ABSTRACT
One of the challenges in the Church
today is the lack of understanding of the concept of Justification by faith
alone, i.e. Reformer’s attitude of laziness and careless living without paying
attention to the life of holiness – since justification is by faith alone, I am
free to live as I want. This is happening because, Luther, stressed on the
issue of Christians being saved by faith ‘alone’, thus seem to downplayed the
issue of works which is vital to their faith or believing in Christ; even
though he never kicked away the place of works in the Christian faith life. The
scope of this research is on the explanation of Luther’s concept of salvation
(Sola fide), in regards to the Christian faith. The research is limited in the
sense that: the research study was carried out in an interval of a year, the
researcher did not have an interview with Martin Luther since he lived in the
16th century while the Researcher is in the 21st century,
thus the research is made used of some translated English primary sources of
Luther’s work and not The German, since the Researcher is not knowledgeable in
German. This research is in the field of
systematic theology and it adopted the use of qualitative research method. For Luther, good works or
‘works of grace’ are necessary, but not for salvation. They are necessary only
as witness of faith, to give
glory to the heavenly Father and to serve the neighbor. The primacy of faith in
Luther’s theology of ‘faith alone’ in Christ, does not negate the need for good
works, but sees good works only as outcomes or practical expressions of living
faith. Having appraised Luther’s
concept of sola fide, the researcher has made the following recommendations;
The Church should: (i) emphasize on righteous living as ‘faith alone’ in Christ
is (ii) teach and preach continuously that one can live above sin, and that
salvation is not ‘once saved, forever saved’ we are to work it out. The idea of
justification by faith alone is not just Luther’s idea, but a Biblical standard
for eternal salvation; it is a Biblical standard for Christian daily living.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Page…………………………………………………………………………………..i
Declaration
…………………………………………….……………………………..……ii
Approval
page………………………………………………………….………………..…iii
Dedication…………………………………………………………….…………………....iv
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………..…..v
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………....vii
Table
of Contents……………………………………………….………………………....viii
CHAPTER
ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the Research…
1.2
Statement of the Problem…………
1.3 The
Purpose of the Research …
1.4
The Aims and Objectives of the Research………
1.5
The Significance of the Research……………
1.6
Scope and Limitation of the Research………
1.7
Research Methodology……
1.8
Research Questions……………
1.9
The Definition of Terms…
CHAPTER
TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
Conceptual Clarifications on the Concept
of Salvation...………………….………….7
2.2
Biblical Concept of Salvation……….……………………………………………….11
2.2.1
Salvation in the Old Testament……………………………………….……….11
2.2.2
Salvation in the New Testament…………..……………………………………13
2.3
Other Scholars View on the Concept of
Salvation..…...…………………………19
2.5 The Concept of
Salvation in Roman Catholic’s Theology……….…………..….22
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Method……
3.2 Method of Data Collection
3.3 Method of Data Analysis…………
3.4 Method of Data Presentation…………
3.5 Theoretical Framework…
CHAPTER
FOUR: AN APPRAISAL OF MARTIN LUTHER’S CONCEPT OF SALVATION
4.1 The Man Martin Luther:
Life, Education and Achievements…
4.2 The Formulation and
Meaning of Sola fide…
4.2.1 The Formulation of Sola fide……
4.2.2
The Meaning of Sola fide…………
4.3 Appraisal/Evaluation of
Martin Luther’s Concept of Salvation...
4.4 Martin Luther and Paul
4.3.2
Faith, Works and Love……
4.4 The Legacy of Martin Luther’s
Sola Fide Today…
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION
5.1
Summary of Findings…………
5.2
Conclusion……………………
5.3
Recommendations …………
Works
Cited
CHAPTER
ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the Research
Martin
Luther an Augustinian monk was a professor of Theology at the University of
Wittenberg. The Reformation was assumed to have begun in Germany on Oct. 31,
1517, when Martin Luther posted 95 theses inviting debate over the sale of
indulgences. The papacy viewed this as a rebellion and proceeded to take steps
against Luther as a heretic. He, Luther, saw that the Roman Catholic Church
practices of indulgence debunked the place of faith in Christ Jesus, which is
the only way for one to be saved in Christ.
Needham, in his book 2000 Years of Christ’s Power Part Three:
Renaissance and Reformation, gave
a narration on how the sales of indulgence were conducted by a Pope; he says “in
1515, Pope Leo X wanted to raise money to finance the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica. As a fundraiser, he authorized the sale of indulgences
in Germany. The sales agent assigned was a Dominican friar named Johann Tetzel.
As part of his sales strategy, Tetzel used the rhyme, ‘As soon as the coin in
the money-box rings the soul from purgatory springs!’” (74). The Pope brought a
strategy to usurp money from the Church members for the reason of him wanting
to construct a Basilica of Saint Peter. So he ordered a friar, to take money from anyone who wants his or
her relative in Purgatory to be freed from torment to Heaven. And this practice
is called indulgence. The ordered friar claimed that as soon as the coin in the
money-box rings, it would automatically wash the sins away from even the worst
of sinners; so long as your loved ones who are dead are in purgatory, as soon
as you pay your coin into the money-box for them to be freed, their sins will
be washed away, and they would be removed from the place of torment.
The sales of indulgence got Martin Luther upset and he decided to take a
step of response. The step he took was to post some writings which are known as
Ninety-five Thesis. And contained in
it were responses to the evil practices conducted by the Popes in the Roman
Catholic Church. The day which he posted his Ninety-five Thesis is
‘…often considered to be ‘Reformation Day’ by many Protestants…’” (Bournelis 1)
Martin Luther was not in this alone. The people around the corners of the
streets came and read what he pasted and believed his thesis. And this became strong to the point that these followers
fought against the Roman Catholic Church, and made up their minds to withdraw
from the Roman Catholic Church and her doctrines. All those who followed Martin
Luther to stand against the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) on their wrong
practices are together with Martin Luther termed as “Protestants”; simply
because they with Luther protested against the RCC as they Protestants seek for
Reformation.
According
to Wayne Grudem, “The primary issue in the Protestant Reformation was a dispute
with the Roman Catholic Church over justification.” (722), as Martin Luther
believed that one is justified by faith alone in Christ Jesus and stood against
the fact that not by works or any sale of indulgence can get one into heaven. For
Luther, justification is by faith alone, which he called Sola fide. Sproul also agrees with this too, as he says, “Sola fide, is the material cause of the
Reformation” (21).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
One
of the challenges in the Church today is the lack of understanding of the
concept of Justification by faith alone, i.e. Reformer’s attitude of laziness
and careless living without paying attention to the life of holiness – since
justification is by faith alone, I am free to live as I want. This is happening
because, Luther, stressed on the issue of Christians being saved by faith ‘alone’, thus seem to downplayed
the issue of works which is vital to
their faith or believing in Christ; even though he never kicked away the place
of works in the Christian faith life.
1.3
The
Purpose of the Research
The Purpose of this research is to bring
the clarity of Martin Luther’s concept of Justification by faith alone in line
with the Biblical doctrine. At such, one can live above sin, and that salvation
is not ‘once saved, forever saved’, since everyone is responsible for his/her
salvation.
1.4
The
Aim and Objectives of the Research
The
aim of this research is to help the Church understand the concept of Sola fide, which is the concept of salvation
by faith alone, as propounded by Martin Luther. And this shall be achieved
through the following objectives:
i.
To evaluate Martin Luther’s
theology of Sola fide by the use of
related materials
ii. To know about Luther, his teachings, and, even, the cause of Protestant
Reformation.
iii. And
to also reveal what Luther truly mean for one to be saved in Christ.
1.5
The
Significance of the Research
The
study is a reference material to the researchers and a teaching material to the
ministers, in guiding the seminarians on what it means to be truly saved in
Christ and the implication of not being truly saved.
1.6
The Scope And Limitation of the Research
The scope of this research is on the
explanation of Luther’s concept of salvation (Sola fide), in regards to the Christian faith. The research is
limited in the sense that: the research study was carried out in an interval of
a year, the researcher did not have an interview with Martin Luther since he
lived in the 16th century while the Researcher is in the 21st
century, thus the researcher made use of some translated English primary
sources of Luther’s work and not The German, since the Researcher is not
knowledgeable in German. The researcher has done his best to utilize the available
library materials, Internet,
articles and PDF materials to do justice to the topic of
this research.
1.7
Research
Methodology
This
research is in the field of systematic theology; therefore it employed a
critical and analytical approach in dealing with theological concepts. Thus it
adopted the use of qualitative research method. The researcher makes use of the
Library, Internet, articles and PDF materials to investigate facts that are
crucial for providing the relevant information for this study, so as to
evaluate Luther’s concept of salvation properly as it affects the Church today.
1.8
Research
Questions
The
research seeks to address the following questions:
i.
What prompted the formulation of the idea
of Sola fide by Martin Luther?
ii. Is
Martin Luther’s concept of Salvation in line with the Biblical view of
Salvation?
iii. What
are the problems of Martin Luther’s Sola
Fide as viewed by the Roman Catholic Church and other scholars?
iv. What
is the effect of Luther’s theology to us today?
1.9
Definition
of Terms
The researcher brings out some key terms
to define in this study. Here are the definitions of the key terms below:
1.9.1
Sola Fide: According to Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological
Terms, Sola Fide means “by faith alone” (283). According to Diener, Sola fide means “justification by faith alone” (1). In
this research study, the researcher adopted the first definition of Sola fide, because the first definition
pointed out the literal meaning of Sola
fide (Sola = alone + fide = faith), but the second definition gives an additional word
“justification” in it, which says “justification by faith
alone”, which by implication, if translated in Latin will be Justificatio Sola fide, which is not
what we are defining.
1.9.2
Appraisal:
According
to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition Appraisal is “a
judgment of the value, performance or nature of somebody or something” (59). But
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, defines Appraisal as “a statement or opinion judging the worth, value or
condition of something.”(61)
In
this research study, the definition of Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English is adopted, because the research is a project that judges/ appraises
the value, worth or condition of Luther’s concept of salvation.
1.9.3
Concept:
According
to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition, concept is “an idea or principle that is
connected with something” (298).
According
to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Concept is “an idea of how something is, or how something should be
done” (319). The last definition is adopted. The focus of this research also is
to bring out what Luther’s idea of Sola
fide is and how it should be applied in the Christian life.
1.9.4 Indulgence: An
official relaxation of law which shortens or cancels one’s sufferings which are
due to sin and it usually has reference to the sufferings in purgatory
(Boettner 262).
According
to New Dictionary of Theology, Indulgence
is “merit of Christians stored in the church’s ‘treasury of merits’ so that
their punishment of sin could be remitted.” (422). The researcher redefined Indulgence as “the payment of money to a
Roman Catholic Church Official (Priest, Bishop, or pope) which shortens or
cancels your suffering, and relative’s (father, brother, sister, cousin, etc)
suffering in the Purgatory or Hell after death, in order to enter Heaveny.”
1.9.5
Salvation:
The
word for salvation in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word Yeshu'ah. It is derived from the Hebrew root word Yash'a (William 446), which according to
Evangelical
Dictionary of Biblical Theology means
“to save, help in distress, rescue, and deliver, set free” (701).
According to Baker’s Dictionary of Theology, salvation
in the New Testament is the Greek word soteria
(469), which also means deliverance.
“Its verb sozo classically means ‘to make
sound, heal, save, preserve,’ and in regard to people, ‘to save from death or
keep alive’” (469).
According to Holman
Illustrated Bible Dictionary, salvation has
three (3) definitions. “First is the rescue from danger, harm, or even death of
an individual, group, or nation. Second is the renewing of the spirit. Third is
the restoration of the right relationship with God” (1434)
The
researcher chooses to adopt and moderate the definition of salvation by conjugating the three definitions of the Holman
Illustrated Bible Dictionary, as: salvation
is the rescue of an individual from danger or death (physically or
spiritually), by the renewal of the spirit, thus restoring the individual into
right relationship with God.
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