" [Luther] names that against which he is directing his critique theologia gloriae. The closest we may come in contemporary English to what Luther intended here .. is the term triumphalism. "
" Triumphalism refers to the tendency in all strongly held worldviews, whether religious or secular, to present themselves as full and complete accounts of reality, leaving little room for debate or difference of opinion .. " (17)
" Prophetic religion or faith, as we have it exemplified in the tradition of Jerusalem, engages in the ongoing critique of the purely human tendency to deify fondly held views of the individual or the group; the human word, however wise or sacred, is never to be equated with the Word of God. But without this dimension, religion (including Christianity as religion) suffers badly from the deep psychic need of finite humankind to find security and permanency in expressions of belief from which all ambiguity, all relativity, and all doubt are expunged. " (18)
" The theologia gloriae .. overwhelms the human with its brilliance, its incontestability, its certitude. Yet just in this it confuses and distorts, because God's object in the divine self-manifestation is precisely not to overwhelm but to befriend. " (20)
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