Entries (RSS)So, I’m in the process of finishing a course on Medieval/Reformation Christianity and I begin the Reformation section by asking the question, would there have been a Reformation without Martin Luther? It is not meant to be a rhetorical question and I realize that such a question demands all sorts of speculative mental gymnastics, but I ask it for a reason. My point is that history is full of all kinds of stuff: pivotal events, inspiring movements, endless institutions, competing ideas, technological advances, diverse cultural traditions, social innovations and political systems, but all of this stuff composes the historical frame. People are the picture and because people are at the center of the historical picture, history is biography. History is a story about people.
So what? Well, for many Christians, the Reformation was the decisive moment in the history of the faith and, though we might not admit it, we often act as though the Reformation trumped the incarnation and resurrection. The names of Martin Luther, John Calvin and their disciples are revered, but even more important are the complete theological systems these men are reported to have produced, theological systems intended to instruct, inform, and guide the faithful into the parousia(that’s theological language for the second coming of Jesus). We are currently in the twenty-first century and these theological systems are still being used by various traditions to guide the faith into the parousia. So, do I have a axe to grind, a bone to pick, a burr under my saddle, are my panties in a wad about theological systems per se? No…but I would like to make a suggestion.
Luther, Calvin and many of their disciples were sixteenth-century or seventeeth-century people. Allowing them to remain in their century is a good idea. The theology they created emerged from their lives. It was not like the Koran. It was not given to them by God from heaven in some kind of inspired, prophetic moment. Their theology was not the Bible, it was their understanding of the Bible developed over time.
So my suggestion is simply this, if you are interested in a person’s theology, especially if that person offers a theological system that you intend to use for instructing, informing, and guiding the faithful into the parousia, please find a good biography of that person’s life and read it carefully. You are not looking for their theology in a biography, you are learning their story. You are trying to know the person that created the theology. Allow them to be a person before you decide to let them be “your” theologian. Allowing theologians to be people with a history and a theology will offer us an appropriate corrective for how we understand and use their theology. For Martin Luther I would suggest Heiko Oberman’s Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, and for John Calvin I would recommend William J. Bouwsma’s John Calvin: A Sixteenth Century Portrait.
By the way, this biography stuff works well for philosophers, economists, politicians, scientists, CEOs, and other people as well. The only problem is that you often have to wait for them to die before you can get a good biography.