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Petri explicitly portrays his work as a publisher as being in the service of the spiritual betterment of his Scripture-loving readers: “Alzdan[n] mein sondere neygung bißhar allzeyt gewesen, und noch ist, der heyligen schrifft liebhabern nutz und fürderung höher zuo schetze[n], dan[n] alles das so mir sunst zuo eroberung zeitlichs guots villeicht weyter het mögen reyche[n].” As Petri writes, he is not publishing Tauler for financial gain, but rather has “[s]ich alweg geflissen…guote ußerleßne buocher an tag zuo bringen, die einem fro[m]men Christen nit allein tröstlich sunder auch gantz heylsam werendt.” 177 His preface frames Tauler’s teaching as Evangelical, Pauline and scriptural, his sermons being grounded (“wol gegründte predig”) in these sources. 178 The mention of the specifically Pauline cast to Tauler’s theology brings to mind Luther’s positing Paul’s Roman epistle as the key to interpreting scripture (discussed in the Introduction). 179 Moreover, Tauler’s sermons are classed as a special revelation of true faith (“rechten lebendigen glauben”) in a time when, as Luther emphasized over and over, the gospel message was in danger of being extinguished entirely by Rome’s false theology: “der yetzt garnach allenthalb erloschen were, heet uns der barmhertzig got…nit so gnediglich in disen zeyten angesehen, und diß oder anderley bücher und leren nit geoffenbaret.” 180 Amidst this praise for Tauler, the layout of the volume does little to draw attention to the fact that a third of the pages in Petri’s edition contain sermons by Eckhart. The running titles across the top of the pages read “Predig Doctor Jo. Tauleri” throughout, even in the third section dedicated to Eckhart’s sermons. Nor is Eckhart’s name on the and the four Evangelists. There is an example of this from a 1523 edition of the German translation of the New Testament (Hieronymus, 283). 177 BT, Preface. 178 “Dise hochtreffenliche im Euangelio, Paulo, und andern bewerten heyligen leren, wol gegründte predig…Joannis Tauleri”. Ibid. 179 WA7, 27:15-25. See Introduction, p. 37ff. 180 BT, Preface. 68
title page, as mentioned above, despite the fact that Eckhart’s sermons occupy one third of the book. Hieronymus suggests that the publisher attempted to conceal the presence of Eckhart under Tauler’s name for fear of being seen to print the works of a heretic. 181 However, the following discussion will demonstrate that it is more likely that the layout of the Basel Tauler edition is simply due to the fact Eckhart was not considered particularly important—or at least was considered less important than Tauler. In the small paragraph that opens the third part of the edition (the section with Eckhart’s sermons, that is), Eckhart is praised as having been an important source for Tauler. The editor groups together in this third part sermons by a number of theologians, who have in common only the fact that they influenced Tauler: “folgen hernach etlich gar subtil und trefflich kostlich predigen, etlicher vast gelertter andechtiger vätter und lerer, auß denen man achtet Doctorem Tauler etwas seins grundes geno[m]me[n] habe[n].” 182 Eckhart is the chief amongst these influences, but is limited to being merely an influence nonetheless: Tauler mentions Eckhart “underweylen.” From a twentieth century perspective, accustomed to praise of Eckhart as a great theologian, this is hardly a ringing endorsement of Eckhart’s importance. The editor of the Basel edition goes on, however, to note that Tauler’s source was indeed worthy, a “fürtreffenlich hochgelerter man,” who was “in subtilikeiten natürlicher und göttlicher künsten so hoch bericht, das vil gelerter leüt zuo seinen zeitten in ni wol verstuonde[n].” 183 This assessment replicates earlier judgments of Eckhart as too learned for his own good, as ahead of his time and therefore rejected by contemporaries who misunderstood him. The editor goes on to allude to Eckhart’s tangled dealings with the 181 Hieronymus, 140. 182 BT, CCXLII va. 183 Ibid. 69
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MYSTICISM & CONFESSIONAL CONFLICT I
Page 3 and 4:
ABSTRACT This dissertation investig
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INTRODUCTION • ES IST DIR NICHT B
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mostly undisturbed by his Lutheran
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yet have signalled his assent with
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in a context where action is expect
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Protestant Mysticism: Not a Contrad
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interest, 31 and praised the Theolo
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one can observe the texture of the
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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 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 Jerome (wearing what looks like
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
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wait in stiller Gelassenheit, recei
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truth as an educated theologian or
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ungewisser”) and finds that his f
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die Blinden an ein ander gehetzett,
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gesagett das ist er selber und ist
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Gelassenheit for the Bible, which i
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that the kind of Gelassenheit Weige
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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
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Murren”)—and they do this “in
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and all the more so since he saw li
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the strength of the intellectual re
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CHAPTER 3 • DIONYSIUS, WHOEVER HE
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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
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points out, with a purification, a
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served as cornerstones in defences
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(Acts 17: 15-34), one of the skepti
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to make the interpretation of these
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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
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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
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apart, he suggested that true Chris
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and so did not dwell on the fact th
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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
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Dionysius to show that, just as God
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efer to Greek and Hebrew, the bibli
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argues that there cannot be more th
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dicitur una.” 616 The stress that
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Weigel suggests will allow the soul
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saving sacraments by means of which
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Melanchthon’s Defence of the Augs
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alternative—namely prayer. 643 We
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Dionysius writes that the summit of
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leibet er illimitatus.” 658 Weige
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work, Weigel had written explicitly
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Luther did not ever use the exact p
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as opposed to an office-holder, an
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writing. By calling his Layman der
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Others are loyal to mere men (the P
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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
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Appendix • The Works of Valentin
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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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