Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth - The Devil’s Whore: Reason and Philosophy in the Lutheran Tradition

The Devils Whore

Studies in Lutheran History and Theology

Published volumes

I Am a Christian

The Nun, the Devil, and Martin Luther

Carolyn M. Schneider

Redeeming the Gospel

The Christian Faith Reconsidered

David A. Brondos

Liberating Lutheran Theology

Freedom for Justice and Solidarity in a Global Context

Paul Chung, Ulrich Duchrow, Craig L. Nessan

The Devils Whore

Reason and Philosophy in the Lutheran Tradition

Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, Editor

The Devils Whore

Reason and Philosophy in the Lutheran Tradition

Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth Editor

Fortress Press

Minneapolis

THE DEVILS WHORE

Reason and Philosophy in the Lutheran Tradition

Copyright 2011 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Visit http://www.augsburgfortress.org/copyrights/contact.asp or write to Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

eISBN 9781451410952

Cover image: Ancient English Church Stained Glass iStockphoto.com/RMAX

Cover design: Alisha Lofgren

Book design:

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dragseth, Jennifer Hockenbery

The devils whore : reason and philosophy in the Lutheran tradition / Jennifer

Hockenbery Dragseth.

p. cm. (Studies in Lutheran history and theology)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8006-9732-7 (alk. Paper)

1. SalvationChristianity. 2. Lutheran ChurchDoctrines. I. Title.

BT751.3.B77 2010

234dc22

2010019366

Indeed, that man Luther is the master of us all.

Sren Kierkegaard, The Journal of Sren Kierkegaard

C ONTENTS

Oswald Bayer

2. Does Luther Have a Waxen Nose?
Historical and Philosophical Contextualizations of Luther

Christine Helmer

Gary M. Simpson

Markus Wriedt

Denis R. Janz

Paul R. Hinlicky

Dennis Bielfeldt

Charles Peterson

Lea F. Schweitz

Troy Dahlke

Christian Lotz

John F. Hoffmeyer

Carter Lindberg

David J. Gouwens

Gregory Johnson

David Vessey

William R. Russell

Sarah E. Fredericks

Gregory R. Peterson

Mary Elise Lowe

Mary J. Streufert

Pauline M. Kaurin

Martin E. Marty

Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth

Oswald Bayer is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the Protestant Faculty of the University of Tbingen. He was, from 1986 until 2007, editor of Neue Zeitschrift fr Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie. English translations of his works include: Theology the Lutheran Way (2007), Freedom in Response: Lutheran Ethics: Sources and Controversies (2007), Martin Luthers Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation (2008), and A Contemporary in Dissent: Johann Georg Hamann as a Radical Enlightener (2011).

Dennis Bielfeldt is president and professor of theology at the Institute of Lutheran Theology. He has authored numerous articles on Luther and the Lutheran tradition, on issues within the theology and science discussion, as well as on more strictly philosophical topics. He is coauthor, with Paul Hinlicky and Mickey Maddox, of The Substance of the Faith: Luthers Doctrinal Theology for Today (Fortress Press, 2008). Bielfeldt, who is retired from being professor of philosophy and religion at South Dakota State University, lives and works in Brookings, South Dakota.

Troy Dahlke teaches religion and philosophy at St. Andrews Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland. He holds degrees from Concordia University, St. Paul (BA), Yale Divinity School (MAR), and the University of Virginia (MA). He lives with his wife and two sons in Fairfax, Virginia.

Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth is associate professor of philosophy at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. She received her AB in philosophy and classics from Bowdoin College and her MA and PhD in philosophy from Boston University, where she wrote her dissertation on Augustines understanding of the nature and vocation of philosophy. She has written several articles on the relationship between philosophy and theology in Augustine, Hildegard von Bingen, Luther, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and John Paul II. She is on the steering committee for the Martin Luther and Global Lutheranism Consultation for the American Academy of Religion.

Sarah E. Fredericks, assistant professor of philosophy and religion studies at the University of North Texas, studies the relationship of religion, particularly Protestant Christianity, to environmental issues. Her work has focused on energy sustainability, the ethics embedded in international environmental policy documents, and environmental justice. Fredericks teaches a variety of philosophy and religion courses including philosophy of religion, religion and science, ethics of science, and Christianity and philosophy.

David J. Gouwens is professor of theology at Brite Divinity School. He is author of Kierkegaards Dialectic of the Imagination (1989) and Kierkegaard as Religious Thinker (1996). With Lee C. Barrett, he is coediting The Paul L. Holmer Papers, to be published in three volumes by Cascade Books in 2011. Included will be Holmers previously unpublished book on Kierkegaard; a selection of Holmers seminal essays on Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, theology and faith, and emotions and virtues; and a volume of Holmers sermons, addresses, and prayers.

Christine Helmer is professor of religious studies and adjunct professor of German at Northwestern University. She is the author of