In the Spirit
Human Subjectivity Under Law and Gospel
- Theology
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2024
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Publisher's Description
How does the Christian produce good works in service of her neighbor after justification? In Martin Luther's famous 1520 treatise The Freedom of a Christian, the Reformer claimed that Christ's love "springs spontaneously" from the Christian's soul as good works. In Luther's late-medieval theological context, however, this statement was incoherent with philosophical theories of moral action, which required an interplay between the soul and body. This problem persists in Lutheran theology today where human passivity in justification is extended over the Christian's entire temporal life. Yet, Luther seemed to find solutions to this question in his late controversies with Johann Agricola over law and gospel. This study looks to pneumatological developments in that controversy for resources that support a more coherent view of moral action in the Christian life.
Endorsements (3)
“This book cracks the crust of time-tested doctrinal tenets. We seem to know everything about Law and Gospel. With Kohli, we learn, we don't. She opens a fresh view on the Antinomian debate in Wittenberg, embedding Luther's argument about the word of God in his spiritual formation. Medieval background comes to the fore, as do contemporary conflicts. This book makes us think and re-think in the best way.”
“By drawing on the full range of Luther's corpus, Candace Kohli challenges conventional assumptions and breaks new ground on the relationship between law and gospel in the Reformer’s thought. In the Spirit is historically compelling and dogmatically astute.”
“In her innovative study, Candace L. Kohli shows how Luther's treatment of human subjectivity contains an original vision of Christian moral agency. In this vision, the Spirit sustains the law and elevates the human person. With this view of the Spirit, the positive role of the law can be defined without legalism.”
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