Martin Luther and the "Jesus Died Spiritually" Doctrine
Special thanks to quest2004 (from another forum) for pointing me to the Roman Catholic webpage that gave me even more ammunition
It seems every critics of the Word-Faith movement uses JDS as it's main reason for claiming it to be heretical. Many claim that E. W. Kenyon invented this teaching and passed it down to later Faith advocates. From Jesus being seperated from the Father, to Jesus supposedly taking on a "satanic nature" to "Jesus being dragged into hell by demons and tortured."
However, while Faith critics harp on these things, we can assure the reader that the Faith teachers were NOT the first to tyeach on them. Martin Luther taught many of these things unashamedly. For example, Luther believed that Matthew 27:46 was a literal seperation between the Father and Son. It is said that Martin Luther sat contemplating the words of this Scripture passage many years ago. After a long time he rose from his chair and exclaimed,
"God forsaken of God! Who can understand that?"
But unless that remains unclear, here is more commentary from Luther on Psalms 22, the verse that Jesus is quoting upon the cross:
Christ was and remains just and did not commit any sins ....
But at the moment in which he suffered, he took upon himself everything that is ours as if it were truly his, suffering even for that which we should have borne because of our sins and which the ****** already suffer....
The punishment of God which strikes because of sins is not only the pains of death but also the fear and horror of the troubled conscience which experiences the eternal wrath and as if it were eternally abandoned and driven far from the face of God ....(p. 603)
In the eyes (of God) also, Christ was like one abandoned, one accursed, a sinner, a blasphemer, one ******, even if he is without sin and without guilt. The fact that he says "you have abandoned me" is certainly not a joke, a game, or hypocrisy. He is truly abandoned in all, as is the sinner when he sins...(p. 605)
In other words, Luther believed that Christ died spirituall, since the basic meaning of spiritual death is seperation from God (see Eph. 2:1-6; Isa. 59:1-2). While critics have a difficult time with JDS, they have a more difficult time with the belief that Christ took on a satanic nature. I truly sympathize with the critic on this aspect even if I disagree with him on his vile criticism of it.
However, Luther is nearly as guilty as can be seen above when he says, "Christ was like one abandoned, one accursed, a sinner, a blasphemer, one ****** ..." Far from being an isolated statement, Luther uses even stronger language in his commentary on Galatians 3:13:
And this, no doubt, all the prophets did forsee in spirit, that Christ should be accounted the greatest transgressor that could be, having all sins imputed to Him. For He being made a sacrifice for sin, yea for the sins of the whole world, is not now the Son of God born of the virgin Mary, but a sinner who hath and carrieth the sin of Paul, who was a blasphemer and a persecutor; of Peter who denied Him; of David who was an adulterer and a murderer; and briefly, who hath and beareth all the sins of all men in His body; not that He is Himself guilty of any, but that He received them, being committed or done by us, and laid upon His own body, that He might make satisfaction for them with His own blood (Isa. 53:5).
But some men will say, it is absurd and slanderous to call the Son of God a cursed sinner. I answer, if thou be wilt deny Him to be a sinner and accursed, deny also that He was crucified and dead. For it is no less absurd to say that the Son of God (as our faith professesth and believeth) was crucified and suffered the pains of sin and death, than to say that He is a sinner and accursed. But if it be not absurd to confess and believe that Christ was crucified between two thieves, then it is not absurd to say also that He was accursed, and of all sinners the greatest.
Need we say more? This is very strong language, stronger language than any Faith Teacher that I have read thus far. Nevertheless, it does not stop here. Luther is strongly criticized by some Roman Catholic theologians for what they believe is a departure from the church fathers and orthodox Catholic doctrine. One commentator in his criticism of Luther says:
. . . God is at once completely above and completely below. He is the creator and the Lord and yet at the same time the lowest creature and a servant subject to all men, yes, even to the devil. This man Jesus who bears the wrath of God, the sin of the world, all earthly trouble, yes, hell itself, is at the same time the highest God. The mystery of Christ cannot be expressed without these paradoxes. This is especially true of Christ's sufferings on the cross . . . Luther had to come to terms with Christ's assertion on the cross that he was forsaken by God. In a sermon in 1537, he understands it in this way: The deity has certainly not departed from the humanity (deity and humanity are inseparably united in Christ); but 'the deity withdrew and hid . . . the humanity was left alone, the devil had free access to Christ, and the deity withdrew its power and let the humanity fight alone.' Elsewhere Luther says that Christ on the cross did not feel his deity but suffered purely as a man. - from The Theology of Martin Luther (translated by Robert C. Schultz, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966, 197-198),
If what the commentary states is true, how does this compare to some Faith Teacher's assertions about Jesus having a "wormy spirit", Jesus being tormented by the devil, Jesus being dragged into hell by the devil, etc.? Whether one truly agrees or disagrees, Luther's theology of Christ's redemptive work is no better or worse than any extreme Word-Faith JDS advocate.
These same Roman Catholic critics quote a passage from Luther's commentary to the Romans in which Luther explains Christ's descent into hell:
He found Himself in a state of condemnation and abandonment . . . He actually and in truth offered Himself to the eternal Father to be consigned to eternal damnation for us. His human nature did not behave differently from that of a man who is to be condemned eternally to hell. On account of this love of God, God at once raised Him from death and hell, and so He overcame hell. -from Commentary on Romans (1515-1516); edition of J. Ficker, Leipzig: 1908, 218 ff)
If the critic of the Faith Teachers would like to call Word-Faith a heretical teaching/movement due to its JDS, then let him do the same with Martin Luther, the great reformer of the 16th century. However, the critic should not stop at Luther since we can find a number of so called "heresies" amongst those who are otherwise considered to be "heroes of the faith." Unfortunately, when the critic has completed his task, he will find that he and a few others are the only ones on their way to heaven while the majority of the church is destined for hell because we are in heresy (as the critic defines heresy)
1. All info on the Catholic dispute with Luther is taken from this webpage:
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ499.HTM
Thanks to my friend, quest2004, for the info