Toward an Anabaptist Covenantal Soteriology: A Dialogue with Balthasar Hubmaier and Contemporary Pauline Scholarship
2010; Volume: 84; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0025-9373
Autores Tópico(s)Biblical Studies and Interpretation
ResumoAbstract: This essay offers a critique of the traditional Reformation doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone (sola fide) by examining the soteriology of Balthasar Hubmaier. As a theologian of the via moderna, Hubmaier regarded obedience to Christ, rather than faith alone, as the proper response to the Gospel. The essay discusses Hubmaier's soteriology in light of a current school of thought in Pauline studies, which reinterprets Paul's redemptive model as being based on the faithfulness of Christ--and human imitation of this faith--rather than faith in Christ alone. The essay concludes that Hubmaier's thought is largely compatible with this line of Pauline research, and that his model of redemption, which ascribes an active role to humanity in its own salvation, is worthy of emulation, with slight variations, in modern Anabaptist communities. ********** This essay offers a critique of the classic soteriology derived from Reformation thinkers such as Martin Luther and those following in his legacy from a perspective that takes seriously both the early Anabaptist tradition as well as contemporary research in biblical studies. Writing within the covenant theology of the late medieval via moderna, the Anabaptist theologian Balthasar Hubmaier held that both the human and the Divine have irreplaceable roles in the redemptive process. Although Hubmaier's soteriology is above critique, his theology fits well within a renewed understanding of Pauline soteriology where the effective means of salvation is seen as faith in Christ but rather as the faithfulness of Christ and human imitation of this faithfulness. Both Hubmaier and Paul undercut the classic Reformation doctrine of sola fide when it is seen as the primary model for Christian soteriology. Instead they espoused a model of soteriology that emphasized discipleship through the imitation of the life of Christ. THE SOTERIOLOGY OF HUBMAIER Anthropology Much of Hubmaier's discussion of anthropology comes from the first half of his two-volume work, Freedom of the Will (1527). There Hubmaier presented a trichotomous division of the human along the lines of body, soul and spirit. Each has its own particular will and each experiences different consequences as a result of the Fall and restoration. (1) Hubmaier's main impetus in discussing anthropology in the two volumes of Freedom, of the Will was to engage the magisterial reformers' argument that human beings are incapable of doing anything good of their own volition. (2) Though there were times when Hubmaier approached these reformers, especially Luther, in his pessimism concerning human nature, Hubmaier sees an overly pessimistic anthropology as fundamentally misguided. In his description of human capabilities, Hubmaier outlined three successive stages in the evolving history of the individual and the human capacity to make decisions. The first human state is the pre-Fall condition. At this stage, the human being -body, soul and spirit-is morally upright and wholly free to choose good or evil. Humans here have the capacity within themselves to recognize good and to obey the commandments of God. Thus, it was possible for Adam and Eve to accept life through obedience or death through disobedience; and this choice was possible without any additional or special grace from God. (3) The human condition is radically altered, however, as a result of the original couple freely rejecting the good in favor of disobedience. When Adam sinned, this absolute freedom was lost, only for himself but for all of those who followed him. As a result of the Fall, the bodily dimension of humanity was poisoned and became incapable of following the commandments of God. Hubmaier regarded the flesh as not able or capable of anything other than sin, striving against God and being the enemy of his commandments. (4) Unlike the flesh, however, the individual's spirit remains intact even after the Fall. …
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