(Geneva Librairie Droz 983089983097983097983090)20Bluhm ldquoSourcesrdquo p 983089983095983088
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486261048633
the use of the Vulgate in the liturgy throughout this period even publishing
a revision of the venerable Latin translation in 1048625104862910486261048633 the so-called Wittenberg
Vulgate Tis may have been the text to which he referred in his classroomlectures though the Latin text of Galatians supplied in the print edition
beginning in 1048625104862910486271048629 does at times differ from this text
Finally who were Lutherrsquos interlocutors as he worked his way through
the text In his 1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius Luther explicitly cites exegetical works
by Jerome983090983089 Augustine983090983090 ldquoAmbroserdquo983090983091 Nicholas of Lyra9830901048628 Erasmus983090983093 and
Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples9830901048630 In his later treatise On the Councils and the
Church (1048625104862910486271048633) Luther would defend himself against the charge that hisbiblical exegesis was conducted in willful ignorance of patristic interpretation
remarking that he had actually felt compelled to keep his enthusiasm for the
books of the fathers in check and identifying Jerome as his primary guide as
21Jerome Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Commentarius in Epistulam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas (CCSL983095983095A) E Commentary on Galatians trans Andrew Cain (FC 983089983090983089)
22Eric Plummer ed Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians Introduction ext ranslation and
Notes (New York Oxford University Press 983090983088983088983091)
23Luther follows universal medieval opinion in ascribing this text to the bishop of Milan Erasmusis widely regarded as the first scholar to reject this view though this is not quite accurate In 983089983093983090983095he published a four-volume edition of Ambrose (Diui Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis omnia
opera ) with the Basel printer Johannes Froben Erasmus noted his concerns in this edition thatthe text had been corrupted though he never rejected Ambrosersquos authorship outright and in hislater Annotationes on Romans he cites the commentary as the work of Ambrose without qualifica-tion According to Hoven the name ldquoAmbrosiasterrdquo was coined by the editors of the later Bene-dictine edition of Ambrosersquos Opera (Paris 983089983094983096983094ndash983089983096983097983088) Reneacute Hoven ldquoSaint Ambroise oulrsquoAmbrosiasterrdquo Lrsquoantiquiteacute classique 983091983096 (983089983097983094983097) 983089983095983090-983095983092 Commentariae in XII epostolas beati Pauli
(CSEL 983096983089) E Commentaries on GalatiansndashPhilemon trans Gerald L Bray (Downers Grove ILInterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983097)
24Nicholas of Lyra Postilla super totam bibliam (Strassburg 983089983092983097983090 repr Frankfurt am Main Minerva983089983097983095983089)
25Luther draws on two exegetical tools produced by Erasmus during this period the Annotationes
and the Paraphrases Te former were a set of terse explanatory notes mainly philological in na-ture that accompanied the Novum Instrumentum beginning in 983089983093983089983094 and were subsequently ex-panded in 983089983093983089983097 983089983093983090983091 983089983093983090983095 and 983089983093983091983093 A critical edition of the Latin text has recently been pub-lished in the Amsterdam edition of Erasmusrsquos works (ASD VI-983097) Beginning with Romans in 983089983093983089983095Erasmus also began publishing a set of Paraphrases on the New estament Tis project was mo-tivated by ldquothe pastoral necessity of simplifying the sacred text for less-educated Christiansrdquo (Jean-Franccedilois Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrases A lsquoNew Kind of Commentaryrsquordquo in Te Unolding o
Words Commentary in the Age o Erasmus ed Judith Rice Henderson [oronto University oforonto Press 983090983088983089983090] p 983090983096) In epistolam Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas paraphrasis was not publisheduntil the spring of 983089983093983089983097 and so was unavailable to Luther during the composition of his first com-mentary A modern critical edition of this work is not yet available but for a serviceable Englishtranslation see CWE 983092983090
26Jacques Lefegravevre drsquoEacutetaples S Pauli epistolae XIV ex vulgate Adiecta intelligentia ex Graeco cum
commentariis (Paris 983089983093983089983090 repr Stuttgart Frommann 983089983097983095983096)
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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10486271048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he made his way through the text983090983095 Both of these recollections are borne
out by the pattern of Lutherrsquos citations in the first Commentarius (table 1048625)
Indeed if Luther can be accused of neglecting the exegetical tradition itcould only be the medieval tradition with which he barely interacts at all
Table Exegetical citations in Lutherrsquos 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius on Galatians
Commentator PositiveNeutral Negative Total
Jerome 68 37 105
Augustine 18 7 25
Erasmus 23 1 24
ldquoAmbroserdquo 4 2 6
Stapulensis 3 2 5
Lyra 0 1 1
By ldquoexegetical citationsrdquo I mean places in the text where Luther explicitly enters into dialogue with earlier interpreters in aneffort to establish the basic meaning of the biblical text thus I exclude those instances where Luther interacts with anonymousexegetical lore as well as anecdotes or historical references for which he gives an explicit reference By ldquopositiveneutralrdquo Iinclude those instances where Luther either clearly endorses a reading or where he lets it stand as one possible (and by im-plication valid) reading even if he goes on to elaborate a further meaning
Jerome is by far the most important dialogue partner for Luther in the1048625104862910486251048633 Commentarius indeed he cites Jeromersquos commentary more than all the
other ldquosecondary sourcesrdquo at his disposal combined Luther has high regard
for Jeromersquos linguistic skill and he relies heavily on ldquothe saintly manrdquo for a
wealth of exegetical detail from questions of historical context to textual
criticism and the etymology of Greek and Hebrew words983090983096 Nevertheless
Luther is not shy in demurring from Jeromersquos conclusions when he finds
them objectionable on exegetical or theological grounds as he does onseveral occasions for example on the conflict between Peter and Paul
(Gal 104862610486251048625-10486251048627) on Christrsquos having become a ldquocurserdquo (Gal 104862710486251048627) and on the dis-
tinction between spirit and flesh (Gal 104862910486251048631)9830901048633 Most significant however is
Lutherrsquos critique of the way in which Jerome parses Paulrsquos language of law
and the resulting contrast between justification by faith and that by works
(on which more anon) Luther regards this as a major blind spot in Jeromersquos
27WA 983093983088983093983089983097 LW 98309298308998309728WA 983090983093983094983089 LW 98309098309598309198309098309529For Lutherrsquos take on the famous argument between Jerome and Augustine over Gal 983090983089983089 see Ken-
neth Hagen ldquoDid Peter Err Te ext Is the Best Judge Luther on Galatians (983089983093983089983097ndash983089983093983091983096)rdquo in Augustine the Harvest and Teology (983089983091983088983088ndash983089852022852021983088) Essays Dedicated to Heiko Augustinus Oberman
in Honor o His Sixtieth Birthday ed Kenneth Hagen (Leiden Brill 983089983097983097983089) pp 983089983089983088-983090983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048625
reading of Paul however his esteem for Jerome is so high that in several
places he explains away the latterrsquos misjudgment by blaming it on Origen
Augustine is also a major source for Lutherrsquos theological exegesis of the letterespecially on the core (from Lutherrsquos point of view) matter of justification
and the law though Luther is well aware of his limitations as an exegete of
the Greek text For this Luther is heavily dependent on Erasmus ldquothat ex-
cellent manrdquo whom he cites with an almost boyish admiration9830911048624
In the 104862510486291048627104862510486271048629 Commentarius Lutherrsquos interaction with the exegetical lit-
erature has changed dramatically as has his attitude toward Jerome and
Erasmus Most apparently the latter commentary reads much less like ascholarly work of textual exegesis and something more like a set of sermons
or a polemical treatise Whereas in the 1048625104862910486251048633 edition Luther had tethered his
discussion more tightly to the lexical and syntactical details of Paulrsquos text
considering the best of patristic and Renaissance scholarship with a work-
manlike consistency his style in the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition is much more freewheeling
with scant reference to the scholars with whose exegetical judgments he is
interacting Despite the fact that the latter edition is nearly three times thelength of the former explicit references to the works cited in 1048625104862910486251048633 are far
fewer for example Jeromersquos commentary is cited 104862510486241048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only
10486261048624 times in 1048625104862910486271048629 Augustinersquos is cited 10486261048629 times in 1048625104862910486251048633 but only 1048627 times in 1048625104862910486271048629
and Ambrosiaster Lyra and Stauplensis are neglected entirely Nor so far as
I can tell does Luther interact with any new exegesis between the time of
his first and second commentaries983091983089
Moreover when he does refer to ancient and contemporary exegetes in
the 1048625104862910486271048629 edition it is almost always to disagree with them Jerome who has
now become Lutherrsquos exegetical whipping boy is cited positively only four
times and never in a way that suggests he has made any real contribution
to Lutherrsquos understanding of the text In 1048625104862910486251048633 Luther tended to maintain
a respectful tone when discussing Jeromersquos opinions even when he dis-
agreed with them in 1048625104862910486271048629 his contempt is undisguised983091983090 In conversation
30WA 983090983093983093983091 LW 98309098309598309198308998309331Tis despite the fact that several significant works of Pauline exegesis were published during this
period Johannes Bugenhagen (983089983093983090983093) Kaspar Megander (983089983093983091983091) Johannes Campensis (983089983093983091983092) andHeinrich Bullinger (983089983093983091983093) as well as a Latin translation by Erasmus of a commentary by JohnChrysostom (983089983093983090983095) and the aforementioned Paraphrases
32For example Jerome ldquospeaks foolishlyrdquo (WA 983090983089983095983088 LW 983090983094983097983090) he ldquomade awkward and inept al-
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048626 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during this period Luther remarked ldquoI cannot think of a doctor whom I
have come to detest so much and yet I have loved him and read him with
the utmost ardorrdquo983091983091 Te same is true though to a lesser degree withErasmus who in 1048625104862910486271048629 is cited almost exclusively as a theological foil not
as a philological authority During the intervening years Lutherrsquos theology
had undergone considerable development and his changing attitude to
these two exegetes should serve to alert us not to expect a mere restatement
of Lutherrsquos early theology in the later commentary
In concluding this section a word must be said regarding the genre of
Lutherrsquos writings on Galatians Much has been made of Lutherrsquos commentin the dedication (1048625104862910486251048633) that he regarded the work as ldquonot so much a com-
mentary as a testimony of my faith in Christrdquo9830911048628 Kenneth Hagen argues tren-
chantly against the notion that Luther wrote ldquocommentariesrdquo arguing in-
stead for the Latin term enarratio a word with no direct English equivalent983091983093
Hagenrsquos concern is to ensure that we do not confuse Lutherrsquos writings with
the work of nineteenth-century exegetes working with a subject-object di-
chotomy o be sure Luther could be quite scathing in his critique of aca-demic exegetes who read the Bible ldquosolely for the purpose of intellectual
knowledge as if it were a historical writingrdquo9830911048630 But this does not imply that
Luther regarded his work as an exercise in pure subjectivity and neither that
he entirely collapsed the distance between past and present On the contrary
Christian piety must be grounded in a clear apprehension of the text for
only in this way could Godrsquos authoritative message for humanity be distin-
guished from the later accretions of human tradition o put the matter in
more contemporary terms for Luther theological exegesis involves more
legories out of the simplest statements of Scripturerdquo (WA 983090983094983093983091 LW 983090983094983092983091983091) he ldquowas so deceivedby his precious Origen that he understood almost nothing in Paulrdquo (WA 983090983092983091983088 LW 983090983094983090983095983093) etc
33Ergo nullum doctorem scie quem aeque oderim cum tamen ardentissime eum amaverim et legerim (WAR 983089983089983097983092 [no 983092983092983093]) See Joseph Loumlssl ldquoMartin Lutherrsquos Jerome New Evidence for a ChangingAttituderdquo in Jerome o Stridon His Lie Writings and Legacy ed Andrew J Cain and Josef Loumlssl(Burlington V Ashgate 983090983088983088983097) pp 983090983091983095-983093983089
34Nec tam commentarium quam testimonium meae in Christo fidei (WA 983090983092983092983097 LW 983090983095983089983093983097)35ldquoTe term lsquoenarratiorsquo is very old It goes back to Augustine to the Psalter (c 983089983096) and to Isaiah
(c 983093983091)mdashin medieval Latin translations of the Bible It is to set forth in the public arena praise tothe glory of Godrdquo (Hagen Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983089)
36Martin Brecht Martin Luther His Road to Reormation 983089852020983096983091ndash983089852021983090983089 trans James L Schaaf (Min-neapolis Fortress 983089983097983096983093) p 983096983092
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048627
than mere historical reconstruction but it certainly does not involve less983091983095
Once this point is grasped there is no need to quibble over categories like
commentarius and enarratio terms that Luther appears to have used moreor less interchangeably983091983096 Both versions of Lutherrsquos Commentary on Gala-
tians contain the sort of rigorous grammatico-historical analysis of the
biblical text we are accustomed to look for in biblical commentaries today
and both versions apply the results of that exegesis to a wide range of
social political and theological issues confronting Luther in his day
Luther showed himself by turns both generous and scathing with earlier
interpreters but he never pulled his punches when advances in textuallinguistic and historical understanding discomfited traditional readings
Luther showed no hesitation in setting aside the views of Jerome Erasmus
or even Augustine If we take him at his word there is no reason to think
37ldquoWhile grammatical and historical study formed the basis of an edifying interpretation of the textLuther was unwilling to make the sharp distinction encouraged by modern criticism between whatthe text meant and what it means He did not ignore this distinction and could leave the meaning
of a text at the level of historical or theological analysis At the same time he oen utilized personalexperience and his diagnosis of the contemporary church to make the text speak immediately tohis own day and thus to reveal its meaningrdquo (Scott H Hendrix ldquoLuther Against the Backgroundof the History of Biblical Interpretationrdquo Interpretation 983091983095 no 983091 [983089983097983096983091] 983090983090983097-983091983097 quote on p 983090983091983096)
38Hagen states pointedly that ldquothe word that Luther used instead of lsquocommentaryrsquo is the verb lsquoenar-rarersquo or the noun lsquoenarratiorsquordquo (Lutherrsquos Approach to Scripture p 983093983088) but the texts he cites do notsupport this conclusionmdashindeed the reverse In the 983089983093983089983097 Commentarius Luther explains (with thehelp of Erasmus) a figure of speech in Gal 983089983097 by means of a Latin analogue Virgilium lego Hiero-
nymum enarro (ldquoI read Vergil I comment on Jeromerdquo) WA 983090983092983094983091 LW 983090983095983089983095983097 Here Luther isobviously using the term in the more restrictive or ldquoacademicrdquo sense rather than in the senseelaborated by Hagen In the 983089983093983091983093 Commentarius Luther simply quotes the Vulgate text of Ps 983089983096983089
(M 983089983097983089) coeli enarrant gloriam Dei In neither context does he make any reference to the genreof his own writing Nor is it the case that Luther ldquodistinguished his work from the lsquoCommentariesrsquoof Erasmusrdquo on this basis as Hagen claims In the dedication of 983089983093983089983097 Luther offers a sort of apol-ogy for publishing ldquothis slight thingrdquo remarking that he ldquowould certainly have preferred to waitfor the commentaries (commentarios) promised long ago by Erasmus a man preeminent in theol-ogy and impervious to envy But since he is postponing this (God grant that it may not be for long)the situation which you see forces me to come before the publicrdquo (WA 983090983092983093983088 LW 983090983095983089983093983097-983094983088) Tishardly seems like an attempt to introduce a distinction between his own work and that of Erasmusby appealing to a difference in genre o be sure Luther begins his lectures (and the printed editionof his commentary in 983089983093983091983093) with the words Suscipimus denuo enarrare in nomine Domini epistolam
Pauli ad Galatas (WA 983092983088983089983091983097) but it is also the case that each of the successive works Lutherpublished on Galatians was titled commentarius not enarratio Hagen rightly points out that six-teenth-century titles were oen supplied by publishers but I find it hard to imagine that so force-ful a personality as Luthermdashparticularly later in his careermdashcould not have carried the point if itreally mattered to him Te fact that he was willing to let successive editions of his Commentary on Galatians proceed so titled ought rather to alert us to the breadth of this genre in the sixteenthcentury For more on this last point see the helpful discussion in Cottie ldquoErasmusrsquos Paraphrasesrdquo
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048628 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
he would not expect the same handling from modern exegetes today
A983154983143983157983149983141983150983156 983137983150983140 S983156983154983157983139983156983157983154983141Luther follows patristic and medieval custom by prefacing his commentary
with a summary of what he takes to be the argumentum of the epistle as a
whole and here his departure from traditional exegesis is apparent even in
the earliest edition
Traditional exegesis For Jerome Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians (like the
letter to the Romans) is concerned especially with establishing the ldquocessation
of the old Law and the introduction of the new Lawrdquo9830911048633
Here the relationshipis clearly one of promise and fulfillment whereby the fullness of evangelical
grace renders obsolete the burdens of Jewish custom10486281048624 Te uniqueness of
Galatians lies in the fact that Paul is not as in Romans addressing Jewish
believers who were still clinging to the rites of their forefathers but Gentile
converts who had been intimidated into observing Jewish practices by the
authority of ldquocertain people who claimed that Peter James and all the
churches of Judea were conflating the Gospel of Christ with the old Lawrdquo Inresponse to this crisis ldquoPaul proceeds cautiously steering a middle course
between two extremes so as neither to betray the grace of the Gospel nor
to detract from his [Jewish] forefathers in his preaching of gracerdquo1048628983089 For
Jerome therefore the letter to the Galatians must be read as addressing a very
specific historical context and Paulrsquos rhetoric must be interpreted accord-
ingly Te letter does not set out a straightforward description of universal
theological themes in the manner of a philosophical treatise rather it ldquomakes
a stealthy approach as if going by a secret passagewayrdquo1048628983090 Tis allows Jerome
39In his autem duabus ut dixi epistolis specialiter antiquae legis cessatio et nouae introductio conti-
netur (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)40ldquoIn everything that the Apostle wrote or said in person he tirelessly taught that the burdensome
obligations [onera deposita] of the old Law have been abolished and that everything that hadpreceded in types and symbols [typis et imaginibus] (the Sabbath rest injurious circumcision therecurring cycle of new moons and of the three annual feasts the dietary laws and the daily ablu-tion aer which one would become defiled again) ceased to have validity with the arrival ofevangelical grace which is fulfilled by the faith of the believing soul [ fides animae credentis im-
pleret ] and not by the blood of animal sacrificesrdquo (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983096-983093983097)41Quamobrem ita caute inter utrumque et medius incedit ut nec euangelii prodat gratiam pressus
pondere et auctoritate maiorum nec praecessoribus aciat iniuriam dum assertor est gratiae (PL983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
42Oblique uero et quasi per cuniculos latenter incedens (PL 983090983094983091983091983092 FC 983089983090983089983093983097)
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048629
to explain (away) the apparent conflict between Peter and Paul a source of
some embarrassment for Christian intellectuals ever since the publication of
Porphyryrsquos Adversus Christianos and a major worry for Jerome1048628983091
For Augustine Galatians is ultimately concerned not with a contrast
between old law and new law between Jewish customs and evangelical grace
but with the nature of grace itself Te reality of the grace revealed in the
gospel has not yet dawned on some and Paul writes to make explicit the
underlying logic of grace a logic that makes sense of both the law and faith
Te reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians is so they may understand what
it is that Godrsquos grace accomplishes for them they are no longer under the lawFor though the grace of the gospel had been preached to them there were
some from the circumcision who still did not grasp the real benefit of grace
Despite being called Christians they still wanted to be under the burdens
of the lawmdashburdens that the Lord God had imposed not on those serving
righteousness but on those serving sin Tat is he had given a righteous law
to unrighteous people to point out their sins not take them away He takes
away sins only by the grace of faith which works through love (Gal 10486291048630)10486281048628
ldquoLawrdquo for Augustine is not limited to the ceremonial functions regarded by
Jerome as mere ldquotypes and symbolsrdquo Rather law in this context is a compre-
hensive category embracing all the commands of God revealed under the
old dispensationmdashwhat in the later tradition would be distinguished under
the tripartite headings of ldquomoralrdquo ldquoceremonialrdquo and ldquocivilrdquo law1048628983093 While
Augustine agrees with Jerome that many of the typological functions of the
Mosaic law have been fulfilled and therefore rendered nonbinding forChristiansmdashthough he never goes so far as Jerome in regarding them as
ldquoabolishedrdquomdashthe primary contrast is not between Jewish law and Christian
grace but between law and faith as complementary movements within Godrsquos
overarching economy of grace Formulating the issue with striking clarity
43See Robert M Grant ldquoPorphyry Among the Early Christiansrdquo in Romanitas et Christianitas Studia
Iano Henrico Waszink oblata ed Willem den Boer et al (Amsterdam North Holland 983089983097983095983091) pp983089983096983089-983096983095
44Augustine Expositio Epistolae ad Galatas 983089983089 E Plummer Augustinersquos Commentary on Galatians p 983089983090983093
45On the development of this typology in Tomas Aquinas see the discussion in Matthew LeveringChristrsquos Fulfillment o orah and emple Salvation According to Tomas Aquinas (South Bend INUniversity of Notre Dame Press 983090983088983088983090) pp 983090983090-983091983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3036
10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
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8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3036
10486271048630 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
during the early stages of the Pelagian controversy Augustine would write
in his treatise On the Spirit and the Letter that ldquoby the law of works God says
Do what I command By the law of faith we say to God Give what youcommandrdquo10486281048630 Faith for Augustine thus provides the power for fulfillment
of the lawrsquos moral demands not the abrogation of those demands
As I have already shown Lutherrsquos primary interlocutors in his exegesis of
Galatians were patristic commentators and humanist scholars with scant
heed paid to the roughly thousand years of interpretive tradition between
the two Nevertheless it will be helpful briefly to sketch out the approach of
at least one medieval interpreter with whom Luther was not in explicit dia-logue in order to further highlight the distinctiveness of Lutherrsquos own ap-
proach Tomas Aquinas is typical of many medieval interpreters in that he
seeks to synthesize patristic opinion rather than pit one source against an-
other Tus it is unsurprising that we see themes from both Jerome and
Augustine harmonized without any sense that his sources might be in
tension Although modern scholars have consistently demonstrated
Tomasrsquos profound debts to Augustine particularly on the questions of gracefaith and works so central to Galatians1048628983095 when it came to making sense of
Galatians on its own terms Tomasrsquos work bears a much heavier impress from
Jerome aking Leviticus 1048626104863010486251048624 as an epigram for the entire epistle (ldquoTe new
coming on you shall cast away the oldrdquo) Tomas explains
Te Apostle writes the Galatians this epistle in which he shows that with the
coming of the grace of the New estament the Old estament should be cast
out so that with the fulfillment of the truth the figure may be abandoned andwith the attainment of these two namely grace and truth one may arrive at
the truth of justice [iustitiae] and glory1048628983096
According to Tomas all the other books of the Pauline corpus treat grace
as it exists in the church in light of the ldquonewness of the doctrine of Christrdquo
but Galatians is concerned with refuting ldquooldnessrdquo Tis vetustas is fourfold
46Augustine De Spiritu et littera 983090983090 CSEL 983094983088983089983095983092 Cf Conessions 983089983088983091983089983092983093 ldquoGive what you com-mand and command what you willrdquo
47See for example Daniel A Keating ldquoJustification Sanctification and Divinization in TomasAquinasrdquo in Aquinas on Doctrine A Critical Introduction ed Tomas Weinandy et al (Edinburghamp Clark 983090983088983088983092) pp 983089983091983097-983093983096
48Tomas Aquinas Super Epistolas S Pauli lectura vol 983089 Super Epistolam ad Galatas lectura edBusa (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstadt Frommann-Hoolzbog 983089983097983096983088) p 983089983096983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3136
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3436
10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3536
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3636
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3136
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048631
(1048625) the ldquooldness of errorrdquo (Is 104862610486301048627) (1048626) the ldquooldness of figurerdquo (Heb 10486321048632)
(1048627) the ldquooldness of guiltrdquo (Ps 104862710486251048627) and (1048628) the ldquooldness of punishmentrdquo
(Lam 10486271048628)10486281048633 Tis oldness Tomas argues stands in sharp contrast to thenewness of grace made manifest in Christ
So far as the structure of the epistle is concerned Tomas provides a
detailed analysis of the flow of Paulrsquos argument Aer a brief salutatio
(Gal 10486251048625-1048629) the rest of the letter is taken up with the narratio epistularis
which consists of two parts first Paul refutes the Galatiansrsquo error on the
authority of the gospel (Gal 10486251048630ndash104862610486261048625) and on that of the Old estament
(Gal 10486271048625ndash104862810486271048625) second he admonishes them with regard to doctrine andmorals (Gal 10486291048625ndash104863010486251048632) Te first part of the admonitio (quantum ad divina)
is thus for Tomas the climax of the letter with its twofold charge to ldquostand
firmrdquo and ldquodo not submit to a yoke of slaveryrdquo (Gal 10486291048625) Tis twofold
construction is reiterated in Galatians 10486291048630 where Tomas focuses on the
contrast between circumcision as a sign of the ldquooldnessrdquo that enslaves and
ldquofaith working through loverdquo as the empowering ldquonewnessrdquo that saves For
Tomas therefore faith is at the center of Paulrsquos argument in Galatiansbut understood here in the Augustinian sense as the power that liberates
the will to perform works of love Tus construed Galatians becomes a
key text for reconciling the theology of Paul with that of James
Luther Luther is having none of this His exposition of Galatians departs
radically from his predecessors both in his apprehension of the epistlersquos
argument and its structure In his summary of the epistlersquos argumentum
Luther sets out as clearly as anywhere else in his corpus his distinctive
understanding of the iustitia Dei so central to his mature theology9830931048624 At the
heart of this insight is the sharp distinction Luther draws between active
and passive righteousness a ldquobreakthroughrdquo he would later describe as the
turning point in his understanding of the Christian gospel983093983089 In 1048625104862910486251048633 the
49Ibid50Te secondary literature on this subject is massive but for a basic overview of Lutherrsquos develop-
ment during this period see Bernhard Lohse Martin Lutherrsquos Teology Its Historical and System-
atic Development trans Roy A Harrisville (Minneapolis Fortress 983089983097983097983097) pp 983096983093-983097983093 983090983093983096-98309498309451See the famous account in the Vorrede zum ersten Bande der Gesamtausgaben seiner lateinischen
Schrifen (983089983093983092983093) WA 983093983092983089983096983093-983096983094 LW 983091983092983091983091983094-983091983096 Scholars continue to disagree about the dating andtheological significance of Lutherrsquos so-called Reformation discovery I have examined the issues insome detail in chapter four of my doctoral dissertation ldquoDivided by Faith Te Protestant Doctrineof Justification and the Confessionalization of Biblical Exegesisrdquo (Duke University 983090983088983089983088) Luther
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3436
10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3536
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3636
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3236
10486271048632 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
distinction is implicit ldquoAlthough the Galatians had first been taught to
trust in Jesus Christ alone not in their own righteousnesses [iusticias] or in
those of the Law later on they were again turned away by the false apostlesand led to trust in works of legalistic righteousness [legalis iusticiae]rdquo983093983090 Here
careful attention to Lutherrsquos language is critical the plural iusticias points to
what would become a characteristically Lutheran way of speaking of the
various types of human righteousness against which is set the righteousness
of God (iustitia Dei) In 1048625104862910486271048629 Luther picks up this term and unpacks it more
fully ldquoTe argument is this Paul wants to establish the doctrine of faith
grace the forgiveness of sins or Christian righteousness so that we may havea perfect knowledge and know the difference between Christian righteousness
and all other kinds of righteousnessrdquo983093983091 In contrast with this ldquoChristian right-
eousnessrdquo (iustitia Christiana) Luther enumerates a sweeping range of
iustitiae there is ldquopolitical righteousnessrdquo (iustitia politica) ldquowhich the em-
peror the princes of the world philosophers and lawyers considerrdquo So also
there is ldquoceremonial righteousnessrdquo (iustitia ceremonialis) a righteousness
grounded in ldquohuman traditionsrdquo ranging from the traditions of the pope topractices of moral discipline employed by parents Finally there is the right-
eousness of the law or the en Commandments (iustitia legalis seu decalogi)
taught by Moses9830931048628
Luther argues that the primary aim of Paulrsquos letter to the Galatians is
to contrast these various forms of active righteousness with the passive
righteousness of the gospel His description of this contrast is well known
but worth quoting here at length
was clearly using the language of iustitia passiva as early as his lectures on Romans in 983089983093983089983093 thoughI argue that the revolutionary implications of this terminological shi dawned on Lutherrsquos con-sciousness much more gradually than his own later account suggests
52Galatae primum ab Apostolo sanam fidem id est in solum Iesum Chistum non in suas aut legis
iusticias fidere docti post per pseudoapostolos rursum deturbati sunt in fiduciam operum legalis
iustitiae (Galatas [983089983093983089983097] WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 983090983095983089983094983089)53Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088 LW 983090983094983092 Te Latin word iustitia is notoriously difficult to
translate into English carrying with it a much richer set of associations than either of the termsmost frequently used ldquorighteousnessrdquo and ldquojusticerdquo For this reason I have opted to retain the Latinin the text whenever possible
54It is important to point out here that despite the similarity in terms Luther is not referring to
the well-known distinction in Western theology between civil ceremonial and moral law Tis
distinction was developed in order to parse the various dimensions of the law given by God to
the Jews under the Mosaic dispensation Lutherrsquos terminology however is much broader em-
bracing laws of both human and divine origin
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3436
10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3536
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3636
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3336
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486271048633
Over and above all these there is the righteousness of faith or Christian
righteousness which is to be distinguished most carefully from all the others
For they are all contrary to this righteousness both because they proceedfrom the laws of emperors the traditions of the pope and the command-
ments of God and because they consist in our works and can be achieved by
us with ldquopurely natural endowmentsrdquo [ex puris naturalibus] as the scholastics
teach or from a gi of God For these kinds of the righteousness of works
too are gis of God as are all the things we have But this most excellent
righteousness the righteousness of faith which God imputes to us through
Christ without works is neither political nor ceremonial nor legal nor work-
righteousness but is quite the opposite it is a merely passive righteousnesswhile all the others listed above are active For here we work nothing render
nothing to God we only receive and permit someone else to work in us
namely God Terefore it is appropriate to call the righteousness of faith or
Christian righteousness ldquopassiverdquo Tis is a righteousness hidden in a mystery
which the world does not understand983093983093
Tis passage signals not only a break with the ldquosemi-Pelagianismrdquo of late
medieval theologians such as Gabriel Biel who taught that human beingscould merit the gi of grace ex puris naturalibus but also with the broader
Augustinian tradition which saw Godrsquos gi of inner grace as the transfor-
mative power that freed the Christian from sin and empowered her to fulfill
the righteous demands of the law9830931048630 As Augustine himself put it in a dictum
that had become axiomatic in Western theology ldquowhen God crowns our
merits he does nothing but reward his own gisrdquo983093983095 Luther of course does
not deny the transformative power of this inner grace Like the legislationof a wise prince the rites of a holy pontiff or the moral injunctions of divine
law this inner habit of grace is a gi of God But like all these gis it is a
human activity something we do in response to the more fundamental gi
of Godrsquos creative word which stands prior to all else
For Luther Paulrsquos letter addresses a concrete historical situation and
it must be read in light of that situation the Galatian Christians a pre-
55Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983092983088-983092983089 LW 98309098309498309256On Bielrsquos theology see Heiko A Oberman Te Harvest o Medieval Teology Gabriel Biel and Late
Medieval Nominalism (Cambridge MA Harvard University Press 983089983097983094983091) pp 983092983095-983092983096 Luther op-posed this notion from as early as 983089983093983089983093 when he lectured on Paulrsquos epistle to the Romans (WA983093983094983091983094983088)
57Augustine Epistle 983089983097983092983093 CSEL 983093983095983089983097983088
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3436
10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3536
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3636
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3436
10486281048624 R983141983142983151983154983149983137983156983145983151983150 R983141983137983140983145983150983143983155 983151983142 P983137983157983148
dominantly Gentile group have responded in faith to the preaching of
Paulrsquos gospel but aer a promising beginning they have lapsed back into
a sub-Christian faith putting their confidence in ldquoworks of legalisticrighteousnessrdquo983093983096 Te problem as Luther sees it is not that these works
are obsolete as Jerome had thought or that they are impotent as Augustine
had thought Te problem is that the Galatians have failed to recognize
the gratuitous nature of the iustitia Dei as the gi that stands prior to all
human response Tis failure jeopardizes the Galatiansrsquo very identity in
Christ and thus calls forth Paulrsquos most strenuous response
Lutherrsquos exposition of Galatians differs from modern biblical commen-taries in that he does not offer an explicit outline of the text In this he
differs also from many of his medieval predecessors who oen provided
careful analyses of rhetorical and dialectical structure Luther seems to
have had little use for such interpretive tools but this does not mean that
he paid no attention to the structure of the argument as is seen from
several key passages in the commentary itself Because Luther recognizes
in Paul a fellow warrior of the gospel his attention is riveted by Paulrsquospolemical rhetoric to the near exclusion of any explicit analysis of the flow
of Paulrsquos thought within the epistle or of the place of the epistle within the
apostlersquos wider corpus In fact it is not until the end of Galatians 1048628mdashat the
close of what Luther regards as the positive argument of the epistlemdashthat
a rough sketch of its structure is given and this only in passing
As he enters on his treatment of the allegory of Sarah and Hagar beginning
at Galatians 104862810486261048628 Luther notes that Paul had already proven his central ar-
gument the righteousness of faith against that of works by arguments based
on experience (Gal 1048625ndash1048626) on the story of Abraham (Gal 10486271048625-1048633) and on the evi-
dence of Scripture (Gal 104862710486251048624-10486261048626) and by a series of analogies (Gal 104862710486261048627ndash10486281048631)
Te story of Abrahamrsquos two sons is then added as ldquoa kind of ornamentrdquo9830931048633 Tus
the substance of Paulrsquos positive argument ends at Galatians 10486281048631 with the dec-
laration ldquoso through God you are no longer a slave but a sonrdquo Ten in Ga-
latians 10486281048632-1048633 when Paul asks the Galatians how it is that they could abandon
such benefits and return in slavery to ldquoweak and beggarly elementsrdquo Luther
58Luther Galatas (983089983093983089983097) WA 983090983092983093983089 LW 98309098309598308998309498308959Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983093983095 LW 983090983094983092983091983094
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3536
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3636
8202019 Reformation Readings of Paul Edited by Michael Allen and Jonathan A Linebaugh - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullreformation-readings-of-paul-edited-by-michael-allen-and-jonathan-a-linebaugh 3536
Martin Lutherrsquos Reading o Galatians 10486281048625
discerns the conclusion of Paulrsquos main line of thought10486301048624
For Luther therefore the core of Paulrsquos argument in Galatians is front-
loaded in the first two chapters of the epistle everything else merely expandson this central point and reinforces it Te ldquoscoldingrdquo and moral admonition
that come in the final two chapters of the letter represent not the climax of
Paulrsquos argumentation as it is for Tomas but a set of derivative consider-
ations flowing from the argumentum For Tomas the central thrust of the
epistle reaches its climax with ldquofaith working through loverdquo (Gal 10486291048630) for
Luther this is simply an outworking of the more fundamental insight that ldquoa
man is not justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christrdquo (Gal 104862610486251048630)Tis shi in how the argument and structure of the epistle are construed has
important theological consequences three of which I will now highlight
T983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983139983137983148 T983144983141983149983141983155
Anti-asceticism Lutherrsquos rejection of all forms of iustitia activa as he de-
scribes it in the argumentum carries radical consequences for how he views
ldquoreligionrdquo In commenting on Galatians 10486251048628 Luther regards Paulrsquos statementthat Christ delivers us ldquofrom the present evil worldrdquo as a summary statement
of the epistle as a whole ldquoPaul is correct in calling it the evil world for when
it is at its best then it is at its worst Te world is at its best in men who are
religious wise and learned yet in them it is actually evil twice overrdquo1048630983089 In
medieval Latin the term religion (religio) had come to refer very narrowly
to life in the monasterymdashthat is life governed by a regula a ldquorulerdquo and this
is clearly the meaning Luther has primarily in mind1048630983090 And yet more broadly
Luther equates ldquoreligionrdquo not so much with the institutional form of monas-
ticism itself but rather with the mindset of askesis the notion that human
beings are transformed through practice ldquofrom the outside inrdquo and that this
transformative process can ultimately lead to salvation1048630983091 Tis notion as it
60Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983094983088983088 LW 98309098309498309198309798309261Luther Galatas (983089983093983091983093) WA 983092983088983089983097983093 LW 98309098309498309298308862John Bossy ldquoSome Elementary Forms of Durkheimrdquo Past and Present 983097983093 (May 983089983097983096983090) 983092 Te stu-
dent notes on this text record his words as follows In monachis est optimus in ingeniosis hominibus
sapientibus philosophis et ibi dupliciter malus Invidiam avaritiam urtum wie gisstig die leut sind
vides (WA 983092983088983089983097983093)63Jennifer A Herdt Putting on Virtue Te Legacy o the Splendid Vices (Chicago University of
Chicago Press 983090983088983088983096) p 983089983096983088 Despite widespread scholarly consensus that ldquoasceticismrdquo is virtuallyuniversal in all human cultures the term has proven notoriously difficult to define For my pur-
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