Johann Arndt’s Book of Nature: Medieval Ideas During the German Reformation
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Thomas Willard
Abstract
Sometimes called the grandfather of German Pietism (“der Großvater des deutschen Pietismus”), Johann Arndt (1555-1621) sought to reduce the doctrinal differences among religious reformers in the German-speaking countries by emphasizing the individual Christian’s approach to God as the creator of nature and humankind. To this end, he turned to elements of medieval mysticism. He prepared his own German editions of the anonymous Theologia Germanica, first published in 1528, and the De Imitatione Christi, ascribed to the Dutch theologian Thomas à Kempis and first printed in 1471/1472, as well as an edition of selected sermons given by the Dominican preacher Johannes Tauler (1400-1460). All three of these texts were major sources of medieval German mysticism for Reformation theologians, and the Imitation of Christ was the most frequently printed book of devotions in the German-speaking world. During his lifetime, Arndt was accused of Spiritualism and other departures from Lutheran orthodoxy. However, half-a-century after his death, his books became important texts for the first German Pietists. Most recently, his theological ideas have been recognized as part of a separate esoteric tradition in early modern German thought. Arndt’s major work, Vier Bücher vom wahren Christentum (Four Books of True Christianity, 1610) proceeded from two separately published books on the Old and New Testaments, with their respective emphases on sin and redemption, to a third book on personal conscience. The third book developed Tauler’s notion of the unio mystica (mystical union) of the believer and God. The fourth book was on nature, including human nature, and it capped the sequence. For Arndt thought true knowledge of God came through knowledge of more than the Bible and one’s conscience. He thought that it came through knowledge of God’s love and wisdom as expressed in the creation of the natural world and of mankind.
Abstract
Sometimes called the grandfather of German Pietism (“der Großvater des deutschen Pietismus”), Johann Arndt (1555-1621) sought to reduce the doctrinal differences among religious reformers in the German-speaking countries by emphasizing the individual Christian’s approach to God as the creator of nature and humankind. To this end, he turned to elements of medieval mysticism. He prepared his own German editions of the anonymous Theologia Germanica, first published in 1528, and the De Imitatione Christi, ascribed to the Dutch theologian Thomas à Kempis and first printed in 1471/1472, as well as an edition of selected sermons given by the Dominican preacher Johannes Tauler (1400-1460). All three of these texts were major sources of medieval German mysticism for Reformation theologians, and the Imitation of Christ was the most frequently printed book of devotions in the German-speaking world. During his lifetime, Arndt was accused of Spiritualism and other departures from Lutheran orthodoxy. However, half-a-century after his death, his books became important texts for the first German Pietists. Most recently, his theological ideas have been recognized as part of a separate esoteric tradition in early modern German thought. Arndt’s major work, Vier Bücher vom wahren Christentum (Four Books of True Christianity, 1610) proceeded from two separately published books on the Old and New Testaments, with their respective emphases on sin and redemption, to a third book on personal conscience. The third book developed Tauler’s notion of the unio mystica (mystical union) of the believer and God. The fourth book was on nature, including human nature, and it capped the sequence. For Arndt thought true knowledge of God came through knowledge of more than the Bible and one’s conscience. He thought that it came through knowledge of God’s love and wisdom as expressed in the creation of the natural world and of mankind.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
- Nature and Human Society in the Pre-Modern World 29
- Unnatural Humans: The Misbegotten Monsters of Beowulf 97
- Natural Environment in the Old English Orosius: Ohthere’s Travel Accounts in Norway 135
- When Is a Good Time? Health Advice and the Months of the Year 153
- Humans Serving Nature: Beekeeping and Bee Products in Piero de Crescenzi’s Ruralia commoda 169
- Medieval Epistemology and the Perception of Nature: From the Physiologus to John of Garland and the Niederrheinische Orientbericht. Bestiaries and the ‘Book of Nature’ 189
- Waste, Excess, and Profligacy as Critiques of Authority in Fourteenth-Century English Literature 217
- “A New Flood Was Released from the Heavens”: The Literary Responses to the Disaster of 1333 253
- The Environmental Causes of the Plague and their Terminology in the German Pestbücher of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 301
- Island, Grove, Bark, and Pith: Nature Metaphors in Teresa de Cartagena 331
- Nature, Art, and Human Perception in Giulio Romano’s Room of the Giants at the Palazzo del Te, Mantua (1532–1535) 353
- Human Body, Natural Causes, and Aging of the World in Czech-Language Sources of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period 383
- Perception of Air Quality in the Czech Lands of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 415
- Johann Arndt’s Book of Nature: Medieval Ideas During the German Reformation 435
- Imitation vs. Allegorization: Martin Opitz’s Influential Proposal Concerning Poetic Reflections on Nature 459
- François Bernier and Nature in Kashmir: Belonging in Paradise? 485
- Cosmology and Pre-Modern Anthropology 505
- Praising Perchta as the Embodiment of Nature’s Cycles: Worship and Demonization of Perchta and Holda in Medieval and Early Modern Culture 549
- List of Illustrations 581
- Biographies of the Contributors 583
- Index 589
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
- Nature and Human Society in the Pre-Modern World 29
- Unnatural Humans: The Misbegotten Monsters of Beowulf 97
- Natural Environment in the Old English Orosius: Ohthere’s Travel Accounts in Norway 135
- When Is a Good Time? Health Advice and the Months of the Year 153
- Humans Serving Nature: Beekeeping and Bee Products in Piero de Crescenzi’s Ruralia commoda 169
- Medieval Epistemology and the Perception of Nature: From the Physiologus to John of Garland and the Niederrheinische Orientbericht. Bestiaries and the ‘Book of Nature’ 189
- Waste, Excess, and Profligacy as Critiques of Authority in Fourteenth-Century English Literature 217
- “A New Flood Was Released from the Heavens”: The Literary Responses to the Disaster of 1333 253
- The Environmental Causes of the Plague and their Terminology in the German Pestbücher of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 301
- Island, Grove, Bark, and Pith: Nature Metaphors in Teresa de Cartagena 331
- Nature, Art, and Human Perception in Giulio Romano’s Room of the Giants at the Palazzo del Te, Mantua (1532–1535) 353
- Human Body, Natural Causes, and Aging of the World in Czech-Language Sources of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period 383
- Perception of Air Quality in the Czech Lands of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 415
- Johann Arndt’s Book of Nature: Medieval Ideas During the German Reformation 435
- Imitation vs. Allegorization: Martin Opitz’s Influential Proposal Concerning Poetic Reflections on Nature 459
- François Bernier and Nature in Kashmir: Belonging in Paradise? 485
- Cosmology and Pre-Modern Anthropology 505
- Praising Perchta as the Embodiment of Nature’s Cycles: Worship and Demonization of Perchta and Holda in Medieval and Early Modern Culture 549
- List of Illustrations 581
- Biographies of the Contributors 583
- Index 589
