Five hundred years ago a young boy in northern Germany ended up advancing his schooling at the Cloister of the Brethren for the Common Life in Magdeburg. A short five years later, he entered the University of Erfurt in Thuringa to take his Master of Arts degree. He was going to major in law, but a terrible thunderstorm which nearly killed him led him to knock on the door of the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt in 1505.¹ This was the beginning of a long process of inner struggle and turmoil which would boil over into a powerful movement sweeping not only Germany, but all of Europe. The winds of change were beginning to blow across the continent, and so forceful was that wind that nothing could stop it. It drove its way through the continent and left an unmeasurable impact: a divided Christendom, intensified religious conflict, the formation of the Reformed church and ultimately the penetration of the Reformed principles through all of life.

In Luther's studies today, much attention is given to this period of turmoil and upheaval after 1509 that marked his early academic career. How did Luther come to a reformatory understanding? What happened in that period of eight years in Luther’s life leading to the breakthrough of 1517? How did that period of inner turmoil become a catalyst through which winds of change would sweep across the continent and later take on the whole world?

In this address we cannot examine all the issues surrounding this fascinating period in Luther’s life. We barely have time to consider one facet of the problem, and so uncover what the central issue was. We propose to take one moment at the end point of the struggle and use it as a window to isolate some salient features of this period of inner turmoil and strife in Luther’s life. By looking through this window we want to isolate the heart of Luther’s spiritual journey from Erfurt to Wittenberg. It is that heart or kernel that we want to take with us as we stand before a new millennium and meet the challenges posed by an ever-changing world.

The Heidelberg Disputation⤒🔗

The window through which we wish to look is connected to a city whose name is very familiar to Reformed people of our background, including our young people, and that is the beautiful and captivating city of Heidelberg. In 1518, six months after the famous posting of the 95 theses, Luther took part in a scholastic debate in Heidelberg, and his contribution to that debate has been recorded in a document called Theses at the Heidelberg Disputation. ²  At this point Luther is strongly convinced of his new position. By this time the new theology has crystallized in his mind, and he has become very confident and bold concerning his stand. He is still a monk in the undivided church, the disputation is one among brothers of his order, the Order of the Augustinian Hermits, and at this point he is simply a fiery spokesman for reform. ³ Little did he know that there was much more to follow!

Let’s review these theses to see the point to which Luther had come in 1518. There are twenty-eight theological theses in all, and they can be divided into four sections. ⁴

• The first section deals with the relationship between works and merits, a recurring subject for Luther. These theses (1-12) stress that works cannot earn or merit salvation at all, since even our best works are clothed and defiled with sin. Already at this point Luther introduces a special concept: the fear of the LORD. Only works done in the fear of the Lord prevent them from being in themselves mortal sins making the sinner worthy of condemnation.

• The second block of theses (13-18), looks at the same matter from another angle, that of our will in relation to God’s salvation. Here a theme arises to which Luther had alluded in his famous 95 theses. The human will is not free in itself to choose the good, but must be acted upon in order to do what is right. And that is entirely God’s work!

• The third section of theses (19-24), one to which I will return, is the most intriguing and the most discussed section of the piece. The theses here concern the way God appears in the world and how He does his work in people. In working his special works, God appears in the form of his opposite. That is one of the features of his act of revelation. He is the all powerful God! But in making Himself known to people, He chooses the road of weakness and humility. He uses the means of foolishness and suffering to show his real heart.

• Then we have a fourth section (25-28), a sort of summary, which puts all the emphasis on grace alone, and says that in effect all our salvation and our works lie in God. He is the first and the last in human life. Whatever good we find in the world, it all comes from Him. Grace comes before law!

Heidelberg and Wittenberg←⤒🔗

If we compare the theses of the Heidelberg Disputation with the more well-known 95 theses published in 1517, we find points of similarity and points of difference. The similarity is of course readily seen in the form of the address. Luther is a monk, a professor of Bible and he behaves in the way university lecturers did in those days. If one wished to publicize a certain point of view it was presented in the form of theses. As far as the content is concerned there are also points of overlap. The Wittenberg theses dealt with works and the value of works as well. In Wittenberg Luther said: indulgences cannot save you. In Heidelberg his vision is broader: works cannot save you. But the root idea was the same. Before works we must tremble in fear and trust before the one, living God.

But there are also noted differences between the two sets of theses. The Heidelberg Disputation is especially unique in the third section which speaks about the way God works his salvation in us. God appears to us in humility, weakness, and in suffering. Thesis 19 says: “That person does not deserve to be called a theologian who claims to see the invisible things of God by perceiving things in the world.” That is the negative thesis. Then follows the positive one, Thesis 20, which says: “That person deserves to be called a theologian who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God through suffering and the cross.” ⁵ Essentially Luther is saying: in the works about which people normally boast, in the collective dominating presence of human achievement as it is shown in the great basilicas and cathedrals, there you do not find God. Rather, in way of suffering you find God, since that’s the way He Himself appears in this world.

Several of the theses of this section, including the two I have quoted, would sound quite paradoxical in our ears, and we would probably wonder what exactly Luther meant by them. They deftly jump back and forth with contrasting statements and then end up in a fiery declaration: “The love of God does not first discover but creates what is pleasing to it.” You could summarize it all with a recurring phrase of Luther, often used precisely in this period: “The cross, the cross that is our theology.” ⁶ There is no true theology other than the theology of the cross.

The Theology of the Cross←⤒🔗

What did Luther mean with all this? Well, the theology of the cross is essentially marked by being an antithetical theology, that is, a theology marked by the sharp division between right and wrong, between true and false knowledge as it has governed the history of the world since the dawn of time, going right back to the antithesis of Genesis 3:15. For Luther contrasted the theology of cross with the theology of glory. The context makes clear that Luther saw the theology of the cross as the faith perspective of those who did not rely on their own works, but looked to God for mercy and salvation, whereas the theology of glory marked the stand of those who prided themselves on their own achievements and works, hailing them as meritorious deeds before God’s judgment seat. For the cursory descriptions in the theses of the Heidelberg Disputation make clear what Luther had in mind with the theology of glory. It extols the power of reason, and posits a positive ascent of man’s reason to God in heaven, that is, the ability of human reason to come in its own power to the true knowledge of God. It becomes attached to the things of this world: wealth and riches, honour and power, influence and standing. The theology of the cross, on the other hand, willingly accepts shame and spitting – also for the sake of the cross of Christ. That is God’s way! That must be our way as well. That is the heart of Luther’s message in 1518. ⁷

Behind this message you can discover the line in Luther’s spiritual journey. He had tried to rely on works, but he only saw his sins. He also saw the corruption in Rome, the insincerity and lackadaisical attitude of the clergy. Everywhere he looked true religion was wanting. But then, through the reading of the Scriptures, a door was opened to a new freedom. He felt as if a yoke was lifted from his back! The coaching of his mentor and guide, the Augustinian prior at the monastery in Erfurt, Von Staupitz, began to penetrate his hardened skin. “Look to Jesus and to his cross,” Von Staupitz had said, but initially this was not enough for Luther. ⁸ Only in the process of the deepest temptations, Anfechtungen, as he called them, did he come to see the truth of Von Staupitz’ words. Christ did it all! You must see in the cross the mercy of God for you! It was the fear of God’s wrath that drove him into the monastery, but it was the filial fear of the God of mercy that drove him out!

So Luther came to defend the way of self-denial and self-renunciation as the way the believer must walk. As he saw it, this is also the way of God’s self-revelation. Therefore the true theologian is the one who clings to the cross, and who repeatedly chooses the cross. Not the way of glory is to be chosen, the way of pleasure and immediate gain, the way of worldly comforts and earthly treasures. Rather he is a true theologian who takes the road of suffering and hardship, who does his work in fear and trembling before the Lord, and who is willing to lose all in order that he may gain all things in Christ.

These last sentences let us know the world in which Luther is moving in 1518, and also underscore that there is a world of scriptural truth behind this new position. Luther echoes the word of the Master:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.Matthew 16:25

Think also of what Paul says about the preaching of Christ in 1 Corinthians 1:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men. And the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Luther was not the first to work with paradoxes! He stood in a noble tradition! He knew the Scriptures, he knew Paul!

Beyond Luther←⤒🔗

At the same time, when you hear these theses, and when you examine them more closely, you cannot help but wonder at the strange elements in them. We must acknowledge that one no less than Calvin was critical of Luther’s occasionally obscure way of expressing himself. He lamented the Reformer’s use of the styles and mannerisms of the schoolmen, the so-called sic et non method in vogue among the practitioners of the scholastic theology of the day.⁹

But could it really be helped? Luther was a medieval man. All his works are sprinkled with paradoxes. It was the cloak with which he expressed himself. Acknowledging his nominalist background, he said: “I am of Occam’s school!” ¹⁰

There is more in the theses that is open for criticism. Not only did Luther have difficulty to shed fully the cloak of the schoolmen, he also went through the school of mysticism, and this journey too left its stamp on all his later work. ¹¹ One can detect an almost triumphalist note in his polemics as he rails against the theology of glory. He is very absolute, and almost goes overboard in his stress on the preference for suffering, self-renunciation and martyrdom.¹² It becomes a sort of battle cry. That preference had deep roots in the medieval era, going right back to the fathers of the early church. Crucifixion became a new form of ecstasy, a much sought after ideal. For Luther to extricate himself from such a deeply rooted tradition was not exactly easy! Here, among his fellow monks at Heidelberg, he needs to be judged critically, but also carefully.¹³ One can uncover weaknesses in formulation and weaknesses of undue emphasis in his position.¹⁴

We can concur with the friendly but firm critique of Calvin with respect to the excessiveness of Luther’s statements. In the Disputation, suffering is something to be sought after and preferred. Calvin said: if suffering is laid upon you, you must accept it readily and cheerfully and with a willing heart. You need not seek it, and you need not even chose it. God calls, and where he calls we are to follow in humble submission. But we must choose to do his will above all earthly pleasures. In that sense Calvin is as much as Luther a theologian of the cross, and carries forward the same theme. Yet one notes that the tone is different. For Calvin the themes of God’s sovereignty and Christ’s lordship override the triumphalist tones in Luther’s theology of the cross. Indeed, one must always choose the way of self-denial. But that is a call to service in a specific context, a context which does not always include persecution, suffering and martyrdom. Luther in 1518 was at the beginning, not at an end point, and so he must be judged.

The Line of Heidelberg←⤒🔗

On the other hand, it should not escape us that being called to suffering, rather than choosing it, is precisely the distinguishing mark of Luther’s theology in opposition to the medieval scholastics in the school of mysticism before him. In the theology of the cross, the cross is not so much an example that we must imitate, as it is something that happens to the believer through faith and obedience. ¹⁵ By the power of Christ the old nature is crucified, the new nature comes to life. The cross of Christ, and the word of the cross is more a seed that is planted in the human heart, rather than an example which is followed. That is the new line of the Reformation!

The line charted here at the dawn of the Reformation was carried through in following generations, and brought to greater precision. Many of Luther’s early themes return in the first edition of Calvin’s Institutes. ¹⁶ And then our thoughts take us to the same city, just over forty years later. In 1545 freedom comes to Heidelberg! The streets are filled with the echoes of a new hymn: “Salvation unto us has come, by God’s free grace and favour!” And then, less than twenty years later: the publication of the Heidelberg Catechism. One may say that in its own way, the Catechism is an echo of the theses of the Heidelberg Disputation. In the Catechism, the theses of the Heidelberg Disputation are divested of their scholastic and medieval cloak, the central thoughts are reformulated in a question and answer format for young people. The “Yes and No” method of the Heidelberg Disputation becomes the “question and answer” method of the Heidelberg Catechism. The cloak is different, but the essence is the same, and Luther’s bold motto of 1518 echoes through on every page: “the cross, the cross that is our theology!”

Think of those expressions that really dominate the booklet of comfort:

I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.

Again: “(He) will also turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow.”

And again: “In all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven the very same person who before has submitted Himself to the judgment of God for my sake and removed all curse from me.”

To be sure, some of Luther’s excess has been tempered. In the Catechism it is not a matter of choosing the cross, or even boldly asserting it, but fleeing to the cross, confessing the cross, and taking up the cross. It is not a matter of asking for martyrdom, but accepting the martyrdom that comes upon you. But how was Luther to know what would ensue from his words? In fact, you can say that in 1518 the cross that Luther had to take up was already latently present, even though he hardly knew the depths of suffering that it would bring him. But the polemical energy of conviction and certainty was present in such a measure that it was already clear in 1518 that this was a force from which the world could not soon rid itself, a force – the power of the Word alone(!) – that was destined irrevocably to seal its triumph in the world.

Luther Today←⤒🔗

That is why 500 years later we still live in the afterglow of those first years of Luther’s struggle. Here at the Theological College, we can readily adopt Luther’s motto. In fact, it is a motto enjoined on our young men as a blue-print for their ministries. Still today our young men need to be trained to endure suffering, to accept the way of shame and spitting. Young women who choose to dedicate their lives to special forms of service associated with ministry need to be trained to count the cost, and be ready to offer. The apostle John says: “This is how we know what love is: that He surrendered his life for us; and we ought to surrender our lives for the brotherhood.” ¹⁷

It also applies to us as churches. If we should choose our own isolation in the world, one which is coupled with fleeing from the world’s issues and problems, that would be an escape route bringing much grief for us. But if we obediently accept the isolation laid upon us, the isolation given to us and asked of us in Christ, that is the way of the cross. If you are relegated to an isolated position without seeking it, and if for Christ’s sake you are made out to be sectarians and fundamentalists, then that is a position that we must accept, and on which we need to follow through in obedience to God. Take up your cross! “The cross, the cross, that is our theology!”

For here you come to the heart of the Heidelberg Disputation, and the key to Luther’s discovery only six months after the match had been brought to the fire in 1517: one may not only speak the truth in words, but must also show his faith in deeds. Or as Paul puts it: “it is given to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). Likewise the apostle John says: “Little children, let us not love in word, or speech, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). The first – the right words – Luther received through his inner struggle up to 1518; the second – the road of suffering and deeds – he was to discover even more than he already had through his life-journey which ended in the town of his birth some thirty years later. His last sigh was an echo of the theology of the cross: “We are beggars, that is sure.”

The lessons of church history are important markers for true believers today. The dawn of a new millennium brings many challenges for new generations today. How will we pursue ecclesiastical unity? Will it be unity in the truth? Then it must be: unity around the message of the cross. Still today we need to hear the same message: the cross is our only salvation! The cross, the cross that is our theology! And ever new we need generations of young people for whom the words and the call of the catechism of Heidelberg are second nature: “He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready to live for Him.”

Still today at this seminary we need young men ready to take up the cross. Still today we need to follow through the line from the Heidelberg Disputation to the Heidelberg Catechism, to the church five hundred years later, the church entering the year of our Lord 2000. Give us preachers of the cross, who take that way themselves! Then we touch the heartbeat of the Reformation, the key to the impulse that made it happen. As our young people go on into a new millennium meeting the challenges of our time, let them continue to carry Luther’s banner: the cross, the cross that is our theology. Then they also have the words of the psalmist to guide them:

Although my heart and flesh may fail
God is my strength, I shall prevail,
For he, whose steadfast love is sure,
Will be my portion evermore.
Psalm 73: 8, Book of Praise