“The Idea of the Holy” by Rudolf Otto – Chapter 12

Chapter 12 of “The Idea of the Holy” by Rudolf Otto is named ‘The Numinous in Luther.’ Here is our summary.

CHAPTER 12

The Numinous in Luther
Pages 97 to 112

In Catholicism the numinous is seen in a variety of ways, such as worship and sacraments, legend and miracle, dogmas, the Platonic and neo-Platonic underpinnings of its worldview, the solemnity of its churches and ceremonies, and especially the intimate rapport of Catholic piety with mysticism. [Page 97]

However, the numinous is much less in evidence in the official systems of doctrine, whether Catholic or Protestant. That is particularly the case since the medieval scholastics replaced Plato with Aristotle. They initiated a battle between the rational and the non-rational elements in the Christian religion that is still being fought. [Page 97]

Augustine, Plotinus, and Dionysius the Areopagite were focused on Plato. Plato found that science and philosophy were too narrow to comprise the whole of man’s experience, and that God is beyond our rational powers. In contrast, Aristotle is absolutely rationalistic. [Page 98]

Christian doctrine was also influenced by the ancient Greek theory that the divine is immune from passion. The Greeks constructed their vision of God after the ideal of the Wise Man, who achieves an apathy by overcoming his passions and affections. Most early Christians projected that aspect of the god of the philosophers onto the Christian God, although Lactantius opposed it. [Page 99]

Lactantius focused on the tremendum in the majesty of God. His battle against the God of the philosophers comes to life again in the Middle Ages in Duns Scotus. Scotus focused on God’s willing rather than cognition, thus paving the way for Luther. In Luther, we see the numinous consciousness. [Page 100]

Section 1

Luther is connected to mysticism as well as to the Eucharist. But he focuses on what is unrevealed instead of what is revealed. Luther’s teachings are not mere subjects to be disputed in the schools. Nor are they philosophical deductions. Luther knew much about God; yet Luther knew depths and abysses in the godhead. [Page 101]

Luther is in awe of the stern Judge who demands righteousness. But Luther is also in awe of the aweful majesty of God. Luther says it is a consuming fire that will devour you. [Page 102]

That reflects the numen, especially the mysterium tremendum aspect. Luther beholds these mystical things, and yet he also applies rationality to codify his doctrines. [Page 103]

Section 2

In Luther, his numinous consciousness first discussed wrath. Then he discusses mysteriousness. Mystery is non-rational. His most interesting discussions are about paradoxes. [Page 104]

Paradox is essential to the nature of God. God is nonrational and mysterious. Theologians struggle to expound upon those aspects of God. Their explanations are often blasphemous and horrible. [Page 105]

Section 3

Luther connects predestination with the numinous. That said, the numinous appears only occasionally in Luther’s writings. But it is indirectly evident with his battles with Satan and religious catastrophes, melancholy and grace and mental disorder. [Page 106]

Similarly, his sense of awe is evident in his discussions of Judgement, Punishment, and the Wrath of God. [Page 106]

Section 4

Some aspects of the numinous are daunting. For example, the tremendum. Is Luther fascinated with that? Or is Luther merely rational? Otto says Luther interweaves both perspectives. [Page 106]

Luther interweaves the non-rational with the rational. This deepens the rational expressions. For Luther the mystic, faith plays role essential as knowledge and love for the earlier mystics. [Page 107]

For Luther, faith is the basis of the soul. Faith is also a way of knowing, as it receives supra-sensible truths. It is the power behind the functions ascribed to the Holy Spirit. It opens to us the elements of the non-rational: mystery, fascination, and majesty. [Page 108]

In Christian mysticism, the tremendum element is subdued but not entirely lacking. Suso called it a bottomless abyss. John of the Cross wrote that when we glimpse the divine, we suffer agony and fear. [Page 109]

John of the Cross experienced anguish from the Majesty and Glory of God. Jakob Böhme starts with the inexpressible aspects of God, which have potentiality for evil as well as for good. [Page 110]

Those intuitions from Böhme are from experiencing the numinous, and are akin to those of Luther. With Böhme, as with Luther, the non-rational energy and majesty of God and his awefulness appear as Will. It is fundamentally independent of moral elevation or righteousness, and as indifferent toward good or evil action. It is rather a fiery wrath. It is the tremendum. If these things are taken as the full concept of God, the result is anthropomorphism or theosophy. [Page 111]

The Lutheran school has not done justice to the numinous side of the Christian idea of God. It moralized terms such as holiness or the wrath of God, then arrived at the doctrine of passionlessness. The inexpressible was overrun by orthodoxy. Schleiermacher was the first to attempt to overcome this rationalism, with his theory of the feeling of absolute dependence. [Page 112]

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