Medieval mysticism had its origins in Augustinian theology and monkish piety. Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153) was the first medieval figure to develop mysticism as a unique theological position. Bernard based his theology on the belief that the man Jesus is Lord and King. Meditations on Christ’s earthly life, and particularly on His sufferings, were at the center of Bernard’s mysticism. Above all he was motivated by the concept of Jesus as the soul’s Bridegroom, which he derived from the Song of Solomon. Among the first scholastics who perpetuated the mystical point of view were Hugo and Richard of St. Victor. They inserted mystical ideas into the scholastic theological system.
It has often been thought that mysticism and scholasticism are opposed to one another, but the actual relation between them defies this conclusion. Mysticism was not foreign to scholastic theology, nor was the latter foreign to mysticism. There were some scholastics who were pronounced dialecticians (as, for example, Abelard and Duns Scotus), while others blended scholastic theology and mysticism in their writings, such as the Victorines, who have already been mentioned. Thomas Aquinas provides us with another example of this. His books in the field of theology are expressive of mystical experiences and feelings. There are elements in scholastic thought which are related to mysticism. Franciscan theology speaks of the knowledge of God as coming directly to the soul of man. Thomas considered the beatific vision to be the perfection of theology, and he thought of knowledge as a preliminary to this vision. Mystical contemplation frequently formed the basis of scholastic activity. Thomas Aquinas once said that he learned more from his meditations before the cross of Christ than from the study of erudite books. A Franciscan theologian who combined mysticism and scholasticism to a high degree was, as mentioned earlier, Bonaventura.
During the late Middle Ages mystical forms of piety were encouraged by certain basic elements in the culture of the time. There was an increased interest in man, for example. The need for personal, experiential Christianity grew. Individual religious experience was emphasized in a way that was not common in the classical medieval culture. More extensive education increased the influence and the religious activity of the laity.
Late medieval mysticism was dominated by a school which is usually called German mysticism, because of its geographical range. In northern and western Germany a group known as die Gottesfreunde (“the friends of God”) came into being. The most prominent of the German mystic authors belonged to this group. Most of them were from the Dominican school and were related in some respects to the theology of Thomas Aquinas.
One characteristic of mysticism was that it restricted the subject matter of theology much more than did scholasticism. The mystics were above all interested in the following subjects: the doctrine of God, the angels, the soul of man, and the significance of the sacraments and of the liturgical acts.
Chief among the late medieval mystics was Meister Eckhart of Hochheim (d. 1327; taught in Paris, Strasbourg, and Cologne). The most prominent of his followers was Johannes Tauler (d. 1361; active as a preacher in Strasbourg, Cologne, and Basel), who has enjoyed great respect, not least of all among Protestants. Heinrich Seuse (or Suso, d. 1366) and Jan van Ruysbroeck (d. 1381; of Flemish extraction) also belonged to this group. The anonymous Theologia deutsch also originated among “the friends of God.”
Meister Eckhart was related theologically to Thomas Aquinas, but he wove the traditional Christian material together with a Neoplatonic mysticism. At the same time that he developed mystical ideas along theological lines, he also served as a preacher and lecturer. He used both Latin and German. Shortly after his death, 28 of the doctrinal propositions which he defended were declared heretical. Because of this, his name was largely unknown among theologians until the 19th century, when the Romantic Movement placed Eckhart in the foreground among the mystics. German idealism also adopted some of his basic concepts, though in an altered form. Late medieval and Renaissance philosophy was also influenced to some extent by Eckhart’s point of view. Related ideas are found particularly in the works of the well-known philosopher Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464).
According to Meister Eckhart, God is the absolute One, beyond the complexity of creation and even beyond the Trinity. He described the origins of the world partly as a creation, partly as an emanation. There is an absolute cleavage between God and creation. The soul of man alone occupies the middle ground. The soul includes a divine nucleus in the depths of its being, which is the foundation of the soul or the spark of the soul (scintilla animae). This foundation of the soul is identical with the absolute One, and it is the place where God is born in the soul. Eckhart did identify God and being, which sounds like pantheism, but this assumption is neutralized by the sharp distinction which he drew between God and the creation.
Christ, according to Eckhart, is the prototype of the union of God and man. As such He is the example for all the faithful. Eckhart did not place the Cross and the Resurrection at the center, but rather the Incarnation, in which this union was manifested.
Man is saved by dying away from the world and by entering into himself in such a way that he can be united with the divine. This is done in three stages: through purification, illumination, and union.
The first stage, purification, consists of repentance, a dying away from sinful pursuits, and a struggle against sensuousness.
The second stage, illumination, consists in the imitation of the sufferings and obedience of Christ. The best means for this are contemplation of Christ’s sufferings, surrendering one’s own will, and being absorbed in the will of God. It would be wrong to conclude that the mystic ideal is pure passivity. The fusion of God’s will and man’s can just as well take place in an active life. The object is to will and to do that which is good, according to God’s desire, and to turn away from the evil which originates within us. Love of one’s neighbor is the highest form of the love of God. Eckhart wrote: “If anyone should find himself enraptured in the way Paul once was, and then came to hear about a sick man who asked him for a bowl of soup, I believe it would be much better to forsake the rapturous love in order to serve God in a greater love.” But above all, said Eckhart, it is suffering which promotes the dying away from one’s self. “The quickest way to reach perfection is through suffering.” Mystical meditations were often related to painful mortifications, as can be seen, for example, in the writings of Heinrich Suso.
The third and highest stage, the union of the soul with God, takes place when man becomes entirely free from created things and their allurements, as well as from himself. Christ is then born in the soul, and man desires what God wants and becomes one with Him. In some instances this experience was of an ecstatic nature, or else it produced visions, which constitute the very acme of the life of the pious. According to Thomas Aquinas, the vision of God can only take place in eternity, but the mystics sought for this perfect experience of the divine already here in this world.
According to German mysticism, God is the One, the only reality. Being is God, said Eckhart. Where then does creation fit into this monistic point of view? If God is the only reality, that would mean that created things are nothing. But they too have come forth from God. Must not a certain reality at the side of God be ascribed to them? The mystics replied to such questions by saying that the things of the world lack reality apart from God. They are like the rays of light which could not exist apart from the lamp. They are related to God as light is to the fire. Therefore one can speak of the creation as having originated with God and, nevertheless, as being nothing.
Man’s task in life is to depart from the world and even from himself in order to find perfection, which is to say, to be absorbed by the One, to be united with God Himself and thereby to make contact with the only true reality. Man himself belongs to creation, which is nothing, dominated by evil. The primary cause of man’s alienation from God is his own will, which has separated itself from God’s will. Salvation consists of man’s reunion with the divine, and this is accomplished through the three stages referred to above: purification, illumination, and union.
The mysticism of Meister Eckhart was different from that of Bernard of Clairvaux; it was less closely related to Christian doctrine and was more deeply influenced by Neoplatonic ideas. The “mystical union” was emphasized more by the former as the goal of the pious. Eckhart also used philosophical ideas more generally, whereas Bernard’s mysticism centered upon meditations based on the life of Christ.
The other authors who are numbered among the “German mystics” were certainly influenced by Eckhart, but as a rule they were more faithful to the doctrinal tradition of the church. This was especially true of Johann Tauler and the Theologia deutsch.
Johann Tauler’s sermons have come down to us in written form, and they have been read extensively also by Protestants. Tauler was more practical and also more popular than was Eckhart. There are many genuinely evangelical ideas in his writings, and Luther regarded him highly. Nevertheless he was a typical mystic. He accepted the teaching of the divine foundation of the soul within man, and he often placed the inner word above the external proclamation and the words of Scripture.
Another source which exerted a great influence on Luther was the modest little book Theologia deutsch. It was first published in 1516—by Luther himself (it was, in fact, the first book Luther brought to press). In the Foreword to a later edition Luther said that “next to the Bible and St. Augustine, this book has taught me more than any other.” The paper on which Luther submitted these words has been lost, but in the past century another version of this statement was found, bearing the title Der Frankforter. Luther believed that Tauler was the author of Theologia deutsch, but recent discoveries have shown that this is not true. The author of this book, which probably appeared toward the end of the 14th century, was a member of “the friends of God,” but he remains anonymous. The major topic dealt with is “the perfect good”—union with God—and the way to reach this goal.
Another well-known book by a late medieval mystic was De imitatione Christi, by Thomas a Kempis. It appeared at the beginning of the 15th century. The author was initially a teacher at the famous monastic school at Deventer in Holland, but he spent most of his time writing at an Augustinian cloister in Germany. No book written by a mystic has been read more widely than this one. In fact, The Imitation of Christ is one of the most widely distributed books in the entire field of literature. It has been published in some 3,000 editions. The book was published anonymously, and the question of its authorship was long debated.
It has often been thought that mysticism and scholasticism are opposed to one another, but the actual relation between them defies this conclusion. Mysticism was not foreign to scholastic theology, nor was the latter foreign to mysticism. There were some scholastics who were pronounced dialecticians (as, for example, Abelard and Duns Scotus), while others blended scholastic theology and mysticism in their writings, such as the Victorines, who have already been mentioned. Thomas Aquinas provides us with another example of this. His books in the field of theology are expressive of mystical experiences and feelings. There are elements in scholastic thought which are related to mysticism. Franciscan theology speaks of the knowledge of God as coming directly to the soul of man. Thomas considered the beatific vision to be the perfection of theology, and he thought of knowledge as a preliminary to this vision. Mystical contemplation frequently formed the basis of scholastic activity. Thomas Aquinas once said that he learned more from his meditations before the cross of Christ than from the study of erudite books. A Franciscan theologian who combined mysticism and scholasticism to a high degree was, as mentioned earlier, Bonaventura.
During the late Middle Ages mystical forms of piety were encouraged by certain basic elements in the culture of the time. There was an increased interest in man, for example. The need for personal, experiential Christianity grew. Individual religious experience was emphasized in a way that was not common in the classical medieval culture. More extensive education increased the influence and the religious activity of the laity.
Late medieval mysticism was dominated by a school which is usually called German mysticism, because of its geographical range. In northern and western Germany a group known as die Gottesfreunde (“the friends of God”) came into being. The most prominent of the German mystic authors belonged to this group. Most of them were from the Dominican school and were related in some respects to the theology of Thomas Aquinas.
One characteristic of mysticism was that it restricted the subject matter of theology much more than did scholasticism. The mystics were above all interested in the following subjects: the doctrine of God, the angels, the soul of man, and the significance of the sacraments and of the liturgical acts.
Chief among the late medieval mystics was Meister Eckhart of Hochheim (d. 1327; taught in Paris, Strasbourg, and Cologne). The most prominent of his followers was Johannes Tauler (d. 1361; active as a preacher in Strasbourg, Cologne, and Basel), who has enjoyed great respect, not least of all among Protestants. Heinrich Seuse (or Suso, d. 1366) and Jan van Ruysbroeck (d. 1381; of Flemish extraction) also belonged to this group. The anonymous Theologia deutsch also originated among “the friends of God.”
Meister Eckhart was related theologically to Thomas Aquinas, but he wove the traditional Christian material together with a Neoplatonic mysticism. At the same time that he developed mystical ideas along theological lines, he also served as a preacher and lecturer. He used both Latin and German. Shortly after his death, 28 of the doctrinal propositions which he defended were declared heretical. Because of this, his name was largely unknown among theologians until the 19th century, when the Romantic Movement placed Eckhart in the foreground among the mystics. German idealism also adopted some of his basic concepts, though in an altered form. Late medieval and Renaissance philosophy was also influenced to some extent by Eckhart’s point of view. Related ideas are found particularly in the works of the well-known philosopher Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464).
According to Meister Eckhart, God is the absolute One, beyond the complexity of creation and even beyond the Trinity. He described the origins of the world partly as a creation, partly as an emanation. There is an absolute cleavage between God and creation. The soul of man alone occupies the middle ground. The soul includes a divine nucleus in the depths of its being, which is the foundation of the soul or the spark of the soul (scintilla animae). This foundation of the soul is identical with the absolute One, and it is the place where God is born in the soul. Eckhart did identify God and being, which sounds like pantheism, but this assumption is neutralized by the sharp distinction which he drew between God and the creation.
Christ, according to Eckhart, is the prototype of the union of God and man. As such He is the example for all the faithful. Eckhart did not place the Cross and the Resurrection at the center, but rather the Incarnation, in which this union was manifested.
Man is saved by dying away from the world and by entering into himself in such a way that he can be united with the divine. This is done in three stages: through purification, illumination, and union.
The first stage, purification, consists of repentance, a dying away from sinful pursuits, and a struggle against sensuousness.
The second stage, illumination, consists in the imitation of the sufferings and obedience of Christ. The best means for this are contemplation of Christ’s sufferings, surrendering one’s own will, and being absorbed in the will of God. It would be wrong to conclude that the mystic ideal is pure passivity. The fusion of God’s will and man’s can just as well take place in an active life. The object is to will and to do that which is good, according to God’s desire, and to turn away from the evil which originates within us. Love of one’s neighbor is the highest form of the love of God. Eckhart wrote: “If anyone should find himself enraptured in the way Paul once was, and then came to hear about a sick man who asked him for a bowl of soup, I believe it would be much better to forsake the rapturous love in order to serve God in a greater love.” But above all, said Eckhart, it is suffering which promotes the dying away from one’s self. “The quickest way to reach perfection is through suffering.” Mystical meditations were often related to painful mortifications, as can be seen, for example, in the writings of Heinrich Suso.
The third and highest stage, the union of the soul with God, takes place when man becomes entirely free from created things and their allurements, as well as from himself. Christ is then born in the soul, and man desires what God wants and becomes one with Him. In some instances this experience was of an ecstatic nature, or else it produced visions, which constitute the very acme of the life of the pious. According to Thomas Aquinas, the vision of God can only take place in eternity, but the mystics sought for this perfect experience of the divine already here in this world.
According to German mysticism, God is the One, the only reality. Being is God, said Eckhart. Where then does creation fit into this monistic point of view? If God is the only reality, that would mean that created things are nothing. But they too have come forth from God. Must not a certain reality at the side of God be ascribed to them? The mystics replied to such questions by saying that the things of the world lack reality apart from God. They are like the rays of light which could not exist apart from the lamp. They are related to God as light is to the fire. Therefore one can speak of the creation as having originated with God and, nevertheless, as being nothing.
Man’s task in life is to depart from the world and even from himself in order to find perfection, which is to say, to be absorbed by the One, to be united with God Himself and thereby to make contact with the only true reality. Man himself belongs to creation, which is nothing, dominated by evil. The primary cause of man’s alienation from God is his own will, which has separated itself from God’s will. Salvation consists of man’s reunion with the divine, and this is accomplished through the three stages referred to above: purification, illumination, and union.
The mysticism of Meister Eckhart was different from that of Bernard of Clairvaux; it was less closely related to Christian doctrine and was more deeply influenced by Neoplatonic ideas. The “mystical union” was emphasized more by the former as the goal of the pious. Eckhart also used philosophical ideas more generally, whereas Bernard’s mysticism centered upon meditations based on the life of Christ.
The other authors who are numbered among the “German mystics” were certainly influenced by Eckhart, but as a rule they were more faithful to the doctrinal tradition of the church. This was especially true of Johann Tauler and the Theologia deutsch.
Johann Tauler’s sermons have come down to us in written form, and they have been read extensively also by Protestants. Tauler was more practical and also more popular than was Eckhart. There are many genuinely evangelical ideas in his writings, and Luther regarded him highly. Nevertheless he was a typical mystic. He accepted the teaching of the divine foundation of the soul within man, and he often placed the inner word above the external proclamation and the words of Scripture.
Another source which exerted a great influence on Luther was the modest little book Theologia deutsch. It was first published in 1516—by Luther himself (it was, in fact, the first book Luther brought to press). In the Foreword to a later edition Luther said that “next to the Bible and St. Augustine, this book has taught me more than any other.” The paper on which Luther submitted these words has been lost, but in the past century another version of this statement was found, bearing the title Der Frankforter. Luther believed that Tauler was the author of Theologia deutsch, but recent discoveries have shown that this is not true. The author of this book, which probably appeared toward the end of the 14th century, was a member of “the friends of God,” but he remains anonymous. The major topic dealt with is “the perfect good”—union with God—and the way to reach this goal.
Another well-known book by a late medieval mystic was De imitatione Christi, by Thomas a Kempis. It appeared at the beginning of the 15th century. The author was initially a teacher at the famous monastic school at Deventer in Holland, but he spent most of his time writing at an Augustinian cloister in Germany. No book written by a mystic has been read more widely than this one. In fact, The Imitation of Christ is one of the most widely distributed books in the entire field of literature. It has been published in some 3,000 editions. The book was published anonymously, and the question of its authorship was long debated.
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