Scripture as a Necessary Evil?
That's the surprising contention Heiko Oberman makes in his wonderful biography of Martin Luther. Thinking about the post below reminded me of a couple paragraphs in the book where Oberman describes Luther's view of Scripture and how it impacted the Reformation:
But what is especially striking to me is the last sentence. We hear a lot about how important the printing press was to the spread of the Protestant Reformation and the ideas written down on paper by Luther and others, and then copied all over Europe. This is no doubt true.
Nevertheless, I think Oberman is right in ascribing much of the "energy" behind the Reformation to the preaching of the Word. Men, some supremely gifted by the Spirit and some just determined to preach Christ and whose names we'll probably never know, opened up God's Word to a world of dead, dry bones and the Spirit took that preached Word and brought those bones to life. The "fresh words" of the preachers proclaimed the living Word, and it did not return to God empty, but instead accomplished a truly great thing in bringing true revival to so much of Europe.
Today we get all excited about the internet and its remakable ability to communicate with people, and the amazing avenues of communication that are opened up to regular folks (like me!). Some churches are all energized about the latest sound and video equipment in their services, drama presentations and "relevant" music.
The internet truly is an incredible tool, and I think it has and will have a positive impact. But neither it nor AV equipment nor drama nor music nor Powerpoint and movie clips can replace the simple, yet powerful, preaching of God's Word.
I hope and pray that the current mini-revival of Reformed theology is not merely an intellectual recovery of these Biblical truths (with the Bible as an "evil," hollow theological document?), but that it is the kind of movement like that of almost 500 years ago, where faithful preachers captured the exciting, amazing, saving grace of the Word and through such ordinary means the Spirit brought new life to a dying world.
...The Reformation reached the people because of a surprising conclusion Luther drew from the scriptural principle he had known for so long: the Scriptures must be preached! Because heresies threatened the living apostolic message, it had to be recorded in a book to protect it from falsification. Preaching reverses this process of conservation again, allowing the Scriptures of the past to become the tidings of the present.There is a lot that is provocative in those two paragraphs.
So the Bible is a necessary evil! It is necessary because without it man's spirit will claim to be holy and there will be no way of proving him wrong. Scripture becomes "evil" when, as a hollow pontifical document, it petrifies in holiness instead of being publicly proclaimed in the Church as the living Word. The Gospel has been committed to lifeless paper; fresh words can transform it into glad tidings again.Heiko Oberman, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, pp. 173-174
But what is especially striking to me is the last sentence. We hear a lot about how important the printing press was to the spread of the Protestant Reformation and the ideas written down on paper by Luther and others, and then copied all over Europe. This is no doubt true.
Nevertheless, I think Oberman is right in ascribing much of the "energy" behind the Reformation to the preaching of the Word. Men, some supremely gifted by the Spirit and some just determined to preach Christ and whose names we'll probably never know, opened up God's Word to a world of dead, dry bones and the Spirit took that preached Word and brought those bones to life. The "fresh words" of the preachers proclaimed the living Word, and it did not return to God empty, but instead accomplished a truly great thing in bringing true revival to so much of Europe.
Today we get all excited about the internet and its remakable ability to communicate with people, and the amazing avenues of communication that are opened up to regular folks (like me!). Some churches are all energized about the latest sound and video equipment in their services, drama presentations and "relevant" music.
The internet truly is an incredible tool, and I think it has and will have a positive impact. But neither it nor AV equipment nor drama nor music nor Powerpoint and movie clips can replace the simple, yet powerful, preaching of God's Word.
I hope and pray that the current mini-revival of Reformed theology is not merely an intellectual recovery of these Biblical truths (with the Bible as an "evil," hollow theological document?), but that it is the kind of movement like that of almost 500 years ago, where faithful preachers captured the exciting, amazing, saving grace of the Word and through such ordinary means the Spirit brought new life to a dying world.
Labels: Calvinism, Church History, Ordinary Means
