the mystical theology of valentin weigel - DataSpace at Princeton ...

poverty. 270 Eckhart begins by setting aside what he calls outer poverty (“ein ûzwendigiu
armuot” 271 ), the giving up of earthly possessions. Though he does concede that it is
praiseworthy to live as Jesus lived on Earth, Eckhart is more interested in an inner
poverty (“ein inwendigiu armuot”), the spiritual poverty that Christ praises in the Sermon
on the Mount, and, crucially, the spiritual poverty that constitutes their claim to the
kingdom of Heaven. Eckhart’s definition of spiritual poverty proves to be far more
complex than the simple formula by which he introduces it: spiritual poverty is wanting
nothing, knowing nothing, and having nothing (“Waare Armut des Geistes ist, do der
Mensch nichts will, nichts weiß und nichts hat”). 272
In the first of these three things—willing nothing—Eckhart demanded a greater
sacrifice than other theologians might. It is not enough simply to desire only what God
desires (to align one’s own will with God’s will), since this still implies the presence of
will—the will to do God’s will is still a will. 273 Nor is it enough to cease desiring
frivolous earthly things and begin desiring lofty things such as eternity or even God
himself (“etwas Begehrung hat der Ewigkeit und Gottes”). 274 Eckhart calls for the soul to
270 The pericope for the sermon is the opening to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3): “Selig sind,
die da geistlich arm sind, Denn das Himelreich ist ir.” Discussing this work in this chapter is in danger of
becoming unwieldy because of the many different versions of Eckhart’s work in play: the Baseler
Taulerdruck version (Weigel’s source), Weigel’s relatively faithful transcription of the Baseler
Taulerdruck, as well as the modern critical edition of Eckhart’s work. Although the rest of this dissertation
uses the critical edition of Eckhart’s works, in my discussion of Weigel’s text in this section, I will quote
directly from Weigel’s own text, noting any significant divergences from the Baseler Taulerdruck if they
are relevant or if Weigel does not copy that particular phrase, and will provide a reference to the modern
critical edition.
271 BT, CCCVIvb. V1, 550:11.
272 Weigel, Zwene nützliche Tractat, 62; BT, CCCVIvb.
273 Ibid; BT, CCCVIIra. “Dann also lang der Mensch das hat, das inn seinen Willen ist und das sein Wille
ist, das er will erfullen den liebsten Willen Gottes, dieser Mensch hat nicht Armut, von welchen wir alhier
reden, denn dieser Mensch hat einen Willen, mit welchen er genüge will sein den Willen Gottes, und das ist
nicht recht.”
274 Weigel, Zwene nützliche Tractat, 63; BT, CCCVIIra.
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