Music in Martin Luther’s Theology To my beloved wife and daughter, Jo and Ode, who have taught me to persevere. Musica maximum, immo divinum est donum, ideo satanae summe contrarium, quia per eam multae et magnae tentationes pelluntur. Diabolus non expectat, cum ea exercetur. –– Martin Luther, WATr 1: no. 968, 1-3. Contents Preface Abbreviations 1 Introduction 1.1 Prologue 1.2 Outline of the Study 1.2.1 Object 1.2.2 Method 1.2.3 Sources 1.3 History of Research 2 Luther as Musician 2.1 Music: From Antiquity to the Medieval Era 2.2 Luther’s Musical Background 2.2.1 Eisleben to Erfurt 2.2.2 Erfurt to Wittenberg 2.3 Luther’s Musical Reform 2.3.1 Pedagogy 2.3.2 Performance 2.3.3 Production 2.4 Conclusion 3 Luther on Music as a Gift of God 3.1 A Theology of Gift 3.1.1 Gift for Us 3.1.2 Gift for Others 3.1.3 Gift for God 3.2 Theology of Music in the Encomium musices 3.2.1 Sound and Harmony 3.2.2 The Art of Birdsong 3.2.3 The Human Voice 3.2.4 The Power of Music 3.2.5 The Holy Spirit’s Instrument 3.2.6 Artistic Music 3.3 Music as a Gift of God 3.4 Conclusion 4 Luther on Music and the Devil 4.1 A Theology of the Devil 4.2 A Theology of Music 4.2.1 Letter to Senfl 4.2.2 Fraw Musica 4.2.3 The Tischreden 4.3 Exorcism Through Music 4.4 Conclusion 5 Luther on Music and the Joyful Soul 5.1 A Theology of Joy 5.1.1 Joy and Faith in Christ 5.1.2 Joy and Forgiveness of Sins 5.1.3 Joy and Hope in Suffering 5.2 A Theology of Music 5.2.1 The Last Words of David 5.2.2 Babst Hymnal 5.2.3 Psalm 4:1 5.3 Music Creates a Joyful Soul 5.4 Conclusion 6 Luther and His Contemporaries 6.1 Music and Exorcism 6.1.1 Music’s Power over the Devil 6.1.2 Lutheran and Other Views 6.2 Music and Joy 6.2.1 Singing 6.2.2 Instruments 6.3 Conclusion 7 Conclusion Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources Preface This book is the fruit of a PhD dissertation devoted to a study of Martin Luther’s thoughts on music. The past several years of experiences of musical and theological studies have shaped my interest, resulting in further study of Luther’s theology and his thoughts about music. This study would be impossible without the personal and academic support of numerous individuals in the Netherlands and Indonesia. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my first promotor, Prof. Dr. Herman J. Selderhuis, for his invaluable advice, especially to read Luther’s own writings and to write in a way that I could express my thought freely. I truly appreciate his friendly guidance and frequent visits to my desk to offer help. His encouragement, combined with his sense of humor, always delighted me and motivated me to keep working. I also wish to thank Prof. Dr. Konrad Küster as my second promotor for reading my work and giving many helpful comments. It has been a privilege to write this dissertation under their supervision. My sincere thanks go to Dr. Jan Luth for providing me time in his home to discuss music and for giving me wonderful compliments about this topic. Also, thanks to Dr. Miikka Anttila for sharing his comments on this book as well as for the invaluable insights I received from his massively helpful book "Luther's Theology of Music." I also deeply appreciate all the assistance provided by the staff of Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn, from borrowing books to preparing a bicycle for my use. I am particularly thankful to Nikè van der Mijden, Wilma van der Zande, and Melle Rozema. My gratitude must also be expressed for my friends Gerard and Esther Bosker, Rachel Selderhuis, and Doo-Hyeok Jeong, for all the help and hospitality while I was new to the Netherlands. My gratitude also goes out to Jacob and Elizabeth van der Rhee for providing me the best environment to study, bringing me to their church, walking in the woods, and inviting me to warm discussions at their home, with cheese and wine, every week. I especially thank Prof. Dr. Herman J. Selderhuis for the opportunity he gave me to publish this work, and the editors of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht for helping to publish it so that this writings could be shared with a wider audience. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Jim West, for his expert proof-reading of the text. Worthy of special mention are some of my Indonesian colleagues in Apeldoorn: Audy Santoso and Ivan Raharjo for their support and prayer. In Indonesia, my special gratitude goes out to my pastors and my mentors, especially to Dr. Stephen Tong who was the first person to introduce me to Reformed teaching and thereby shaped my life. He also prayed for me before I left for the Netherlands and gave me a beautiful watch which serves as reminder that time keeps moving and therefore I have to be responsible to God. I am deeply grateful for his personal advice to be patient in this study. He has become a role model for me on how to be a true servant of God, serve him faithfully, work hard for his kingdom, and give all the glory to him; to Dr. Benyamin F. Intan who opened the opportunity for this study and made all the necessary arrangements for funding. I am truly grateful for his understanding, which allowed me to write this dissertation in the Netherlands. My deep appreciation goes to the elders, brothers and sisters in Gereja Reformed Injili Indonesia Pondok Indah, who provided me with their prayers and funding throughout the years of my study. I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to my beloved wife Josephine who has always been a steady support through all my years of education in both music and theology. I acknowledge her care and deep understanding in whatever I do. My adorable daughter, Odelia, who always makes me smile, has always been lovely and supportive. I am grateful for their constant prayers and encouragement to complete this journey. This book is dedicated to them. Finally and most importantly, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to God, who saved and called me in this precious calling. During my entire study in the Netherlands he provided me invaluable opportunities to experience who he is. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Yakub E. Kartawidjaja Apeldoorn, Spring 2019 Abbreviations BC The Book of Concord. The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. ed. Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert. Minneapolis. Fortress. LW Luther’s Works. American Edition. 55 vols. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann. St Louis: Concordia and Philadelphia: Fortress. StA Martin Luther Studienausgabe. Herausgegeben von Hans-Ulrich Delius. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt GmbH, Berlin/Leipzig. WA Martin Luther. Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe. 66 vols. Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus, 1883-1993. WABr Briefwechsel WADB Deutsche Bibel. WATr Tischreden 1 Introduction 1.1 Prologue Before we begin to undertake this study, first, I would like to pose one simple question: why examine this topic: Music in Martin Luther’s Theology? The answer is that I was a musician who made a life-changing decision to leave this career in order to pursue God’s calling into ministry. And in my theological study in recent years I have become fascinated by Reformation history, especially by the life and work of Luther, who propagated the doctrine of justification through faith alone, and who dared to write and publish the 95 theses that changed the course of world history. Moreover, I was also interested in Luther’s Anfechtung, especially in his personal encounter with the devil, which in his case explains why he valued music more highly than some of the other reformers did. It is, therefore this combined interest in Luther’s theology and my passion for music which have strongly influenced my decision to integrate both subjects into the present study. My interest soon grew as I saw that the research centered on Luther’s thoughts about music have developed and flourished recently. For instance, to note but a few of the most recent studies, from the first academic dissertation on Luther and music by the Lutheran scholar Karl Honemeyer’s Luthers Musikanschauung (1941), to an extensive work by Robin A. Leaver titled Luther’s Liturgical Music (2007), to insightful books by Miikka Anttila, Luther’s Theology of Music: Spiritual Beauty and Pleasure (2013) and Robin A. Leaver’s The Whole Church Sings: Congregational Singing in Luther’s Wittenberg (2017). However, most of these previous studies examined Luther’s musical thoughts without much investigation of the relationship between his theology of gift, the devil, and joy and their relationship with music.1 This present study thus seeks to fill that gap by interpreting Luther’s theology of music in the light of his theology of the devil, focusing principally on his Anfechtung. 1.2 Outline of the Study 1.2.1 Object The present study aims to analyse the impact of Luther’s theology on his thoughts about music. I am aware of the complexity and broad literature on Luther and music, therefore this 1 See details of previous studies in chapter 1.2.3.