Reason as Instrument

Abstract

In Reason as Instrument, Dr. Siegbert W. Becker examines Martin Luther’s complex view of human reason, challenging the misconception that Luther was wholly anti-rational. Becker shows that while Luther condemned reason when it sought to judge or supplant Scripture, he also praised it as a divine gift essential for interpreting experience, communicating truth, and understanding Scripture. Luther’s criticisms targeted scholasticism’s speculative misuse of reason, not reason itself. Becker highlights Luther’s use of logic, grammar, and syllogistic argument in theology, and his insistence that reason, when enlightened by faith, becomes a powerful servant of the Gospel. Faith, for Luther, is “right thinking of the heart about God,” an intellectual process informed by Scripture. Becker concludes that Lutheran theology does not reject reason but reorients it, affirming its role in exegesis, doctrine, and proclamation—always subordinate to divine revelation. Abstract generated by Microsoft Copilot (GPT-4)