Commemorating in Europe: Along Lines of Separation
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EDITORIAL COMMEMORATING IN EUROPE: ALONG LINES OF SEPARATION Countries in Central European are celebrating a series of anniversa- ries which all are connected to events of the 20th century. The history of the last century gave Mark Mazower reason to speak about a Dark Continent, as is the title of his account of Europe between the First World War and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It is a period of conflicts and war, ideologies with a high violent potential like nationalism, fascism and communism, resulting in the dictatorial rule of one party over a significant part of Europe. Surveys about issues of national identity from Central European area always indicate that history plays a central role in the way peo- ple think about their community and identity. According to them his- tory is the most important factor in the formation and structure of national identity in countries like Rumania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and elsewhere. Or, to put it in another way, history is very much alive and kicking in the streets of Prague, Bratislava, Bu- dapest and Bucharest – but we could also add Belgrade, Skopje or Zagreb. That means that anniversaries are not just moments to mark certain historical events, but they are commemorated for their role in the self-perceptions of the nations in Central and Southeastern Eu- rope. In the Czech context 2008 offers anniversaries of 1918, 1948 and 1968, in 2009 it will be about 1939, about Jan Palach and about the Velvet Revolution. Already in 2007, when it was 40 years ago that the manifesto Charta 77 had been published, we could see an interest- ing trend in commemorating events from recent history. The anniver- sary of the human rights movement resulted in an interesting inter- national conference, several new studies by a new generation of historians, and a much more complex view on the character of Charta, its representatives, structures and significance. Whilst in this case public memory was considerably enriched, in another case stereotypes are only repeated and confirmed. In the framework of the commemoration of the foundation of Czechoslova- kia in 1918 and of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi-Ger- many in 1939 the National Museum organizes an exhibition in the 227 EDITORIAL National Museum about the Czechoslovak Republic between the world wars. One would expect it to present some findings of research of the last two decades, but unfortunately this is not the case. The concept of the exhibition is a shining example of a liberal and pros- perous Czechoslovakia amidst a dark sea of Central Europe full of crises and nationalism. This view of interwar Czechoslovakia has become incorporated in Czech national identity, with the result is that in the National Museum we cannot find a comprehensive explanation about the issue of minorities in the period. They – especially the German minority – are not a part of the collective discourse on this key period for modern Czech identity, though they occupied more than one fifth of the territory of today’s Czech Republic. Public memory about the period of the communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia is still in the process of formation, as anniversaries of that period show. So far there no broad consensus has come of this process of crystallization, also because for a significant time the issue was surrounded by taboos like the archives of the former Secret Po- lice. Such a consensus has been established concerning the period between 1918 and 1939 and at least an exhibition of an institute like the National Museum does not have the liberty to cast doubt on this. Another taboo is created. The main anniversary of 2009 will be the Fall of the Berlin Wall. In the public memory in Central European countries, before a part of the Soviet empire, 1989 marks the end of dictatorship and the start of a period of freedom. Some slogans of the time itself, like “Return to Europe!” underlined the aspects of democracy and Western civiliza- tion, which became a fundamental part of the political orientation of Central Europe after the peoples’ revolutions. In that sense the acces- sion of 12 countries to the European Union of 2004 and 2007 was considered a confirmation of the events of 1989. It seems that public memory in Western Europe has a different image of the events of 1989. Before that year the prevalent perspec- tive from Paris, Brussels or The Hague was that everything at the other side of Western Germany was a grey, uninteresting, depressing and poor place, from where all roads went to Siberia. Some time after the changes of 1989 the eastern part of Europe became associated with an uncertain, unpredictable, chaotic and corrupt territory. The 228 EDITORIAL new accession countries would endanger the stability and prosperity of the European Union, as they had no experience with democracy and the rule of law, compared to the strong democratic traditions of Western Europe. The refusal of the European Constitution in the two referenda in France and the Netherlands has to be understood in this context. Es- sentially it was a vote against a Europe which had lost its simplicity and lucidity of the division of the Cold War. The developments in the Netherlands, which saw a sudden rise of populist movements against the multicultural society, showed the extent of this identity crisis. The disappearance of an easily understandable Western Europe domi- nated by Germany, France and Great Britain resulted in a profound doubt in the European identity of the country. The events of 1989 seen from Western Europe are rather associated with a loss of orien- tation and with uncertainty than with the liberation from a dictatorial system and the reunification of Europe. The anniversary of 1989 in Western European countries will be commemorated only in a small setting with invited guests, or at best during a discussion meeting of a politically engaged think tank. European identity is still very immature and considerably incohe- sive. Not even events like those of 1989 are a part of the collective historical memory throughout Europe, but on the contrary show a division about the identity and orientation of the continent. Whether this is a problem, remains to be seen, but it is sad when Western Europe is not able to join the joy of the former Eastern European countries about the return of freedom. This issue of Communio Viatorum brings longer and shorter studies from different fields. Thomas Fudge writes about Luther’s under- standing of faith. Pavel Hošek compares the concepts of faith of two systematic theologians – Wolfhart Pannenberg and Wilfred Cantwell Smith – in their efforts for a dialog with other religions. Filip Čapek and Petr Sláma introduce the Old Testament School of Prague, con- nected to names like Slavomil Daněk and Jan Heller. György Benyik gives an historical overview of the Hungarian tradition of biblical studies. Márta Czerháti discusses the question whether in biblical studies scholars can use a terminology from another context to under- 229 EDITORIAL stand some text or whether they have to use only a terminology from the context of the text itself. Miroslav Varšo and Uwe Bauer bring exegetical studies concerning the practice of interest and usury in the world of the Old Testament and about the positive way some biblical texts speak about enemies. Peter C.A. Morée, Prague 230 SAINTS, SINNERS AND STUPID ASSES: THE PLACE OF FAITH IN LUTHER’S DOCTRINE OF SALVATION SAINTS, SINNERS AND STUPID ASSES: THE PLACE OF FAITH IN LUTHER’S DOCTRINE OF SALVATION Thomas Fudge, Washougal Martin Luther called the martyred heretic Jan Hus a ‘saint.’ He re- ferred to Pope Leo X as a ‘stinking sinner,’ and labelled some of his theological opponents ‘stupid asses.’1 Strangely enough, this unlikely combination of ‘saints,’ ‘sinners,’ and ‘stupid asses’ are related equal- ly within Luther’s dominant theological principle. Like so many other religious figures, Martin Luther’s theology was notably shaped by a decisive event subsequently called the ‘tower experience’ (Turmer- lebnis). Heiko Oberman long ago drew attention to the fact that the history of Christianity is filled with a ‘Turmerlebnis’ tradition.2 Lu- ther’s ‘tower experience,’ with its ‘hated’ notion of the ‘righteous- ness of God’ (iustitia Dei), became Luther’s quintessential theologi- cal turning point.3 For more than a decade, in the Augustinian cloister at Erfurt, Luther sought salvation and the assurance of divine favor by scrupulously following the penitential cycle as developed in me- dieval Christendom. This chapter of ecclesiastical history is well known. Luther remained uncertain, deeply troubled and confused by 1 Luther’s references to Jan Hus are numerous and scattered throughout his writ- ings. See Thomas A. Fudge, ‘“The Shouting Hus”: Heresy Appropriated as Propa- ganda in the Sixteenth Century’ Communio Viatorum 38 (No. 3, 1996), pp. 197–231. On calling his opponents ‘stupid asses’ see note 68 below. Unless otherwise noted, references to Luther’s writings are from the Weimar Augsgabe edition. D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamatausgabe, Weimar 1883–. Hereafter WA. On the pope as a ‘stinking sinner’ see ‘To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,’ 1520, WA 6, p. 436. 2 Heiko Oberman, ‘“Iustitia Christi” and “Iustitia Dei”: Luther and the Scholastic Doctrines of Justification,’ in: Harvard Theological Review 59 (No. 1, 1966), p. 9 wherein he draws attention to S. Paul, Augustine, Thomas Bradwardine, Richard FitzRalph, Jean Gerson, Andreas Karlstadt, Gasparo Contarini and John Calvin. 3 On the history of this concept see Alister E. McGrath, Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, 2 volumes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986). 231 THOMAS FUDGE the human inability to apprehend the righteousness of God.