Luther and Spiritualisten

In the history of the Reformation there was a short but glorious period, the years from 1517 to 1523. During this period the Reformation movement drew together and unified all the liberating forces. But divisions occurred even at the birth of this movement, and this is one of the greatest tragedies in Christian history. This tragedy, however, was mitigated by the fact that through the differentiation of opposing parties, a vigorous emphasis was placed upon aspects of truth which might otherwise have been neglected. We need to concern ourselves here only with the so-called sectarians and Spiritualisten, because it was in opposition to them that the new church orders assumed a special uniformitarian character. Original colleagues and co-workers became critics and opponents of the major reformers almost immediately and formed their own countermovements. Luther found it necessary to oppose the spiritualism and mysticism of his colleagues and co-workers, above all to defend himself against Thomas Müntzer, the “Schwärmer”, who felt that Luther lacked the resolute will necessary to carry the Reformation through to a complete abolition of the Papist priesthood. It is when we come to the influence on Müntzer of mystical and apocalyptic writings that the differences between Luther and Müntzer most clearly emerge. Tauler, significant for Luther too, was for Müntzer of catastrophic importance, and attained the complete renunciation which is called Gelassenheit. Hans Denck, one of the anabaptists, also separated himself from Luther and declared spiritual reform, emphasizing the inward Word, under the influence of Müntzer. He differed fundamentally from Luther in his conception of salvation and in his basis of authority, although he owed his first awakening to him. Further, Sebastian Franck, who was extraordinarily unfettered by medieval tradition, is especially interesting and important as an exponent and interpreter of a religion based on inward authority, because he unites, in an unusual manner, the intellectual ideals of the Humanist with the experience and attitude of the Mystic. We will clarify the characteristic feature of the mysticism of Spiritualisten. In the above-mentioned context, this paper seeks to elucidate the following points: (1) The Mysticism of Thomas Müntzer. (2) Hans Denck and the mystical inward Word. (3) Sebastian Frank and the inward religion.departmental bulletin pape