The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1400 page)

(1534–72).
Jewish
kabbalist
. Luria was brought up in Egypt and studied under
David b. Solomon ibn Abi Zimri
. His early life is shrouded in legend, but he seems to have retired from communal life while a young man to study the
Zohar
and other mystical works, and during this time he wrote his commentary on the
Sifra Di-Zeniuta
(The Book of Concealment), a section of the
Zohar
. In
c.
1570 Luria settled in Safed and studied with Moses
Cordovero
. In Safed, Luria drew round himself a group of disciples whom he instructed orally in the mysteries of the kabbalah. These teachings are preserved only in the descriptions of his students. He envisaged a ‘contraction’ (
tsimtsum
) in God to make space for creation in relation to himself. The term had formerly been used to account for God's presence in the
Holy of Holies
, but Luria gave it a novel sense. There then followed, according to Luria, the process of emanation (
sefirot
), but the vessels containing the emanation of light could not bear the weight of glory (or perhaps resisted: for surely, Luria's pupils asked, God could have created vessels strong enough for the task?) and disintegrated. This catastrophe is called
shevirah
or
shevirat ha-kelim
. Luria did not hesitate to accept that God is the source of both good and evil, since without his creative act, the manifestation of evil could not have occurred. However, set against
shevirah
is the work of repair, called
tikkun
, which was a particular responsibility for
Adam
. His fall reinforced the powers of evil and weakened those of good. In consequence, God chose a people, the Jews, to shoulder the responsibility once more. Jewish history is the history of this struggle; and the detail of each biography is a contribution to it. In particular, the keeping of the law is essential, since even one failure delays the coming of the messiah when alone the final victory will have been won.

 
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(
c.
1510–74).
Jewish
Talmudic
commentator. Luria served as
rabbi
and rosh
yeshivah
at Ostrog, Brisk, and Lublin. His
halakhic
rulings were independent and avoided
pilpul
and were generally accepted. Only a proportion of his work has been preserved, including his
Yam shel Shelomo
(The Seal of Solomon) on the
Talmud
(1616–18) and his
Hokhmat Shelomo
(The Wisdom of Solomon, 1582), glosses on the text of the Talmud, printed subsequently in most edns. His
responsa
(1574/5) give valuable insight into the culture of 16th-cent. Polish Jewry.

 
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Lu-shan
.

Mount Lu. Buddhist centre from 4th cent. CE on, in Kiangsi province. Here
Huiyüan
founded
Pai-lien-tsung
(the White Lotus school).

 
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Lü-Shih Ch’un-Ch’iu
(Spring and Autumn of Master L
)
.

A Confucian work produced under the supervision of Lü Pu-wei (
c.
3rd cent. BCE), which attempted to gather and systematize knowledge necessary for proper government.

 
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(1483–1546).
Founder of the German
Reformation
. In 1505 he entered an Augustinian monastery. Ordained
priest
in 1507, he was sent for further study at the newly founded University at Wittenberg, later to Erfurt. In 1512 he was made Doctor of Theology and was appointed professor of scripture at Wittenberg, a post he held for the rest of his life.
Deeply troubled concerning personal guilt, he became convinced concerning
justification
by faith alone, finding help in the study of the Bible,
Augustine's
anti-Pelagian writings, John
Tauler's
mysticism and the
Theologia Germanica
, as well as the sensitive counsel of his superior John Staupitz. In 1517, pastorally concerned about the propagation of the
indulgence
traffic by the Dominican preacher J.
Tetzel,
Luther protested in his famous ninety-five theses. In the inevitable controversy which followed their publication, Luther debated his views with Catholic opponents, and produced in 1520 some of his most influential writings,
On Good Works
,
The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
,
Address to the German Nobility
, and
The Freedom of a Christian
. In the same year the papal
bull
,
Exsurge Domine
, censured his teaching as heretical, and the promulgation a few months later of
Decet Romanum Pontificem
declared him excommunicate. He returned to Wittenberg in 1522 in order to preach against the extreme views of Andrew
Carlstadt
.
In 1525 Luther married Catharine von Bora, a former nun. The
Augsburg Confession
(1530), mainly the more diplomatic work of
Melanchthon
, gave moderate expression to his leading ideas; and his prolific writings, on average a book a fortnight, circulated his teaching (addressed to circumstances, rather than being systematic) throughout Europe. His leading ideas were treasured by the
Lutheran Churches
who summarized Luther's essential message in their
Book of Concord
(1580). On major articles of faith (
Trinity
,
Christology
,
atonement
, etc.) Luther adhered to the classic credal tradition. The distinctive Lutheran emphasis is on the authority of
scripture
and
soteriology
. Because scripture is the word of God, it is the truth of God, in relation to which innovations of the Church (esp. of the
papacy
) must be judged defective.
Sola scriptura
(scripture alone) is the source of doctrine and practice. Through ‘faith alone’ (
sola fide
), a sinful person receives (but does not create, as though faith is a work of merit) all that Christ has done for the world. Justification through faith is thus a central Lutheran theme.