The Foolishness of God: The Place of Reason in the Theology of Martin Luther

by Siegbert W. Becker, Titian (Illustrator), planet art (Illustrator)

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How does reason fit into the Christian worldview? Does faith need to be made reasonable, or is it reason that needs to be made faithful? Martin Luther, the famous Protestant reformer, certainly had specific beliefs about this topic. But did his views align with Scripture? Dr. Siegbert Becker examines this topic, paying particular attention to Luther's viewpoint, to leave the reader with a thorough understanding of how reason meshes with faith.

Genres: Religion

266 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1982

Reviews

[Kris]

Mentioned by Adam Francisco on the Faith & Reason podcast.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A review and summary of Luther's thoughts on reason and faith in the life of a Christian.

There are many doctrines that don't make sense to human reason; that is why we "walk by faith and not by sight." Faith is believing in all the parts of the Bible, especially those that don't seem to make sense - the doctrine of the Trinity, the Lord's supper, Law and Gospel.

Reason has its place in the Christian life and faith, but it is not the means by which we hold on to God or to our faith. Faith believes in things unseen, in the doctrines that make no sense to our reason.

[Nate Hochmuth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becker does a wonderful job of explaining Martin Luther's thoughts on the topic of reason and its relationship to faith. Luther explains the many contradictions to human reason that we find in Scripture. He uses 1 Corinthians 1:25, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom." Many theologians at Luther's time were trying to use human reason to try to explain the seeming contradictions in Scripture between Law/Gospel, Predestination/Free will, Jesus being both True God and true man, and Jesus body and blood being present with the bread and the wine. Human reason can't explain this, and as Luther explains, we can't try to change what Scripture says in order to understand it. With the Holy Spirit, we believe in what Scripture says and don't allow our human reason to get in the way of our faith, but believe in what God tells us, realizing his wisdom is far greater than ours.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't really tell if I would recommend this one to others. I believe it would be better for one to simply explain some of the fleshed-out premise in conversation with others.

[Philip Meinel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful read. Human reason is a servant of scripture. How much higher are God's thoughts than our thoughts. Whoa to the person that adds and subtracts from scripture to suite their own reason. We are to take God at His word and believe what He says. If we could prove each biblical teaching logically with our human minds, we would have no need for faith. Certainly we can use our God-given reason to correct other people's false logic (ex. like when they try to deny the historical accuracy of the bible), but when it comes to revealed knowledge of God in scripture (ex. Christ is both 100% God and 100% Man to work salvation for all mankind), we must subjugate our reason to God's glorious wisdom.

[K B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading as this corrects one's thoughts as to how God makes "sense" of our understanding of both doctrine and salvation apart from mankind's "sense of reason." Very helpful especially in the last several chapters that deal with particular issues of faith vs. reason. Worth re-reading from time to time.

[K B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading as this corrects one's thoughts as to how God makes "sense" of our understanding of both doctrine and salvation apart from mankind's "sense of reason." Very helpful especially in the last several chapters that deal with particular issues of faith vs. reason. Worth re-reading from time to time.

[Manuel Marbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished. Highly recommended bagi setiap orang, khususnya orang awam pemikir. Buku ini ditulis seorang Scholar yang setia, Siebert W. Becker. Buku ini mengajarkan ajaran seorang Scholar yang setia, Dr. Luther. Buku ini mengajarkan arti percaya dan kesetiaan dalam kaitannya dengan penggunaan dan optimalisasi akal budi.

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

***

Further review to come, Deo volente.