Lutheran Dualism

The following reflection is an attempt to process recent readings and not a definitive position.

After reading Luther's early work, "Disputation Against Scholastic Theology," I find myself already faced with the issue of dualism in Luther's works.  Though I do not mind paradox (two seemingly contradictory ideas that, when held in tension, reveal the rich variety of reality), I find dualistic concepts (separating one reality into two parts) difficult because, unlike paradoxes, they are never attempted to be reconciled into a whole.

In this document, Luther talks about will / nature / creature and spirit / grace / love.  The will produces evil (though it is not by nature evil), the love of creature excludes the love of God, and nature is always an evil will.  Spirit, on the other hand, fulfills the law, does good, and loves God.  Upon initial reading, my problem with the dualistic view was that it felt as if the spirit of a person was redeemable and the creature was irredeemable.  For me it is always a problem when you start talking about dual parts of a human as if one can, with God's will, be good and another, by any will, cannot.  It challenges the need for God to redeem my whole being.

What helped me start to make sense of the way Luther was using nature and spirit seem very similar to the way Paul talks about flesh and spirit.  Specifically, it seems Luther, when talking about spiritual matters, is not talking about our own spirits but God's Spirit in us.  One who spiritually fulfills the law does not sin, and fulfilling the law can only take place by the grace of God.  The fulfillment of the law is the love of God, put in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Though I am sure I will wrestle with other dualisms in Luther's theology, it has helped to realize that this is not actually a dualism.  Rather, this is talking about two separate realities (human and God) and making our ability to be good, to fulfill the law, and to love God and humans entirely dependent upon God's gracious gift of the Holy Spirit.  Though I will soon raise other questions about this, for the moment it at least resolves the dualism I struggled to read.