In Martin Luther and the Council of Trent: The Battle Over Scripture and the Doctrine of Justification, Peter Folan gives readers a meticulously researched study of the Lutheran-Catholic debate over the Christian doctrine of justification from Luther’s early writing to the Council of Trent. The book’s focus is on the way that each side’s arguments about justification employed biblical texts. In so doing, he shows both the commonalities and differences between Roman Catholic and Lutheran readings of the scriptures they shared.
The first chapter, “Mapping the Battlefield,” summarizes the theological issues in the debate, and the various sources both sides employed. Three ideas are crucial to this debate: the Pauline letters’ notion of the “righteousness of God;” Augustine’s understanding of justification, which both sides appeal to; and finally scholastic conceptions of grace, faith, and merit. There is extensive scholarship on each of these subjects, which can be consulted to supplement Folan’s account. However, he provides an excellent and concise typography of the central issues under dispute. Folan, writing from the Roman Catholic perspective as a Jesuit, observes that while the doctrine of “justification had its foundation, its roots, in scripture . . . this conviction is wholly different from saying that the doctrine itself is in scripture, as if it were sitting in the Pauline letters waiting for someone to discover it and paste it into a catechism” (38). To this Lutheran reader, the line seemed caustic in a book that is otherwise fair to both traditions. Luther and his followers believed then, and still do, that Luther expounds a position on justification that is clearly articulated by Paul.
The book carefully explores transformations and developments in Luther’s writings on justification between 1520 and 1531. Luther often claimed that he came to understand justification while reading Romans, in what many 20th century Luther biographies, in almost hagiographical fashion, call Luther’s “tower experience.” Folan joins an increasing number of scholars who argue that Luther’s position on justification developed over time, as he taught Scripture and responded to Roman Catholic criticisms of his teaching. The book argues that the emphasis in Luther’s writings shift over time, and that Luther’s early works are not as concerned with the relationship between faith and works as his laters writings would be. In the same way, Luther does not argue that the human being is totally transformed by the gift of faith. Sin remains even after justification. Folan argues that Luther’s scriptural focus arose not from a doctrine of sola scriptura; instead, in appealing to scripture, he employed a source of authority that, unlike the sacramental system, was not under Roman Catholic control. By 1531 Luther was more doubtful that justification resulted in a permanent change in the human condition and made God ever more the primary source of justification. He notes that Luther emphasizes two aspects of justification: one, that justified human beings become Christlike, and two, that they remain sinners but are still united with Christ.
The book turns to Roman Catholic writings on justification prior to Trent. Most of these texts are not translated into English, so non-specialists will find the chapter helpful. He shows that, following Aquinas, Catholic theologians pre-Trent acknowledged the reality of human sin, but still insisted that God continued to pour love into the hearts of Christians, meaning that those who stay close to God through sacramental participation and intentional effort could do good works that were the fruits of their faith in God. Then he proceeds to carefully explore the teaching on justification presented by the documents of the Council of Trent, and how they differed from Luther’s understanding. Folan’s anthropological analysis, focusing on how humans are transformed by divine grace, is insightful and careful, and very illuminating.
Following these general remarks about Trent, Folan offers his most stunning contribution to our understanding of these debates. He carefully analyzes the ways in which Luther and Trent use scripture. In a set of tables, he details which biblical passages were most quoted by Lutherans and which were most quoted by Roman Catholics. Luther tries to use the scripture to point to the work of Christ, whereas Roman Catholics often used it to point to human works after regeneration by the Holy Spirit though the church’s sacraments. Folan notes that Lutherans and Catholics appealed to patristic authorities such as Augustine, but that scripture was the foundational source on both sides. Lutherans and Roman Catholics found consensus about the meaning of some scriptural passages, but vehemently disagreed about the implications of others. Furthermore, the book shows that Lutherans and Catholics made arguments employing scriptural citations that the other side often did not discuss. Each side appealed to a “canon within a canon,” and these differences made reconciliation between the two sides difficult.
This book is a masterful exploration how scriptural hermeneutics and citations create both doctrinal consensus and doctrinal disagreement. The Roman Catholic Church and most of the worldwide Lutheran communion eventually reached a “differentiated consensus” on the doctrine of justification, with the release of the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” in 1999. Folan’s work fosters ecumenical understanding and consensus and will help both Lutherans and Catholics come to a deeper understanding of one another’s positions and scriptural readings. Both Roman Catholic and Lutheran expressions of Christianity are in Folan’s debt.
Aaron Klink is a chaplain at Pruitt Hospice in Durham, North Carolina.
Aaron Klink
Date Of Review:
June 30, 2023
