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

context is that he picks up on Eckhart’s characteristic language, calling it the “ground of
the soul” or “inner ground.” 299 Moreover, Weigel makes it clear that Adam is not simply
the first person to be created, but rather stands in for all people, and that God repeats the
creation of Adam for each human being who is conceived. Each person has a double
conception (“es hat ein Jeder Christe eine zwifache empfengnis oder geburt”), a visiblematerial
creation of the mortal body, and a second spiritual-heavenly one. 300 Weigel uses
Luther’s language when he says that Christ is in every person durch den glauben, but
never adds the qualification that Christ is lost to man because of sin and must be reimplanted
in man by faith. Quite the opposite: Weigel writes that Christ is not offenbar,
but that does not mean Christ has been driven away by sin, but rather must be awakened,
remembered or uncovered, which is an entirely different proposition. Weigel does not
deny that humans are sinful, but reminds the reader they are only sinful accidentaliter
and not substantialiter: as he writes, “die seele bleibet seele.” 301
Weigel’s idiosyncratic reading of Genesis leads to a rather counterintuitive
account (at least to a modern reader) about how knowledge is acquired, concluding that
true knowledge of all things (“all erkentnis aller dingen”) is to be found within each
person already. 302 Mirroring the operation of the universe emanating from interior to
exterior, the fundamental principle of Weigel’s epistemology is that knowledge comes
from the knower and not the object known, and he repeats this formula often throughout
Christus, mit allen Himlischen ewigen guttern, Do ist das reich gottes gantz und volkommen, aber nit
offenbar.” Ibid, 61.
299 For example: “Aber die ubernaturliche erkentnis, die mag wol heissen die Innere gottliche erkentnis, dan
sie kommet nicht von aussen hinein, sondern eben das obiectum ist schon darinne, im Inwendigen grunde
der seelen, Nemlich gottes Wort, Wille, gesetz, geist etc.” Weigel, Griff, 53.
300 Ibid, 61.
301 “Es [das reich gottes] muß erwartet, erkennet, gefunden, gefület, geschmeckt werden im Innern grunde
der seelen.” Weigel, Griff, 62 and 72.
302 Ibid, 12.
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