1. Augustine, Hildegard, and Luther all set their "horizon of action" at God. What "feels" different about how each writer goes about trying to keep their action in relation to the largest possible horizon?
All writers set their “horizon of action” at God, but differ in the way they believe our actions affect our relationship with God? Hildegard and Augustine believe that our actions can be classified as good or sinful. Discreet sinful acts that we can do be made up later. On the other hand, Luther anything good we do comes from our faith and inner essence. God is working at all times to redeem us. We come into the world as a sinful person, so there is nothing we can do but have faith. Our actions, whether good or bad, has nothing to do with our salvation.
2. Why, according to Luther, is faith prior to every good action? How does this idea differ from your own sense of moral striving?
According to Luther, faith comes before good actions because faith alone is the fulfillment of the first commandment. Luther believes that even if we were nothing but good works “from the soles of our shoes to top of our heads” we still would not be righteous. He continues to say that God cannot be worshipped rightly unless we fully ascribe our faith to Him. This salvation cannot be accomplished by good works, but rather only faith of the heart. In other words, good works do not make a good person but a good person does good works. This idea differs from my own sense of moral striving because I believe I believe faith and good actions go hand in hand. It is not only our faith in God that defines who we are, nor is it just our good actions towards others, but rather a combination of both.
3. Is Luther saying faith is something you can achieve by your efforts, or does it seem like it's something you just accept? How does Luther's insistence that faith is not one of the virtues relate to your answer?
I feel like Luther is trying to say faith is something we just accept, not something that we can physically achieve by our efforts. It is only our soul
