Spiritualism (theology)

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In the history of Christian theology, spiritualism refers to an attitude that assumes the presence of the divine Holy Spirit (Latin spiritus sanctus ) in the human body or in nature and therefore considers everything external to be insignificant or even rejects it entirely in matters of faith: from the Church as an institution, the sacraments and dogmas , in some cases up to the written Bible word .

Occasionally the term is used as a typological term for the entire history of Christianity . However, it is more widespread for a movement that did not emerge until the Reformation , can be identified in the 16th and 17th centuries, and had its post-history primarily in Pietism and the Dissenters . Because of its dependence on medieval mysticism , as represented by Johannes Tauler or the Theologia German , the current is often referred to as "mystical spiritualism".

History and meaning of the term

The term spiritualist , which had been in use for outsiders of the Reformation since the middle of the 19th century , replaced contemporary derogatory terms such as “enthusiasts” or “ crushed spirits ” (often used by Martin Luther ). According to Alfred Hegler , who treated Sebastian Franck in 1892 as a prototype of spiritualism in the Reformation period, Ernst Troeltsch in particular shaped the definition of the term in his social teachings of the Christian churches and groups . Troeltsch saw in "Protestant spiritualism", for which Sebastian Franck and Valentin Weigel in particular stand, a realization of one of the three basic types of Christianity, namely mysticism, while Anabaptism for the sect type and the mainstreams of the Reformation together with Catholicism for the church type stand. Heinrich Bornkamm , who treated largely the same representatives as Troeltsch, used the terms spiritualism and Protestant mysticism alternately and underlined the influence of Luther's theology. Gustav Adolf Benrath stated in 1998 that spiritualism “is not a confessionally determined, school-based, self-contained teaching tradition”. In addition to the “mystical spiritualism” that goes back to Luther and medieval mysticism, he also identified a “libertine spiritualism”, an “apocalyptic spiritualism” and a “humanistic spiritualism”.

In the English language is as spiritualism generally refers to what the German and spiritualism applies. In the wrong back-translation, spiritualism is sometimes referred to as spiritualism . Attempts to establish a connection between early modern spiritualism and spiritualism via Emanuel Swedenborg and Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling have so far remained without much reception.

Important representatives

Spiritualism was already evident in the early days of the Reformation movement, prominently among Luther's colleague Andreas Bodenstein (called Karlstadt), who, after leaving Wittenberg in 1522, opened up to mystical thoughts that led him to deny the salvific effect of the sacraments. His Last Supper tract of 1524 opened the Last Supper dispute and was also significant for Zwingli , whom Luther wrongly viewed as a supporter of “enthusiasm”. One of his most important representatives was Thomas Müntzer , who must be mentioned as influential for the entire left wing of the Reformation. His impulses were taken up in Anabaptism (e.g. by Ludwig Hätzer and Hans Denck ) as well as in individualistic spiritualism ( Sebastian Franck , Kaspar von Schwenckfeld ) and in eschatological or apocalyptic spiritualism ( David Joris , Heinrich Niclaes ). Paracelsus , as well as Valentin Weigel and Jakob Böhme in the late 16th and early 17th centuries , whose writings had an impact far beyond the German-speaking area, are in their own line of tradition . With Johann Arndt , spiritualism found a form which, despite requests from Lutheran orthodoxy , remained communicable in the Lutheran church and could have an impact on ecclesiastical pietism .

Spiritualists rarely formed organized movements. Exceptions are the Schwenkfeldians , the early Quakers and the Gichtelians founded by Johann Georg Gichtel . It was not until Radical Pietism that groups were formed on a larger scale, but these are more to be seen as the post-history of spiritualism.

literature

  • Gustav Adolf Benrath: The teaching of the spiritualists. In: Handbook of the history of dogmas and theology, 2nd ed. Carl Andresen , 2nd edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, pp. 560–610.
  • Volker Leppin , Horst Weigelt , Frieder Ludwig, Walter Sparn :  Spiritualism . In: Religion Past and Present (RGG). 4th edition. Volume 7, Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2004, Sp. 158-1589.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Leppin :  Spiritualism. I. About the concept. II. Church history. 1. Middle Ages and Reformation . In: Religion Past and Present (RGG). 4th edition. Volume 7, Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2004, Sp. 1584-1586.
  2. ^ Alfred Hegler: Spirit and writing in Sebastian Franck. A study of the history of spiritualism during the Reformation. Freiburg 1892.
  3. ^ Ernst Troeltsch: The social doctrines of the Christian churches and groups. Mohr, Tübingen 1912, pp. 849-939, esp. 862.
  4. ^ Heinrich Bornkamm: Mysticism, Spiritualism and the Beginnings of Pietism in Lutheranism. Giessen 1926.
  5. ↑ Gustav Adolf Benrath: The teaching outside the denominational churches. In: Handbuch der Dogmen- und Theologiegeschichte Vol. 2. Ed. Carl Andresen , 2nd edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, pp. 560–672, here p. 561.
  6. ↑ Gustav Adolf Benrath: The teaching outside the denominational churches. In: Handbook of the history of dogmas and theology, 2nd ed. Carl Andresen , 2nd edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, pp. 560-672, here pp. 561f.
  7. ↑ For example, Maurice Barbanell: What is spiritualism? JG Bläschke-Verlag, St. Michael 1982, ISBN 3-7053-1636-2 .
  8. ↑ See e.g. B. Frieder Ludwig:  Spiritualism. II. Church history. 2.b: 19. – 20. Century . In: Religion Past and Present (RGG). 4th edition. Volume 7, Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2004, Sp. 158-1588.
  9. ^ Johannes Wallmann : Church history in Germany since the Reformation (= UTB 1355). 7th, revised edition. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8252-3731-8 , p. 48.