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

authorities, the blindness of the supposedly pious priests, Herod’s insistence on having
his own way rather than God’s—the un-Gelassenheit of Herod’s court and the priests
represents (as Weigel states in no uncertain terms) the source of all conflict, the “Brunn
aller Kriegen.” 381
Whereas Herod’s Ungelassenheit leads him to take violent action, Weigel
commends the Gelassenheit of those who take no action and do not intervene in worldly
affairs. Weigel’s Eckhartian concept of Gelassenheit helps him to reach the conclusion
that reform does not mean modifying earthly institutions, because this kind of change can
only perpetuate suffering by causing wars: the only true reform is the reformation of the
soul, its becoming gelassen. Despite the fact that Weigel hoped to imitate Christ by a
peaceful and quiet evasion (in not publically leaving the Church in protest), his definition
of reformation had practical implications for both Church and State that made him non
grata: Gelassenheit means that neither church nor state are ultimately necessary. Unlike
others who fought for the reform of the church, Weigel thought that a “Christian church”
was a contradiction in terms. That is, it is the very idea of an institutional church that is
the problem, rather than any particular incarnation of the Church. Through his reading of
Eckhart’s mystical texts, Weigel realized that a Christian’s participation or nonparticipation
in them is an indifferent matter, and can neither harm nor save a truly
faithful Christian. In a marked departure from the celebrated confessors and martyrs of
the early Church—and from Martin Luther’s defiantly public statements of belief—
Weigel allowed that neither priests nor parishioners need speak out in public against
practices that were contrary to their beliefs, if doing so would endanger their safety.
Dismissing the call to martyrdom in this way, however, left Weigel spiritually homeless,
381 Weigel, Postille, 78.
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