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troubling. 132 However, I argue that Weigel’s defence of such a split between a Christian’s inner convictions and his outer actions has less to do with a lack of authenticity or a disowning of responsibility, but instead turns around his favourable attitude towards what I am terming indifference. 133 Weigel’s library has not survived, so the modern scholar cannot know for certain which books he read, but reconstructing his bookshelf from the texts he refers to throughout his oeuvre shows that he was particularly interested in this positive view of indifference. This seemingly ragtag collection of texts and schools of thought (mysticism, negative theology, stoicism, skepticism and adiaphora) in fact assembles a variety of discourses about indifference that Weigel draws upon throughout his works. With the exception of the central texts of ancient Greek skepticism, 134 Weigel took extensive reading notes on the classic texts from all these discourses, focusing particularly on the issue of indifference. 135 More importantly, Weigel subsequently appropriated the ideas he gleaned from those texts and gave them a central place in his theological work. These 132 See the comments of Jones, Israel, and Weeks above (p. 5-6). One reader of my dissertation responded by exclaiming that “all evil requires is for good men to stand by and do nothing”. 133 I am setting aside, for now, the problem of having any kind of attitude towards indifference in the first place (can one believe in indifference without abandoning one’s indifference?), and, moreover in writing about indifference (surely if one is truly indifferent, one is not moved to write about it?). Weigel addresses this difficulty in his own work, as do the sources on indifference that he draws on, so I will take this problem up in subsequent chapters. Briefly, those who defend indifference view it as the end point of a dynamic process, of an attitude to be cultivated via an engagement with one’s passions and desires, or as a self-overcoming attitude that kicks the ladder away (so to speak) once it has reached the top of the cliff. 134 These were newly translated and had become a hot topic in 16 th century Europe. While it is possible that Weigel had read—or at least, had read about—Greek skepticism, he did not take notes or excerpt those texts, unlike his reading of Meister Eckhart, Boethius and Pseudo-Dionysius. It is beyond the scope of this dissertation to investigate the evidence for what Weigel knew about Greek skeptics, though, in my opinion, it is certainly a possibility that he was interested in them and had at least read about them. 135 Weigel’s reading notes are found in two works in particular, both dating from 1570. The first is entitled Zwene nützliche Tractat, der erste von der Bekehrung des Menschen, der ander von Armut des Geistes oder waarer Gelassenheit (1570), containing his reading notes on Eckhart and Tauler. This text will be discussed in Chapter 2, as evidence for Weigel’s interest in the idea of Gelassenheit, as the title suggests. The second is entitled De vita beata, non in Particularibus ab exra quaerenda sed in Summo Bono intra nos ipsos possidenda (also from 1570), containing Weigel’s reading notes on Boethius and Dionysius, and will be discussed in Chapter 4. 48
positive understandings of indifference were mobilized to support his vision of a purely interior religion whose focal point is neither the exegesis of written texts (as his own Lutheran Church believed) nor the formal membership in a community that claims a lineage stretching back directly to Christ (as the Roman Church maintained). Upon closer inspection, the concept of indifference is a more complex phenomenon than one might initially credit. On the one hand (the negative view), indifference is a lukewarm, half-hearted attitude towards what ought to be considered important—a sinner’s carelessness about the health of his soul, a schoolchild’s reluctance to learn her lessons, or a wealthy and comfortable citizen’s apathy towards civic duty. This was the view of the Wittenberg reformers with respect to religious indifference, namely that it was simply bad, and ought to be combated with discipline and education, using the power of the state if necessary. For instance, Luther and Melanchthon were appalled when their first parish visitations in 1528 found that, despite the reformers’ own fervent passion for the newly purified theology, the quality of knowledge and devotion of both peasants and their pastors outside Wittenberg fell well short of what they desired or thought necessary. 136 Indifference in religion signified neglect of this highest pursuit, and signalled a perilous state for Christian souls. On the other hand (the positive view), indifference can be legitimated as a cautious, wise restraint in the face of contingency and 136 Luther was disappointed at the state of affairs revealed by the visitation in the preface to his Kleiner Katechismus, calling it a “klägliche, elende Not”: “Diesen Katechismon oder christliche Lehre in solche kleine, schlechte, einfältige Form zu stellen, hat mich gezwungen und gedrungen die klägliche, elende Not, so ich neulich erfahren habe, da ich auch ein Visitator war. Hilf, lieber Gott, wie manchen Jammer habe ich gesehen, daß der gemeine Mann doch so garnichts weiß von der christlichen Lehre, sonderlich auf den Dörfern, und leider viel Pfarrherr fast ungeschickt und untüchtig sind zu lehren, und sollen doch alle Christen heißen, getauft sein und der heiligen Sakrament genießen, können wider [weder] Vaterunser noch den Glauben oder zehen Gebot, leben dahin wie das liebe Viehe und unvernünftige Säue und, nu das Evangelion kommen ist, dennoch fein gelernt haben, aller Freiheit meisterlich zu missebrauchen.” “Enchiridion: Der kleine Katechismus D. Mart. Lutheri für die gemeine Pfarrherrn und Prediger,” in Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979), 501. 49
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 and 36: same laws of physics, but while the
Page 37 and 38: Tertullian’s De Fuga in Persecuti
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: traditional proof texts about the o
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
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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
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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
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Weigel gives the passage an unexpec
Page 145 and 146:
Murren”)—and they do this “in
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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
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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
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defiled the “sacred things” by
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other leaders of the Protestant Ref
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valorization of hierarchy per se in
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as well as the with the arguments u
Page 177 and 178:
freedom, but rather obedience. 468
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The primary piece in the compilatio
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It is hardly surprising that Cochla
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it does during the Council of Trent
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for a hierarchical church, seizing
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the ancient teaching”) that “be
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Dionysiacum. For Lefèvre d’Étap
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Aristotle would have been glad to h
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enlightens all great thinkers in ev
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offered Dionysius to the Gelehrtenr
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nine distinct editions of Dionysius
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editions of Greek and Latin classic
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(Turin), and is a reprint of Lefèv
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presses in Spain (his first publica
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growing body of evidence suggesting
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Weigel concludes that, precisely be
Page 209 and 210:
apart, he suggested that true Chris
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and so did not dwell on the fact th
Page 213 and 214:
Names, as the title suggests, is ba
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animals, through plants and non-liv
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of being.” 580 As we will see lat
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(“God is a rock”) or even a neg
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This is admittedly a nonsensical as
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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
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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
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alternative—namely prayer. 643 We
Page 241 and 242:
Dionysius writes that the summit of
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leibet er illimitatus.” 658 Weige
Page 245 and 246:
work, Weigel had written explicitly
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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
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and ceremonial ones at that. 694 Th
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himself returning gloriously from H
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all being. In relinquishing any cre
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improve appearances but, because it
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than resolve it, because the proble
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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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