On Luther and the Desert Fathers

All of us are aware of Martin Luther’s deep awareness of his many sins. His compunction and his long confessions were legendary. In fact, they were legendary to the point that there is a small cottage industry among some “modern” theologians and Christian psychologists who try to decipher what Martin Luther’s supposed psychological problem was. But, I do not agree with them.

Yet, Martin Luther’s awareness of his personal sin would have been found praiseworthy by many of the Desert Fathers. There is a series of books called the Oxford Early Christian Studies. One of the books is titled The Desert Fathers on Monastic Community. And, there is an interesting quote in there.

To the various reasons for not judging which have been illustrated in the last few pages–abuse of authority, usurpation of God’s prerogative, the possibility of being subject to demonic deceit–must be added a further comment on a monk’s awareness of his own sins. The continued, indeed ineradicable, presence of sin in a monk’s life, however great his achievements in asceticism and combat against the demons, was a factor which the Desert Fathers were concerned to stress. . . . A number of sayings reveal, or instill the necessity of maintaining, similar feelings, and often refer to compunction or weeping for sin as a monk’s constant occupation.

What is important in this context is the way in which these feelings of sins are explicitly related to a monk’s attitude to others. Two stories concern abbas who were unwilling to join in an assembly convened for the purpose of judging a sinner, and who convinced the others present of the necessity of mercy by acted parables drawing attention to their own sinfulness. . . .

And in these quotes you see something of the difference in approach between the East and the West. The Desert Fathers are looking at a consciousness of sin as a way of keeping them from pride and a judgmental attitude. And, yes, the most often repeated prayer in the Divine Liturgy is “Lord, have mercy.” And, yet, though even on their deathbed they may pray that God will have mercy on them, yet there is not the fear of eternal damnation that is present in the pre-Reformation Luther. There is great sorrow for sin among the Desert Fathers, but not the fear of God the Father that is present in Martin Luther. So, Saint Anthony the Great can say that he no longer fears God, but he loves Him.

This is not to say that the Desert Fathers believe in “once saved always saved.” But, it does say that they did not have the fear of losing their salvation that the Roman Catholic Church developed in the Middle Ages. And, that is the problem with what happened in the Middle Ages in the West. Works were so hooked into justification that it led to an significant fear as to whether one had done enough to merit salvation. Salvation became a calculus in which indulgences, pilgrimages, confessions, good works, etc., were all added up to see whether the scales of God’s justice would tilt in your direction.

Before some of you react, I will clearly say that the post-Vatican Council II Roman Church is not where the Medieval Church was.

Luther’s consciousness of his personal sin meant that under the Roman Medieval system he had no way out. He was going to hell. And, all that we read about the pre-95 theses Luther is that he had a strong fear of final judgment. And, so, he struggled to find release to find a way that he could live with his God and make it to paradise.

It is in that context that salvation only by grace, only by faith crops up. In Luther we see the great relief that he feels as he finally realizes that God loves him and wants to forgive him. Sola fide, sola gratia, was the door to life with God, to eternity in His presence. Because the Roman Church hooked salvation to works in an almost calculus fashion, the only way out that he saw was to break the calculus and make it inoperative.

Meanwhile, the Desert Fathers would have not agreed with the medieval Roman calculus. Rather, they would have told Martin Luther that his sensitivity towards sin was a good thing, but that his fear that God would damn him was a bad thing. Yes, they would have told Martin that good works were important. Good works are the medicine that helps us to kill our addiction to sin. But our conciousness of sin is what keeps us from becoming like the pharisee who became proud of what he did and fell into a worse sin. If anything, the record of the Desert Fathers may call us to ask God that every bit of our sins be brought to our conciousness so that we may truly and finally grow into the image of Christ our God and avoid falling into the sin of the pharisee.