Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 88 No. 1, 2018.
Pregledni rad
The Catholic Discourse on Martin Luther and the Reformation in the Past and Today
Jure Zečević
orcid.org/0000-0003-2591-1962
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The person of Martin Luther has always drawn attention, during the past and also today. It is not, therefore, surprising that he received a lot of attention on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The article investigates the Catholic discourse on Martin Luther throughout time and demonstrates that this discourse has been and is multi‑layered, divergent, and that it is marked by certain changes in the approach to Luther that depend not only on historical epochs but also on individual starting points of Catholics who were evaluating Luther´s work. The spectrum of the Catholic discourse on Luther spans from calling him a heretic and an enemy of the Church to pronouncing him a witness to the Gospel, a freedom fighter, and a German national hero. Contrary to the customary opinion that Catholics used to see Luther only as a »negative character« in earlier times and that today – in the »age of ecumenism « – they see him only as a »positive character«, the author of this article manages to show that the so‑called »soft« and »hard« Catholic approaches to Luther were present during the past as they are today. Nevertheless, more effort is made today not to overlook the positive in Luther. In opposition to the hypercritical approach on the one hand and the euphemistic approach on the other side, the author points out the need to evaluate Martin Luther and his work in a realistic and objective way. A responsible evaluation of Luther cannot be based on a biased »confessional siding«, but on multi‑disciplinary and scientifically‑based research of facts. Such an approach will be able to recognise and articulate both, what is valuable and what is imperfect, when it comes to Martin Luther. Although imperfection and sinfulness are of gradual nature, no one escapes them fully.
Ključne riječi
Martin Luther; Reformation; Catholic‑Lutheran relations; ecumenical dialogue; Catholics; Lutherans; Evangelicals
Hrčak ID:
200751
URI
Datum izdavanja:
29.5.2018.
Posjeta: 2.062 *