The theology of the Cross (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ''Theologia Crucis'', german: Kreuzestheologie) or staurology (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

stauros ''Stauros'' () is a Greek word for a stake or an implement of capital punishment. The Greek New Testament uses the word ''stauros'' for the instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, and it is generally translated ''cross'' in Christian contexts. This ar ...

'': cross, and ''-

logy ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin ''-logi ...

'': "the study of") is a term coined by the

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

to refer to theology that posits the cross as the only source of knowledge concerning who God is and how God saves. It is contrasted with the Theology of Glory (''theologia gloriae''), which places greater emphasis on human abilities and human

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...

Catholic understanding

Paragraph 2015 of the

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book ...

describes the way of perfection as passing by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually leads to living in the peace and joy of the beatitudes.

As defined by Luther

The term ''theologia crucis'' was used very rarely by Luther. He first used the term, and explicitly defined it in contrast to the theology of glory, in the

Heidelberg Disputation The Heidelberg Disputation was held at the lecture hall of the Augustinian order on April 26, 1518. It was here that Martin Luther, as a delegate for his order, began to have occasion to articulate his views. In the defense of his theses, which c ...

of 1518. During this debate, he represented the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...

and presented his theses that later came to define the Reformation movement.

Theses

The pertinent theological theses of the debate are:Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann, gen. eds., ''Luther's Works'', (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955-86), 55 vols., 31:39-40. # The law of God, the most salutary doctrine of life, cannot advance man on his way to righteousness, but rather hinders him. # Much less can human works, which are done over and over again with the aid of natural precepts, so to speak, lead to that end. # Although the works of man always appear attractive and good, they are nevertheless likely to be

mortal sin A mortal sin ( la, peccatum mortale), in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. A sin is considered to be "mortal" when its quality is such that it leads t ...

s. # Although the works of God always seem unattractive and appear evil, they are nevertheless really eternal merits. # The works of men are thus not mortal sins (we speak of works that apparently are good), as though they were crimes. # The works of God (those he does through man) are thus not merits, as though they were sinless. # The works of the righteous would be mortal sins if they would not be feared as mortal sins by the righteous themselves out of pious fear of God. # By so much more are the works of man mortal sins when they are done without fear and in unadulterated, evil self-security. # To say that works without Christ are dead, but not mortal, appears to constitute a perilous surrender of the fear of God. # Indeed, it is very difficult to see how a work can be dead and at the same time not a harmful and mortal sin. # Arrogance cannot be avoided or true hope be present unless the judgment of condemnation is feared in every work. # In the sight of God sins are then truly venial when they are feared by men to be mortal. #

Free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...

, after the fall, exists in name only, and as long as it does what it is able to do, it commits a mortal sin. # Free will, after the fall, has power to do good only in a passive capacity, but it can do evil in an active capacity. # Nor could the free will endure in a state of innocence, much less do good, in an active capacity, but only in a passive capacity. # The person who believes that he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so that he becomes doubly guilty. # Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of Christ. # It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ. # That person does not deserve to be called a theologian who looks upon the invisible things of God as though they were clearly perceptible in those things that have happened. # He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross. # A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian of the cross calls the things what it is. # That wisdom that sees the invisible things of God in works as perceived by man is completely puffed up, blinded, and hardened. # The law brings the wrath of God, kills, reviles, accuses, judges, and condemns everything that is not in Christ. # Yet that wisdom is not of itself evil, nor is the law to be evaded; but without the theology of the cross man misuses the best in the worst manner. # He is not righteous who does much, but he who, without work, believes much in Christ. # The law says "Do this", and it is never done. Grace says, "believe in this" and everything is already done. # One should call the work of Christ an acting work and our work an accomplished work, and thus an accomplished work pleasing to God by the grace of the acting work. # The love of God does not find, but creates, what is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through what is pleasing to it. AugsburgConfessionArticle18FreeWill

Tenets

By reading the theses, one can see that Luther insists on the complete inability of humanity to fulfill God's law. As one would find consistent with his Evangelical breakthrough, he emphasizes the grace of God in the role of salvation. Works of the law cannot improve one's standing. According to Luther, the theologian of the cross preaches what seems foolish to the world (1 Cor. 1:18). In particular, the theologian of the cross preaches that (1) humans can in no way earn righteousness, (2) humans cannot add to or increase the righteousness of the cross, and (3) any righteousness given to humanity comes from outside of us (''extra nos''). In contrast, in Luther's view, the theologian of glory preaches that (1) humans have the ability to do the good that lies within them (''quod in se est''), (2) there remains, after the fall, some ability to choose the good, and (3) humans cannot be saved without participating in or cooperating with the righteousness given by God. As Luther understood it, these two theologies had two radically different starting points: they had different epistemologies, or ways of understanding how people know about God and the world. For the theologian of glory, reason and personal perceptions should be employed to increase knowledge about God and the world. Thus, because an action appears to be good, it must be good. For the theologian of the cross, it is only from the self-revelation of God that people can learn about God and their relation to God—and the most perfect self-revelation of God is God's Word become flesh, Jesus the Christ. Thus, even if an action appears good, still Christ died on the cross for human sins and sinfulness, so the action is not as good as it appears. In Martin Luther's sermon on the '' Two Kinds of Righteousness'', he refers to theology of the cross as "alien righteousness" and theology of glory as "proper righteousness", owing to its origin in the person who presumes that he or she justifies himself or herself by works.

Theology from the cross

Some authors translate Luther's phrase as "Theology from the cross", emphasizing the significance of

social position Social position is the position of an individual in a given society and culture. A given position (for example, the occupation of ''priest'') may belong to many individuals. Definition Stanley Wasserman and Katherine Faust Stanley cautioned th ...

in shaping theology. This was part of a broader trend in Liberation theology and standpoint theory which also led to

people's history A people's history, or history from below, is a type of historical narrative which attempts to account for historical events from the perspective of common people rather than leaders. There is an emphasis on disenfranchised, the oppressed, th ...

Notes

Bibliography

* * Deutschlander, Daniel M. "The Theology of the Cross: Reflections on His Cross and Ours". Northwestern Publishing House, 2009. * * * Forde, Gerhard. ''On Being a Theologian of the Cross''. Eerdmans, 1997. . * * Hall, Douglas John. ''Lighten Our Darkness.'' Academic Renewal Press, 2001. . * von Loewenich, Walter. ''Luther's Theology of the Cross''. Augsburg, 1976. . *

McGrath, Alister Alister Edgar McGrath (; born 1953) is a Northern Irish theologian, Anglican priest, intellectual historian, scientist, Christian apologist, and public intellectual. He currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in ...

. ''Luther's Theology of the Cross''. Blackwell Publishing, 1990. .