Martin Luther on the use of Reason and Faith
Prior to faith and a knowledge of God, reason is darkness, but in believers it’s an excellent instrument. Just as all gifts and instruments of nature are evil in godless men, so they are good in believers. Faith is now furthered by reason, speech, and eloquence, whereas these were only impediments prior to faith. Enlightened reason, taken captive by faith, receives life from faith, for it is slain and given life again. As our body will rise [from the dead] glorified, so our reason is different in believers than it was before, for it doesn’t fight against faith but promotes it. Our speech, which used to be godless and blasphemous, now preaches, praises God, and gives him thanks. Thus my speech is different from what it once was; now it’s enlightened. So iron which glows from fire is different from iron that doesn’t glow. This is regeneration through the Word and occurs while the person and the members remain the same.
“Reason is subject to vanity, as all of God’s creatures are subject to vanity, that is, to folly. But faith separates the vanity from the substance. David used a bow, a sword, and weapons and he said, ‘Not in my bow do I trust’ [Ps. 44:6], but he didn’t spurn the weapons. So believers say, ‘My wife, children, gold, etc., won’t help in heaven,’ but they don’t throw them away; they separate vanity from substance. Gold remains gold, even on the neck of a whore. The body of a whore is just as much God’s creation as the body of an honorable matron. So vanity is to be put aside, not substance. When Job criticized his wife he called her foolish; although women are foolish for the most part, Job spared the sex and said, ‘You talk like a fool.’ The common people can’t do this; they want to throw away the substance with the vanity. But this is impossible, for unless there were something good, there couldn’t be something bad, as Aristotle said; the bad can’t be of itself but is the good that’s been spoiled. So vanities exist in good substances. Reason, speech, and all gifts and created things are therefore different in believers and Christians than in unbelievers.” – Between January 26 and 29, 1533
