Humans are responsible for creating faith within themselves, but having once accomplished the achievement of faith, they can simply allow themselves to exist in the cocoon of divine love. Christ has done the work for others through his life and death. (Countering this is the idea of Luther's that all Christians serve as a communal priesthood, although it is not entirely clear to what extent he means this to be literal and to what extent he may be allowing for the metaphorical.) This tension between the active and the passive (or perhaps "accepting" might be a better translation of Luther's ideas than "passive") brings us back to the seeming contradiction posed in Luther's opening statements. It allows us to see another level of complexity in Luther's...
but, of course, this was no contradiction to Luther himself.
When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back." (Matthew 2:13-23). In these, Joseph, provides us with an example of steady faithfulness even in
At last! My darling is recovered, and she seems almost back to her old, dear self, with an increased passion for her religion, I notice. Tuesday - My darling, I cannot believe you have left me. Devastated and alone, I fear that your creditors will be the death of me, as well. You would not know your home, Emma, as I have had to sell almost everything in order to
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