Martin Luther and John Calvin are my two favorite figures from the Reformation. Martin Luther was one of the first people to actually fight indulgences, which was buying the forgiveness of your sins. People who didn't even work for the church would sell indulgences too. I also like Martin Luther because he wrote from personal experiences. In article 40 on page 261 it talks about how the devil actually assaulted him both physically and spiritually. So he was not just writing to try to correct people, he was looking out for everyone and wanted them to know that they need to continue to trust in God even when it is hard. I like how Luther addressed persons transforming into other forms, such as cats. He knocked that down pretty quickly, and who would really believe that someone could change their form, it's ludicrous. Luther believed that interior idolatry commanded everyone. This was until they were "healed by grace in the faith of Jesus Christ" (264). I don't really see why Luther believes this unless he is referring to original sin and baptism.
John Calvin pressed "the role and power of Satan is critical to the concept of witchcraft as it had evolved in Christian Europe, as is the concept of the pact between Devil and witch" (265). In his article, article 41, he really makes a good connection between them. He first states that the word of Satan can never be as strong as God's and that God has complete control over Satan. I like how he puts that the devil is pretty much sent to punish people for them leaving God. This goes along with the witchcraft and the devil because the devil is summoned in so many witchcraft rituals and gets people into even more trouble than they would be in anyways, for example, the sorcerers apprentice in article 36. Calvin also points out how people who have turned away from God, or tempted him, have "become so brutish after they have once turned away from the right path" (268). Such as the people who truly believed in their cults in the earlier chapters. Some people would not speak a bad thing about their cult or beliefs even when faced with death. They truly believed that these terrible views were the right ones and they were put to death because of it.
I feel like Calvin would have gotten along with Thomas Aquinas, they would have been two peas in a pod had they been contemporaries. What he says in article 41 is almost verbatim what Aquinas says about God and the Devil, that while the Devil may have vast knowledge of nature's inner workings, he is still a part of nature and therefore under the control of God. As for the people who refused to speak ill of their cult, don't we see that all too often today? Men and women who never concede defeat, victims of pride and ignorance. It's interesting to see that society hasn't made much headway since medieval cults...
ReplyDeleteLike I wrote in my blog, I think Martin Luther was paranoid. He must have had some disorder. But with this said, I do not know how no one ever considered him a witch or sorcerer. He mentioned he had multiple encounters with the devil and so did his mother. After reading Remy's view on how Satan persuades people to follow him, I think Satan really wanted Martin Luther, and was trying every tactic.
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