Freiheit. Anmerkungen zu Herbert Marcuses Lutherkritik

Abstract

The essay starts from Herbert Marcuses's critique of Martin Luther's concept of liberty. Marcuse accuses Luther of having applied freedom to the »inward« person while the »outward« person was subject to secular forces. In a second train of thought, the essential features of the critique are put down to the assessment of Luther and the Reformation by Ernst Troeltsch. In a third step, Oswald Bayers metacritique is used to elucidate the theological examination of Marcuse's critique of Luther. In the fourth place, the focus of the discussion is pointed to the question whether Marcuse's critique could be seen as inappropriate when compared with Luther's totus-homo-anthropology. But if - as shown in the fifth paragraph - the whole person is marked as spirit or flesh, then the devaluation of the »outward« person (flesh) which Marcuse had criticized repeats itself on the totus-homo-level. In a sixth step the thesis is put forward that Luther's totus-homo-anthropology offers a solution with regard to the critique expressed by Marcuse exactly then, if it is interpreted not with regard to the difference between >inward< and »outward« person or between spirit and flesh but in the horizon of other differentiations. In this direction the distinctions between »old person - new person«, »coram deo - coram mundo«, »faith - works< as well as »already - not yet< are suggested as further leading interpretations. In the last step it is pointed out that Luther's understanding of freedom is lead by the idea of the divine fluxion of goods. It comes from Christ and sets the whole person free through the »joyous exchange<, so that he can look after the need of his neighbour in liberating love.