Jacob Böhme and the Theology of Paracelsus (1493/94–1541)

Chapter 7 The New Adam: Jacob Böhme and the Theology of Paracelsus (1493/94–1541)

Urs Leo Gantenbein

Elsewhere in this volume,1 reference has been made to Winfried Zeller’s concept of the “crisis of piety” (Frömmigkeitskrise), said to have developed around 1600.2 This concept implies that the narrow religious atmosphere of a hard- ening theological orthodoxy, whether Catholic, Calvinist, or Lutheran, was mainly concerned with the defense of its own teachings against all opponents. This gave rise to a vacuum in the sphere of lived religion. Believers became alienated from their authentic spiritual feelings by the dominance of rigid dogmatic norms. What they therefore longed for was a teaching which might provide consolation and guidance through devotion to God, indeed a teaching that might perhaps offer a mystically experienced union with the deity. This may help explain how in the first two decades of the seventeenth century so many independent thinkers sought new modes of religious expression in their publications. Other contributors to this volume have discussed Johann Arndt (1555–1621), whose four books Vom wahren Christentum (1605–1610) became a religious bestseller, as well as Martin Moller (1547–1606), who was for a time Böhme’s pastor in Görlitz. Both men conform to Zeller’s crisis concept which stresses experience over doctrinal polemic. Notably, however, even the Lutheran theologian Philipp Nicolai (1556–1608), a harsh polemicist against Calvinism, published writings that gave voice to a mystical piety.3

1 I wish to express my thanks to Andrew Weeks for the continuing fruitful discussions, his many helpful comments, and the English translation in parts of my text. 2 Winfried Zeller, “Lutherische Lebenszeugen. Gestalten und Gestalt lutherischer Fröm- migkeit”. Evangelisches und orthodoxes Christentum in Begegnung und Auseinandersetzung, ed. E. Benz and L.A. Zander, (Hamburg: Agentur des Rauhen Hauses, 1952), 180–202. For a further discussion see the chapter “Zur Frömmigkeitskrise des 17. Jahrhunderts” by Johannes Wallmann. Pietismus-Studien. Gesammelte Aufsätze ii (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008), 118– 131; and the criticism by Markus Matthias, “Gab es eine Frömmigkeitskrise um 1600?”, Fröm- migkeit oder Theologie. Johann Arndt und die “Vier Bücher vom wahren Christentum”, ed. Hans Otte and Hans Schneider, Göttingen: V&R unipress, 2007, 27–42. 3 For example Frewden Spiegel des ewigen Lebens (Frankfurt/Main: Johann Spieß,1599) or Von Christo Jesu dem Bawm des Lebens vnd seinen edlen Früchten (Hamburg: Philip von Ohr, 1607).

This period also saw the flourishing of ever bolder alchemical speculations on God and the world, such as Heinrich Khunrath’s Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Æternae (1595) or Michael Maier’s Atalanta fugiens (1618), and the anonymous manifestos Fama Fraternitatis (1614) and Confessio Fraternitatis (1615) which laid the cornerstone of the Rosicrucian phenomenon. During this same period, the posthumously circulated or printed theological writings of Paracelsus and Valentin Weigel found their way into the mix of discussion and controversy. Since our main purpose here is to suggest how Paracelsus and his theological writings infiltrated and pervaded Böhme’s intellectual environment, we will do well to begin by recounting in general terms the origin and thrust of Para- celsus’ theological work which had originated a century earlier. We will then trace the ramified arteries through which his influence was transmitted so that it became pervasive in Böhme’s surroundings. The following overview of the theological work of Theophrastus von Ho- henheim (1493/94–1541), called Paracelsus, combines chronology with con- tent in order to suggest how his views developed and might have appealed to Weigel, Arndt, and Böhme. Roughly half of his theological writings have never been edited or printed.4 Paracelsus turned early to theology. A prolog written in 1540 appears to look back on twenty years of such engagement.5 Accordingly, it would have begun as early as 1520 during the inaugural phase of the Reformation. Luther’s writings of that year circulated widely and were deeply influential. The Letter to the German Nobility (An den christlichen Adel teutscher Nation, 1520) was sweep- ingly programmatic. Citing 1 Corinthians 12, the reformer declares the priest- hood of all baptized Christians (“Dan alle Christen sein wahrhafftig geystlichs stands, unnd ist unter yhn kein unterscheyd”),6 thereby implicitly authorizing lay people to perform sacerdotal duties and address theological questions. The earliest extant dated works of Paracelsus are from 1524, a year in which he was attempting to settle as a physician in Salzburg. Characteristically, the writings in question are devoted to theology and articulate original views on fundamental issues of the Reformation. On August 15, he concludes his Buch von Maria der Jungfrauen. Later, a revised version of this tract was circulated which was given the title Libellus de Virgine Sancta Theotoca.7 In it, Paracelsus

4 The pending theological works will be edited in the Neue Paracelsus-Edition, Berlin, New York: De Gruyter (abbreviated npe), see www.paracelsus.uzh.ch. Already published is vol. 1: Vita Beata – Vom seligen Leben, 2008. 5 npe 1:5–6; 127. 6 Martin Luther, Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe, vol. 6 (Weimar: Hermann Böhlau, 1888), 407. 7 Wrocław University Library, Cod. Rhed. 333. The text will be edited in npe 5. For a brief de- scription of the Salzburg writings see Urs Leo Gantenbein, “Von der Natur zur Übernatur: