In agro dominico
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In the bull In agro dominico ("In the field of the Lord") of March 27, 1329 , Pope John XXII condemned . 28 theorems of Meister Eckhart . This ended the inquisition proceedings against Eckhart, who had died before the bull was published. The Pope described the tenets as partly heretical (erroneous, incompatible with orthodoxy), partly suspect of heresy. The bull had the effect that Eckhart's teachings in the late Middle Ages and in the early modern period were generally regarded as heretical or at least problematic in wide circles.
content
The bull begins with a narrative in which serious allegations are made against Eckhart. The Pope stated that a certain Eckhart from Germany , who was supposed to be a doctor and professor of the Holy Scriptures , wanted to know more than was necessary . He turned away from the truth and turned to inventions because he was seduced by the devil. Through his fault, weeds, harmful thistles and poisonous plants grew in the fields of the church. With his sermons he seduced the common people and obscured the true faith.
As a result of the church investigation, the bull proclaims that 26 of Eckhart's doctrines and two others that were ascribed to him are reprehensible. Seventeen sentences can be described as heretical without any restriction. The other eleven are extremely foul-sounding and very bold and suspect of heresy , but if one adds many explanations and additions they could make a Catholic sense. The bull lists the 28 doctrines, divided into three groups: first fifteen heretical sentences, then eleven suspect heresy and finally two heretical, but not definitely from Eckhart. The Pope does not go into the content of the individual sentences and does not justify his evaluations. Nor does he state from which sermons and writings Eckhart's sentences are taken. He announced, however, that he had the sentences checked by many doctors of holy theology and by the college of cardinals and that he had also examined them himself. It was unanimously reached that the sentences contain error "or" heresy. With this formulation with “or” the Pope indicates the possibility that Eckhart erred in good faith and therefore did not act as a heretic, that is, did not consciously deviate from the Church's teaching.
John XXII. declares that he will prevent the heresies from infecting the hearts of the simple . Therefore, he condemns the doctrines and all scriptures in which even one of the sentences is contained. The Pope threatens heresy proceedings against anyone who represents or defends the condemned sentences. In conclusion, he announced that Eckhart had flatly rejected and revoked all of his disputed teachings before his death, insofar as a heretical sense could be ascribed to them. Eckhart's reservation “with regard to that sense” (Latin quantum ad illum sensum ) shows that he stuck to the content of the sentences and continued to regard them as true. He only distanced himself from possible heretical misinterpretations of his statements. Despite this reservation, the Pope is satisfied with Eckhart's explanation in the bull and only condemns the sentences as heretical or suspicious of heresy, without condemning Eckhart himself as a heretic. He emphasizes that Eckhart submitted to the papal judgment and died as a true Catholic.
Some of the sentences condemned come from Eckhart's German sermons and some from his Latin works. The German texts are reproduced in the bull in a Latin translation.
reception
The original of the bull remained in the files of the inquisition proceedings. It is still in the Vatican Archives today .
On April 15, 1329 Pope John XXII. the Archbishop of Cologne , Heinrich II of Virneburg , to publish the bull "In agro dominico" in his church province . In addition to the Archdiocese of Cologne, this included the dioceses of Liège , Utrecht , Münster and Minden , d. H. the whole of the Low German-Dutch area. According to the current state of research, the publication of the bull was not limited to the church province of Cologne, as was previously believed, but was also announced in other north-western European church provinces.
Text output
- Bernhard Geyer, Loris Sturlese a. a. (Ed.): Meister Eckhart: The Latin works. Volume 5: Magistri Echardi opera Parisiensia. Tractatus super oratione dominica. Responsio ad articulos sibi impositos de scriptis et dictis suis. Acta Echardiana. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-17-001086-7 , pp. 596–600 (critical edition)
literature
- Kurt Flasch : Master Eckhart. Philosopher of Christianity . Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60022-7 , pp. 317-321.
- Robert E. Lerner: New Evidence for the Condemnation of Meister Eckhart , in: Speculum 72, 1997, pp. 347-366.
- Kurt Ruh : Master Eckhart. Theologian, preacher, mystic . 2nd Edition. Beck, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-406-33885-2 , pp. 184-187.
- Ulrich Seng: Heinrich II. Of Virneburg as Archbishop of Cologne. Schmitt, Siegburg 1977.
- Winfried Trusen: The trial against Meister Eckhart. Prehistory, course and consequences. Schöningh, Paderborn 1988, ISBN 3-506-73354-0 , pp. 118-128.