Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Moral Agency And Faith: A Construal Of Luther, Donald F. Irvine

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this essay is to identify aspects of Martin Luther’s view of moral agency and action. The study focuses on themes originating in the Treatise on Good Works, particularly the exposition of the Third Commandment: Thou shalt hallow the holy day. Here, the author presents the paradigmatic example of the experience of a participant in the liturgy of mass. The example shows that moral reflection about agency and action is inextricably linked, first, to the consciousness of the worshipper, second, to language—the use of metaphors, images and descriptive words—and third, to the normative, that is, a knowledge of …