ANTO ́NIA SZABARImessage is equally clear and identical. This absolute iterability of the promise is embodied
in the printed word, always reproducible, repeatable, both orally and in writing. Thus the
printed word is arguably an essential weapon of Lutheran propaganda, as well as a decisive
element in shaping Luther’s theology and rhetoric.^24
Of particular significance is Luther’s theology of the sacraments, whose number he
reduced from seven to three, especially his interpretation of the Last Supper, the pivot of
his sacramental theology. Luther’s attack on the Catholic Mass hinges upon reading the
Last Supper as Christ’s speech act, in which he made his testament: ‘‘Hoc est corpus
meum; hic calix novum testamentum est in sanguine meo.’’^25 Luther’s insistence on com-
munion in both kinds in the Lord’s Supper and his vehement opposition to the doctrine
of transubstantiation are presented as necessary consequences of his reading Scripture as
an iterable speech act rather than as a true or false statement. According to Luther, scho-
lastic theologians who wondered how Christ could state of the bread that ‘‘this is my
body’’ and avoid contradicting Aristotelian logical and grammatical criteria of truthful-
ness (which require a strict semantic correspondence between subject and predicate in
affirmative statements) simply miss the performative force of Christ’s words. Luther’s
theory of sacraments makes the Lord’s Supper into the ritualized and conventional repeti-
tion of the testament of Christ. It is anopus operans, the dynamic repetition of the active
work of the divine word; thus all priestly ceremonies, vestments, music, images, and, in
general, all ‘‘works’’ (opus operatum) can be eliminated. In Luther’s sacramental theology,
the three sacraments he recognizes—the Lord’s Supper, baptism, and penitence—are
‘‘signs’’ that serve as reminders of this speech act of promise.
Luther’s theology of the iterable divine speech act is exemplified in the claim he
makes, in the ‘‘Babylonian Captivity of the Church,’’ that baptism performed as a joke
and a mockery is still valid. It is not the intention of the person who pronounces the
words and carries out the ceremony that counts, but the transcendental intention, which
includes the interlocutor’s recognition called ‘‘faith.’’ ‘‘Faith’’ thus reformulated is essen-
tially an act of recognizing a divine intention.^26 For this reason, neither ecclesiastical tradi-
tion nor sacerdotal hierarchy can offer guarantees against blasphemy or idolatry. The
concrete and immediate socio-historical significance of this radical reinterpretation was
to empower the believer and to undermine the power of the clergy, but its lasting effect
was to destabilize the normative definitions of piety and blasphemy, serious and comic,
and religious and profane. Because the transcendental consciousness called ‘‘God’’ makes
the recognition of it called ‘‘faith’’ into an obligation, not external formal characteristics
of speech and action but the individual’s conviction determine whether they are pious or
blasphemous.
Scandal
The papal bull that eventually led to Luther’s excommunication condemned him for her-
esy and scandal—standard charges against those who deviated from the Church’s dogma.
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