Martin Luther was the leading reformer of the sixteenth-century. He contributed profoundly to a renewed understanding of Christian faith and life. Luther held multiple roles during his lifetime: friar, priest, professor, husband, and father. As a counsellor, he supported many people—from political leaders to fellow clergy and ordinary folk. Much of his guidance extended to those facing anxiety, mental anguish, and depression. Drawing on his own experience, he understood those struggles deeply, having faced them throughout his life.

A Season of Deep Struggle

Those struggles characterized his time as an Augustinian monk during which he endured long periods of depression. Luther followed his duties as a monk with great zeal. In fact, he went to extremes, saying more prayers and performing more ascetic exercises than others. He did this because of the idea he had of God as an almighty, judgmental ruler who was never satisfied with what people did.

Luther never felt he had done enough ascetic practices to please God. As a result, he was spiritually insecure. Self-absorption, excessive introspection, and obsessive preoccupation with confessing his sins, brought on a spiritual crisis. His condition was hindering him from knowing God’s love. He believed that one has to maintain a perfect purity before God and yet he realized that no one can obey God perfectly. Later, he saw this attitude as a work of Satan who attempted to make the sins of human beings appear greater than God’s grace.

Discovering Grace

Yet in the works of Augustine, Luther found ideas that not only relieved his spiritual crisis but also formed the beginnings of his new theology which would later help many others with similar spiritual insecurities. In Augustine’s Confessions Luther discovered a doctrine of sin. Augustine maintained that every person was born with sin and condemned to hell, and there was nothing the person could do to change that. But Augustine’s accompanying theology of grace held that not everyone went to hell because God chose some people to receive grace and go to heaven as a free gift. This gift was not earned or deserved by anything the person did; it was simply God’s choice. This perspective was transformative for Luther. He realized that despite his sin, God’s grace provided a way out.

This new assurance of salvation was reinforced by his reading of Romans. He recounts:

“I began to understand that in this verse [1:17] the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: ‘The just person lives by faith.’ All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates.”

This development was liberating for Luther spiritually particularly because it rid him in his view of God as a wrathful judge.

God in Our Weakness

These insights from Augustine and Romans led in turn to Luther formulating a robust theology of the cross. It was based on the recognition that human nature is subject to sin and the suffering caused by it was borne by Christ on the cross. Christ embraced of all human pain and suffering including depressive illnesses. Humans can equate with the cross in their own sufferings. This gave it therapeutic value.

Luther’s theology of the cross gave spiritual meaning to weakness. God is present in our weakness whatever its form. This realization was to influence Luther’s pastoral approach. Coupled with these developments in spiritual maturity was a shift in Luther’s personal circumstances. Luther married and became a father of five children, changes which equipped him with an emotional maturity to give fatherly advice to those in need. The many students and visitors Luther and his wife hosted in their home gave him the experience of listening to the troubles of others.

Comfort for the Anxious Soul

Luther’s approach to cases of distress was first to recognize the nature of the suffering being endured. In some cases, individuals were suffering because of an overly-strict religious upbringing; others were overly-anxious about sin or the danger of giving in to it. In certain cases, he had to correct the erroneous view held by some that a sad or melancholic disposition was somehow pleasing to God. For others, the shift the Reformation brought to religious allegiance within households could be productive of mental stress, with some family members converting to Lutheranism, while others who remained in the traditional religion felt isolated and vulnerable. In these various contexts, Luther offered sage pastoral counsel.

Following identification of the source of the suffering, Luther reiterated to the individuals concerned that the forgiveness God offered in Christ sets people free from sin. He identified anxiety as a struggle with an evil being not just an inner conflict. Luther encouraged others to believe that relief from sin and despair should lead to a state of joy. Not only was this a divine command and was pleasing to God, but it was a state to be maintained even in the middle of suffering.

Luther used humour as a counter for depressive moods, as well as encouraging other simple joys of life like music, exercise, games, and time with others. For Luther, suffering in its different forms was used by God to inculcate endurance and patience. Patience was often necessary because there was the danger of persons mis-judging God’s lack of immediate response to our pleas for help. In such often-lengthy periods of waiting, the believer might become the object of attacks by the devil through lies, accusations, and physical tests. In such situations believers needed to trust God to act eventually.

Luther recognized that offering counselling could often be the occasion for teaching the gospel which in turn gave comfort to anxious souls. He reiterated the assurance of forgiveness conveyed by God’s grace and the freedom it gave.

We can learn from Luther’s life and insights that not all anxiety is a source of spiritual failure. However, the general need for all persons to be reconciled with God is intrinsic to the human well-being. Left unresolved depression and anxiety can be a source of spiritual crisis. Doubtless Luther would concur with the assurance given in Scripture:

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)