This is a companion article to “Johann Spangenberg on Dying Well”
Johann Spangenberg was one of the most important Lutheran theologians of the sixteenth century. A contemporary of Martin Luther, Spangenberg adopted the new evangelical theology and rose to become superintendent of all churches in the County of Mansfeld. (See my previous article for further details.) The renewed understanding of the gospel spreading through Germany required new literature that would teach people not only how to be justified before God but also how to live an earthly life in light of gospel truth. Spangenberg hoped to address that need with his pamphlet On the Christian Knight.
The imagery of a knight walking the path toward salvation while confronting his traditional enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil—was popular in medieval and early modern times. Erasmus of Rotterdam published his Handbook of a Christian Knight in 1501, a work that became so popular it likely inspired Albrecht Dürer’s famed engraving Knight, Death, and the Devil. In the seventeenth century, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress became one of the most important works in English literature with its depiction of the main character, aptly named Christian, attempting to reach the Celestial City. Spangenberg’s pamphlet stands in this tradition.
However, Spangenberg’s depiction of the Christian life differs from many earlier works in that he does not imagine the path toward heaven as a pursuit of final justification before God. Rather, like Bunyan after him, Spangenberg believes that forgiveness of sins and justification of the sinner is an entirely gracious gift that occurs at the beginning of the Christian’s walk. The believer returns to these gifts throughout the rest of his or her life and, simultaneously, lives a life defined by the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification as he or she faces various temptations and overcomes them by the power of God granted through union with Christ. This is to say, whoever begins this journey by the grace of God will be certain to reach the end victorious, for God does not forsake his own.
Spangenberg states that a Christian knight is one “born anew in baptism through water and the Spirit” who has “a true faith, a certain hope, and genuine love for God and neighbor.” (Johann Spangenberg. A Booklet of Comfort for the Sick and On the Christian Knight, trans. Robert Kolb, pg. 95). Note here the language of certainty in salvation, which allows the knight to proceed with confidence in his or her knightly tasks: “1) in the denial of the devil, the world, and the flesh, 2) in the exercise of faith in God and love for the neighbor, and 3) in the killing of the old Adam, the sinful flesh, and the renewal of the spirit within a person’s own life” (pg. 95).
He emphasizes that a human cannot, without the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, produce anything good. In earthy language reminiscent of Luther, Spangenberg writes, “The human being produces only vermin and garbage. A person is never so well regarded as when he is dead, carried to the grave, and lies under the dirt. Nonetheless, such a poor creature, a miserable water blister and bag of maggots, finds rest in God, his creator and savior” (pg. 101).
By faith, a person becomes something else entirely: a child of God joined to Christ, assured of his or her eternal destiny. “Faith is nothing else than a certain hope and trust in God’s mercy, which is promised to us for the sake of Christ, his Son…In him rests my entire comfort, which I find apart from him in nothing he has created” (pg. 103). This same faith, according to Spangenberg, produces “a fervent love for my neighbor, that is, that a person acts toward his neighbor as Christ has acted toward him, serving everyone with joy” (pg. 103). Our good deeds, therefore, contribute nothing toward our salvation, but they do contribute to our neighbor’s welfare and glorify God.
By faith, a person becomes something else entirely: a child of God joined to Christ, assured of his or her eternal destiny
Spangenberg was likely very familiar with Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” for he uses similar language to describe our struggle against the devil when he says that Satan “is dead set against Gods’ gifts and is working very diligently to rob you of these gifts or at least prevent you from enjoying them” (pg. 91). This mirrors Luther’s assertion that God’s Spirit and gifts (“Geist und Gaben”) are ours. Spangenberg also speaks of the believer’s “good defense and weaponry” (“guter Wehr und Waffen”) (pg. 91). while in the second line of his hymn, Luther uses the same phrase to describe God.
According to Spangenberg, the putting to death of our old sinful nature begins in baptism and ends in death when our flesh becomes dust and ashes (pg. 107). A Christian must put on the armor of God, which is provided by God himself. This will allow him or her to withstand temptation and remain firm in faith. For “we must be prepared to suffer, tolerate, and bear the evil, and with patience move ahead, if we were on a thorny path. That means that if you wish to be a Christian, make up your mind to be patient” (pg. 111).
But our faith is not placed in our own power or goodness. It “clings to the word about Christ” (pg. 111). A believer can therefore say, “Hey, look, I am a sinner, but the man who has died for me is holy and pure. I am clinging to him, whatever my life and actions may be. I am relying on Christ, as on my shield that can cover and protect me, together with all my life, and that withstands the powers and portals of hell” (pg. 111).
Spangenberg speaks metaphorically of Mount Sinai representing the law, for it was there that Moses received the commandments, while Mount Zion represents the gospel, for there Christ preached the good news and revealed himself. Mount Sinai reveals our own sinfulness and inability, causing us to turn to Mount Zion.
"Here, all reliance on your own piety and righteousness, on human works and merit, must vanish, and Christ alone must be grasped by faith. His holy gospel, which he proclaimed on Zion and in Jerusalem, must be heard and accepted sincerely, and our lives must be governed according to it. In summary, we must act toward our neighbor as the upright and faithful Christ acted" (pg. 119-121).
The final stop on our journey is Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration. Here, we reach the end of our temporal lives and behold the beatific vision in the presence of God himself.
"In our last hour, after the terror of the law, we again open our eyes, look around us, and see no one but Christ alone, the Son of the Father. Then in our hearts we let go of everything, Moses, Elijah, the apostles, in summary, all holy people, all creatures, and even our own works and merits, etc. and we grasp the only mediator, our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ" (pg. 121-123).
Spangenberg faithfully presents the law and gospel in this work, charging the believer to strive against the world, the flesh, and the devil, not in order to receive the grace of God but because he or she has received that grace. We pass on love to our neighbor as we grow in the likeness of Christ, proclaiming the freedom of the gospel in our words and actions. The Christian life may be filled with tribulations, but it is one defined by faith, hope, and love, for God has made promises to us, and his Word will not return void.
