Luther the Mystic

[Scott]

I have heard different sources suggest that Luther was somewhat mystical in his approach to theology. Phillip Schaff makes this point in his work on church history. I have heard this elsewhere too. Any insight on what is meant by this?

Here are some comments from Luther's Simple Way to Pray, which may be relevant:

In terms of preaching the various petitions of the Lord's prayer, Luther advises:

If such an abundance of good thoughts comes to us we ought to disregard the other petitions, make room for such thoughts, listen in silence, and under no circumstances obstruct them. The Holy Spirit himself preaches here, and one word of his sermon is far better than a thousand of our prayers. Many times I have learned more from one prayer than I might have learned from much reading and speculation.

Elsehwhere he speaks of the Holy Spirit preaching in our heart during prayer:

I repeat here what I previously said in reference to the Lord's Prayer: if in the midst of such thoughts the Holy Spirit begins to preach in your heart with rich, enlightening thoughts, honor him by letting go of this written scheme; be still and listen to him who can do better than you can. Remember what he says and note it well and you will behold wondrous things in the law of God, as David says [Ps. 119:18].

This seems a bit different that a Calvinistic view of illumination. It sounds like allot of stuff you would hear in evangelical circles (and that is not meant as an insult).

Anyway, I don't know if the above quotes relate to any mysticism or not, but they just popped to mind from having struck me when I read his work on prayer.