This paper examines three foundational premises of Reformation theology — the sole authority of Scripture, justification by faith alone, and the priesthood of the believer — as expressed in the writings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, with reference to Jonathan Edwards. It analyzes how Luther's "On the Freedom of a Christian" challenges Catholic works-based salvation, how Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion" links self-knowledge to knowledge of God, and how Calvin's TULIP doctrine addresses predestination, limited atonement, and saving grace. The paper also identifies an internal tension in Calvinist theology, where the doctrine of election risks producing the very hypocrisy Calvin warns against.
The three main premises of Reformation theology are: (1) the sole authority of Scripture; (2) justification by faith alone; and (3) the priesthood of the believer. These were also the three main premises that steered Protestants away from the Catholic Church. In Martin Luther's text, he integrates these three elements to respond to one of the dominant theological questions of the sixteenth century: how can the Christian be assured of God's favor?
In Jonathan Edwards's A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, Edwards considers the nature of the "affections" that solicit the favor of God. In general, he asserts that these are reliant upon the inspiration and grace of the divine rather than the human spirit. Like Luther, Edwards notes that no amount of works can create enough favor with God to result in salvation; instead, faith should be the creator of works rather than the other way around.
Luther goes to great lengths to emphasize that no outward signs of faith accomplish anything beyond a show of faith in the eyes of other people. Much like Jesus and the Apostle Paul after him, Luther notes that certain pieces of clothing or actions — such as praying, fasting, and abstaining from certain foods — can be performed by both the pious and the impious alike. Luther appears to be in accord with Jesus in asserting that many of these "shows" of faith benefit human eyes alone and are therefore hypocritical. These issues address the element of justification by faith alone: justification cannot be obtained by a physical show of faith, but is rather obtained by an inner assurance of that faith.
In this respect, the Christian who does not concern him- or herself with the appearance of faith, but rather with its inward manifestations in the soul, can also be assured of God's favor. It follows that each individual is aware of his or her own motives for doing things. Loud public praying, for example, is more likely to be hypocritically motivated than a quiet, private prayer. Luther's viewpoint is that faith is the relationship between the individual and God rather than a performance among human beings. Anything done for the benefit of demonstrating one's faith to others is therefore considered hypocritical and displeasing to God. Truly liberating and justifying faith is more often manifest in private than in public, and it is this that ensures God's favor.
Luther asserts that faith alone can save the human soul, while works alone cannot. The role of works is, however, important, because they are a manifestation of the faith the Christian holds to be true. Although works cannot save the soul, Luther in no way justifies the view that Christian liberty also means liberty from the drive to lead a good life. He notes that the role of faith is instead a type of respect for God and the Scripture that is central to the faith. The Christian is to practice Christian values as prescribed by God in gratitude for the liberty that is gained. This liberty means that the Christian no longer needs to experience anxiety as a result of the sin that is human nature. Instead, freedom from this nature can be experienced by means of the salvation offered through Jesus. Luther uses the example of husband and wife to illustrate this view: the wife is devoted to the husband not by force, but rather out of love and therefore by choice. In the same way, the Christian lives a good life by choice, motivated by love rather than by the force of law.
According to Luther, those who know no better and base their salvation upon works are considered weak and even "blind." This does not mean that they are power hungry like priests and bishops, but rather that they are blinded by the goodness of works rather than by what causes those works to manifest. Luther notes that the seed of faith creates the outward appearance of works. Therefore no faithful person can help but "bear the fruit" of good works, even knowing that this outward appearance of piety is not what will ultimately save them.
Luther's concern with inward faith also implies the principle of the priesthood of the believer. Catholic priests act as a communication channel between God and the believer — a necessarily public function. Priests were also considered somewhat more "holy" than ordinary people, a distinction visually reinforced by the ceremonial robes they wore during church services. Luther, on the other hand, notes that no robe can enhance a person's holiness, faith, or ability to contact God. On this premise, each believer takes responsibility for his or her own faith rather than passively leaving this in the hands of a priest.
Catholic priests would also provide believers with prescribed acts of penance for their sins to be forgiven — something Luther completely rejects. This type of priesthood therefore integrates both the ideals of justification by faith alone and the priesthood of the believer. Each believer takes responsibility for his or her own communications with God. As Luther argues, the soul is liberated by God alone; something no priest can accomplish on another's behalf.
As for the sole authority of Scripture, Luther quotes from the Bible to support his claim that nothing but Scripture is needed for "life, justification, and Christian liberty." The three specific texts he uses to justify this are John 11:25, John 8:36, and Matthew 4:4. These texts all concern the fact that God's word alone can provide the Christian with eternal life, liberty, and complete fulfillment.
Any Christian who accepts the authority of Scripture as the sole guide for his or her ultimate salvation will therefore be the recipient of God's favor. Luther and his followers believed absolutely in the combination of faith, Scripture, and personal communication with God as providing God's favor and ultimate salvation toward eternal life. Even today, these three elements are common among all Protestant denominations, regardless of other differences.
According to Luther, traditional Catholic priests and officials offer only a "pompous display of power" based upon their own greed for control rather than a sincere drive to worship or to help others worship. In this way, human works have taken precedence over faith in assuring salvation for the faithful, and faith itself is measured by works. This philosophy, in Luther's view, was perpetuated by a clergy that had become corrupt with its own power.
In the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin asserts that human wisdom must necessarily include knowledge of ourselves and knowledge of God. According to the text, only true self-knowledge can result in the knowledge of God. For Calvin, the two are linked in so many ways that they appear inseparable.
According to Calvin, no person can consider him- or herself without also considering the Creator, because it is the Creator who gave human life to begin with. Everything that is good in human life is God-given. However, the contemplation of God must also reveal to the human person his or her own weaknesses. In the light of God's perfection, the human mind becomes aware of its own glaring imperfections.
In this contemplation, Calvin notes that the human mind must also consider the effects of original sin upon the separation of God from human beings, and the subsequent weaknesses of the latter. This understanding necessarily leads to unhappiness in the human heart. Yet it is precisely by this unhappiness that the knowledge of God grows. It is by understanding one's own weaknesses in comparison to the glory of God that the human being begins to know the extent of God's goodness. Calvin lists feelings of "ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, depravity and corruption" as examples of human weakness.
It is through knowledge of the "evil things" in themselves that human beings arrive at an understanding of God's true wisdom, virtue, and goodness. Calvin insists that it is only by being unhappy with ourselves that we will begin to aspire to the high level of goodness found in God. True self-knowledge therefore leads to a truer knowledge of God by virtue of the stark contrast between the human and the divine. The deep sense of unhappiness with the impurity of the human self is, according to Calvin, also the only motivator that will help human beings aspire to the goodness of God.
Calvin contrasts this with human beings who lack true self-knowledge. Instead of being humbled by their own weaknesses, these ignorant persons are aware of themselves only as "just, and upright, and wise, and holy" — at least until the contrast with God is made known. People who contemplate only themselves without considering God never become aware of the need to search for God or his wisdom, because they believe themselves to be pious and perfect as they are. This is their "innate pride." This occurs because, as Calvin notes, we are "all naturally prone to hypocrisy." Therefore, anything that poses as righteousness is accepted to be righteousness in fact.
Without true self-knowledge, the knowledge of God is never cultivated, and this false awareness never changes. Other human beings become the only standard against which such persons measure themselves. Since all human beings are impure and imperfect, it is not difficult to appear superior in self-perceived terms. In comparison to God, however, this changes entirely. The person who is never dissatisfied with him- or herself never becomes aware that there is a contrast to be made with God.
This is what Calvin appears to mean by piety. People with true knowledge of themselves as imperfect and unholy in comparison with God are those who are most pious. They are aware that there are imperfections to be addressed and aspire to do so by contemplating the nature of God. Impious and hypocritical human beings, by contrast, are never aware that much is wrong with them. They create a self-perpetuating cycle by comparing themselves only with other human beings, becoming aware only of their own excellence and power, which further discourages any honest contemplation of their true nature or of God. Ironically, those who appear to be the best and most pious are in fact the worst and most impious, because they never gain wisdom by contemplating themselves in the light of God.
Calvin had a rather more severe view of God and his grace than Luther. The five principles of Calvinist belief are summed up by the acronym TULIP: Total depravity of mankind; Unconditional election; Limited atonement; Irresistible grace; and Perseverance of the Saints.
"Election, limited atonement, and irresistible grace"
"Election doctrine risks the hypocrisy Calvin condemned"
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