Martin Luther on Reading the Bible as Christian Scripture

The Messiah in Luther's Biblical Hermeneutic and Theology

Marsh

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781498282123
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Systematic Theology & Ethics

Above all else that the sixteenth-century German Reformer was known for, Martin Luther was a Doctor of the Holy Scriptures. One of the most characteristic features of Luther's approach to Scripture was his resolved christological interpretation of the Bible. Many of the Reformer's interpreters have looked back upon Luther's "Christ-centered" exposition of the Scriptures with sentimentality but have often labeled it as "Christianization," particularly in regards to Luther's approach of the Old Testament, dismissing his relevance for today's faithful readers of God's Word.This study revisits this assessment of Luther's christological interpretation of Scripture by way of critical analysis of the Reformer's "prefaces to the Bible" that he wrote for his translation of the Scriptures into the German vernacular. This work contends that Luther foremost believes Jesus Christ to be the sensus literalis of Scripture on the basis of the Bible's messianic promise, not enforcing a dogmatic principle onto the scriptural text and its biblical authors that would be otherwise foreign to them. This study asserts that Luther's exegesis of the Bible's "letter" (i.e., his engagement with the biblical text) is primarily responsible for his conviction that Christ is Holy Scripture's literal sense.

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Introduction

Investigations into Martin Luther’s biblical interpretation or his doctrine of Scripture have consistently recognized his christocentric reading of the Bible as one of the primary components of his hermeneutical method. The “Christ-centered” nature of Luther’s approach to Scripture can take many forms, yet among them, one aspect stands as foundational for this manner of reading the Bible, that is, Luther’s notion of Christ as the sensus literalis1 of Scripture. As a biblical interpreter, Luther’s propensity to read Christ in all the Scriptures ought to be perceived as a resultant practice derived from the textual warrant he finds in Scripture’s own ontological purpose to bear witness to Christ within its “letter.” Since Luther has no single definitive work or treatise devoted to prescribing principles for biblical interpretation, scholars recognize that Luther’s hermeneutic must be studied from all genres of his corpus. In particular, his prefaces to the various books and portions of the Bible prove themselves to be perhaps the most suitable sources for discerning the essence of Luther’s approach to Scripture, for in them, he instructs everyday Christians on how they should read and understand the Bible as the Spirit’s inspired, two-Testament witness to Jesus Christ.

Statement of Research Problem and Thesis

Although many factors constitute Luther’s “Christ-centered” interpretation of Scripture, his messianic interpretation of the Old and New Testaments is the main rationale for the “later” Luther’s insistence that Jesus is the literal sense of Scripture. The acceptance of this claim has significant implications for current conceptions of the place of Christ in Luther’s exegetical method. Many of Luther’s interpreters argue that Luther’s designation of Christ as the essence of Scripture is the result of, for instance, his doctrine of the Word or his theology of the cross; however, these perspectives bypass the textual basis upon which Luther rests the entire structure of the way he conceives of Christ as Scripture’s literal sense. Because these alternatives place a doctrinal position as the starting point for the Reformer’s scriptural interpretation, it comes as no surprise, then, when they conclude that Luther is forcing his Christian dogmatic lens onto the Bible to produce meanings that supposedly are not latent within the biblical texts already.

This study seeks to make the opposite claim, namely, that Luther’s construal of Christ as Scripture’s sensus literalis is not foremost a dogmatic conviction brought to bear upon biblical texts. Rather, it is a reflection of what he believes is textually present in Scripture due to authorial intention. Luther roots his appropriation of Christ as the sensus literalis of the Bible in his belief that Scripture is supremely a book about the Messiah. This reasoning makes his interpretive approach foremost a hermeneutical conclusion reached from the exegetical interpretation of biblical text(s) rather than a confessional re-reading of the OT in light of the NT or the Christian faith. To frame the situation another way, if Luther did not regard the OT as having a messianic telos communicated through the authorial purposes of its writers/prophets (e.g., Moses, David, Isaiah), then Luther’s Christ-centered approach to Scripture would be emptied of its raison d’être. Study of the “prefaces,” then, will serve to present Luther offering a guide for reading the Bible grounded upon the character of both Testaments as Christian Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophets and apostles for the ultimate purpose of bearing witness to, on the one hand, the coming Messiah, and on the other hand, Jesus of Nazareth as this promised Christ, the resurrected Son of God and Son of Man.

Methodology

This study will seek to contribute to the field of historical theology within the realm of Luther studies. Luther’s “prefatory” writings as they pertain to introducing books or portions of the Bible have been chosen as the primary source material for substantiating this study’s claim. The main selection of prefaces under review will be the “prefaces” that Luther wrote for inclusion with his German translation of the Bible. Other genres in Luther’s works feature similar “prefaces” such as his Church Postils and his lectures/commentaries. Since certain prefaces to books of the Bible are related across genres in terms of form and content, all “prefaces” directly associated with a book or a collection in Scripture regardless of genre will be treated as primary source material for analysis. Priority, however, will be allotted to those accompanied with Luther’s Deutsche Bibel.2 The broader backdrop of Luther’s writings will be utilized for supplemental and evidential support.

The rationale for analysis of Luther’s various prefaces to books or portions of the Bible comes with several presuppositions in anticipation for what the source material can afford. First, with the earliest of the prefaces under review dated at 1521, the chronology of the prefaces as a whole begins subsequent to the occurrence of an alleged “shift” in Luther’s hermeneutic.3 The prefaces, then, should contain established elements of Luther’s “new hermeneutic” in a relatively matured form that would allow founded observations to be made concerning his most consistent approach to interpreting Christ as the literal sense of Scripture. Second, the nature of a “preface” lends itself both to summary and to theory. It seeks to be instructive and succinct while emphasizing the essential tools requisite to give its subject a fair reading. Luther’s prefaces offer a rich, yet concise guide for understanding Holy Scripture. Therefore, the prefaces provide a unique opportunity to mine Luther’s thoughts on how to read (hermeneutics) and what to expect (purpose/doctrine/theology) from the individual books of the Bible and Scripture as a whole.4 Together, Luther’s prefaces are a definitive source for the core elements of his biblical theology, a biblical theology borne from the Reformer’s extensive exegetical, hermeneutical, and translational labors over Scripture as the Word of God.

Luther’s Bible-prefaces are not the only sources where the messianic dimension of Luther’s construal of Christ as the literal sense of Scripture can be found. In chapter 4, Luther’s treatise On the Last Words of David: 2 Samuel 23:1–7 will be evaluated in light of the hermeneutical conclusions reached from the analysis of the “prefaces.” Chapter 4 serves two...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Christ as the Sensus Literalis of Scripture in Luther’s Prefaces to the Bible
• Chapter 3: Hermeneutical Implications of the Prefaces for Christ as the Sensus Literalis of Scripture
• Chapter 4: The Messiah in the OT 
and Christ as the Sensus Literalis of Scripture 
in Luther’s Treatise On the Last Words of David
• Chapter 5: Conclusion
• Bibliography