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lives into the Middle Ages). In a public space—before the pagan Emperor, in front of a hostile crowd, or in court—a Christian must not deny Christ, even if adhering to his faith in Christ results in him being subjected to the most gruesome trials. 86 A classic martyr story is that of St. Catherine of Alexandria, who speaks so eloquently of her faith before a pagan Emperor and the fifty pagan scholars he called to defeat her in disputation that the scholars are all converted and prefer to be put to death rather than retract their conversion. Her boldness when she speaks to the Emperor is remarkable: “The gods you worship can help neither you nor anybody else.” 87 The Emperor then asks Catherine to marry him and be worshipped as a goddess in his realm, but she answers that she is married to Christ and would rather die than betray her faith. The Emperor then poses the martyr’s question (“Now you choose one or the other for yourself: offer sacrifice and live, or submit to exquisite torture and die!”) but Catherine is defiant: “whatever torments you have in mind, don’t waste time! My one desire is to offer my flesh and blood to Christ as he offered himself for me. He is my God, my lover, my shepherd, and my one and only spouse.” 88 When the time comes for her to be tortured and killed, she is not afraid but rather “raised her eyes to Heaven and prayed.” 86 Even those who survived persecution were still venerated as confessors, and were accorded special authority in the early church. Willy Rordorf, Martyre, Vol. 10, in Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique, doctrine et histoire, ed. Marcel Viller, F. Cavallera and J. de Guibert, 718-726 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1937-1995), 729. 87 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, trans. William Granger Ryan, Vol. 2 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993), 335. Another such story is the martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna. He is arrested, and the Emperor tries to persuade him to perform sacrifices, but he steadfastly refuses: “If you vainly suppose that I will swear by the genius of Caesar, as you request, and pretend not to know who I am, listen carefully: I am a Christian.” (151) Upon hearing that Polycarp openly confessed to being a Christian, the people become angry and demand that he be burned at the stake; even as he is killed he continues to pray and praise God. "The Martyrdom of Polycarp," in The Apostolic Fathers in English, trans. Michael W. Holmes after the earlier version of J.B. Lightfoot and J.R. Harmer (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006). 88 William Granger Ryan, trans., The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, trans. William Granger Ryan, Vol. 2 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993), 338. 32
Tertullian’s De Fuga in Persecutione is another locus classicus for the necessity of witnessing, arguing that persecution should be welcomed as a divine test of faith: “For what else is the result of a persecution, what finally is its effect, if not the approval or condemnation, when God puts the faith of His children to the test? In this sense, then, a persecution is a ‘judgment,’ and the verdict is either approval or condemnation. To be sure, to God alone it belongs to judge, and this is His winnowing fan which even now cleanses the Lord’s threshing floor—His Church, winnowing the mixed heap of the faithful and separating the wheat of the martyrs from the chaff of the cowards.” 89 In Tertullian’s view, Weigel would most certainly qualify as chaff rather than wheat. In fact, Tertullian might have been doubly critical of Weigel for not speaking up, since his public ministry placed him in a special position of authority. As he writes: “But when persons in authority themselves—I mean the very deacons, and presbyters, and bishops— take to flight...When the leaders run away, who of the common crowd can hope to persuade anyone to stand firm in battle?” 90 Rather than accusing Weigel of cowardice in the face of persecution, as discussed above, perhaps we might analyse his decision not to testify as a decision to admit calculation into religious behaviour, rather than the calculation-free attitude of the martyr (the obligation to testify no matter the cost). Thinking of decision making as risk management is considered a hallmark of the modern and secular world, dating back not much further than the seventeenth century, where the modern world is said to think of the world as a complex system that can be (at least partially) known and (to a certain extent) 89 Tertullian, Disciplinary, Moral and Ascetical Works, trans. Rudolph Arbesmann, Emily Joseph Daly and Edwin A. Quain (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1959), 276. See also Eduard Christen, Märtyrer, Vol. 22, in Theologische Realenzyklopädie (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1991), 196-220. 90 Tertullian, 276. 33
Page 1 and 2: MYSTICISM & CONFESSIONAL CONFLICT I
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACT This dissertation investig
Page 5 and 6: INTRODUCTION • ES IST DIR NICHT B
Page 7 and 8: mostly undisturbed by his Lutheran
Page 9 and 10: yet have signalled his assent with
Page 11 and 12: in a context where action is expect
Page 13 and 14: Protestant Mysticism: Not a Contrad
Page 15 and 16: interest, 31 and praised the Theolo
Page 17 and 18: one can observe the texture of the
Page 19 and 20: discourse and reasoned debate, or t
Page 21 and 22: with fragments of Eckhart and Taule
Page 23 and 24: Dionysius and Eckhart (for differen
Page 25 and 26: movement, but also profound shifts
Page 27 and 28: schools, as well as universities wh
Page 29 and 30: allowed them to cooperate effective
Page 31 and 32: made clear, would result in dismiss
Page 33 and 34: and in these external dealings, the
Page 35: same laws of physics, but while the
Page 39 and 40: as a martyr. Moreover, Holy Scriptu
Page 41 and 42: Alternatively, the so-called four-f
Page 43 and 44: tzeyger und unterrichter ist ynn di
Page 45 and 46: fellow Lutherans in studying books
Page 47 and 48: provoked into action unnecessarily,
Page 49 and 50: masses for the dead (for instance)
Page 51 and 52: traditional proof texts about the o
Page 53 and 54: positive understandings of indiffer
Page 55 and 56: insofar as their imperfection is ra
Page 57 and 58: Of these forms of indifference, I f
Page 59 and 60: to Dionysius’ authority. Two grou
Page 61 and 62: PART I • VALENTIN WEIGEL AND MEIS
Page 63 and 64: investigating his early modern read
Page 65 and 66: was a devilish heretic to others (
Page 67 and 68: his neglect of Eckhart. 158 For ins
Page 69 and 70: “unheilvolle Kompliziertheit”).
Page 71 and 72: and Jerome (wearing what looks like
Page 73 and 74: title page, as mentioned above, des
Page 75 and 76: of a respectable though not fanatic
Page 77 and 78: himself, but rather cultivated part
Page 79 and 80: church that Luther, Melanchthon and
Page 81 and 82: kan”), and specifically the role
Page 83 and 84: soul become convinced that nothing
Page 85 and 86: that salvation can be attained thro
Page 87 and 88:
more importantly, a theology that a
Page 89 and 90:
Mit Recht der Meister genannt: Mode
Page 91 and 92:
These role-reversal dialogues were
Page 93 and 94:
As this chapter has shown, Eckhart
Page 95 and 96:
philosophers from Hegel and Schopen
Page 97 and 98:
CHAPTER 2 • GELASSENE GELASSENHEI
Page 99 and 100:
the relationship between Tauler and
Page 101 and 102:
e “as it was when it was not.”
Page 103 and 104:
Eckhart agree that spiritual povert
Page 105 and 106:
one-of-a-kind thing, or the best ki
Page 107 and 108:
einvaltig stille), an uncreated lig
Page 109 and 110:
e as free of willing and desiring a
Page 111 and 112:
nestling inside the soul, but rathe
Page 113 and 114:
Gelassenheit, das ist, das er nicht
Page 115 and 116:
(necessarily inferior) knowledge pr
Page 117 and 118:
context is that he picks up on Eckh
Page 119 and 120:
he begins to steer the discussion a
Page 121 and 122:
further proof for Weigel’s theory
Page 123 and 124:
understood that the mind cannot pos
Page 125 and 126:
wait in stiller Gelassenheit, recei
Page 127 and 128:
truth as an educated theologian or
Page 129 and 130:
ungewisser”) and finds that his f
Page 131 and 132:
die Blinden an ein ander gehetzett,
Page 133 and 134:
gesagett das ist er selber und ist
Page 135 and 136:
Gelassenheit for the Bible, which i
Page 137 and 138:
that the kind of Gelassenheit Weige
Page 139 and 140:
indifference that allows Weigel to
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teacher. 366 However, the turning p
Page 143 and 144:
Weigel gives the passage an unexpec
Page 145 and 146:
Murren”)—and they do this “in
Page 147 and 148:
and all the more so since he saw li
Page 149 and 150:
the strength of the intellectual re
Page 151 and 152:
CHAPTER 3 • DIONYSIUS, WHOEVER HE
Page 153 and 154:
demonstrated for Eckhart, I will de
Page 155 and 156:
destroyer that Dionysius is most of
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ears good news to the church.” 39
Page 159 and 160:
points out, with a purification, a
Page 161 and 162:
served as cornerstones in defences
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(Acts 17: 15-34), one of the skepti
Page 165 and 166:
to make the interpretation of these
Page 167 and 168:
Outside the universities, Dionysius
Page 169 and 170:
defiled the “sacred things” by
Page 171 and 172:
other leaders of the Protestant Ref
Page 173 and 174:
valorization of hierarchy per se in
Page 175 and 176:
as well as the with the arguments u
Page 177 and 178:
freedom, but rather obedience. 468
Page 179 and 180:
The primary piece in the compilatio
Page 181 and 182:
It is hardly surprising that Cochla
Page 183 and 184:
it does during the Council of Trent
Page 185 and 186:
for a hierarchical church, seizing
Page 187 and 188:
the ancient teaching”) that “be
Page 189 and 190:
Dionysiacum. For Lefèvre d’Étap
Page 191 and 192:
Aristotle would have been glad to h
Page 193 and 194:
enlightens all great thinkers in ev
Page 195 and 196:
offered Dionysius to the Gelehrtenr
Page 197 and 198:
nine distinct editions of Dionysius
Page 199 and 200:
editions of Greek and Latin classic
Page 201 and 202:
(Turin), and is a reprint of Lefèv
Page 203 and 204:
presses in Spain (his first publica
Page 205 and 206:
growing body of evidence suggesting
Page 207 and 208:
Weigel concludes that, precisely be
Page 209 and 210:
apart, he suggested that true Chris
Page 211 and 212:
and so did not dwell on the fact th
Page 213 and 214:
Names, as the title suggests, is ba
Page 215 and 216:
animals, through plants and non-liv
Page 217 and 218:
of being.” 580 As we will see lat
Page 219 and 220:
(“God is a rock”) or even a neg
Page 221 and 222:
This is admittedly a nonsensical as
Page 223 and 224:
compositions, most likely dating to
Page 225 and 226:
Dionysius to show that, just as God
Page 227 and 228:
efer to Greek and Hebrew, the bibli
Page 229 and 230:
argues that there cannot be more th
Page 231 and 232:
dicitur una.” 616 The stress that
Page 233 and 234:
Weigel suggests will allow the soul
Page 235 and 236:
saving sacraments by means of which
Page 237 and 238:
Melanchthon’s Defence of the Augs
Page 239 and 240:
alternative—namely prayer. 643 We
Page 241 and 242:
Dionysius writes that the summit of
Page 243 and 244:
leibet er illimitatus.” 658 Weige
Page 245 and 246:
work, Weigel had written explicitly
Page 247 and 248:
Luther did not ever use the exact p
Page 249 and 250:
as opposed to an office-holder, an
Page 251 and 252:
writing. By calling his Layman der
Page 253 and 254:
Others are loyal to mere men (the P
Page 255 and 256:
zuerzeigen einen rechtschaffen vnd
Page 257 and 258:
and ceremonial ones at that. 694 Th
Page 259 and 260:
himself returning gloriously from H
Page 261 and 262:
all being. In relinquishing any cre
Page 263 and 264:
improve appearances but, because it
Page 265 and 266:
than resolve it, because the proble
Page 267 and 268:
parcels God, who by rights is supre
Page 269 and 270:
Appendix • The Works of Valentin
Page 271 and 272:
BIBLIOGRAPHY Abad, J. M. (1999). Th
Page 273 and 274:
Chenu O.P., M.-D. (1968). In M.-D.
Page 275 and 276:
Eckhart, M. (1993). Werke I (Vol. 1
Page 277 and 278:
Israel, A. (1888). M. Valentin Weig
Page 279 and 280:
MacCulloch, D. (2010). Christianity
Page 281 and 282:
Payne, R. J. (Ed.). (1981). Meister
Page 283 and 284:
Schindling, A., & Ziegler, W. (1990
Page 285 and 286:
Verkamp, B. J. (1975). The Limits u
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