Some fascinating and slightly enigmatic thoughts from Christoph Blumhardt on the Holy Spirit:
“It has now become clear to me that what is decisive in the Kingdom of God is never a single dogmatically fixed and systematized teaching; rather, it is the living God alone that is decisive… But it has also, further, become clear to me that this living intervention of God never repeats itself once and for all according to a certain schema, or is carried out mechanically through means of grace. The intervention of God comes much more like a thief in the night.”
“[In the history of the church,] whenever the outpouring of the Holy Spirit ceased, what followed was always a renewed giving of the Law… The radicalism of the Apostle Paul against all statutory Law-giving has justified for all time the prayer for a new outpouring of the Spirit.”
Christoph F. Blumhard
t (1842-1919) was a South German Lutheran minister and theologian who had all sorts of interesting things to say about the Spirit. He was known as a faith-healer, and developed something like a “charismatic theology of the cross”. He was also the only well-known German clergyman to oppose militaristic nationalism in World War 1 on theological grounds, and one of the first to join the Social Democratic Party (for the latter, he was immediately defrocked). For these reasons and others, he is known, I think rightly, as a prophetic/ saintly figure in certain theological circles. Karl Barth called him one of the few theologians since Schleiermacher who “did not bow the knee to Baal”. These quotations are from his book Gedanken aus dem Reiche Gottes.
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15 responses to “Against Theology? The Holy Spirit as the Thief in the Night”
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Very interesting. Two observations:
1."[In the history of the church,] whenever the outpouring of the Holy Spirit ceased, what followed was always a renewed giving of the Law… "
Not sure what he means by this, but at first blush he seems to be saying that "the Spirit" and "the Law" are somehow opposed. Maybe so, but only in the sense that although the Law itself was given by the Spirit, that same Spirit teaches us that we cannot use the Law to fulfill the Law's demands. That can be done only by the power of the Spirit that gave the Law in the first place, at least according to St. Paul. I haven't seen it done either way, to be perfectly frank.
I would also add that in the history of the church, where there is an outpouring of the Spirit there is an almost immediate effort to systematize, control, and recreate on demand that initial Spirit activity. But that's like a man singing the blues to try to "get in touch" with pain, rather than a man in pain singing the blues. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
2." It has now become clear to me that what is decisive in the Kingdom of God is never a single dogmatically fixed and systematized teaching; rather, it is the living God alone that is decisive… " If this is true, it is equally applicable to the beloved Law/Gospel paradigm. I think it is true; the Blumhardt quote, that is.
God never repeats itself once and for all according to a certain schema, or is carried out mechanically through means of grace. The intervention of God comes much more like a thief in the night."
this sounds penticostal and not Lutheran. Ditto opposing spirit against law.
this guy might have written some interesting stuff, but what is quoted is all pretty unworthy and christ-less dead stuff. I hope it is the extreme anomaly and not the exemplification of the rest of his writings. sincerely.
thanks for sharing!
this reminds me of the famous new wine/old wineskins Simeon Zahl senior CI talk… which I think was plaigarized for several subsequent years. 🙂
Frank,
As I was sincerely moved by the post, your comment, "what is quoted is all pretty unworthy and christ-less dead stuff", was very shocking to me. I would love it if you could expound on this.
Our vastly different reactions to the post makes me think that Blumhardt does in fact see very clearly, re: the first quotation.
Peace to you!
Michael,
Great to "see" you on here. In relation to your second point, I think one crucial thing that Blumhardt forgot to say was that God is never in contradiction with His own revealed Word, and that is why we hold firm to our doctrine, i.e. the Law and the Gospel, so that we might not be lead astray. We know the decisive living God by His Son revealed in the Scriptures.
Sean– Thanks, and I agree with your comment concerning the validity of law/gospel doctrine, and Jesus as the source of that doctrine. What I see Blumhardt addressing is the use of any doctrinal template in a reductionist, overly abstract way, in which God and Life get crammed into doctrinal categories with the rapidity of a coca-cola bottling machine. This criticism, which is an important and necessary voice for the health of the broader church, often comes from the more "pentecostal" element. It can turn into an anti-intellectual and entirely experience-based approach that has its own rigidity. But I would love to hear Simeon's take on these quotes, especially in light of Frank's frank assessment 🙂
"Thief in the Night" by the Stones:
it was, incidentally, a huge hit in Sweden, and in the Church of Sweden.
Well Trevor: I don´t see any Jesus in the quote. None, zip, nada. Kingdom of God=Jesus so far as I can tell from Jesus words speaking to the Pharisees and I quote: "The Kingdom of God is now in your midst."
Compare to: "…what is decisive is that the Kingdom of God is never a single dogmatically fixed and systematized teaching; rather, it is the living God alone that is decisive…"
I am down with dat! Some turn Christianity into a pholosophy, system of doctrine or morals when it is best seen as the ĂĽbercult of Jesus Christ (Definition: "Cult: A group radically centered around a personality).
Ah but then this dude, claiming to be Lutheran, makes it VERY clear that he is not meaning Jesus at all is he? He appears (I really can´t be sure due to lack of any clear point-of-reference-which-is-not-Jesus) that is is talking about some sort of "living intervention, of god, without means OR grace, at least REPETITIVE grace. Yeah I know he said Of grace, but he doesn´t really betray that the connection between the means part and the grace part matter alot, in fact he seems to imply that it is sort of of a hindrance to that intervention being a "living" one.
We are then told that this all happens like a thief in the night. We are not talking about Judgement day here, we are talking about here and now where we live how this living interventionist god deals with us. How we should look to find him. Ahem. So where am I supposed to find Jesus?
Finally we are informed that "giving of the law" means an absense of the Holy Spirit. Should I assume he means "legalism"? "Moralism"? Dunno.
Ok. He give us a hint at what he means: He says St Paul was "radically" against "all statutory Law-giving". The only place I remember seeing that word "statutory" is where it appears before the word "rape". So I Looked it up and here is what I got:
statutory=writen law, as opposed to oral or customary law.
Ok. So where does that leave me knowing that The Law of God= The Will of God according to the Bible, and that Jesus is the author of that Law and He is the fulfillment of that Law and that I would never in even my very wildest pentecostal wet dream that this article reflects well would know anything at all about this or Jesus or, well, anything that matters about anything at all…
The Lord´s Peace be with you Trevor, I did not mean to shock anyone, so if I wrote with less than love, I would love to apologize.
Now dear brother, I would love to hear what you mined from what you seem to consider a gem. Did you maybe read something into this, as you would a poem or somethun?
Thanks in advance for your patience with me!
If you are ever in Rio de Janeiro, please consider hitting me up for a beer!
Frank
Simeon –
More Blumhardt please! Other than your thesis, are there any english resources available about him/his theology?
todd
Todd,
Glad to have sparked some Blumhardt interest! At the moment, the best way to learn more about the Blumhardts is definitely to read Christian Collins Winn's recent book "'Jesus is Victor!' The Significance of the Blumhardts for the Theology of Karl Barth" (Princeton Monograph Series, Pickwick Publications 2009). It has several excellent chapters on Blumhardt and his father, and is relatively inexpensive. There are a bunch more resources in the pipeline over the next few years, not least a translation of the work from which these quotations are taken (I and some others are editing and translating it as we speak). My own thesis should be coming out next year as well, called "Pneumatology and Theology of the Cross in the Preaching of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt". The hope is that over the next decade or so most of the Blumhardt material will be translated into English and published.
PS- Emily, you could not be more right, that talk was in large part inspired by this exact Blumhardt book, which I was reading for the first time back then…
Hey Frank,
Thanks for taking the moment to reply. I would much rather get a beer in Rio with you to discuss it! But here are a few thoughts:
It seems like you don't see Jesus in these quotes because He is not mentioned by name, even as a reference point. I have no doubts that Blumhardt would say that Jesus is the singular reference point for his entire work and ministry. I do sincerely appreciate your concern for blog-newcomers and seekers and mockingbirds alike.
I do not know how the Holy Spirit works, but I am confident that It does not rely on theology, which only exists this side of the fall. Is theology an attempt to categorize our blindness? Or are we categorically blind?
When you infer from Luke 17:21 that the Kingdom of God=Jesus, I'm not really sure what you mean. It seems quite clear and quite shadowy simultaneously, as in, of course, and yet, who is Jesus, really? Using your equation Blumhardt would say "that what is decisive in [Jesus] is never a single dogmatically fixed and systematized teaching; rather, it is the living God alone that is decisive…"
If Jesus himself has said that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, well then it is wholly unperceived until it has taken over the entire garden (but not like the blackberry in our garden that shoots thorny vines all over the place without producing a single fruit).
Love and Peace in Christ, in whom and with whom we are co-heirs, brothers, family!
Side note about my side note: Blackberry patches abound in Oregon such that you can pull over on the side of countless roads and highways and bike trails and eat ripe blackberries all summer long. In our backyard garden, however, it is a sly and cunning thorny weed!
trevor
" I have no doubts that Blumhardt would say that Jesus is the singular reference point for his entire work and ministry. "
I would love to believe that is exactly true and right but I would never know that from this quotation. care to share something from this same author that would convince me this is so?
your brother by blood and water,
william.
I found a free e-book entitled "Christoph Blumhardt and His Message" at http://www.plough.com/ebooks/christophblumhardt.html
Here are a couple of quotations from Blumhardt, found therein, “Copyright 2007 by
Plough Publishing House. Used with permission.”
"I am often surprised at how people follow me. Wherever I go, in Germany as well as in Switzerland, people follow me. At home it is the same; from early morning until late at night I do not have a moment to myself. Why do people come to me? Because I am so devout? Oh, certainly not! Or because I have such a fine house at Boll, with beautiful surroundings and good air? Oh, no! There are much finer things of this kind elsewhere. But
one fact does bring people here: the Savior is working here. Blumhardt is nothing and all the people are nothing. Jesus, Jesus is here! This is what attracts people and has lasting worth."
"The Crucified One, who is now the Risen One, is the Lord! We must believe this. We have not gained much by just accepting that Christ died and rose again. Many people believe this, but nevertheless go into hell. This belief is of no help to me unless I make Jesus my Lord. It is not the worst if some people are unable to believe that Christ rose from the dead—at least they still regard it as something tremendous, too tremendous to believe. The sad thing is that some claim to believe it and yet it means little to them and they do not make him their Lord.
When we hear about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it should stir and shake us. 'What? Somebody has risen
from the dead? Who is it? That can’t be—if it is true the whole world must change!' Anyone who is not struck in this way has no idea what it means to be crucified and then to rise again. This must sink so deeply into our hearts that we gain a new attitude to life. It must strike us so powerfully that we make this Risen One our Lord and accept him as Lord of the world. We must acknowledge that all things
belong to the Lord Jesus. Why? Because he has risen from the dead! This is why all knees must bend before him and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord. There
shall be no creature, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth who shall be anything beside him. It is for this that we live and strive. Only those people may be called Christians who, under
the impact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and in the name of the One who rose again, lay claim to the whole world. They alone know that it will be only a short time until Jesus Christ becomes the ruler. He who merely accepts that Christ died and rose again is no Christian. He is simply a man with certain views.
A Christian is a warrior and fighter, one who concludes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ that the world will come under the rulership of God. He knows that as a
Christian he must help toward this goal. As the Church of Christ, we should live in constant striving toward the great reign of the king, Jesus Christ. That will make us
Christians."