rakovsky
Well-known member
Did you read that in German or Latin? It's impressive. You are giving helpful background too. It would be better to have the full paragraph in English.2. Now about the Latin / German mix. Wengert says one listener reverted to Latin in his notes when the phrase sola scriptura was used. This means Luther didn't write the sermon, rathe multiple people took notes on what he preached (and the Latin / German shorthand formula was used).
3. One of Luther's emphases in this section of this sermon is how a Christian is able to handle death. The context of the sermon at this point is about the resurrection of the human body. The picture Luther paints in this 1529 sermon is that of a person dying and rotting from the plague (an appropriate image for that year). "Reason" doesn't grasp that the stinking rotting dead body is hiding a glorious, resurrected body. It is, according to Luther, the "Scriptures alone" that fosters (or as Wengert says, nourishes) a Christian's faith in this divine promise. Just previous to this quote, Luther commenting on 1 Cor. 15:3 highlights Paul's use of "according to Scripture." In Luther's view, as he explains in context, there is no life in a person unless the living Word of God sticks in their heart. Before you fixate on one or two words, Luther is not ruling out the preached word. The Word of God for Luther is more than simply words on a page in a book. If one wants to look death straight in the eye, it's by being nourished by the Scriptures alone., the very Word of almighty God. When a person is about to die, should they take a book from Augustine, Chrysostom, Luther, Billy Graham or Joel Osteen? No! They must cling to the very words of God... alone.
"Das yn feynem stynckenden leybe eyn newes leben sticke wie eyne Bonne, hoc racio non comprehendit, in sola scriptura permanere alit hanc fidem."
The German part here is beyond the power of Google Translate.
Peace.