CHAPTER XXVIII. THE NEW DOGMAS IN AN HISTORICAL AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL LIGHT _pages_ 387-527
1. THE BIBLE TEXT AND THE SPIRIT AS THE “TRUE TESTS OF DOCTRINE.”
Liberty for the examination of Scripture and Luther’s autonomy; Luther gradually reaches the standpoint that the Bible is the only judge in matters of faith; those only must be listened to who teach “_purum verbum Dei_.” Experience given by the Spirit; divergent utterances regarding the perspicuity of Holy Writ; the Bible a “heresy-book.” Luther not in favour of verbal inspiration; mistakes of the sacred writers; which books are canonical, and why? The discord which followed on Luther’s principle of relying on private judgment and the “_influxus spiritus_”; he reverts to the “outward Word” in his controversy with Zwingli and corroborates it by tradition. What authority, apart from the Church’s, can lay doubts to rest? The object of faith: Many articles, or only one? Protestants on Luther’s self-contradictions; the end of Luther’s “formal principle” _pages_ 387-420
2. LUTHER AS A BIBLE EXPOSITOR.
Some characteristic of Luther’s exegesis; his respect for the literal sense; all his reading of the Bible coloured by his theory of Justification; his exegesis in the light of his early development _pages_ 420-431
3. THE SOLA FIDES. JUSTIFICATION AND ASSURANCE OF SALVATION.
Connection between the “material principle” (justification) and the “formal principle” (Scripture as the only rule) of Luther’s theology, and between the “material principle” and the theory of the worthlessness of works and of God’s being the sole real agent; the theory at variance with the teaching of St. Augustine. The need of struggling to feel entirely certain of our personal justification; Luther’s own failure to come up to his standard; present-day Protestants on Luther’s main Article “on which the Church stands or falls” _pages_ 431-449
4. GOOD WORKS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE.
The Church’s teaching; origin of Luther’s new ideas to be sought in his early dislike for the “Little Saints” and their doings; the perils of his theory; on the fear of God as a motive for action. Augustine summoned as a witness on Luther’s behalf; the witness discarded by Melanchthon and the Pomeranians; Augustine’s real view; the new doctrine judged by 16th-century Protestants; Luther’s utterances in favour of good works; what charity meant in the Middle Ages; Luther on the hospitals of Florence _pages_ 449-481
5. OTHER INNOVATIONS IN RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE.
Luther no systematic theologian. The _regula fidei_; Harnack on Luther’s inconsequence; Paulsen on “Pope Luther.” Luther’s teaching on the sacraments; on infant-baptism and the faith it requires; liberal Protestants appeal to his principles against the “magical” theory of Baptism; penance an extension of baptism. Luther’s teaching on the Supper; Communion merely a means of fortifying faith; Impanation versus Transubstantiation; theory of the omnipresence of Christ’s body; Luther’s stead-fastness in his belief in the Real Presence. Attitude towards the invocation of the Saints, particularly of the Blessed Virgin. His views on Purgatory _pages_ 482-506
6. LUTHER’S ATTACK ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.
The place of this sacrifice in the Church previous to Luther’s time; Luther’s first attacks; the Mass suppressed at Wittenberg; his “Von dem Grewel der Stillmesse”; Eck’s reply; Luther undertakes to prove that the priests’ attachment to the Mass is based merely on pecuniary grounds; connection between his attack on the Mass and his theory as a whole. His work on the “Winkle-Mass”; his dispute with the devil; his defence of his work on the “Winkle-Mass”; Cochlæus replies; Luther’s references to the Mass in his familiar talks, and in his Schmalkalden “Artickel”; a profession of faith in the Real Presence _pages_ 506-527
VOL. IV.
THE REFORMER (II)
LUTHER