My comment: Pastor Weedon gives good answers, though I am always a bit leery when too much of a distinction is made between the "early" Luther and the "late" Luther. I realize there is some validity to this, but I wonder if we do not sometimes make too much of this. I'm not saying Pastor Weedon does this here or not - only that that's not the first place my mind goes on these things. Secondly, as for "hell" - I had hoped to check out what Luther wrote in the German today when I got to school. That may or may not help, for even if he used the German word for hell, the meaning may be as Pastor Weedon spells out here. I have heard of the Hades belief, and of those in evangelical circles who buy into it today . . .
So now a question: why put a reading which seems to be ripe for misunderstanding and confusion into a devotional book that is meant to be used by our laity? Is that a wise decision?
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I refreshed my memory about the writing of the Babylonian Captivity from the AE introduction, and it seems like this is one of those places where "early Luther" is an appropriate explanation, though not in the normal way the phrase is used to describe a deeper understanding of the Gospel. As Weedon says, Luther's examination of the Hebrew corrected his earlier understanding.
Luther wrote the treatise in Latin in 1520 with the Roman clergy as his intended audience. The first translation that appeared in German was actually done by an opponent who thought it would discredit Luther.
Two other bits of trivia I learned:
1) Bugenhagen (who previously saw Luther as a heretic) came to appreciate Luther because of Babylonian Captivity.
2) Henry VIII was given the title "Defender of the Faith" by the Pope because of his theological writing against Luther at this time.
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