Brittany Wissen -- Thoughts of Martin Luther

In his book Landscapes of the Sacred, Lane alludes to the studies of Martin Luther, who explored the ideas of fascinans as well as tremendum as it pertains to the holy. “[Luther] insisted that God’s naked, awful majesty could never be pursued directly. In order to shield human beings from the unapproachable light of God’s glory, God always remains hidden, veiled by a mask {larva). Though not seen face to face, this God is yet encountered with a striking immediacy in the larvae Dei—the created marvels of God’s hand, the bread and wine of the Mass, even the twisted mystery of one’s own self as created being. They call ‘contain Christ,’ himself the veiled and incarnate God” (67). This idea really makes me think. What it suggests is that everything I touch, everything I am, “contain[s] Christ” in some small way. The profound idea presents God as something of a pervasive being which exists in and flows through everything. Does this make everything connected through Him? It reminds me of the Hindu concept of The Brahman, the formless, transcendental immanent Deva (deity) which Hindus believe exist in everything. Why Martin Luther compared God to Brahman is what I’m interested in. I am, obviously, no closer to Brahman than I am to my own God, being born into a Catholic family. Because we have drifted away from the church over the years, I never learned to connect God with my everyday activities. Either way, I’m not sure that I agree with Luther’s insistence. I can see how God influenced the creating of everything, but I think that man had an independent part in the process as well. As one of the only species on this earth that has the ability to think logically, I don’t see why God would have to have a hand in everything.

source:
Lane, Beldan C. Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.