Kurzmann, Frank
Junior Fellow: October 2022–September 2023
Research Project: “Spiritus sanctus non est Scepticus,” or a Reformulation of Dubitatio Perpetua? Doubt and Scepticism in the Thought of Martin Luther and Their Potential as a Basis for Religious Dialogue
When it comes to religious doubt, Martin Luther’s thought offers a dialectical range of approaches. On the one hand, he claims “spiritus sanctus non est Scepticus” (WA 18,605,32). On the other, in his view, doubting human (religious) traditions is in some cases mandatory, and as he notes in another key passage of his work on doubt and certainty (WA 39/II,163,14–164,9), scepticism is also an enduring and necessary experience for the believer. In this sense, one might even suggest that Luther was reformulating the idea of dubitatio perpetua. In this project, the results of the analysis of Luther’s approaches will be compared with statements about dubitatio perpetua and certitudo made by Roman Catholic theologians such as Robert Bellarmin, and also, for example, Unitarians or Socinians such as Joachim Stegmann. The aim is to investigate the concept of doubt as an engine of piety and theology in Luther’s thought, and at the same time to shed light on the dialectical tension of the different statements and to provide examples that show their potential use as a basis for interconfessional dialogue or dialogue beyond confessional limits. This study will also explore how the dialectic relationship between doubt as a limitation of faith and faith as a limitation of doubt can be adequately expressed.
Frank Kurzmann is a research associate in the Department of Protestant Theology at Universität Hamburg.