Spiritus Creator

Book excerpt: As the first comprehensive study in the twentieth century of Luther's concept of the Holy Spirit, this book should be welcomed by every serious student of Luther's theology - for although Luther's view of the Holy Spirit dominates every aspect of his vast theological output, it is not always easy to discover what he really thought. Historians and theologians have at different times come to varying conclusions, based on the same fundamental writings of Luther. Enthusiastic followers of the Reformer, in their efforts to convince others, have from time to time fallen into the temptation to oversimplify his teachings. Spiritus Creator is the answer to this confusion. Laying aside the numerous interpretations of others, Regin Prenter, a noted Danish Theologian and scholar, presents Luther's thought itself. In this study he does not ask where Luther's thoughts came from, or how they developed; he asks only what Luther thought. Questioning, for example, whether Luther's view of the Holy Spirit was really so traditional, so much colored by medieval thought patterns as has been widely assumed, Dr. Prenter shows how Luther used Augustinian terms - the vocabulary of his age - yet gave them new content, even new definitions. He demonstrates how Luther's concept of the Holy Spirit did indeed take shape in a traditional form but that it then grew into what is for all Protestants a crucial, evangelical insight. Spiritus Creator is divided into two parts: the concept of the Holy Spirit before Luther had to defend his teachings from the distortions of enthusiasts, and this same concept during his struggle with the enthusiasts. This pattern gives the author opportunity to present the basic statements of the early period without reference to the polemical situation of Luther's later life. It also demonstrates the essential continuity that gives Luther's concept of the Holy Spirit importance for the thinking of all ages - our own not excluded.