Luther On Being a Theologian V
Luther On Being a Theologian V
August 13, 2010
The fourth element of the making of a true theologian for Luther is occasio. This is not the easiest word to translate in context but means something like `opportunity' or `opportune moment.'
As such, it is not immediately obvious to a newcomer to Luther's theology what he means. Is it the equivalent, as Ecclesiastes might say, of `time and chance,' or, humanly speaking, of just having good luck, of happening to be in the right place at the right time? When I look back at my own academic career, for example, i remember many friends with whom I studied who were brighter than me, who did better PhDs, who were just more impressive people all round, and yet who never managed to find a job in the academic world. Is my landing a job in the world of professional theology an example of occasio?
Not at all. In fact, there are two aspects to Luther's thinking on this matter, and both ultimately relate to the development of the facility of judgment. The first kind of opportunity is the moment that comes along unexpectedly when personal reformation can be done. It is important to recognise such a time and make the most of it. It might be the preaching of the word in church on a Sunday; it might be a moment of private study; it might be a conversation with a friend. The key is that a true theologian knows the time, has the ability to judge what can and should be done in the moment, and seizes it with both hands.
The second aspect to opportunity is the ability to discern whether a given moment is a law moment or a gospel moment. To give an example: confronted unexpectedly with a particular pastoral situation, the pastor needs to know what to say the person with whom he is dealing. Does the person need law, to be reminded of the holiness of God and their sin in order to be humbled and broken? Or does the person need gospel, to be pointed to God's mercy manifest in the promise of God manifest in the flesh, to prevent them from despairing and bring them,. as it were, back into the kingdom of heaven? The deft ability to do this is rooted, of course, in all that has gone before: the grace of the Spirit, the agonising struggle, and the experience, of the pastor himself; and all of this gives him the wisdom and the tools to recognise the moment,define the problem and the solution, and act.
Further, for Luther what is true for the pastor is true for every believer. In 1520, he makes it very clear that those united to Christ are united to him as their king and their priest (he has no prophetic category in his Christology, the role being effectively subsumed under these two). As kings and priests, all believers are ministers of the law and the gospel to all others.
Luther's reformation has its origin, of course, in his reflections upon the nature of penance; by 1520 he comes to identify penance with believers (priests!) speaking the law and the gospel to each other not in a merely declarative way but in a constitutive way: when the law is spoken, something happens -- consciences are convicted and bound; when the gospel is spoken and grasped by faith, the same are absolved and freed. This speaking of law and gospel among all believers is critical to Luther's understanding of reformation and remains so for any who claim to follow his thought on the issue of justification today. And key to this is the ability to judge the occasion, the opportunity, the moment, to know when law is necessary and when gospel is necessary.
Thus, we see in his thinking on occasio how he moves from the action of God in shaping and forming the whole theologian towards the actions of human beings in spreading the good news. And, of course, it should be obvious by now that an inseparable part of Luther's understanding of justification is that everyone, with varying degrees of competence, is a theologian.
As such, it is not immediately obvious to a newcomer to Luther's theology what he means. Is it the equivalent, as Ecclesiastes might say, of `time and chance,' or, humanly speaking, of just having good luck, of happening to be in the right place at the right time? When I look back at my own academic career, for example, i remember many friends with whom I studied who were brighter than me, who did better PhDs, who were just more impressive people all round, and yet who never managed to find a job in the academic world. Is my landing a job in the world of professional theology an example of occasio?
Not at all. In fact, there are two aspects to Luther's thinking on this matter, and both ultimately relate to the development of the facility of judgment. The first kind of opportunity is the moment that comes along unexpectedly when personal reformation can be done. It is important to recognise such a time and make the most of it. It might be the preaching of the word in church on a Sunday; it might be a moment of private study; it might be a conversation with a friend. The key is that a true theologian knows the time, has the ability to judge what can and should be done in the moment, and seizes it with both hands.
The second aspect to opportunity is the ability to discern whether a given moment is a law moment or a gospel moment. To give an example: confronted unexpectedly with a particular pastoral situation, the pastor needs to know what to say the person with whom he is dealing. Does the person need law, to be reminded of the holiness of God and their sin in order to be humbled and broken? Or does the person need gospel, to be pointed to God's mercy manifest in the promise of God manifest in the flesh, to prevent them from despairing and bring them,. as it were, back into the kingdom of heaven? The deft ability to do this is rooted, of course, in all that has gone before: the grace of the Spirit, the agonising struggle, and the experience, of the pastor himself; and all of this gives him the wisdom and the tools to recognise the moment,define the problem and the solution, and act.
Further, for Luther what is true for the pastor is true for every believer. In 1520, he makes it very clear that those united to Christ are united to him as their king and their priest (he has no prophetic category in his Christology, the role being effectively subsumed under these two). As kings and priests, all believers are ministers of the law and the gospel to all others.
Luther's reformation has its origin, of course, in his reflections upon the nature of penance; by 1520 he comes to identify penance with believers (priests!) speaking the law and the gospel to each other not in a merely declarative way but in a constitutive way: when the law is spoken, something happens -- consciences are convicted and bound; when the gospel is spoken and grasped by faith, the same are absolved and freed. This speaking of law and gospel among all believers is critical to Luther's understanding of reformation and remains so for any who claim to follow his thought on the issue of justification today. And key to this is the ability to judge the occasion, the opportunity, the moment, to know when law is necessary and when gospel is necessary.
Thus, we see in his thinking on occasio how he moves from the action of God in shaping and forming the whole theologian towards the actions of human beings in spreading the good news. And, of course, it should be obvious by now that an inseparable part of Luther's understanding of justification is that everyone, with varying degrees of competence, is a theologian.
