Theologia Germanica

Short description: 14th-century text on Christian mysticism

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Theologia Germanica, also known as Theologia Deutsch or Teutsch, or as Der Franckforter, is a mystical treatise believed to have been written in the later 14th century[1] by an anonymous author. It was discovered and published by Martin Luther and became popular and influential in Lutheran pietistic circles. According to the introduction of the Theologia the author was a priest and a member of the Teutonic Order living in Frankfurt, Germany.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Luther's view
* 2 Opposing views
* 3 Translations
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Sources

## Luther's view

Part of a series on

Christian mysticism

Theology · Philosophy

* Apophatic
* Ascetical
* Cataphatic
* Catholic spirituality
* Hellenistic
* Mystical theology
* Neoplatonic
* Henosis

Practices

Monasticism

* Monasticism
* Asceticism
* Spiritual direction

Meditation

* Meditation
* Lectio Divina
* Invoking of Mystic Saints

Active asceticism

* Contemplation
* Hesychasm
* Jesus prayer
* Quietism
* Stages of Christian perfection
* Divinization
* Catharsis
* Theosis
* Kenosis
* Spiritual dryness
* Religious ecstasy

Passive asceticism

* Abstinence

People (by era or century)

Antiquity

* Ancient African
* Origen
* Gregory of Nyssa
* Pseudo-Dionysius

Desert Fathers

* Paul of Thebes
* Anthony the Great
* Arsenius the Great
* Poemen
* Macarius of Egypt
* Moses the Black
* Syncletica
* Athanasius
* John Chrysostom
* Hilarion
* John Cassian

11th · 12th

* Bernard of Clairvaux
* Guigo II
* Hildegard of Bingen
* Symeon the New Theologian

13th · 14th

|  Dominican

* Dominic de Guzmán

Franciscan

* Francis of Assisi
* Anthony of Padua
* Bonaventure
* Jacopone da Todi
* Angela of Foligno

English

* Richard Rolle
* Walter Hilton
* Julian of Norwich
* Margery Kempe

Flemish

* Hadewijch
* Beatrice of Nazareth
* Lutgardis
* John of Ruysbroeck

German

* Meister Eckhart
* Johannes Tauler
* Henry Suso

Female

* Beatrice of Nazareth
* Bridget of Sweden
* Catherine of Siena
* Mechthild of Magdeburg
* Marguerite Porete

15th · 16th

|  Spanish

* Ignatius of Loyola
* Francisco de Osuna
* John of Ávila
* Teresa of Ávila
* John of the Cross

Others

* Catherine of Genoa

17th · 18th

|  French

* Margaret Mary Alacoque
* Pierre de Bérulle
* Jean-Jacques Olier
* Louis de Montfort
* Charles de Condren
* John Eudes
* John of St. Samson

Others

* María de Ágreda
* Anne Catherine Emmerich
* Veronica Giuliani
* Francis de Sales

19th

* Dina Bélanger
* Catherine Labouré
* Mélanie Calvat
* Maximin Giraud
* Bernadette Soubirous
* Conchita de Armida
* Luisa Piccarreta
* Mary of the Divine Heart
* Thérèse of Lisieux
* Gemma Galgani

20th

* Padre Pio
* Therese Neumann
* Marthe Robin
* Alexandrina of Balazar
* Faustina Kowalska
* Sister Lúcia of Fátima
* Edgar Cayce
* Simone Weil
* Alfred Delp
* Thomas Merton
* Charles de Foucauld
* Edvige Carboni
* Elena Aiello

Contemporary papal views

Aspects of meditation
(Orationis Formas, 1989)

Reflection on the New Age (2003)

Literature · Media

* Lingua Ignota
* Ordo Virtutum
* Scivias
* Ascent of Mount Carmel
* Dark Night of the Soul
* Spiritual Canticle
* Way of Perfection
* Book of the First Monks
* The Interior Castle
* Abbey of the Holy Ghost
* A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation
* Religion:Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul
* From Willow Creek to Sacred Heart
* The Glories of Mary
* The Imitation of Christ
* The Ladder of Divine Ascent
* Philokalia
* Revelations of Divine Love
* Spiritual Canticle
* The Story of a Soul
* Theologia Germanica
* Devotio Moderna
* Fatima in Lucia's Own Words
* Calls from the Message of Fatima
* The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima
* Sol de Fátima
* The Cloud of Unknowing
* The Consolation of Philosophy
* The Mirror of Simple Souls
* Sister Catherine Treatise
* Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii
* The Vision of Adamnán
* Divine Comedy
* Inferno
* Purgatorio
* Paradiso
* Fatima

* v
* t
* e

Martin Luther produced a partial edition first in 1516. At that time Luther thought the work might have been written by Johannes Tauler. In 1518, he produced a more complete edition on the basis of a new manuscript that had come to his attention. It was Luther who gave the treatise its modern name; in the manuscripts it is known as Der Franckforter (The Frankfurter). Luther found much that was congenial to him in this late medieval text.

Theologia Germanica proposes that God and man can be wholly united by following a path of perfection, as exemplified by the life of Christ, renouncing sin and selfishness, ultimately allowing God’s will to replace human will. Luther wrote,

> [N]ext to the Bible and St. Augustine, no book has ever come into my hands, from which I have learned... more of God, and Christ, and man and all things that are...[3]

Aldous Huxley assessed Luther’s view of Theologia Germanica by describing it as “that book which Luther professed to love so much, and from which, if we may judge from his career, he learned so singularly little.” [4]

Another goal of Luther in the publication was supporting his thesis that the German language was just as well-suited for expressing theological ideas as the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages.[5] The treatise itself does not discuss or reflect on the fact that it is written in German.

Theologia Germanica gained immense cachet in the Radical Reformation, and in later Lutheran and Pietist traditions. In 1528, Ludwig Haetzer republished Theologia Germanica with interpretive "Propositions" by the Radical Reformer Hans Denck. Towards the end of his life (1541–42), the radical Sebastian Franck produced a Latin paraphrase of the Haetzer version. Sebastian Castellio published Latin (1557) and French (1558) translations, after his break with John Calvin over the execution of Michael Servetus (1553). Just over a decade later, Valentin Weigel studied the work in his Short Account and Introduction to the German Theology (1571). The mystic Johann Arndt reedited an earlier printing based on Luther in 1597; this version was endorsed by Philipp Jakob Spener and had over sixty later printings.[6] In total, about two hundred editions were published between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries.

## Opposing views

John Calvin rejected the work. In a letter to the Reformed Congregation in Frankfurt, Calvin says it is "conceived by Satan's cunning... [I]t contains a hidden poison which can poison the church."[7]

The support for the Theologia Germanica among Protestants led to Catholic suspicion of the work. In 1612, Pope Paul V placed it on the Catholic Church’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum, where it remained into the second half of the twentieth century.

## Translations

The first English translation of the Theologia Germanica dates from 1648. It may have been the work of the preacher John Everard.

A text from 1497, the Wuerzburg or Bronnbach manuscript, was discovered in 1843 and contained text not included in Luther's editions. This text forms the basis of most subsequent English translations. Susanna Winkworth translated the book in 1857.[8]

In 1980, Bengt R. Hoffman brought out an English translation of Luther's 1518 edition.

David Blamires’ 2003 translation is based on Wolfgang von Hinten’s 1982 critical edition.

## See also

* Henry More
* Pierre Poiret
* Christian mysticism
* Meister Eckhart
* Mysticism
* German mysticism

## References

1. ↑ McGinn 2005, p. 394.
2. ↑ Hoffman 1980, p. 2.
3. ↑ Luther, Martin; Winkworth, Susanne (2007). The Theologia Germanica. New York: Cosimo Classics. pp. 9. ISBN 9781602068469.
4. ↑ Huxley, Aldous (2009). The Perennial Philosophy. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 13. ISBN 9780061724947.
5. ↑ Luther, Martin, ed. (1518), "Preface", Theologia Germanica (The Christian Classics Ethereal Library), http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous/theologia.iii.html, retrieved 2010-04-20
6. ↑ McGinn 2005, p. 393.
7. ↑ Hoffman 1980, p. 26, ‘Introduction’.
8. ↑ Theologia Germanica Winkworth translation

## Sources

* Theologia germanica, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous/theologia.html .
* Script error: No such module "Librivox book".
* David Blamires, trans., Theologia Deutsch—Theologia Germanica: The Book of the Perfect Life (Sacred Literature Series. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press, 2003)
* John Furguson, Encyclopedia of Mysticism and Mystery Religions (Crossroad: New York, 1982)
* Hoffman, Bengt, tr (1980), The Theologia Germanica of Martin Luther, The Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist Press .
* McGinn, Bernard (2005), The Harvest of Mysticism, pp. 392–404 .
* Winkworth, Susanna, tr (1857), Theologia Germanica, Andover: John P Jewett & Co, https://archive.org/details/theologiagerman00winkgoog

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