Luther, Martin | Heiko Augustinus Oberman (essay date 1986)
Heiko Augustinus Oberman (essay date 1986)
SOURCE: "Simul Gemitus et Raptus: Luther and Mysticism," in The Dawn of the Reformation: Essays in Late Medieval and Early Reformation Thought, T. & T. Clark Ltd, 1986, pp. 126–34.
[Below, Oberman outlines approaches to studying Luther and mysticism, and discusses Luther's own understanding of the role of mysticism in faith.]
"We will deal with that material than which none is more sublime, none more divine, and none more difficult to attain …" Jean Gerson1
"That [mystical] rapture is not the passageway [to God]." Martin Luther2
1. INTRODUCTION
It cannot be our task to determine whether Luther is to be regarded as a mystic. For an empathie biographer it is interesting that Luther himself testifies to the highest degree of mystical experience when he writes: "once I was carried away (raptus fui) to the third heaven."3 Yet, in...
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