Abstract
Abstract The aim of this paper is to compare Martin Luther and K. E. Løgstrup on the theme of sin and grace, and to argue that while Løgstrup wanted to stay close to Luther in many respects, he nonetheless provides a secularized version of Luther’s picture, according to which we are liberated from our sinfulness not by God’s grace, but by our ethical encounter with other people. This then raises the question of whether Løgstrup’s approach can work, and thus whether this secularized alternative can be made stable and coherent. We begin by focusing on central themes concerning Løgstrup’s relation to Luther. We then outline the key features of Luther’s conception of sin and grace that were important to Løgstrup , and then consider how he develops that conception in a secularized manner. Finally, we discuss problems that might be raised for Løgstrup’s position.
Highlights
The aim of this paper is to compare Martin Luther and K
We outline the key features of Luther’s conception of sin and grace that were important to Løgstrup, and consider how he develops that conception in a secularized manner
In his paper “Ethics and Ontology”, Løgstrup helpfully outlines the way he sees them as related by asking in a sub-title to the paper: “Does duty mean too little in teleological ethics and too much in deontological ethics?” – where he makes clear in that section that the answer to both questions is “yes”, while he proposes ontological ethics as the approach that gets the balance just right
Summary
There is little doubt that Løgstrup is greatly influenced in his thinking by Luther,[1] and not just by the Reformer himself, and the Lutheran tradition as mediated through Grundtvig and Kierkegaard, as well as through contemporaries such as N. [But] If teleological ethics’ duty falls short, since it depends merely on the shaky ground of a benevolence that we have set as a goal for ourselves and that it is supposed to support, it is overemphasized if it is supposed to be acted upon for its own sake, as it is in Kant’s ethics.[6] Løgstrup presents his ontological ethics as making room for our responsibilities to others, and so making duty and obligation more than formal (contra deontological ethics), by basing these duties and obligations on an objective claim about how our lives are ordered and bound together in such a way as to enable us to flourish, rather than just based in what we happen to desire or feel (contra teleological ethics). We will begin by outlining Luther’s position on this issue, and seeing how it ties in to his conception of grace
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