Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Dissertations (1934 -) Projects "Poor Maggot-Sack that I Am": The Human Body in the Theology of Martin Luther Charles Lloyd Cortright Marquette University Follow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu Part of the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Cortright, Charles Lloyd, ""Poor Maggot-Sack that I Am": The Human Body in the Theology of Martin Luther" (2011). Dissertations (1934 -). 102. https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/102 ―POOR MAGGOT SACK THAT I AM‖: THE HUMAN BODY IN THE THEOLOGY OF MARTIN LUTHER by The Rev. Charles L. Cortright, B.A., M.Div. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2011 ABSTRACT ―POOR MAGGOT SACK THAT I AM‖: THE HUMAN BODY IN THE THEOLOGY OF MARTIN LUTHER The Rev. Charles L. Cortright, B.A., M.Div. Marquette University, 2011 This dissertation represents research into the writings of Martin Luther [1483- 1546] reflecting his understanding of the human body in his theology. Chapter one reviews the history of the body in the theology of the western Christian church, 300- 1500. Chapters two through five examine Luther‘s thinking about various ―body topics,‖ such as the body as the good creation of God; sexuality and procreation; and the body in illness, death, and resurrection. Chapter six presents conclusions. Luther‘s thinking is examined on the basis of consultation of the Weimarer Ausgabe and the ―American Edition‖ of Luther‘s works. Special attention is given to Luther‘s interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2, to his writings on marriage and celibacy, and his sermons and letters. Various entries in the Tischreden pertinent to the subject are also examined. In contrast to the kinds of ―body topics‖ currently debated and discussed, Luther‘s concern was with the body that dies and yet will be raised again. In addressing issues concerning the body this research shows that, in general, Luther remained a medieval Catholic thinker about the body. However, he was distinct from many medieval voices in the way he affirmed the goodness of human sexuality as a created capacity and purpose of the male and female body. While he was sharp in his critique of sexual sins, this examination of Luther does not discover in him a ―grim negativity‖ about sexuality that some have suggested. Luther viewed sexuality-after-the-fall as he did every other aspect of human activity: infected by sin, but redeemed in Christ. Luther‘s thinking was informed by Scripture, but directed often by experience. Thus this research also traces the impact of his many illnesses, his marriage to Katherina von Bora, and the experience of the deaths of his parents and daughter on his theologizing. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Rev. Charles L. Cortright, B.A., M.Div. A page like this that falls under the eye of a reader unassociated with the project may seem similar to the kinds of breathy speeches given by Hollywood award recipients upon receiving their award. Having labored at this project, however, my perspective as the author compels me to say thank-you—whatever the perception—in the profoundest way I can to a number of people who have helped and supported me in this project, and to whom I am deeply grateful. As I think back over this project, my thanks are due to my colleague and friend, the Rev. Dr. Paul Lehninger—himself a Marquette graduate—who first set me on the track of proposing a dissertation topic on ―Luther and the body.‖ In addition, I want to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to the members of my committee—Dr. Deirdre Dempsey, Dr. Ulrich Lehner, Dr. Susan Wood, SCL, and Dr. Wanda Zemler- Cizewski—who patiently waited for this project to be completed and who have always been encouraging while it was being written. My special thanks are given to Dr. Mickey L. Mattox who has served as my dissertation director, but especially as a mentor and benevolissimus auctor throughout my coursework at Marquette and while dissertating. I am only being honest to say I could not have done this without his guidance and assistance. He has my sincere thanks, admiration, and respect for his scholarship and teaching—a true Doktorvater. ii Finally, Luther liked to call his wife Katherina his ―Rib (costa),‖ and regarded her in very biblical terms as the Helper God gave specially to him. Anyone who becomes involved in Luther‘s biography quickly sees the genuine love and esteem he grew to have for her and she for him. Luther‘s Katie is my Connie, my wife and closest friend, whose love, encouragement, and support are behind every success I have had: ―You are all my reasons.‖ In gratitude to my mother, Marian, and in loving memory of my father, + Kenneth B. Cortright + Nos fecisti ad Te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in Te. -St. Augustine iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………………………………i ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………………………………vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………...1 METHOD…………………………………………………………………...7 STRUCTURE……………………………………………………………….10 1. THE HUMAN BODY IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE LATIN WEST, 300-1500………………………………………………………………...12 1.1- THE BODY AS ―PROBLEM‖ TO THE SOUL: PLATONISM…...………….13 1.2- THE BODY AS FOIL TO THE SOUL: AUGUSTINE………………………18 1.3- THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES: 500-1200……………………………….29 1.4- THE BODY AS HUMAN CONDITION: ARISTOTELIANISM AND AQUINAS…………………………………………………………….34 1.5- THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES……………………...45 1.6- THE MEDIEVAL LEGACY OF THE BODY……………………………...51 2. ―AM ANFANG SCHUFF GOTT HYMEL VND ERDEN‖………………...53 2.1- LUTHER AND CREATIO EX NIHILO…………………………………….56 2.2- CREATION IN TIME THROUGH THE WORD…………………………….66 2.3- ―TO CREATE IS ALWAYS TO MAKE NEW‖…………………………...76 2.4- WHAT ABOUT THE BODY?..................................................................85 iv 3. ―ER SCHUFF SIE EYN MENLIN UND FREWLIN‖ – LUTHER ON THE CREATED BODY…………………………………………………….88 3.1- THE ―EARLY‖ LUTHER AND GENESIS…………………………….….90 3.2- THE SCHOLIA………………………………………………………...91 3.3- THE DECLAMATIONES OF 1527……………………………………….94 3.3.1- GOD MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE…………………….96 3.3.2- MAN BECAME A ―LIVING SOUL‖…………………………101 3.3.3- GENESIS 2: ENTER EVE…………………………………...104 3.3.4- SUMMA SUMMARUM……………………………………...112 3.4- THE ―LATER‖ LUTHER AND THE BODY IN GENESIS 1-2…………….116 3.4.1- GENESIS 1:26-28…………………………………………117 3.4.2- GENESIS 2:7: ―AND SO THE LORD GOD FORMED MAN FROM THE DUST‖…………………………………………...123 3.4.3- GENESIS 2:18-25…………………………………………125 3.4.4- SUMMA SUMMARUM……………………………………...130 4. ―ES IST NICHT GUT DAS DER MENSCH ALLEYN SEY‖ – LUTHER, THE BODY, AND SEXUALITY………………………………………134 4.1- LUTHER‘S REFORMATION WRITINGS ON THE QUESTION OF MONASTIC VOWS AND MARRIAGE, 1520-1525…………………………136 4.1.1- LUTHER‘S WRITINGS AGAINST MONASTIC VOWS………...137 4.1.2- THE SERMON ON THE ESTATE OF MARRIAGE, 1519; VOM EHELICHEN LEBEN, 1522…………………………………...143 4.1.3- THE COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 7, 1523………….148 4.2- MARRIAGE, THE BODY, AND SEXUALITY…………………………...151 4.2.1- THE SEX DRIVE: ―SEX IS GOOD‖…………………………153 4.2.2- THE SEX DRIVE: ―SEX ALWAYS INCLUDES SIN‖…………160 v 4.3- CHILDREN, THE FRUIT OF THE BODY……………………………….171 5. ―WENN ICH DIESEN MADEN SACK ABLEGEN SOL‖ – THE BODY, MORTALITY, AND RESURRECTION……………………….179 5.1- LUTHER AND HIS BODY…………………………………………….181 5.1.1- LUTHER IN SICKNESS……………………………………..186 5.1.2- LUTHER ON SICKNESS……………………...……………..203 5.2- ―POOR MAGGOT SACK THAT I AM‖………………………………...216 5.3- THE BODY AND DEATH……………………………………………..220 5.4- ―THERE IS A RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH!‖………………………229 5.4.1- SERMONS XII AND XIII: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-38………233 5.4.2- SERMON XIV: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:39-42…………………236 6. CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………...241 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………252 vi ABBREVIATIONS CCSL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina. 176 vols. Turnhout: Brepols, 1953. CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. 85 vols. Vienna, 1866—. LW Luther‘s Works. American Edition. 55 vols. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann. Philadelphia and St. Louis: Fortress Press and Concordia, 1955—. ST Summa Theologiae. Blackfriars: New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. WA D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Schriften. 64 vols. Weimar: Böhlau, 1883—. WABr D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Briefwechsel. 18 vols. Weimar: Böhlau, 1930-1985. WADB D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Deutsche Bibel. 12 vols. Weimar: Böhlau, 1906-1961. WATr D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Tischreden. 6 vols. Weimar: Böhlau, 1930-1985. 1 INTRODUCTION On 19 October 1512, Father Martin Luther of the Augustinian Eremites (OESA) took the oath required of a doctor of theology in the fledgling University of Wittenberg. Luther had been picked for the position of Lectura in Biblia by the man he would be replacing and who was also his spiritual mentor, the Augustinian Vicar-General Johann von Staupitz [1460-1524].1 As a doctor of theology and a professor—a position in which he continued to the end of his life—Luther was charged with presenting regular lectures to students on the Holy Scriptures, supervising theological disputations, and tending to the variety of other duties incumbent on a member of the university‘s theological faculty.2 Professor Luther was going to be a busy man: his academic duties came in addition to his responsibilities as the designated Prediger for his monastic house (1511), his service as subprior of his order in charge of eleven monastic houses in Saxony and 1 For the relationship between Luther and Staupitz see Martin Brecht, Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation, 1483-1521, trans. James L. Schaaf, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), 54-55; Heiko A. Oberman, Luther: Man between God and the Devil, trans. Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart, (Yale University Press, 1989), 131-152.