5. From Leo to Luther

Glutton-Free: Cultivating a Theology of Enough

Part 5: From Leo to Luther

Most Christians today lack a theological understanding of gluttony. In The Psychology and Spirituality of Overeating and Obesity, William Cercle asserts, “No other sin has more prominence in the Bible and among early theologians and less attention in the contemporary church.” 

Yet gluttony was still of theological interest and cultural relevance to Martin Luther: 

“God had graciously given to the Germans who had asked for abundance. But they then had abused God’s blessings by overindulging. Therefore, God allowed the sin to take its course    and ‘immersed us so deeply in our sins that sin thus becomes a habit and a custom, and we no longer regard it as a sin.’ Luther thought this was why gluttony was such a pervasive and yet unrecognized sin among his beloved countrymen.” (Cercle, Loc 1184).

As my own experience with Leo as King Louis shows, gluttony remains a pervasive and unrecognized sin in our day too.

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