For Luther, from what I could understand in his argument, his issue of certainty would be less stressful to me as an early 16th century reader, because it seems less worrisome. As Luther said in Part 2, Chapter 5, "both [my] creation and preservation come to pass by the sole will of the omnipotent power and goodness of God." If I'm a common villager living in the 16th century, I assume there is plenty of housework and farming and walking and surviving to be done. I as a hardworking commoner do not have the time or resources to dedicate to become a well versed devout Christian, so leaving it all up to God's omnipotence and grace sounds much more convenient and simple.
Certainty to Christians is a bit different, I think. That's the beauty of Christianity: we don't need to be certain in everything because we are certain that God will help us through whatever comes our way. Certainty in our beliefs allows us the confidence to be uncertain in everything else. Life is unpredictable, so it's impossible to be certain about temporal things. God is the only constant in a Christian's life.This entire idea of certainty relates to what was happening with the Protestant Reformation. All the sudden, there were plenty of new beliefs, sects and theories on how to know what was certain--which one was true. Luther, Erasmus and others all had their own ideas of how we could know what God wanted for us. How grateful I am that Joseph Smith decided to go directly to the source and ask God Himself what he should do. God was Joseph's only certainty.
I like the theme of certainty that you focused on. I get the sense that the Renaissance and Reformation, in some ways allowed people to be more open and less objective about their life and the ideas of the time. I feel that having an that open mind can really benefit all of us as we try to communicate ideas and find truth ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the common man thought much at all on weather or not we had free will. Erasmus stated that he felt it was not a good question for the uneducated masses to concern themselves with. I wonder if their religious affiliation was more associated with their leader's stance on religion more than their own. Since they were uneducated, Erasmus may have had a point.
ReplyDeleteLove what you said about how we don't have to have a certainty in everything because we are certain in God and that things will work out. That was one of the things that I really like about Luther is he was 100% reliant on God.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a compelling situation to realize that the situation could be easily summarized by doubt as well. However, you chose to focus on certainty. I think this is reflective of some level of humanism, and it wasn't about the fear of leaving what used to be behind, but reaching out for something new, finding new certainty and confidence. It is a good viewpoint.
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