Mickey Mattox

The Flacian controversy in mid-16th century Lutheranism turned on the question whether as a consequence of original sin the image of God in humankind has been lost and replaced by the image of the devil. Is the fallen human being evil per se? Examining Martin Luther’s comments on the story of creation and fall in his Genesis Lectures (1535-1545), I argue that Luther’s insistence on the loss of the imago dei results in an anthropology closer to that of Thomas Aquinas than to Luther’s uncompromising disciple, Matthias Flacius Illyricus. For both Thomas and Luther, original sin is a holistic term that reflects the absence of original righteousness in the essence of the soul. Luther rejects any substantial reading of original sin that would ontologize it as the very substance of the human being. His anthropological holism means that sin has a deleterious effect on the whole human being, including all the powers of body and soul. Sin is privative, a spiritual leprosy that corrupts the whole human being.

Mattox focuses on the role of the Catholic in commemorating the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther. Within the Catholic Church, of course, Luther is a gift that has been at best awkwardly received. Still, Catholics have a role to play in the upcoming anniversary years. Recall that the work of Catholic scholars was crucial in initiating modern, critical Luther studies. Today, there is less work being done on Luther by Catholics than a generation ago. Still, in the publishing frenzy surrounding 2017, many Catholics took up issues in Luther's theology anew.

Iohannes Oecolampadius stood at the forefront of the Reformation in Basel. He not only worked tirelessly for the reform of the city's churches, but also authored pioneering evangelical works of theology and exegesis. The interpretation of Eve found in his late lectures on Genesis showcases both a new emphasis on Eve's goodness and original equality with Adam, as well as a parallel insistence on her subordination to her husband after the Fall. His conception of husband and wife as partners of equal dignity on the path toward salvation moves in the direction of companionate marriage, but it stops short of calling for women's equality in the public sphere.

The notion that human life at Creation had been set into a series of ordered relationships was central for the Lutheran reformers' understanding of Church, home, and state. Expositors developed this imaginative theological construct primarily out of the narrative of the Creation and Fall, and they used it as a framework for understanding the obligations of humankind in relation to the Creator, as well as for homes and societies rightly ordered. The Christian home, however, did double duty, serving as an archetype not only of life rightly ordered (law) but also of the love and freedom given by Christ in union with the Church (gospel). Lutheran expositors struggled to balance these two, especially when they derived the coercive authority of the state from parental, or paternal power. Could the institution of marriage simultaneously provide the foundation for state authority, and image the love between Christ and the Church?