The question of the appropriate relationship between Law and Gospel in Lutheran Tradition evokes the task of a fundamental determination of Christian ethics: Can ethics be understood as autonomously based on the Divine demand (Law) or must it be conceived as totally relying on Divine grace and consolation (Gospel). This essay argues that ethics is only possible in between the poles of both Law and Gospel. The implications of that insight shall be deployed here in discussion with Emmanuel Levinas. His philosophy allows to precisely grasp the inner cohesive-ness of Law and Gospel. So, with Levinas one can secure the severity of Law’s demand without neglecting the necessity of anchoring ethics in Transcendence. Hence, law becomes the task of responsibility for the Other instead of being an impossible path to salvation. This task, however, is only disclosed in the encounter with Transcendence (Gospel).
