Martin Luther Individuality
In this essay, I would like to relate Christine de Pizan’s and Martin Luther’s idea of faith with the use of good works to the question of individuality. For Christine, faith through good works is essential in shaping one’s individuality; as for Luther, faith alone, is used to define one as a Christian. By defining individuality as the unique journey taken to discovery of one’s worth as a Christian, faith provides a central point of conversion to direct one’s actions toward his or her newly converted identity. The motivation to practice good faith and good works establishes and reorganizes one’s self-identity in society of the time, and this awareness also creates a guide that sets a basis for divine interaction, which therefore effects how
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Using this reasoning, Luther discovered “faith alone, without works, is justified and sanctified by the word of God” (Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, 59). It is here that Luther moves toward a distinction between the "inner" and the "outer man" to describe the effects of faith on one’s identity. The “inner man” is the human being's spirit, which is only motivated and justified by faith, and never by works, and the “outer" man is where works are expressed. However, these works do not bring salvation as being good or bad is entirely linked to the nature of the inner 'man' , and since the character of the 'inner man' is based, not on works, but on faith, the 'inner man' requires “freedom from every law. Thus all the acts of a Christian are done spontaneously, out of a sense of pure liberty” (Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, 75). In other words, while no outer work can justify the “inner” man’s ethical decisions, no outer work can make the 'inner man' un-just. However, it is the nature of the "inner man' which determines the nature of the outer work; if the inner nature is that which determines the nature of any and all outer works, then the place of good works in the life of a Christian who has been justified through faith in Jesus Christ should become
Using this reasoning, Luther discovered “faith alone, without works, is justified and sanctified by the word of God” (Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, 59). It is here that Luther moves toward a distinction between the "inner" and the "outer man" to describe the effects of faith on one’s identity. The “inner man” is the human being's spirit, which is only motivated and justified by faith, and never by works, and the “outer" man is where works are expressed. However, these works do not bring salvation as being good or bad is entirely linked to the nature of the inner 'man' , and since the character of the 'inner man' is based, not on works, but on faith, the 'inner man' requires “freedom from every law. Thus all the acts of a Christian are done spontaneously, out of a sense of pure liberty” (Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, 75). In other words, while no outer work can justify the “inner” man’s ethical decisions, no outer work can make the 'inner man' un-just. However, it is the nature of the "inner man' which determines the nature of the outer work; if the inner nature is that which determines the nature of any and all outer works, then the place of good works in the life of a Christian who has been justified through faith in Jesus Christ should become