Friday 16 December 2005

Free will: Johann von Staupitz

“[T]he free will is perhaps the cause of people’s fall and frailty, but to rise up and to march on: that is strength that truly a man does not possess, except it be given to him by grace.”

—Johann von Staupitz, in a 1520 sermon on the passion; in A Mystic’s Passion: The Spirituality of Johannes von Staupitz in His 1520 Lenten Sermons (New York: Peter Lang, 1990), pp. 55-56.

3 Comments:

Timbo said...

It's a very humble little thing that I use as a means of connection, no more. I haven't the time (or the inclination) in the midst of church planting to use it very seriously. So, don't get too excited about its content. I almost never write anything in it worth reading: as a pastor it is difficult to write about what is personal or what I'm wrestling with, as my blog is read by alot of people who are part of my church.

Jim said...

Staupitz is not quite right here (as he is not quite right in so many places). Free will is not the cause of fall- the misuse of free will is. The second line, though, is completely correct.

Ben Myers said...

Hi Tim. Well, for those of us who are always interested in knowing what you're up to, your blog is very much "worth reading"! And thus I am very cross with you for not telling me about your blog sooner.... ;-)

Jim, I agree. Freedom is never the cause of sin; rather, sin is precisely the relinquishing and thus the negation of freedom. But, as you say, it's the second half of Staupitz's sentence that really matters!

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