Luher's theology of the cross

This text is devoted to a critical examination of the theology of the Cross by Martin Luther. After discussing the necessity of its appearance, the author fixes the main intents and ideas of the Luther theology of the Cross. Such statements are: 1) the action of God (modus operandi Dei) under the opposite appearance, indirect Revelation; 2) The cross of Jesus Christ is the culminating expression of God’s saving action, performed under the opposite guise: Jesus Christ dies to open the way for man to salvation, to “a new birth.” This modus operandi Dei Luther understands as a universal way of divine action in the world, opening the way for man to believe. The suffering of Godman on the Cross leads Luther to understand the inevitability of suffering and temptations for man on his life’s path. Luther’s assertion in God of Hiddenness I and Hiddenness II is a notable difference from scholastic doctrine, leading Luther to accept theology as more tragic and at the same time more optimistic for man, since the Divine Otherness is thus emphasized with greater determination, and on the other, great closseness to man, what Luther understands as a return to the theology of Augustine. Especially carefully considered the question of the source of evil, suffering and temptations, as well as the difference between the theology of the Cross and the scholastic theology of glory and the humanistic theology of Erasmus of Rotterdam, in fact, stand in the same positions.