The violent physician - 17 October 2010 |
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In a previous post, I highlighted an instance in Martin Luther’s writings when he manages to distinguish between theological disagreement and personal animosity. He thus provides an example of speaking bluntly about the shortcomings in the theology of friends with whom we disagree, while maintaining a tone of personal charity and grace towards them as Christian brothers and sisters.
Sadly, our outspoken German friend was not always so charitable.
While I was basking in the reflected glow of Luther’s warmth towards Erasmus in The Bondage of the Will, a good friend of mine was shivering at Luther’s icy bitterness towards Zwingli, Bucer and Oecolampadius during their disagreements about the Lord’s Supper, to which James Payton draws attention in Getting the Reformation Wrong.
[Luther] excoriated Zwingli, Bucer and Oecolampadius as “false prophets,” “minions of Satan” and “inspired by the wicked one.” Luther loaded Zwingli and the others with invective – the very sort of hostile, coarse defamation for which monks and scholastics had long been known, and which Christian humanism (and especially its notable leader Erasmus) had denounced as unworthy of a Christian. So Zwingli, Bucer and Oecolampadius urged Luther to speak more temperately – which Luther interpreted as their satanically inspired attempt to have him go easy on truth. (p. 113)
My friend (not David Payton himself) continues:
Nor was this, apparently, a standalone event: even Melanchthon felt Luther’s fury (so much so that he eulogized that Europe was so sick that God felt compelled to send Luther as a violent physician to the church).
Payton is also quick to point out that Luther’s response is understandable: he has, after all, been misunderstood by a whole host of people (from the nobility to the peasants to the Christian humanists). However, the harshness of his attacks seems to go beyond calling a spade a spade – especially since his disagreements generally destroyed relationships instead of strengthening them.
(HT: FE)
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Minister's Blog