Abstract:

Without attempting to associate Martin Luther historically with the many complexities and implications of the twentieth-century philosophical school of personalism, this essay aims to trace the development of “personalist” tendencies in Luther’s works, particularly with regard to his treatments of faith and the sacraments. “Personalist” refers to Luther’s emphasis on Christ’s intimate and personal relationship with each individual Christian. This essay traces the personalist elements of his spirituality chronologically by dividing his works into three sections: early (1509–17), middle (1517–21), and late (1522 onward). Between the sections on Luther’s middle and late work, a brief excursus is taken to explore Luther’s understanding of the Song of Songs to highlight the development of his spirituality. The essay concludes by summarizing the trajectory of Luther’s spirituality and reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of the theology that comes out of it. Positively, Luther’s spirituality highlights the personal and relational aspects of the Christian life and guards against overly mechanistic or impersonal understandings of grace. Negatively, Luther’s framework fails to incorporate an ecclesiological component adequately. Further work remains to be done to integrate his personalist theology into a “personalist ecclesiology,” in which Christ the bridegroom unites himself mystically not only to the individual Christian soul, but to the entire church, his bride, especially through the sacramental encounter.

摘要：

本文不试图将马丁路德与 20 世纪个人主义哲学学派的许多复杂性和含义联系起来，而是旨在追溯路德作品中“个人主义”倾向的发展，特别是在他对信仰和圣礼的处理方面. “个人主义者”是指路德强调基督与每个基督徒的亲密和个人关系。这篇文章通过将他的作品分为三个部分：早期（1509-17 年）、中期（1517-21 年）和晚期（1522 年以后），按时间顺序追溯了他灵性的个人主义元素。在路德中后期作品的部分之间，通过一个简短的插曲，探讨了路德对雅歌的理解，以突出他的灵性发展。这篇文章最后总结了路德的灵性轨迹，并反思了由此产生的神学的优点和缺点。积极地，路德的灵性强调了基督徒生活的个人和关系方面，并防止对恩典的过度机械化或非个人化的理解。消极的一面是，路德的框架未能充分纳入教会学成分。将他的个人主义神学整合到“个人主义教会学”中还有待做进一步的工作，其中新郎基督神秘地结合自己，不仅与个别基督徒灵魂，而且与整个教会，他的新娘，特别是通过圣礼相遇。路德的灵性强调了基督徒生活的个人和关系方面，并防止对恩典的过度机械化或非个人化的理解。消极的一面是，路德的框架未能充分纳入教会学成分。将他的个人主义神学整合到“个人主义教会学”中还有待做进一步的工作，其中新郎基督神秘地结合自己，不仅与个别基督徒灵魂，而且与整个教会，他的新娘，特别是通过圣礼相遇。路德的灵性强调了基督徒生活的个人和关系方面，并防止对恩典的过度机械化或非个人化的理解。消极的一面是，路德的框架未能充分纳入教会学成分。将他的个人主义神学整合到“个人主义教会学”中还有待做进一步的工作，其中新郎基督神秘地结合自己，不仅与个别基督徒灵魂，而且与整个教会，他的新娘，特别是通过圣礼相遇。