Honorable organizers and participants of the conference, dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I would like to extend my cordial greetings to all of you on the occasion of the conference on âLutherâs Anthropology: Protestant and Orthodox Perspectives,â which is being held in such a significant year for the Lutheran World Federation. The quincentenary of the Reformation has given an impulse not only to member churches of the Lutheran World Federation, but also to our ecumenical partners to explore what is Martin Lutherâs legacy for today and how it has found an expression in different contexts.
The Lutheran World Federationâs theme both for the 12th Assembly as well as the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, âLiberated by Godâs Grace,â has helped us to explore this legacy within our communion. It expresses in succinct and accessible way the core message of the doctrine of justification, which states that we are saved and freed by Godâs grace through faith only. It is not because of who we are and what we do, but because of who God is and what God does, that those receiving and apprehending this message know about their salvation and the freedom into which they are called. Lutherâs theological insight, which he found in the biblical witness, particularly of the Pauline letters, challenges until this very day all human hubris with its perennial attempts of self-justification and self-righteousness.
In line with this, the theme âLiberated by Godâs graceâ also presents a second aspect that is key to the Lutheran understanding of justification by grace through faith alone. It is the notion of freedom (liberated). According to the Lutheran understanding, Godâs justifying action does not only free the person from self-justification and self-righteousness, but frees it also for something. In Lutheran theology, justification and freedom are like inseparable twins. Accordingly, a church proclaiming the Good News of salvation because of Christ, will also be a church always inviting into the wide space of freedom into which God invites those touched by Godâs redeeming action. This freedom, however, is never to be understood as an arbitrary, unanswerable and self-driven freedom, but is a responsible freedom which identifies its boundaries in the service to God and the neighbor.
Luther was convinced that faith does not completely wipe out the power of sin in this life. Also believers, due to their conditio humana, repeatedly turn to false gods and do not love God with undivided love. In earthly life, a Christian thus is and remains therefore simul iustus et peccator (a justified and a sinner at the same time). Lutherâs theological anthropology may sometimes seem dim and pessimistic, but it can also be seen as liberating and healing.
I would like to express my genuine joy about the theme of your conference and the topics of the presentations that help to explore several questions just mentioned. I am truly grateful that this conference is organized jointly by the Institute of Advanced Studies in Orthodox Theology in Chambésy and the Faculty of Theology at the University of Geneva. Luther and his heritage do not belong to one church tradition only, and his legacy reaches beyond the borders of one confessional family. May this conference be fruitful and enable discussions between different perspectives on Lutherâs anthropology, understanding of Christian freedom and the role of a Christian in society.
With cordial greetings,
Rev. Dr. Martin Junge
General Secretary, The Lutheran World Federation