Abstract
Temptations presented by the devil to humans, like the serpent’s enticements of Eve in Eden or the alluring visions of Saint Anthony in the desert, are traditionally described in negative terms, but Martin Luther valued tentatio highly, considering it to be one of the essential ingredients of a theologian’s education. Of course, as Luther and others used the Latin word, it had a wider range of signification than its English derivative possesses today. Tentatio meant much more than “testing”; it also encompassed the idea of “experience,” or even “suffering.” Throughout his life in a variety of contexts Luther continued to stress how much the development of his own theology owed not only to such spiritual disciplines as meditation or prayer, but also to tentatio.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
Alford, C. Fred. “Greek Tragedy and Civilization: The Cultivation of Pity.” Political Research Quarterly 46 (1993): 259–80.
Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York and Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1950.
Bayer, Oswald. “Vom Wunderwerk Gottes Wort recht zu verstehen: Luthers letzter Zettel.” Kerygma und Dogma 37 (1991): 258–79.
Bediako, Kwame. Jesus and the Gospel in Africa: History and Experience. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2004.
Boyle, Marjorie O’Rouke. “Stoic Luther.” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 73 (1982): 69–93.
Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord. Paul T. McCain, gen. editor. St. Louis: Concordia (2nd edn.), 2006.
Corpus reformatorum. Halle: Schwetske, 1834 ff.
D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Weimar: Böhlau, 1883 ff.
D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Briefwechsel. Weimar: Böhlau, 1930–78.
D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Tischreden. Weimar: Böhlau, 1912–21.
Hibler, Richard. Happiness through Tranquility: The School of Epicurus. Lanham: University Press of America, 1984.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Crossway, 2001.
Hütter, Reinhard. Suffering Divine Things: Theology as Church Practice, transl. Doug Stott. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2000.
Jenkins, Philip. The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Jenkins, Philip. “Believing in the Global South,” First Things, December 2006. Accessed March 24, 2016: http://www.firstthings.com/article/2006/12/believing-in-the-global-south.
Kelly, Robert. “Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio Faciunt Theologum: Luther’s Piety and the Formation of Theologians.” Consensus 19 (1993): 9–27.
Kleinig, John W. “Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio: What Makes a Theologian?” Concordia Theological Quarterly 66 (2002): 255–68.
Korcok, Thomas. Lutheran Education: From Wittenberg to the Future. St. Louis: Concordia, 2011.
Kushner, Harold. When Bad Things Happen to Good People. New York: Avon Books, 1981.
Leaver, Robin. Luther’s Liturgical Music. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.
Obendiek, Harmannus. Der Teufel bei Martin Luther: Eine theologische Untersuchung. Berlin: Furche Verlag, 1931.
Oberman, Heiko. Luther: Man between God and the Devil. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
Pfeiffer, Andrew K. “The Place of Tentatio in the Formation of Church Servants.” The Lutheran Theological Journal 30 (1996): 111–19.
Podmore, Simon D. Struggling with God: Kierkegaard and the Temptation of Spiritual Trial. Cambridge: James Clark, 2013.
Schulz, Gregory P. The Problem of Suffering: A Father’s Hope. St. Louis: Concordia, 2011.
Scheel, Otto. Martin Luther: vom Katholizismus zur Reformation. Vol. 1: Auf der Schule und Universität. Tübingen: Mohr (4th edn.), 1921.
Springer, Carl P. E. Luther’s Aesop. Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2011.
Springer, Carl P. E. “Luther’s Latin Poetry and Scatology.” Lutheran Quarterly 23 (2009): 373–87.
Springer, Carl P. E. “Martin’s Martial: Reconsidering Luther’s Relationship with the Classics.” The International Journal of the Classical Tradition 14 (2007): 23–50.
Watson, Philip S. Let God Be God: An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2000.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Springer, C.P.E. (2017). The Uses of Tentatio: Satan, Luther, and Theological Maturation. In: Thuswaldner, G., Russ, D. (eds) The Hermeneutics of Hell. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52198-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52198-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52197-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52198-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)