Martin Luther

Japanese: ルター - るたー（英語表記）Martin Luther

A leading theologian of the German Reformation.

Life and activities

Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben. His father, a peasant, became a miner in Mansfeld and later ran a mining business. Luther learned the Catholic faith from his strict and simple parents, and received his schooling in Magdeburg and Eisenach. In 1505, he received his bachelor's degree in literature at the University of Erfurt, and then went on to study law. In the same year, he was suddenly hit by a thunderstorm while traveling, and took vows to become a monk out of fear of death, and two years later, against his father's wishes, he entered a monastery. He received an Ockhamian theological education, and in 1508, he taught general education at the newly established University of Wittenberg, and in 1512, after receiving his doctorate in theology, he taught biblical studies. During this time, he was unable to find peace in his heart even with his own good deeds, and despaired over his own sins, but he discovered the ``righteousness of God'' that God bestows only through faith. This was the starting point of a new theology known as the Reformation cognition. Based on this understanding, he lectured on the Bible, had doubts about the sacrament of repentance that had been established for the forgiveness of sins, and, with the aim of opening an academic debate about the papal indulgences that had begun to be sold in the Saxony region of Germany, he posted his famous "95 Theses" on the door of the Castle Church, which was also the university bulletin board at the time, on October 31, 1517. These theses quickly spread throughout Germany, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

The early days of the Reformation movement revolved around the personality of Luther. Some of the important events were that in 1518 a general meeting of the monastic order to which he belonged was held in Heidelberg, where debates took place; in Augsburg he was questioned by the papal legate Caetanus, who asked him to recant his views, but he refused; in 1519 he debated with theologian Eck in Leipzig, where he acknowledged that the Pope could also make mistakes, leading to a split with Roman Catholicism; in 1520 he was excommunicated by the Pope, but he burned the document; in 1521 he was summoned to the Diet of Worms, where he refused to recant his views, and was banished from the Empire. However, he was given refuge in Wartburg Castle by the Elector of Saxony, but he worked to quell the disturbances of the radical revolutionaries and establish the Evangelical Church. During this time, he was embroiled in the German Peasants' War (1524-1525), engaged in a debate on free will with the humanist Erasmus, was unable to reach agreement on the Eucharist at the Marburg Conference, and broke with the Swiss Reformer Zwingli, shattering his dream of a Protestant alliance. In 1530, religious issues were discussed again at the Diet of Augsburg, with Melanchthon acting as representative and submitting the Augsburg Confession, but his conflict with the emperor intensified. Luther continued to preach, lecture, exhort and write until the very end, and travelled to his hometown of Eisleben to reconcile disputes between the nobles, where he fell ill and died on February 18, 1546, at the age of 63.

[Haruyu Kaneko January 19, 2018]

Publications and Bible Lectures

Luther's writings are unprecedented, with over 100 volumes of over 600 pages each. Among them, the most important reform documents include "To the Christian Nobles of the German Nation for the Improvement of the Condition of Christians" (1520), which presented the entire program of the Reformation, "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church" (1520), which criticized the sacraments of the Catholic Church, and "On Christian Liberty" (1520), which discusses the nature of free human beings based on faith and love. Other excellent works include "De Slavery of the Will" (1525), which emphasized the absoluteness of God's grace in a debate with Erasmus, "Exhortation to the Beloved Germans" (1531), which preached the right of resistance to the emperor, "Large Catechism" (1529), which explained doctrine in a simple manner, and "On Good Works" (1520), which explained the ethics that arise from faith.

Secondly, his main occupation, the Bible lectures, are important because they are the basis of Reformation documents. In the early period, he lectured on "Psalms", "Romans", "Galatians", and "Hebrews", and in the mature period, his lectures on "Galatians" and "Genesis" were the most important. In particular, in his lecture on "Romans", his ideas based on the Reformation view came to fruition beautifully, and the theory of justification by faith was established in the face of Ockhamism.

[Haruyu Kaneko January 19, 2018]

Thought

Luther's thought is summarized in what are called the three principles of Protestantism. They are "by faith alone," "by the Scriptures alone," and "the priesthood of all," and were established to attack the "three walls of Romanism" that pointed to the Papists. Among them, the principle of "by faith alone" is the most important one that expresses Luther's theory of justification by faith. He made various preparations for justification according to Ockhamism and struggled to attain salvation by accumulating the merits of good works, but he came to understand that "God's righteousness" is not the righteousness that God expects from us, but the righteousness that God bestows upon us through faith, and that it is given as the grace of Christ. Thus, justification "by faith alone" was preached in opposition to justification by works. Therefore, it was argued that "indulgence" granted by the church was no longer necessary at all, and "repentance" was not a ritual but meant "a change of heart." This new theology regarded the Bible as the highest authority and reformed religion by returning to the Bible, and rejected the seven sacraments established by the medieval Catholic Church (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Repentance, Extreme Unction, Ordination, and Marriage) as lacking biblical basis, except for Baptism and Eucharist. Furthermore, while Luther taught that Christ is present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist through the word of God and faith, Swiss Reformer Zwingli maintained that the Eucharist symbolized the body of Christ and was performed to commemorate his suffering. Although they agreed on other points, the two men split apart, and the Protestant alliance formed by Landgrave Philip von Hessen (1504-1567) did not come into being.

[Haruyu Kaneko January 19, 2018]

"The Collected Works of Luther, translated by Tokuyoshi Yoshikazu et al. (1st collection, 12 volumes, 1963- / 2nd collection, 12 volumes, 1985-, Seibunsya, Liton)" ▽ "The Freedom of a Christian, translated by Ishihara Ken (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther, by Roland Bainton, translated by Aoyama Kazunari and Kishi Chitose (1954, Lutheran Press / 1962, Seibunsya)" ▽ "An Introduction to Luther's Theology, by L. Pinoma, translated by Ishii Masami (1968, Seibunsya)" ▽ "Luther's Religious Thought, by Kaneko Haruo (1981, Publishing Bureau of the United Church of Christ in Japan)"

Cranach's "Martin Luther"
1551 Woodblock print (Metropolitan Museum of Art )

Cranach's "Martin Luther"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ドイツ宗教改革の指導的神学者。

生涯と活動

1483年11月10日アイスレーベンに生まれる。農民出身の父はマンスフェルトで鉱夫になり、のちに鉱山業を営む。ルターは単純厳格な両親によりカトリックの信仰を学び、マクデブルクとアイゼナハで学校教育を受ける。1505年エルフルト大学で文学得業士となり、さらに法学部に進学する。同年旅行中に雷雨に突然襲われ、死の恐怖のため修道士になる誓願をたて、2年後に父の意志に反して修道院に入る。オッカム主義の神学教育を受け、1508年、当時新設のウィッテンベルク大学で一般教養科目を、さらに1512年神学博士となってから聖書学を担当する。この間、彼は自己の善行をもってしても心に平和を得ることができずに、己の罪に絶望するが、ただ信仰によってのみ神から授与される「神の義」を発見する。これが宗教改革的認識とよばれる新しい神学の出発点となる。このような認識に基づいて聖書の講義を行い、罪の赦しのために制定された悔い改めの礼典に疑問を抱き、ドイツのザクセン地方に販売され始めていた教皇の免罪証書（免罪符）について学問上の討論を開く目的で、1517年10月31日、有名な「九十五か条の論題」を当時大学の掲示板でもあった城教会の扉に提示した。この論題はたちまち全ドイツに広まり、宗教改革運動の発端となった。

　改革運動の初期はルターの人格を中心にして展開した。重要な事件をあげると、彼が所属する修道会の総会が1518年にハイデルベルクで開かれ、討論がなされ、アウクスブルクで教皇の使節カエタヌスの審問を受け自説の撤回を求められたが拒否し、1519年にはライプツィヒで神学者エックと討論し、教皇も過ちを犯しうると認めたため、ローマ・カトリックと分裂し、1520年教皇から破門勅令を受けるも焼き捨てた。1521年ウォルムスの国会に召喚され、自説の撤回を拒否したため、帝国追放処分を受けた。しかしザクセン選帝侯によりワルトブルク城にかくまわれたが、急進的革命家の騒擾(そうじょう)を抑えて福音(ふくいん)主義教会の確立に努める。その間、ドイツ農民戦争（1524～1525）に巻き込まれ、ヒューマニストのエラスムスと自由意志論争をなし、さらにマールブルク会談では聖餐(せいさん)について一致が得られず、スイス宗教改革者ツウィングリとも決裂し、プロテスタント同盟の夢が破れた。1530年アウクスブルクの国会で宗教問題がふたたび討議され、メランヒトンが代行となり、「アウクスブルク信仰告白」を提出したが、皇帝との対立は激化した。ルターは最後まで説教、講義、勧告、著述に携わり、貴族たちの紛争和解のため郷里アイスレーベンに赴き、1546年2月18日同地で病を得て死去した。享年63歳であった。

［金子晴勇　2018年1月19日］

著作と聖書講義

ルターの著作は空前絶後のもので、600ページ以上の大冊が100巻を超えている。そのなかで改革文書として重要なものをまずあげると、宗教改革の全プログラムを提示した『キリスト者の身分の改善についてドイツ国民のキリスト教貴族に』（1520）、カトリック教会の礼典について批判した『教会のバビロン捕囚』（1520）、および信仰と愛にたつ自由な人間の本質を論じた『キリスト者の自由』（1520）がある。またエラスムスとの論争で神の恩恵の絶対性を力説した『奴隷意志論』（1525）や、皇帝への抵抗権を説いた『愛するドイツ人への勧告』（1531）、教義を平明に説いた『大教理問答書』（1529）、信仰から生じる倫理を解明した『善いわざについて』（1520）などが優れている。

　次に、彼の本業である聖書講義は改革文書の母胎となっている重要なものであり、初期では「詩篇(しへん)」「ロマ書」「ガラテヤ書」「ヘブル書」と続き、完成期に入ると「ガラテヤ書」と「創世記」の講義がもっとも重要である。とくに「ロマ書」講義においては、宗教改革的認識にたつ思想がみごとに結実し、オッカム主義との対決のうちに信仰義認論が確立されている。

［金子晴勇　2018年1月19日］

思想

ルターの思想は、プロテスタントの三原理といわれているものに要約されている。それは「信仰によるのみ」「聖書のみ」「万人祭司性」であり、教皇主義者をさしていった「ローマ主義の三城壁」を攻撃するためにたてられたものである。そのなかでも「信仰によるのみ」の原理こそルターの信仰義認論を表明するもっとも重要なものである。彼はオッカム主義に従って義認のために諸々の準備をし、善いわざの功績を積んで救済に達しようと苦闘したが、「神の義」というのは、神が私たちに求める正しさではなく、信仰によって神が授与したまう正しさであることを知り、それがキリストの恩恵として与えられていることを理解した。こうして行為による義認に対決する、「信仰によるのみ」の義認が説かれた。したがって、もはや教会の授ける「免罪」はまったく不要であり、「悔い改め」も儀式ではなく、「心の転換」を意味すると主張された。この新しい神学は聖書を最高の権威とみなし、聖書に立ち返って宗教を改革してゆくもので、中世カトリック教会が定めた七つの礼典（洗礼、堅信(けんしん)、聖餐、悔い改め、終油(しゅうゆ)、叙任、結婚）も、洗礼と聖餐のほかは聖書的根拠を欠くものとして否定された。なお、ルターは、聖餐のパンとぶどう酒のなかに神の言と信仰によりキリストが現在すると説いたのに対し、スイスの宗教改革者ツウィングリは、聖餐はキリストの体を象徴しその受難を記念して行うと主張したため、その他の点では合意に達していたにもかかわらず、両者は分裂し、ヘッセン方伯フィリップPhilipp von Hessen（1504―1567）によるプロテスタント同盟は成立しなかった。

［金子晴勇　2018年1月19日］

『徳善義和他訳『ルター著作集』（第1集全12巻・1963～　／第2集全12巻・1985～　・聖文舎・リトン）』▽『石原謙訳『キリスト者の自由』（岩波文庫）』▽『ローランド・ベイントン著、青山一浪・岸千年訳『我ここに立つ――マルティン・ルターの生涯』（1954・ルーテル社／1962・聖文舎）』▽『L・ピノマ著、石居正己訳『ルター神学概論』（1968・聖文舎）』▽『金子晴勇著『ルターの宗教思想』（1981・日本基督教団出版局）』