Doctor of Holy Scripture’ Dr Stephen Pietsch
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Ego etiam sum doctor scripturae: an historical and contemporary reflection on Luther’s life and work 145 Ego etiam sum doctor scripturae: an historical and contemporary reflection on Luther’s life and work as ‘doctor of holy scripture’ Dr Stephen Pietsch Stephen Pietsch is a pastoral theology lecturer at ALC, specialising in counselling and homilietics. Introduction ‘Doctor’ was arguably Luther’s most significant self-identification. Variants of the Latin phrase in the title of this essay, ‘I am also a doctor of scripture’, appear many times in Luther’s sermons and other writings, right through his career.1 It is the one designation which most closely captures Luther’s role in the three interconnected worlds he inhabited: university, local church and wider Reformation movement. He routinely signed his name ‘Doctor Martin Luther’ on letters and other documents, and in most of the documented references to Luther from his own time, even some of the unfavourable ones, he is named in the same way. Today’s egalitarian world refers to him simply by his name, but in the highly role-structured society of sixteenth century Germany, Luther was definitely ‘Herr Doktor’, even to most of his close associates and friends.2 It is a well-known part of the Luther story that he was awarded his doctoral degree at the University of Wittenberg in 1512. However, what is really known about this degree? How did Luther himself understand its value and importance? What did it mean in his world? How did Luther earn it? What role did it play in his reforming work? What insights from all this might be informative and even fruitful for us today, as Lutheran theological educators who stand on the threshold of the Reformation’s 500th anniversary and—at the same moment—look forward to a new millennium? Doctoral degrees in the 16th century In the early 16th century doctoral degrees were much rarer than they are today; they were a mark of high honour, and many important scholars were never awarded a doctoral degree. One of the main reasons for this was the considerable expense involved. Besides the fee charged by the Pope for the degree itself, there was the outlay for the 1 Some notable examples: Sermon for Holy Trinity, 1529, WA XXIX.385:34 – 386:5; Sermon for Trinity 7, 1529, WA XXIX.471:23–27; Sermon for Advent 1, 1533, WA XXXIVii.167:11–15. 2 Luther was only addressed by his Christian name by his own family and Phillip Melanchthon. Even Katie addressed him as ‘Herr Doktor’ at least in public or in front of others (Treu). LTJ 48/3 December 2014 146 Dr Stephen Pietsch gold doctoral ring and the obligatory conferral festivities, which were usually lavish (Harran: 121). While this expense limited the number of eligible candidates somewhat, doctorates were nevertheless becoming more common in the academic world, because of the flourishing of university higher education under the influence of Renaissance humanism all over Europe, particularly in France and Italy. At the University of Wittenberg, as in many other 16th century universities, there were only three faculties in which one could be promoted to a doctorate: law, medicine and the ‘queen of the sciences’ (regina scientiarum), theology. The structure of degrees and awards varied somewhat from place to place, depending on the tradition of the faculty or institution. In Luther’s youth, higher education in Germany was still influenced greatly by the church, usually via the monastic orders, which provided the professors and teachers for theological faculties of universities, and sometimes for other faculties as well. However, due to the influence of humanism and the growth of education during the Reformation, by the end of Luther’s life universities, as places of higher learning and research, had advanced and diversified. As a result they were becoming increasingly influential and popular. The University of Wittenberg itself is a prime example of this growth. In the decades following Luther’s death it became not only the largest and most prestigious university in Germany, and throughout Europe. 3 While it majored in the higher faculties— law, medicine and theology—it also branched out to excel, due largely to Melanchthon’s influence, in teaching the natural sciences and philosophy.4 This growth is especially remarkable considering that at the time of the university’s foundation (1504) Wittenberg had been viewed as a remote location, ‘close to the edge of civilisation’ (Harran: 127). At that time teachers with lower qualifications who lectured at the under-graduate level were restricted to using set texts, content and curricula. Doctors, however, were considered to have demonstrated themselves competent to teach at the postgraduate level, and to do so unsupervised. It is not surprising, then, that in the 16th century as academic life and culture grew throughout Europe the doctoral degree was increasingly seen as a mark of high and distinguished scholarship. The historical roots of the doctoral degree are in the apostolic church’s three closely aligned ‘charismatic’ offices: apostle, prophet and teacher. All these three roles involved 3 In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, set in Reformation Denmark, Wittenberg is mentioned as the university where Shakespeare’s fictional characters Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are students. Denmark had been an early ally of the Reformation, and many Danish students did in fact go to Wittenberg to study. By the late 1590s when Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, the University of Wittenberg was at the height of its fame and was well known in England and all over Europe. 4 Wittenberg boasted not only Luther and Melanchthon as theologians and reformers, but also scholars like Augustine Schurff, a leading medical researcher and educator of Europe in his day. In 1526 he carried out the first dissection of a human head at Wittenberg, in the presence of faculty and students (Nutton: 14). LTJ 48/3 December 2014 Ego etiam sum doctor scripturae: an historical and contemporary reflection on Luther’s life and work 147 speaking God’s Word by the power of the Holy Spirit.5 The designation ‘teacher’ was applied more particularly to those whose role was interpreting scripture (the Septuagint). In the second and third centuries this ‘scholarly’ role of teacher receded and was subsumed into the office of bishop (overseer). However, it was later revived in the Middle Ages in the form of the ecclesiastical-theological doctorate, as a recognition of those who exercised the particular charism of scriptural teaching, as a function of the ordained office (Sasse: 95–101). In 1298 Pope Boniface VIII honoured the church’s most influential teaching bishops throughout its history with the title ‘doctor of the church’ (doctor ecclesiae) and ordered that feasts be kept to commemorate them. Those who received this title were recognised to have made a significant contribution to the church’s teaching, not just at the local level but also on the wider ecumenical scene. Initially Jerome, Gregory, Ambrose and Augustine were honoured in this way. However, today the Roman Catholic Church recognises 35 such teaching theologians throughout the church’s history as doctores ecclesiae.6 While this exclusive ‘honour role’ contained the names of the church’s most highly esteemed doctors, the title ‘doctor’ had, at this time, also been in use for those who were granted the licence to teach (licentia docendi) in universities. However, these more ‘ordinary’ doctoral degrees, awarded by theological faculties, were still seen as highly significant ecclesial positions, related to the authoritative ‘Spirit-led’ teaching of the Faith and were awarded under the papal seal, showing their strong connection to the doctores ecclesiae.7 The title ‘doctor of the church’ was not an honour conferred in recognition of any particular academic achievement on the part of the bishop, but in recognition of the particular spiritual gift (charism) of theological, and more particularly biblical, teaching. In this respect, academic doctoral degrees conferred by theological faculties in Luther’s day were essentially the same in kind, though of a much lower order. Like the title ‘doctor of the church’, the university doctoral degree was awarded in recognition of an individual’s vocation as a teacher of the word of God.8 5 These roles are described as ‘charismatic’ not primarily in the sense of ‘ecstatic’, but because they operated through the Spirit’s special gifting of individuals to teach God’s Word. They cannot be transmitted by human beings; God alone calls people to them (Sasse: 95–101). 6 This recognition is, from an apostolic and biblical point of view, quite in accord with the injunction in Hebrews 13:7, ‘Remember your leaders who spoke the Word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith’. This practice serves to remind us that these ancient teachers can still speak to us very powerfully and relevantly today, and it shows why theologians would study the fathers of the church and other great teachers, like Luther. 7 The Pope’s exclusive right to grant doctoral licences was relaxed in some places after 1231, when Pope Gregory IX granted the University of Paris the right to award doctorates by its own authority (Verger: 1957). 8 See footnote 3. When we note that the doctorate was understood ostensibly as a revitalisation of the apostolic office of ‘teacher’, it becomes clear why the conferral of a doctorate was essentially seen as a recognition of God’s call and gift rather than an appointment made via some human agency. LTJ 48/3 December 2014 148 Dr Stephen Pietsch The award ‘doctor of holy scripture’ (the title of the doctoral degree awarded by Augustinian theological faculties) was, therefore, both academic and ecclesial (canonical) in nature.