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From Vice to Virtue: Contours of Idolatry and New Obedience Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Concordia Seminary Scholarship Spring 5-21-2021 From Vice to Virtue: Contours of Idolatry and New Obedience Michael Fieberkorn [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/phd Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, Practical Theology Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Fieberkorn, Michael, "From Vice to Virtue: Contours of Idolatry and New Obedience" (2021). Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation. 89. https://scholar.csl.edu/phd/89 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FROM VICE TO VIRTUE: CONTOURS OF IDOLATRY AND NEW OBEDIENCE A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Department of Systematic Theology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Michael Todd Fieberkorn May 2021 Approved by: Dr. Joel D. Biermann Dissertation Advisor Dr. Robert A. Kolb Reader Dr. Erik H. Herrmann Reader © 2021 by Michael Todd Fieberkorn. All rights reserved. ii Ad gloriam et laudem Dei To the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:11) iii Et ita vitam Christiani ne imagineris statum et quietem esse, sed transitum et profectum de vitiis ad virtutem, de claritate in claritatem, de virtute in virtutem, et qui non fuerit in transitu, hunc nec Christianum arbitreris. And so you must not imagine that the Christian’s life is a standing still and a state of rest. No, it is a passing over and a progress from vices to virtue, from clarity to clarity, from virtue to virtue. And those who have not been en route you should not consider Christians either. Martin Luther, Galatians Commentary, 1519 Das also dieses Leben nicht ist eine Frömmigkeit, sondern ein Fromm-Werden, nicht eine Gesundheit, sondern ein Gesund-Werden, nicht ein Wesen, sondern ein Werden, nicht eine Ruhe, sondern eine Übung. Wir sind es noch nicht; werden es aber. Es ist noch nicht getan und geschehen, es ist aber im Gang und im Schwang. Es ist nicht das Ende, es ist aber der Weg; es glühet und glintzt noch nicht alles, es fegt sich aber alles. This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road. At present, everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed. Martin Luther, Defense and Explanation of All the Articles, 1521 iv CONTENTS TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... ix PREFACE ...................................................................................................................................... x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ xiv ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. xviii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ xix CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 THE FRACTURED VISION OF LUTHERAN ETHICS AND VIRTUE .......................... 1 INTRODUCTION: FRACTURED MORALITY IN THE WORLD AND CHURCH ....... 1 RADICAL LUTHERANISM AND THE VOID DEFINITION OF VIRTUE .................... 6 The Insufficiency of “Love” as a Guiding Moral Vision .......................................... 11 CRITICS OF RADICAL LUTHERANISM—INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ............... 18 JOEL BIERMANN’S TURN TOWARD VIRTUE ETHICS ............................................ 28 The Necessity for Further Definition of a Lutheran Virtue Ethic ............................. 30 THE DECALOGUE AND ITS CONTOURS IN LUTHER .............................................. 33 The Lutheran Refraction of the Vice/Virtue Tradition .............................................. 37 CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................................... 47 CONTOURS OF VICE AND VIRTUE ............................................................................. 47 ARISTOTLE AND THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUE ETHICS .................................... 48 THE VICE TRADITION.................................................................................................... 52 Evagrius and Evil Thoughts ...................................................................................... 52 Cassian and Contrary Practice ................................................................................... 57 Gregory and the Proliferation of Sin ......................................................................... 61 v THE VIRTUE TRADITION .............................................................................................. 66 Classical Virtue Reflection ........................................................................................ 67 Synthesis of the Vice/Virtue Tradition in Aquinas.................................................... 70 The Contrarian Virtues .............................................................................................. 76 The Hearts and Minds of the Medieval Faithful ........................................................ 78 Beyond Aquinas: Scotus, Ockham, Biel, and the via moderna ................................. 83 The Reformation Context .......................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 91 A LUTHERAN REFRACTION OF VICE AND VIRTUE ............................................... 91 A REFRACTION OF VICE ............................................................................................... 91 Concupiscence as Original Sin .................................................................................. 94 Covetousness as Idolatry ......................................................................................... 100 Vice as the Proliferation of Idolatry ........................................................................ 105 The Decalogue and the Inner Heart ......................................................................... 110 A REFRACTION OF VIRTUE ........................................................................................ 117 De potentia hominis ex sui naturalibus and the Prerequisite of Faith ..................... 119 Love as the Highest Virtue ...................................................................................... 127 Virtue as the Proliferation of Love .......................................................................... 129 The Decalogue for the Neighbor as New Obedience .............................................. 137 VICE AND VIRTUE IN LUTHER’S CATECHESIS OF THE DECALOGUE ............. 144 Vice as Fear, Love, and Trust in the Created .......................................................... 144 Virtue as Fear, Love, and Trust in the Creator ........................................................ 148 The Contrarian Scheme of the New Obedience ...................................................... 151 vi CHAPTER FOUR ...................................................................................................................... 156 CONTOURS OF IDOLATRY AND NEW OBEDIENCE .............................................. 156 THE SEVENTH, NINTH, AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS: POSSESSIONS ........ 161 “Help [My Neighbor] Improve and Protect His Possessions and Income” ............. 161 Greed and Generosity .............................................................................................. 165 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: REPUTATION ...................................................... 175 “Defend, Speak Well of, and Explain Everything in the Kindest Way” ................. 175 Envy and Kindness .................................................................................................. 178 THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: SEXUALITY ............................................................ 184 “A Sexually Pure and Decent Life in What We Say and Do” ................................. 184 Lust/Gluttony and Chastity/Temperance/Self-Control ............................................ 190 THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: LIFE .......................................................................... 199 “Help and Support in Every Physical Need” ........................................................... 199 Anger and Peace/Gentleness, Forgiveness .............................................................. 203 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT: GOD’S REPRESENTATIVES ............................ 208 “Honor, Serve and Obey, Love and Cherish”.......................................................... 208 Anger and Patience .................................................................................................
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