[The question was raised] whether the tools of the arts and nature are useful to theology. [Martin Luther answered:] "One knife cuts better than another. So good tools- for example, languages and arts- can contribute to clearer teaching. Just as many, like Erasmus, are equipped with languages and the arts and nevertheless make damaging mistakes, so the same thing happens with weapons, most of which are made for slaughter. A thing must be distinguished from its misuse. Job distinguished thus when he said, 'You speak as one of the foolish women would speak' [Job 2:10]. This text has always pleased me on account of its proper distinction between the creature and its abuse."
[The question was asked,] Is the light of reason also useful [to theology]? [Martin Luther answered:] "I make distinction. Reason under the devil's control is harmful, and the more clever and successful it is, the more harm it does. We see this in the case of learned men who on the basis of their reason disagree with the Word. On the other hand, when illuminated by the Holy Spirit, reason helps to interpret the Holy Scriptures. So Cochlaeus' tongue speaks blasphemies while my tongue speaks God's praise. Nevertheless, it is the same instrument in both of us. It is a tongue, whether before or after faith. The tongue, as a tongue, doesn't contribute to faith, and yet it serves faith when the heart is illuminated. So reason, when illuminated [by the Spirit], helps faith by reflecting on something, but reason without faith isn't and can't be helpful. Without faith the tongue utters nothing but blasphemies, as we see in the case of Duke George. But reason that's illuminated takes all its thoughts from the Word. The substance remains and the unreal disappears when reason is illuminated by the Spirit.
Luther's Works, Vol. 54, p. 71
Table Talk (Early in the year 1533)
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