Notes on Chapter 4

Chapter 4

pp. 55: how was Luther marked for leadership within the monastic community.

The bulk of this chapter is an intricate and involved discussions of theology. I suggest that we note our more serious questions and wait until Pastor Bea can attend the class. I am certainly not qualified to discuss theology.

Terms discussed by Marius:

Pg. 56 penitence
Pg 56. Doctrine of predestination
57. idea of covenant
57. True Contrition
58. Live or die either in sin or grace through penance
59. What is the Doctrine of purgatory

p. 59 Marius returns to the question of “what did Luther fear.” How does Marius explain this.

p. 60: Luther’s horror before death is a continual presence in his work. Yet, according to Marius, this is not mentioned much in his work. Does Luther deny the existence of hell?

P 62-63: How does Luther discussions hell based on this Latin lectures of Ecclesiastes?

64. Did Luther believe in the resurrection of the dead. Did he believe that “unbelief in life after death was common.”

p. 65. How did Luther understand Aristotle’s teaching that the soul dies with the body.

P 66. How does Paul see death? Does the idea of hell come from the Gospels?

P 67. How does the ambiguous doctrine of hell fit in with Luther’s struggles in the monetary?

P 67 – 71 long discussion of the prevalence of unbelief,

What kind of supernatural exists in the world?

What was the conflict between the medieval church’s use of the supernatural and the superstition of the masses.

p. 69 How does the Catholic church define the difference between unformed faith and formed faith?


How did More and other Catholic teachers push this distinction? What did they say was necessary for salvation?

P 73. Who was Frederick the Wise of Saxony? How is he important in Luther’s life

P 74 How did Luther experience teaching?

P 75. Who was Staupitz and how was he important to Luther