Martin Luther And Wang Yangming Essay

Wang Yangming and Martin Luther are both philosophers who believe that internal faith and knowledge leads to external actions. Wang Yangming’s philosophy can be summarized by the concept of a unison of knowing and acting, which stems from his belief that true knowledge and moral action are inseparable. Martin Luther shares similar ideas, believing that internal faith is what leads to external goodness. Though Wang Yangming and Martin Luther have different concepts of what humans require internally, they come to a similar conclusion that it is one’s knowledge or beliefs that leads to their actions. Similarly, both philosophers were criticized for their radical subjectivization, or undermining the authority of institutions. In the case of Wang

Contrary to Wang Yangming, Martin Luther as a Christian believes that all humans were born bad, a result of the original sin passed down from Adam and Eve. It is for this reason that humans must look up to God in order to receive spiritual enlightenment or salvation, for “faith alone is the righteousness of the Christian and is also the fulfillment of the commandments” (Freedom of Christians, 411). Furthermore, Martin Luther argues that as humans, because we are children of Christ, our sons, especially humans, would embody the double honor kingship and priesthood. A true Christian would need to both embody kingship and priesthood to exhibit genuine faith in God, with kingship being recognizing Christ as the true King and serving Him and priesthood being the assertion that all Christians have direct access through God, and therefore do not need a biblical mediator. Similarly to Wang Yangming, Martin Luther also believes in the correlation between inner faith and knowledge reflecting upon external