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

inner knowledge—and the Bible is no exception. If one hundred readers were brought
together, each would interpret the Bible differently, each according to his own “eye.”
Were books truly the source of knowledge, they would impress their content on their
readers and there could be neither interpretation nor disagreement. As it is, Weigel
concludes ruefully, “Quot homines, tot sensus, so viel menschen, so viel kopfe.” 329
Nevertheless, the dependence of the outer book on the inner book also guarantees, in a
way, the existence of the inner book, for if the outer book exists, then the inner one must
too.
In this respect, the Bible has a special status apart from other books, and it is to
the proper understanding of what the Bible is, and in particular what the Bible has
become in the confessional Church, that Weigel dedicates the rest of the tract. Weigel
relates a vision he had many years before he wrote the Güldene Griff, claiming here that
his religious beliefs originate in his vision, and are authorized by it. He begins by
reaching back to a time prior to his coming to true faith (“ehe ich zum anfange des waren
glaubens kam”). 330 The false faith that Weigel claims to have had was based on the
opinions of other theologians. However, Weigel’s conversion experience is not described
as being a transition to affirming his own ideas or theologies, but rather as coming to
agree with God’s own theology. Before he believed “mitt den andern,” whereas now he
believes “mit gotte.” 331 Weigel characterizes his youthful error as putting his trust in the
written word: he turns to the written books of many writers, and emphasizes that they
were textual, written by scribenten. Alas, these books neither console him nor enlighten
him, since the more he reads, the less certain he becomes (“mein Hertz war Immer
329 Weigel, Griff, 85.
330 Ibid, 89.
331 Ibid, 88.
124