LUTERO AND THE CATHOLIC MEDIEVAL TRADITION

Abstract

These reflections aim at exploring the similarities and differences between Luther's Reformation and the Catholic medieval tradition from which it derives. In doing so, I intend to underline the in between paradox that characterizes this movement and, more specifically, Luther's theological conception. Therefore, it is not a question of a pure and simple rupture with the medieval universe; it is not either a question of mere continuity with the theology developed throughout Latin scholasticism. It is rather a question of paradox, the paradox of an internal exclusion. What really occurred was a reinterpretation, a new elaboration and a shift of emphasis from the fundamental theological questioning that had marked the Reformer's thought. In short, Luther excluded himself from the symbolic me­dieval universe, but from inside.