Description: Luther's theology of the cross is a direct critique of
oppressive power relationships in his day. Luther's early thought
challenges specific economic, political, social, ideological, and
religious power dynamics; the cross confronts those who enjoy power,
prestige, pomp, and profits at the expense of the poor. Ruge-Jones maps
the power relationships that Luther's theology addressed and then turns
to specific works that challenge established structures of his world.
Luther's Latin texts undermine the ideological assumptions and
presumptions that bolstered an opulent church and empire. Luther uses
the cross of Christ to challenge what he called volatilem cogitatum,
""knowledge that is prone to violence."" His German writings (directed
to a broader, more popular audience) focus this critique of human
pretensions into an attack on systems of wealth, status, and power that
refuse to look with compassion upon poor Mary, or upon the many domestic
servants of Germany. God has respected the ones whom the world
disrespects and has thus entered the world to turn it upside down. Also
in the German writings, the Lord's Supper calls the powerful to enter
into solidarity with the poor--suffering people to whom Christ has given
himself. Finally, in his popular pamphlets, visual images show with
graphic specificity that throughout his life Christ sought out
solidarity with the least. These images contrast brutally with images of
a church that has sold its soul to wealth, political influence, military
power, and status. Endorsements: ""Candor and precision conjoined with a
lucid exposition of complex historical arguments is what the reader will
be treated to in Philip Ruge-Jones' Cross in Tensions. The book engages
the development of the early Luther's theology of the cross and its
various interpretations with poignant care for the pain of the world
while being in compassionate and hopeful solidarity with those who,
moved and shaken, endure the cross in all its tensions, gruesomeness,
and intentions."" Vítor Westhelle author of The Scandalous God ""Philip
Ruge-Jones makes an interesting and thoughtful contribution to the
contemporary scholarly literature on Martin Luther's theology of the
cross by offering a contextually informed analysis of the Reformer's
thought. . . . He places Luther's writings into their . . . contexts and
clarifies the impact of those contexts on the Reformer's works. . . .
Ruge-Jones is not only sensitive to Luther's context, however. . . .
Ruge-Jones is a Euro-North American who has lived in South America and
whose theological perspectives have been profoundly impacted by Latin
American Liberationist thought, particularly the notion of the
preferential option of the poor. . . . He views the theology of the
cross as a theology that points to the crucified Christ as God's
ultimate self-revelation and that is liberating good news to the poor
and marginalized. Hence, he celebrates Luther as a true theologian of
the cross whenever the Reformer and his writings advocate for the poor,
and he criticizes Luther as a theologian of glory whenever the Reformer
uses his writings to support those in power and to oppress the common
people."" --Kurt K. Hendel, Bernard, Fischer, Westberg Distinguished
Ministry Professor of Reformation History, Lutheran School of Theology
at Chicago About the Contributor(s): Philip Ruge-Jones is Associate
Professor of Theology at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas. He
is the author of The Word of the Cross in a World of Glory (2008).
