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®l)cologta ^crmanica. 
 
OTRONG Son of God, Immortal Love, 
 ^ Whom we, that have not feen thy face, 
 
 By faith, and faith alone embrace, 
 Believing where we cannot prove. 
 
 Thou feemeft human and divine. 
 
 The higheft, holicft manhood Thou j 
 Our wills are ours, we know not how. 
 
 Our wills are ours to make them Thine. 
 
 O Living Will that fhalt endure. 
 
 When all that feems ftiall fufFer (hock. 
 Rife in the fpiritual Rock, 
 
 Flow through our deeds and make them pure. 
 
 That we may lift from out the duft, 
 
 A voice as unto him that hears, 
 A cry above the conquered years. 
 To one that with us works, and truft 
 
 With faith that comes of self-control 
 The truths that never can be proved. 
 Until we clofe with all we loved 
 
 And all we flow from, foul in foul. 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
^Ijcologia ©ertnamm: 
 
 lUtjicl) fettcti) forti) man^ fair Ctneaments of 
 irimne Srntl), anb faitl] ucrp loftg 
 ani lords tljlngs tottcl)ing a 
 perfect £ife. 
 
 EDITED BY DR. PFEIFFER FROM THE ONLY 
 COMPLETE MANUSCRIPT YET KNOWN. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY 
 
 SUSANNA WINKWORTH. 
 
 With a PREFACE by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, 
 Reflor of Everfley, and a LETTER to the Tranflator 
 by the Chevalier Bunsen, D D., D.C.L., &c. 
 And an Introduftion by 
 Profeffor Calvin E. Stowe, D. D. 
 
 ANDOVER : 
 
 PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY W. F. DRAPER, 
 
 at his Printing Houfe, Main Street. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 JOHN P. JEWETT & CO 
 MDCCCLX. 
 
/ 
 
 Entered, according to A€t of Congrefs, In the year 1855, 
 
 BY Warren F. Draper, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the Diftria Court of the Di&ii£i 
 of Maffachufetts. 
 
 W. F. Jy APER, 
 
 Stereotyper and Printer, 
 
 Andover. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 For the evangelical Chriftian this 
 little work needs no other recommen- 
 dation than that which is given by 
 Martin Luther, in his brief, terfe, and 
 charadteriftic preface to it as originally 
 publiflied by him. Amid the multi- 
 tude of theological works then in ex- 
 iftence, with which his mind had been 
 wearied aftd bewildered, this met his 
 eye as an oalis in the defert, as a pre- 
 cious lump of pure gold in a flag of 
 earth and flone. It fets forth the ef- 
 fential principle of the gofpel in its 
 naked fimplicity, juft as it is, and juft 
 as it proves itfelf moft acceptable to 
 every foul which feels its need of fal- 
 b 
 
vi 
 
 Preface. 
 
 vation and finds that falvation in Chrift 
 alone. 
 
 A. fenfe of fin, a convidlion of deep 
 depravity, a feeling of utter helplefl*- 
 nefs, lies at the foundation of all ade- 
 quate appreciation of the gofpel. In 
 proportion as this convidlion and feel- 
 ing is quick and frefli, the gofpel is life 
 and power; in proportion as it is faded 
 and indiftind:, the gofpel becomes pow- 
 erlefs and lifelefs. As it has been 
 juftly faid in nervous, idiomatic Eng- 
 lifh, Well eiiough needs no help. 
 
 Never does the Chriftian, taught by 
 the Spirit, feel fo utterly fielplefs as 
 when he labors in earneft to fecure his 
 own falvation or the falvation of a fel- 
 low creature. He here finds obftacles 
 which God alone can remove, he here 
 encounters a labor which God alone 
 can accompliili; and no language can 
 fully exprefs his own feeling of his own 
 
Preface. 
 
 impotency, and of the unfpeakable 
 worth of that Saviour who is able to 
 fave to the uttermojl. 
 
 The great value and intereft of the 
 following treatife depends on the vivid- 
 nefs and entirenefs with which it holds 
 thefe ideas, and the fingular fimplicity, 
 energy and clearnefs with which it 
 expreffes them. Man never becomes 
 fpiritually minded, he always continues 
 wordly, until he has finally defpaired 
 of himfelf, and thrown his foul wholly 
 on God in Chrift. Then he can tajle 
 the good word of God, and the powers of 
 the world to come, and fee that the Lord 
 is gracious; and foon other objefts will 
 have no glory by reafon of this glory that 
 excelleth. By fuch a one this German 
 Theology will be relifhed with keeneft 
 zeft of appetite; and while to others 
 it will appear dull, old-fafhioned, un- 
 meaning and myftical. 
 
viii 
 
 Preface. 
 
 In this day of the outwardy when all 
 that is phyfical and earthly is pufhing 
 itfelf forward with fuch a deafening, 
 dazzling rulh, it is to be hoped that the 
 inwardy the true Chriftian Hfcy which 
 is hid with Chrijl in Gody may be cher- 
 ifhed and promoted by the republica- 
 tion of a tradl which was in fome fenfe 
 the harbinger of the Proteftant Refor- 
 mation, and helped to create in the 
 foul of Luther that mighty inner man, 
 which in its outer developments fhook 
 the world to its centre and fnapped 
 afunder the chains that Satan had been 
 more than a thoufand years in forging. 
 
 C. E. STOWE. 
 
 Ando'uery September ist, 1855. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ^TpO thofe who really hunger and 
 thirft after righteoufnefs ; and 
 who therefore long to know what 
 righteoufnefs is, that they may copy it : 
 To thofe who long to be freed, not 
 merely from the punifhment of lin 
 after they die, but from fin itfelf while 
 they live on earth; and who therefore 
 wifh to know what fin is, that they 
 may avoid it: To thofe who wifh to 
 be really juftified by faith, by being 
 made jufl: perfons by faith; and who 
 cannot fatisfy either their confciences 
 or reafons by fancying that God looks 
 
X Preface. 
 
 on them as right, when they know 
 themfelves to be wrong, or that the 
 God of truth will ftoop to fid:ions (mif- 
 called forenfic) which would be con- 
 fidered falfe and unjufl: in any human 
 court of law: To thofe who cannot 
 help trufting that union with Chrift 
 muft be fomething real and fubftantial, 
 and not merely a metaphor, and a flower 
 of rhetoric: To thofe, laftly, who can- 
 not help feeing that the do6lrine of 
 Chrift in every man, as the Indwelling 
 Word of God, The Light who lights 
 every one who comes into the world, 
 is no peculiar tenet of the Quakers, 
 but one which runs through the whole 
 of the Old and New Teftaments, and 
 without which they would both be un- 
 intelligible, juft as the fame dodlrine 
 runs through the whole hiftory of the 
 Early Church for the firft two centu- 
 ries, and is the only explanation of 
 
Preface. 
 
 xi 
 
 them; — To all thefe this noble little 
 book will recommend itfelf; and may- 
 God blefs the reading of it to them, 
 and to all others no lefs. 
 
 As for its orthodoxy; to evangeli- 
 cal" Chriftians Martin Luther's own 
 words ought to be sufficient warrant. 
 For he has faid that he owed more to 
 this than to any other book, faving the 
 Bible and Saint Auguftine. Thofe on 
 the other hand, to whom Luther's name 
 does not feem a fufficient guarantee, 
 muft recoiled:, that the Author of this 
 book was a knight of the Teutonic 
 order; one who confidered himfelf,and 
 was confidered, as far as we know, by 
 his contemporaries, an orthodox mem- 
 ber of the Latin Church; that his 
 friends and difciples were principally 
 monks exercifing a great influence in 
 the Catholic Church of their days; that 
 one of their leaders was appointed by 
 
xii 
 
 Preface. 
 
 Pope John XXII. Nuncio, and over- 
 feer of the Dominican order in Ger- 
 many; and that during the hundred 
 and feventy years which elapfed be- 
 tween the writing of this book and the 
 Reformation, it incurred no ecclefiafti- 
 cal cenfure whatfoever, in generations 
 which were but too fond of making 
 men offenders for a word. 
 
 Not that I agree with all which is 
 to be found in this book. It is for its 
 noble views of righteoufnefs and of fin 
 that I honour it, and rejoice at feeing 
 it publifhed in Englifh, now for the 
 firft time from an edition bafed on the 
 perfed: manufcript. But even in thofe 
 points in which I fhould like to fee it 
 altered, I am well aware that there are 
 ftrong authorities againft me. The 
 very expreffion, for injftance, which 
 moft ftartles me, ^^vergottety" deified or 
 made divine, is ufed, word for word. 
 
Preface, 
 
 both by Saint Athanafe and Saint Au- 
 guftine, the former of whom has faid: 
 "He became man that we might be 
 made God;"* and the latter, "He call- 
 ed men Gods, as being deified by His 
 grace, not as born of His fubftance/'-f- 
 There are many paflages, moreover, in 
 the Epiftles of the Apoftles, which, if 
 we paraphrafe them at all, we can hard- 
 ly paraphrafe in weaker words. Itfeems 
 to me fafer and wifer to cling to the 
 letter of Scripture: but God forbid that 
 I fhould wifh to make fuch a man as 
 the Author of the Theologia Germa- 
 nica an offender for a word! 
 
 One point more may be worthy of 
 remark. In many obfcure pafTages of 
 this book, words are ufed, both by the 
 
 * Ainhq lTCriv6q,ji7tri<jEv Iva 'fif*fXg deorroiijdwfisy. Athan. 
 Orat. de Incarn Verbi. Tom. i page io8. 
 
 f Homines dixit Decs, ex gratia fua deijicatos ^ non de 
 fubftantia fua nates. Aug. in Pfalm xlix. (Ed. Bened. 
 Tom. iv. page 414) 
 
xiv Preface. 
 
 Author and by the tranflator, in their 
 ftridt, original, and fcientific meaning, 
 as they are ufed in the Creeds, and not 
 in that meaning which has of late crept 
 into our very pulpits, under the influ- 
 ence of Locke's philofophy. When, 
 for inftance, it is faid that God is the 
 Subftance of all things; this expreflion, 
 in the vulgar Lockite fenfe of fubftance, 
 v^ould mean that God is the matter or 
 ftuff of v^hich all things are made; 
 which w^ould be the grofleft Pantheifm: 
 but *'Subftance" in the true and an- 
 cient meaning of the word, as it ap- 
 pears in the Athanafian Creed, fignifies 
 the very oppofite; namely, that which 
 Jiands under the appearance and the 
 matter; that by virtue of which a thing 
 has its form, its life, its real exiftence, 
 as far as it may have any; and thus in 
 aflerting that God is the Subftance of 
 all things, this book means that every 
 
Preface, 
 
 XV 
 
 thing (except lin, which is no thing, 
 but the difeafe and fall of a thing) is a 
 thought of God. 
 
 So again with Eternity. It will be 
 found in this book to mean not merely 
 fome future endlefs duration, but that 
 ever-prefent moral world, governed by 
 ever-living and abfolutely neceffary laws, 
 in which we and all fpirits are now; 
 and in which we {hould be equally, 
 whether time and fpace, extenfion and 
 duration, and the whole material uni- 
 verfe to which they belong, became 
 nothing this moment, or laftcd endleffly. 
 
 I think it necelTary to give thefe cau- 
 tions, becaufe by the light of Locke's 
 philofophy, little or nothing will be 
 difcerned in this book, and what little 
 is difcerned, will probably be utterly 
 mifunderftood. If any man wifhes to 
 fee clearly what is herein written, let 
 him try to forget all popular modern 
 
xvi 
 
 Preface. 
 
 dogmas and fyftems, all popular philo- 
 fophies (falfely fo called), and be true 
 to the letter of his Bible, and to the 
 inftind:s which the Indwelling Word 
 of God was wont to awaken in his 
 heart, while he was yet a little unfo- 
 phifticated child ; and then let him be 
 fure that he will find in this book germs 
 of wider and deeper wifdom than its 
 good Author ever dreamed of; and that 
 thofe great fpiritual laws, which the 
 Author only applies, and that often in- 
 confiftently, to an afcetic and paflively 
 contemplative life, will hold juft as 
 good in the family, in the market, in 
 the fenate, in the ftudy, ay, in the bat- 
 tle-field itfelf; and teach him the way 
 to lead, in whatfover ftation of life he 
 may be placed, a truly manlike, becaufe 
 a truly Chriftlike and Godlike life. 
 
 Charles Kingsley. 
 
 Torquay, Lent, 1854.. 
 
Hiftorical Introdudion. 
 
 BY THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 ^T^HE Treatife before us was difcov- 
 ered by Luther, who firll: brought 
 it into notice by an Edition of it which 
 he pubhfhed in 1 5 1 6. A Second Edi- 
 tion, which came out two years later, 
 he introduced with the following Pre- 
 face : — 
 
 "We read that St. Paul, though he 
 was of a weak and contemptible pre- 
 fence, yet wrote weighty and pov/erful 
 letters, and he boafts of himfelf that 
 his *fpeech is not with enticing words 
 of man's device,' but ^full of the riches 
 b 
 
xviii 
 
 Hiftorical 
 
 of all knowledge and wifdom.' And 
 if we confider the wondrous ways of 
 God, it is clear, that He hath never 
 chofen mighty and eloquent preachers 
 to fpeak His word, but as it is written: 
 * Out of the mouths of babes and fuck- 
 lings haft thou perfected praife,'Ps. viii. 
 2. And again, *For wifdom opened 
 the mouth of the dumb, and made the 
 tongues of them that cannot fpeak elo- 
 quent,' Wifdom X. 21, Again, He 
 blameth fuch as are high-minded and 
 are offended at thefe fimple ones. Con- 
 filium inopisy &c. *Ye have made a 
 mock at the counfel of the poor, be- 
 caufe he putteth his truft in the Lord,' 
 Pf. xiv. 6. 
 
 **This I fay becaufe I will have 
 every one warned who readeth this lit- 
 tle book, that he fhould not take of- 
 fence, to his own hurt, at its bad Ger- 
 man, or its crabbed and uncouth words. 
 
IntroduEiion. xix 
 
 For this noble book, though it be poor 
 and rude in words, is fo much the richer 
 and more precious in knowledge and 
 divine wifdom. And I will fay, though 
 it be boafling of myfelf and ' I fpeak as 
 a fool,' that next to the Bible and St. 
 Auguftine,no book hath ever come into 
 my hands, whence I have learnt, or 
 would wifh to learn more of what God, 
 and Chrift, and man and all things are; 
 and now I firft find the truth of what 
 certain of the learned have faid in fcorn 
 of us theologians of Wittemberg, that 
 we would be thought to put forward 
 new things, as though there had never 
 been men elfewhere and before our 
 time. Yea, verily, there have been 
 men, but God's wrath, provoked by 
 our fins, hath not judged us worthy to 
 fee and hear them; for it is well known 
 that for a long time paft fuch things 
 have not been treated of in our univer- 
 
XX 
 
 Hijlorical 
 
 fities; nay, it has gone fo far, that the 
 Holy Word of God is not only laid on 
 the Ihelf, but is almoft mouldered away 
 with duft and moths. Let as many as 
 will, read this little book, and then fay 
 whether Theology is a new or an old 
 thing among us: for this book is not 
 new. But if they fay as before, that 
 we are but German theologians, we will 
 not deny it. I thank God that 1 have 
 heard and found my God in the Ger- 
 man tongue, as neither I nor they have 
 I* yet found him in the Latin, Greek, or 
 Hebrew tongue. God grant that this 
 book may be fpread abroad, then we 
 fhall find that the German theologians 
 are without doubt the beft theologians. 
 
 (Signed, without date,) 
 
 Dr. Martin Luther, 
 AuGUSTiNiAN of Wittemberg." 
 
IntroduBion. xxi 
 
 Thefe words of Luther will proba- 
 bly be confidered to form a fufficient 
 juftification for an attempt to prefent 
 the Theologia Germanica in an Englifli 
 drefs. When Luther fent it forth, its 
 effort to revive the confcioufnefs of 
 fpiritual life was received with enthufi- 
 afm by his fellow-countrymen, in whom 
 that life was then breaking with vol- 
 canic energy through the clouds of for- 
 malifm and hypocrily, with which the 
 Romifh Church had fought to ftifle its 
 fires. No fewer than feventeen edi- 
 tions of the work appeared during the 
 lifetime of Luther. Up to the prefent 
 day, it has continued to be a favourite 
 handbook of devotion in Germany, 
 where it has paffed through certainly 
 as many as fixty Editions, and it has 
 alfo been widely circulated in France 
 and the Netherlands, by means of La- 
 tin, French, and Flemifh tranflations. 
 
xxii 
 
 Hijlorical 
 
 To the queftion, who was the author 
 of a book which has exerted fo great 
 an influence, no anfwer can be given, 
 all the various endeavours to difcover him 
 having proved fruitlefs. Till within 
 the lafl few years, Luther was our fole 
 authority for the text of the work, 
 but about 1850, a Manufcript of it was 
 difcovered at Wurtzburg, by Profeffor 
 Reufs, the librarian of the Univerfity 
 there, which has fince been publifhed 
 verbatim by Profeffor PfeifFer,of Prague. 
 This Manufcript dates from 1497; 
 confequently it is fomewhat older than 
 Luther's time, and it alfo contains fome 
 paffages not found in his editions. As 
 upon careful comparifon, it feemed to 
 the Tranflator indifputably fuperior to 
 the beft modern editions bafed upon 
 Luther's, it has been feledled as the 
 groundwork of the prefent tranllation, 
 merely correcting from the former, 
 
IntroduSlion. xxiii 
 
 one or two paffages which appeared to 
 contain errors of the prefs,ormore likely 
 of the tranfcriber's pen. The paffages 
 not found in Luther's edition are here 
 enclofed between brackets. 
 
 As has been ftated, the author of the 
 Theologia Germanica is unknown; but 
 it is evident from his whole caft of 
 thought, as well as from a Preface at- 
 tached to the Wurtzburg Manufcript, 
 that he belonged to a clafs of men who 
 fprang up in Southern Germany at the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century, 
 and who were diftinguifhed for their 
 earneft piety and their prad:ical belief 
 in the prefenceof the Spiritof God with 
 all Chriftians, laity as well as clergy. 
 
 Thefe men had fallen upon evil 
 times. Their age was not indeed one 
 of thofe periods in which the vigour of 
 the nobler powers of the foul is enfee- 
 bled by the abundance of material prof- 
 
xxiv 
 
 Hijlorical 
 
 perity and phyfical enjoyment, nor yet 
 one of thofe in which they are utterly 
 crufhed out under the hoof of oppref- 
 fion and mifery; but it was an age in 
 which confliding elements were wildly 
 ftrugglingfor the maflery. Thehigheft 
 fpiritual and temporal authorities were 
 at deadly ftrife with each other and 
 among themfelves; and in their con- 
 tefts, there were few provinces or towns 
 that did not repeatedly fuffer the hor- 
 rors of war. The defolation caufed by 
 its ravages, was however fpeedily re- 
 paired during the intervals of peace, by 
 the extraordinary energy which the 
 German nation difplayed in that bloom 
 of its manhood; fo that times of deep 
 mifery and great profperity rapidly al- 
 ternated with each other. But on the 
 whole, during the firft half of this cen- 
 tury, the fenfe of the calamities, which 
 were continually recurring, predomin- 
 
IntroduEiion. xxv 
 
 ated over the recolledlion of the calmer 
 years which were barely sufficient to 
 allow breathing time between the fuc- 
 ceffive waves that threaten to over- 
 whelm focial order and happinefs. 
 
 The unqueflioning faith and honeft 
 enthuliafm which had prompted the 
 Crufades, no longer burnt with the 
 fame fierce ardour, for the unhappy 
 iffue of thofe facred enterprifes, and the 
 fcandalous worldly ambition of the heads 
 of the Church, had moderated its fer- 
 vour and faddened the hearts of true be- 
 lievers. Yet the one Catholic, Chriftian 
 creed ftill held an undivided and very 
 real fovereignty over men's minds, and 
 the fupremacy of the Church in things 
 fpiritual was never queftioned, though 
 many were beginning to feel that it 
 was needful for the State to have an in- 
 dependent authority in things temporal, 
 and the queftion was warmly agitated 
 
xxvi Hijlorkal 
 
 how much of the fpiritual authority 
 refided in the Pope and how much in 
 the bifhops and doctors of the Church. 
 But in whichever way the difpute be- 
 tween thefe rival claims might be ad- 
 jufled, the reverence for the office of the 
 clergy remained unimpaired. The cafe 
 was very different with the reverence 
 for their perfons, which had fallen to a 
 very low ebb, owing to the worldlinefs 
 and immorality of their lives. This 
 again was much encouraged by the con- 
 dud: of the Popes, who, in their zeal 
 to eftablifh worldly dominion, made ec- 
 clefiaftical appointments rather with a 
 view to gain political adherents, or to 
 acquire wealth by the fale of benefices, 
 than with a regard to the fitnefs of the 
 men feledled,or the welfare of the peo- 
 ple committed to their charge. 
 
 On the whole, it was an age of faith, 
 though by no means of a blind, unrea- 
 
IntroduSiion. xxvii 
 
 foning taking things for granted. On 
 the contrary, the evidences of extreme 
 adlivity of mind meet us on every hand, 
 in the monuments of its literature, ar- 
 chitedlure, and invention. A few fad:s 
 ftrikingly illuftrate the divergent ten- 
 dencies of thought and public opinion. 
 Thus we may remember, how it was 
 currently reported that the profligate 
 Pope Boniface VIII. was privately an 
 unbeliever, even deriding the idea of 
 the immortality of the foul, at the very 
 time when he was maintaining againft 
 Philip the Fair, the right of the Pope 
 to fit, asChrift's reprefentative, in judg- 
 ment on the living and the dead, and 
 to take thefword of temporal power out 
 of the hands of thofe who mifufed it.* 
 Whetherthis accufationwas true ornot, 
 
 * Neander's ^^KirckengefchichteJ''' Band 6, S. 15, 20. 
 This work and Schmitz's " Johannes hauler ^oon Straf- 
 burgf'' are the authorities for moft of the fafts here men- 
 tioned. 
 
xxviii 
 
 Hijlorical 
 
 it is a remarkable fign of the times that 
 it fhould have been widely believed. 
 
 Some years later, and when the in- 
 creafed corruptnefs of the clergy^, after 
 the removal of the Papal Court to 
 Avignon, provoked ftill louder com- 
 plaints, we fee the religious and pa- 
 triotic Emperor, Louis IV., accufing 
 John XXII. of herefy, in a public al- 
 fembly held in the fquare of St. Peter's 
 at Rome, and fetting up another Pope 
 " in order to pleafe the Roman people." 
 But though the new Pope was every 
 way fitted, by his unblemifhed charac- 
 ter and afcetic manners, to gain a hold 
 on public efteem, we fee that the Em- 
 peror could not maintain him againft 
 the legitimately eledled Pope, who 
 from his feat at Avignon, had power to 
 harafs the Emperor fo greatly with his 
 interdidls, that the latter, finding all 
 efforts at conciliation fruitlefs, would 
 
IntroduSlion. xxix 
 
 have bought peace by unconditional 
 fubmiflion, had not the Eftates of the 
 Empire refufed to yield to fuch humi- 
 liation. Yet we find this very Pope 
 obliged to yield and retrad: his opinions 
 on a point of dogmatic theology. He 
 had in a certain treatife propounded the 
 opinion that the fouls of the pious w^ould 
 not be admitted to the immediate vifion 
 of the Deity until after the day of Judg- 
 ment. The King of France, in 1433, 
 called an afi^embly of Prelates and theo- 
 logians at his palace atVincennes, v^^here 
 he invited them to difcufs before him 
 the two queftions, w^hether the fouls of 
 departed faints would be admitted to 
 an immediate vifion of the Deity before 
 the refurredtion; and whether, if fo, 
 their vifion would be of the fame or of 
 a different kind after the Judgment 
 Day? The theological faculty having 
 come to conclufions difi'ering in fome 
 
XXX Hijlorical 
 
 refpedls from thofe of the Pope, the 
 King threatened the latter with the 
 ftake as a heretic, unlefs he retradled; 
 and John XXII. iffued a bull, declaring 
 that what he had faid or written, ought 
 only to be received in fo far as it agreed 
 with the Catholic Faith, the Church 
 and Holy Scripture. No circurnftance, 
 perhaps, offers a more remarkable fpec- 
 tacle to us in its contraft with the fpirit 
 of our own times. At the prefent mo- 
 ment, when the Pope could not fit for 
 a day in fafety on his temporal throne 
 without the defence of French or Auf- 
 trian bayonets, we can fcarcely conceive 
 an Emperor of France or Auftria taking 
 upon himfelf to convene an affembly of 
 Catholic theologians, and the latter pro- 
 nouncing a cenfure on the dogmas pro- 
 pounded by the Plead of the Church! 
 It would be hard to fay whether the 
 Sovereigns of the prefent day would be 
 
IntroduEiion. xxxi 
 
 more amufed by the abfurdity of de- 
 voting their time to fuch difcuffions, or 
 the confciences of good Cathohcs more 
 fhocked at. the prefumption of fuch a 
 verdid;. 
 
 Still it muft not be forgotten that 
 the importance of religious affairs in 
 that age muft not be afcribed too ex- 
 clufively to earneftnefs about religion 
 itfelf, for the ecclefiaftical intereft pre- 
 dominated over the purely religious. 
 The Pope and the Emperor reprefent- 
 ed the two great antagoniftic pov^ers, 
 fpiritual and temporal, the rivalry be- 
 tween which abforbed into itfelf all the 
 political and focial queftions that could 
 then be agitated. The queftion of 
 allegiance to the Pope or the Emper- 
 or was like the conteft between royal- 
 ifm and republicanifm; the Ghibelline 
 called himfelf a patriot, and was called 
 by his adverfary, the Guelf, a worldly 
 
xxxii 
 
 Hijlorical 
 
 man or even an infidel, while he retort- 
 ed by calling the Guelf a betrayer of 
 his country, and an enemy of national 
 liberties. 
 
 We cannot help feeing, however, 
 that in thofe days both princes and peo- 
 ple, wicked as their lives often were, 
 did really believe in the Chriflian reli- 
 gion, and that while much of the my- 
 thological, and much of the formaliftic 
 element mingled in their zeal for out- 
 ward obfervances, there was alfo much 
 thoroughly fincere enthufiafm among 
 them. But both the great powers op- 
 prelTed the people, which looked alter- 
 nately to the one fide or the other for 
 emancipation from the particular griev- 
 ances felt to be moft galling at any given 
 moment or place. In the frightful 
 moral and phyfical condition of fociety, 
 it was no wonder that a defpair of Pro- 
 vidence fhould have begun to attack 
 
IntroduEiion . xxxiii 
 
 fome minds, which led to materialiftic 
 fcepticifm, while others fought for help 
 on the path of wild fpeculation. The 
 latter appears to have been the cafe with 
 the Beghards or Brothers and Sifters 
 of the Free Spirit," who attempted to 
 inftitute a reform by withdrawing the 
 people altogether from the influence of 
 the clergy, but whofe followers after a 
 time too often fell into the vices of the 
 priefts from whom they had feparated 
 themfelves. In 13 17, we find the 
 Bifhopof Ochfenftein complaining that 
 Alface was filled with thefe Beghards, 
 who appear to have been a kind of an- 
 tinomian pantheifts, teaching that the 
 Spirit is bound by no law, and annihi- 
 lating the diftindion between the Cre- 
 ator and the creature. Both in their 
 excellencies and defe(fls they remind us 
 of the modern ^'German Catholics," 
 and of fome, too, of the recent Proteft- 
 
xxxiv Hijlorical 
 
 ant fchools in Germany. There feems 
 to have been no party of profeffed un- 
 beUeverSjbut thatfome individuals were 
 fuch in word as well as deed, appears 
 from what Ruyfbroch of Bruffels,* 
 ' (1300- 1 3 30) fays of thofe **who live 
 in mortal fin, not troubling themfelves 
 about God or his grace, but thinking 
 virtue fheer nonfenfe, and the fpiritual 
 life hypocrify or delufion; and hearing 
 with difguft all mention of God or vir- 
 tue, for they are perfuaded that there 
 is no fuch thing as God, or Heaven, or 
 Hell; for they acknowledge nothing 
 but what is palpable to the fenfes." 
 . The early part of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury faw Germany divided for nine years 
 between the rival claims of two Em- 
 perors, Frederick of Auftria, fupported 
 by Pope John XXII. and a fadlion in 
 
 * As quoted by Neander. Kirchengefchichte^ B. 6, 
 S. 769. 
 
IntroduSlion. xxxv 
 
 Germany, and Louis of Bavaria, whofe j 
 caufe was efpoufed by a majority of the | 
 Princes of the Empire, as that of the 
 defender of the dignity and indepen- | 
 dence of the State, and the champion 
 of reform within the Church. The 
 death of Frederick in 1322, left Louis 
 the undifputed Emperor, as far as nearly 
 all his fubjedts were concerned, and he 
 would fain have purchafed peace with 
 the Pope on any reafonable terms, that 
 he might apply himfelf to the internal 
 improvement of his dominions; but 
 John XXIL was implacable, and con- 
 tinued to wage againft him and his ad- 
 herents a deadly warfare, not clofed 
 until his fucceflbr Charles IV, fubmit- 
 ted to all the papal demands, and to 
 every indignity impofed upon him. 
 
 One of the moft fearful confequences 
 of the enmity between John XXIL and 
 Louis of Bavaria, to the unfortunate 
 
xxxvi Hijlorkal 
 
 fuhjedls of the latter, was the Interdid: 
 under which his dominions were laid 
 in 1324, and from which fome places, 
 diftinguifhed for their loyalty to the 
 Emperor, were not relieved for fix and 
 twenty years. Louis, indeed, defired 
 his fubjeds to pay no regard to the bull 
 of excommunication, and moft of the 
 laity, efpecially of the larger towns, 
 would gladly have obeyed him in fpite 
 of the Pope; but the greater part of 
 the bifhops and clergy held with their 
 fpiritual head, and thus the inhabitants 
 of Strafburg, Nuremberg, and other 
 cities, where the civil authorities fided 
 with the Emperor, and the clergy with 
 the Pope, were left year after year with- 
 out any religious privileges; for public 
 worfhip ceafed, and all the bufinefs of 
 life went on without the benedictions 
 of the Church, no rite being allowed 
 but baptifm and extreme undion. 
 
IntroduEiion. xxxvii 
 
 After this had lafted lixteen years, 
 the Emperor, wifhing to relieve the an- 
 guifhed confciences of his people, iffued, 
 in conjundlion with the Princes of the 
 Empire, a great manifefto to all Chrif- 
 tendom, refuting the Pope's accufations 
 againft him, maintaining that he who 
 had been legally chofen by the Eledlors 
 was, in virtue thereof, the rightful Em- 
 peror, and had received this dignity 
 from God, and proclaiming that all 
 who denied this were guilty of high 
 treafon; and therefore none fhould be 
 allowed any longer to obferve the Inter- 
 dict, and all who fhould continue to do 
 fo, whether communities or individuals, 
 fhould be deprived of every civil and 
 ecclefiaftical right and privilege. This 
 courageous edi6l found a refponfe in the 
 heart of the nation, and public opinion 
 continually declared itfelf more ftrongly 
 on the fide of the Emperor. Yet on 
 
xxxviii Hijlorical 
 
 the whole it rather increafed the gen- 
 eral anarchy; for in many places the 
 priefts and monks were fteadfaft in their 
 allegiance to the Pope, and, refufing to 
 adminifter public fervice, were altogeth- 
 er banifhed from the towns, and the 
 churches and convents clofed. In Straf- 
 burg, for inftance, where the regular 
 clergy had long fmce ceafed to perform 
 religious rites, the Dominicans and 
 Francifcans had continued to preach 
 and perform mafs; but now, they too, 
 frightened by the Edidl, which placed 
 them in dired; oppofition to the Pope, 
 dared no longer to difregard the renewed 
 fentence of excommunication hanging 
 over them, and refufing to read mafs, 
 were expelled by the Town Council. 
 Many of thefe banifhed clergy wan- 
 dered about in great diftrefs, with dif- 
 ficulty finding refuge among the fcat- 
 tered rural population, and the fuffer- 
 
IntroduEiion. xxxix 
 
 ings they endured proved the fincerity 
 of their confcientious fcruples. Some 
 few, either from worldly motives, or 
 out of pity for the people, rem.ained at 
 their pofls. The former indeed throve 
 by the miferiesof their fellow-creatures, 
 driving a ufurious trade in the famine 
 of fpiritual confolation; for it is upon 
 record, that in time of peftilence, the 
 price of fhrift has been as much as 
 fixty florins! 
 
 Thefpedtacleof fuchdifcord between 
 the clergy and the laity, was fomething 
 unfpeakably fhocking to the Chriflian 
 world in that age, and the energetic 
 proceedings of the magiftracy m.uft 
 have utterly daggered the faith of many. 
 Of all the events that were liirring up 
 men's paffions and energies, none was 
 more calculated to move their fouls to 
 the very centre, than to find themfelves 
 compelled to ftand up in arms againfl: 
 
xl 
 
 Hijiorical 
 
 thofe whom they had been wont to 
 bow down before and to reverence as 
 the fource of thofe fpiritual bleffings, 
 for the fake of which they were now 
 driven in defperation to take this awful 
 ftep. 
 
 To thefe political and religious dif- 
 fenfions were added, in procefs of time, 
 other miferies. After it had been pre- 
 ceded by earthquakes, hurricanes and 
 famine, the Black Death broke out, 
 fpreading terror and defolation through 
 Southern Europe. Men faw in thefe 
 frightful calamities the judgments of 
 God, but looked in vain for any to fhow 
 them a way of deliverance and efcape. 
 Some believed that the laft day was ap- 
 proaching; feme, remembering an old 
 prophecy, looked with hope for the re- 
 turn of the Great Emperor Frederick 
 II. to reftore juftice and peace in the 
 world, to punifh the wicked clergy. 
 
IntroduElion. 
 
 xli 
 
 and help the poor and oppreffed flock 
 to their rights. Others traverfed the 
 country in proceffions, fcourging them- 
 felves and praying with a loud voice, 
 in order to atone for their fins and ap- 
 peafe God's anger, and inveighing 
 againft man's unbeHef, w^hich had call- 
 ed dow^n God's wrath upon the earth; 
 while fome thought to do God fervice, 
 by wreaking vengeance on the people 
 which had flain the Lord, and thouf- 
 ands of wretched Jews perifhed in the 
 flames kindled by frantic terror. *'A11 
 things worked together to deepen the 
 fenfe of the corruptnefs of the Church, 
 to lead men's thoughts onwards from 
 their phyfical to their fpiritual wants, 
 to awaken reflection on the judgments 
 of God, and to fix their eyes on the in- 
 dications of the future,"* fo that John 
 of Winterthur was probably not alone, 
 
 • Neander, Kirchengefchichte, B. 6, S. 728. 
 
xlii 
 
 Hijlorkal 
 
 in applying to his own times, what St. 
 Paul fays of the perils of the latter days. 
 
 In thefe chaotic times, and in the 
 countries where the ftorms raged moft 
 fiercely, there were fome who fought 
 that peace which could not be found 
 on earth, in intercourfe with a higher 
 world. Deftitute of help and comfort 
 and guidance from man, they took re- 
 fuge in God, and finding that to them 
 He had proved *'a prefent help in time 
 of trouble," '*as the fhadow of a great 
 rock in a weary land,'' they tried to 
 bring their fellow-men to believe and 
 partake in a life raifed above the trou- 
 bles of this world. They defired to 
 fhow them that that Eternal life and 
 enduring peace, which Chrift had pro- 
 mifed to His difciples, was, of a truth, 
 to be found by the Way which he had 
 pointed out, — by a living union with 
 Him and the Fatherwho had fent Him. 
 
IntroduEiion. xliii 
 
 With this aim, like-minded men and 
 women joined themfelves together, that 
 by communion of heart and mutual 
 counfel they rnight ftrengthen each 
 other in their common efforts to revive 
 the fpiritual life of thofe around them. 
 The AfTociation they founded was kept 
 fecret, left through mifconception of 
 their principles, they might fall under 
 fufpicion of herefy, and the Inquifition 
 fhould put a ftop to their labours; but 
 they defired to keep themfelves aloof 
 from everything that favoured of herefy 
 or diforder. On the contrary, they 
 carefully obferved all the precepts of 
 the Church, and carried their obedience 
 fo far that many of their number were 
 among the priefts, who were banifhed 
 for obeying the Pope, when the Em- 
 peror ordered them to difregard the In- 
 terdict. They affumed the appellation 
 of Friends of God," ( Gottesfreiinde) 
 
xliv 
 
 Hijlorical 
 
 and in the courfe of a few years, their 
 alTociations extended along the Rhine 
 provinces from Bafle to Cologne, and 
 eaftwards through Swabia, Bavaria, and 
 Franconia. Strafburg, Conftance, Nu- 
 remberg and Nordlingen were among 
 their chief feats. Their diftinguifhing 
 dodrines were felf-renunciation, — the 
 complete giving up of self-will to the 
 will of God; — the continuous activity 
 of the Spirit of God in all believers, 
 and the intimate union poffible between 
 God and man; — the worthleffnefs of all 
 religion bafed upon fear or the hope of 
 reward; — and the effential equality of 
 the laity and clergy, though for the 
 fake of order and difcipline, the organi- 
 zation of the Church was neceffary. 
 They often appealed to the declaration 
 of Chrift (John xv. 15), ''Henceforth 
 I call you not fervants; for the fervant 
 knoweth not what his lord doeth; but 
 
IntroduBion. xlv 
 
 I have called you friends; for all things ~ 
 that I have heard of my Father I have 
 made known unto you;" and from this 
 they probably derived their name of 
 "Friends of God." Their mode of 
 t action was fimply perfonal, for they 
 made no attempt to gain political and 
 hierarchical power, but exerted all their 
 influence by means of preaching, wri- 
 ting and focial intercourfe. The Af- 
 fociation counted among its members 
 priefts, monks, and laity, without dif- 
 tindion of rank or fex. Its leaders 
 ftood likewife in clofe connexion with 
 feveral convents, efpecially thofe of En- 
 genthal and Maria-Medingen near Nu- 
 remberg, prefided over by the fifters 
 Chriftina and Margaret Ebner, much 
 of whofe correfpondence is ftill extant. 
 Agnes, the widow of King Andrew of 
 Hungary, and various knights and bur- 
 ghers are alfo named as belonging to it. 
 
xlvi 
 
 Hijlorical 
 
 Foremoft among the leaders of this 
 party fhould be mentioned the celebrat- 
 ed Tauler, a Dominican monk of Straf- 
 burg, who fpent his life in preaching 
 and teaching up and down the country 
 from Strafburg to Cologne, and whofe 
 influence is to this day ad:ive among 
 his countrymen by means of his admir- 
 able fermons, which are ftill widely 
 read. At the time of the Interdict, he 
 wrote a noble appeal to the clergy not 
 to forfake their flocks, maintaining that 
 if the Emperor had finned, the blame 
 lay with him only, not with his wretch- 
 ed fubje6ls,fo that it was a crying fliame 
 to vifit his guilt upon the innocent peo- 
 ple, but that their unjufl: oppreflion 
 would be recompenfed to them by God 
 hereafter. He adled up to his own 
 principles, and when the Black Death 
 was raging in Strafl)urg, where it car- 
 ried off* 16,000 vi6lims, he was unwea- 
 
IntroduEiion. xlvii 
 
 ried in his efforts to adminifler aid and 
 confolation to the fick and dying. 
 
 Much of Tauler's religious fervour 
 and hght he himfelf attributed to the 
 inftrudions of a layman, his friend. 
 It is now known from contemporary 
 records that this was Nicholas of Bafle, 
 a citizen of that Free town and a fecret 
 Waldenfian. Little is known of his 
 life beyond the fad: that he was inti- 
 mately conneded with many of the 
 heads of this party, and was reforted to 
 by them for guidance and help; for, 
 being under fufpicion of herefy, he had 
 to conceal all his movements from the 
 Inquifition. He fucceeded, however, 
 in carrying on his labours and eluding 
 his enemies, until he reached an ad- 
 vanced age; but at length, venturing 
 alone and unproteded into France, he 
 was taken, and burnt atVienne in 1382. 
 Another friend of Tauler's, and like 
 
xlviii Hijlorkal 
 
 him an eloquent and powerful preacher, 
 whofe fermons are ftill read with de- 
 light, was Henry Sufo, a Dominican 
 monk, belonging to a knightly family 
 in Swabia. 
 
 One of the leaders of the "Friends 
 of God," Nicholas of Strafburg, was in 
 I 326 appointed by John XXII. nuncio, 
 with the overfight of the Dominican 
 order throughout Germany, and dedi- 
 cated to that Pope an Effay of great 
 learning and ability, refuting the pre- 
 valent interpretations of Scripture, 
 which referred the coming of Anti- 
 chrift and the Judgment day to the 
 immediate future. Thus we fee that 
 the "Friends of God" were not con- 
 fined to one political party, and this 
 likewife appears from the hiftory of 
 another celebrated member of this feet, 
 Henry of Nordlingen, a prieft of Con- 
 ftance, who, like Sufo, was banifhed 
 
IntroduSlion. xlix 
 
 for his adherence to the Pope. One 
 of the moft remarkable men of this feet 
 was a layman and married, Rulman 
 Merfwin, belonging to a high family at 
 Stralburg. He appears to have been 
 led to a religious life by the influence 
 of Tauler, who was his confeffor. He 
 is the author of feveral myftical works 
 which, he fays, he wrote **to do good 
 to his fellow creatures," but he con- 
 tributed perhaps ftill more largely to 
 their benefit by his activity in charitable 
 works, for he eftablifhed one hofpital 
 and feems to have had the overfighf of 
 others alfo. He likewife gave largely 
 to churches and convents, but is beft 
 known by having founded a houfe for 
 the Knights of St. John in Strafburg. 
 The charadleriftic doctrines of the 
 Friends of God have already been in- 
 dicated. That they fhould not have 
 fallen into fome exaggerations was 
 d 
 
1 Hijlorkal 
 
 fcarcely poffible, but where they have 
 done fo, it may generally be traced to 
 the influence of the monaftic life to 
 which moft of them were dedicated, 
 and to the perplexities of their age. 
 
 The book before us was probably 
 written fomewhere about 1350, iince it 
 refers to Tauler as already well known. 
 It was the practice of the Friends of 
 God," to conceal their names as much 
 as poflible when they wrote, left a defire 
 for fame fhould mingle with their en- 
 deavours to be ufeful. This is proba- 
 bljf the reafon why we have no indica- 
 tion of its authorfhip beyond a preface, 
 which the Wurtzburg Manufcript pof- 
 feffes in common with that which was 
 in Luther's hands, and from which it 
 appears that the writer "was of the 
 Teutonic order, a prieft and a warden 
 in the houfe of the Teutonic order in 
 Frankfort." A tranflation of this Pre- 
 
IntroduElion. 
 
 li 
 
 face is prefixed to the prefent volume. 
 Till the difcovery of the Wurtzburg 
 Manufcript, it was fuppofed that this 
 Preface was from Luther's hand, who 
 merely embodied in it the tradition 
 which he had received fromfomefource 
 unknown to us; and hence, fome, dif- 
 regarding its authority, have afcribed 
 the Theologia Germanica to Tauler, 
 whofe ftyle it refembles fo much that 
 it might be taken for his work, but for 
 the reference to him already mentioned. 
 Since however the antiquity of the 
 Preface is now proved, we muft be con- 
 tent with the information which it af- 
 fords us, unlefs any further difcoveries 
 among old manufcripts fhould throw 
 frefh hght upon the fubjed. 
 
 Should this attempt to introduce the 
 writings of the Friends of God" in 
 England, awaken an interefl in them 
 and their works, the Tranflator propofes 
 
lii 
 
 IntroduEiion. 
 
 to follow up the prefent volume with 
 an account of Tauler and feled:ions 
 from his writings; believing that the 
 ftudyof thefe German theologians, who 
 were already called old in Luther's age, 
 would furnilh the beft antidote to what 
 of mifchief Englifli readers may have 
 derived from German theology, falfely 
 fo called. 
 
 Manchefter, February , 1854. 
 
LETTER 
 
 FROM CHEVALIER BUNSEN 
 TO THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 77 Marina, St. Leonard Von-Sea, 
 iith May, 1854. 
 
 My dear Friend, 
 
 YC>UR Letter and the proof flieets 
 of your Tranflation of the Theo- 
 logia Germanica, with Kingfley*s Pre- 
 face and your Introdudlion, were ide- 
 livered to me yefterday, as I was leav- 
 ing Carlton Terrace to breathe once 
 more, for a few days, the refrefhing 
 air of this quiet, lovely place. You 
 told me, at the time, that you had been 
 led to ftudy Tauler and the Theologia 
 Germanica by fome converfations which 
 
liv Letter to the 
 
 we had on their fubjeds in 1851, and 
 you now wifh me to ftate to your rea- 
 ders, in a few lines, what place I con- 
 ceive this fchool of Germanic theology 
 to hold in the general development of 
 chriftian thought, and what appears to 
 me to be the bearing of this work in 
 particular upon the prefent dangers and 
 profpedls of Chriflianity, as well as 
 upon the eternal interefls of religion in 
 the heart of every man and woman. 
 
 In complying willingly with your 
 requeft, I may begin by faying that, 
 with Luther, I rank this fhort treatife 
 Vit^t to the Bible, but unlike him, 
 fliould place it before rather than after 
 St. Auguftine. That fchool of pious, 
 learned, and profound men pf which 
 this book is, as it were, the popular 
 catechifm, was the Germanic counter- 
 . part of Romanic fcholafticifm, and more 
 than the revival of that Latin theology 
 
TranJIator. Iv 
 
 which produced fo many eminent 
 thinkers, from Auguftine, its father, to 
 Thomas Aquinas, its laft great genius, 
 whofe death did not take place until 
 after the birth of Dante, who again 
 was the contemporary of the Socrates of 
 the Rhenifh fchool, — Meifter Eckart, 
 the Dominican. 
 
 The theology of this fchool was the 
 firft proteft of the Germanic mind 
 againft the Judaifm and formalifm of 
 the Byzantine and medieval Churches, 
 — the hollownefs of fcience to which 
 fcholafticifm had led, and the rotten- 
 nefs of fociety which a pompous hier- 
 archy ftrove in vain to conceal, but had 
 not the power nor the will to corred:. 
 Eckart and Tauler, his pupil, brought 
 religion home from fruitlefs fpecula- 
 tion, and reafonings upon imaginary or 
 impoffible fuppofitions, to man's own 
 heart and to the underftandin? of the v \ 
 
Ivi Letter to the 
 
 common people, as Socrates did the 
 Greek philofophy. There is both a 
 remarkable analogy and a ftriking con- 
 traft between the great Athenian and 
 thofe Dominican friars. Socrates did 
 full juftice to the deep ethical ideas 
 embodied in the eftabliflied religion of 
 his country and its venerated myfteries, 
 which he far preferred to the fhallow 
 philofophy of the fophifts; but he dif- 
 fuaded his pupils from feeking an ini- 
 tiation into the myfteries, or at leaft 
 from refting their convidtions and hopes 
 upon them, exhorting them to rely, 
 not upon the oracles of Delphi, but 
 upon the oracle in their own bofom. 
 The " Friends of God," on the other 
 hand, believing (like Dante) moft pro- 
 foundly in the truth of the Chriftian re- 
 ligion, on which the eftablifhed church 
 of their age, notwithftanding its cor- 
 ruptions, was effentially founded, re- 
 
Tranjlator. 
 
 Ivii 
 
 commended fubmiffion to the ordinan- 
 ces of the church as a wholefome pre- 
 paratory difcipline for many minds. 
 Like the faint of Athens, however, they 
 fpoke plain truth to the people. To 
 their difciples, and thofe who came to 
 them for inftruftion, they exhibited 
 the whole depth of that real chriftian 
 philofophy, which opens to the mind 
 after all fcholaftic conventionalifm has 
 been thrown away, and the foul liflens 
 to the refponfe which Chrift's Gofpel 
 and God's creation find in a fincere 
 heart and a felf-facrificing life ; — a phi- 
 lofophy which, confidered merely as a 
 fpeculation, is far more profound than 
 any fcholaftic fyftem. But, in a ftyle 
 that was intelligible to all, they preach- 
 ed that no fulfilment of rites and 
 ceremonies, nor of fo-called religious 
 duties, — in fadi, no outward works, 
 however meritorious, can either give 
 
Iviii 
 
 Letter to the 
 
 peace to man's confcience, nor yet give 
 him ftrength to bear up againft the 
 temptations of profperity and the trials 
 of adverfity. 
 
 In following this courfe they brought 
 the people back from hollow profeffion 
 and real defpair, to the bleffings of gof- 
 pel religion, while they opened to phi- 
 lofophic minds a new career of thought. 
 By teaching that man is juftified by 
 faith, and by faith alone, they prepared 
 the popular intelled:ual element of the 
 Reformation; by teaching that this 
 faith has its philofophy, as fully able 
 to carry convid;ion to the underftand- 
 ing, as faith is to give peace to the 
 troubled confcience, they paved the 
 way for that fpiritual philofophy of the 
 mind, of which Kant laid the founda- 
 tion. But they were not controverlial- 
 ifts, as the Reformers of the fixteenth 
 century were driven to be by their po- 
 
Tranjlator. 
 
 lix 
 
 fition, and not men of fcience exclu- 
 lively, as the mafters of modern phi- 
 lofophy in Germany were and are. 
 Although moft of them friars, or lay- 
 men conneded with the religious or- 
 ders of the time, they were men of the 
 people and men of adion. They 
 preached the faving faith to the people 
 in churches, in hofpitals, in the ftreets 
 and public places. In the ftrength of 
 this faith, Tauler, when he had been 
 already for years the univerfal objecll 
 of admiration as a theologian and 
 preacher through all the free cities on 
 the Rhine, from Bafle to Cologne, 
 humbled himfelf, and remained filent 
 for the fpace of two years, after the 
 myfterious layman had fhown him the 
 infufficiency of his fcholaftic learning 
 and preaching. In the ftrength of this 
 faith, he braved the Pope's Interdid:, 
 and gave the confolations of religion 
 
Ix Letter to the 
 
 to the people of Strafburg, during the 
 dreadful plague which depopulated that 
 flourifliing city. For this faith, Eckart 
 fuffered with patience flander and per- 
 fecution, as formerly he had borne with 
 meeknefs, honours and praife. For 
 this faith, Nicolaus of Bafle, who fat 
 down as a humble ftranger at Tauler's 
 feet to become the inftrument of his 
 real enlightenment, died a martyr in 
 the flames. In this fenfe, the " Friends 
 of God'' were, like the Apoftles, men 
 of the people and practical Chriftians, 
 while as men of thought, their ideas 
 contributed powerfully to the great 
 eflx)rts of the European nations in the 
 fixieenth century. 
 
 Let me, therefore, my dear friend, 
 lay afide all philofophical and theologi- 
 cal terms, and ftate the principle of the 
 golden book which you are juft prefent- 
 ing to the Englifli public, in what I 
 
T^ranjlator. Ixi 
 
 confider, with Luther, the beft Theo- 
 logical exponent, in plain Teutonic, 
 thus : — 
 
 Sin is felfifhnefs: 
 
 Godlinefs is unfelfifhnefs : 
 
 A godly life is the fteadfaft work- 
 
 ing out of inward freenefs from 
 felf: 
 
 To become thus godlike is the 
 bringing back of man's firft na- 
 ture. 
 
 On this laft point, — man's divine 
 dignity and deftiny, — Tauler fpeaks as 
 ftrongly as our author, and almoft as 
 ftrongly as the Bible. Man is indeed 
 to him God's own image. "As a 
 fculptor," he fays fomewhere, with a 
 ftriking range of mind for a monk of 
 the fourteenth century,*** is faid to have 
 exclaimed indignantly on feeing a rude 
 block of marble, *what a godlike beau- 
 ty thou hideft!' thus God looks upon 
 
Ixii Letter to the 
 
 man in whom God's own image is hid- 
 den,'* '*We may begin," he fays in a 
 kindred paffage, '*by loving God in 
 hope of reward, we may exprefs our- 
 felves concerning Him in fymbols {Bil- 
 der)y but we muft throw them all away, 
 and much more we muft fcorn all idea 
 of reward, that we may love God only 
 becaufe He is the Supreme Good, and 
 contemplate His eternal nature as the 
 real fubftance of our own foul." 
 
 But let no one imagine that thefe 
 men, although doomed to paffivenefs 
 in many refpe(fls, thought a contem- 
 plative or monkifti life a condition of 
 fpiritual Chriftianity, and not rather a 
 danger to it. "If a man truly loves 
 God," fays Tauler, "and has no will 
 but to do God"^ will, the whole force 
 of the river Rhine may run at him and 
 will not difturb him or break his peace; 
 if we find outward things a danger and 
 
TranJJator. 
 
 Ixiii 
 
 difturbance, it comes from our appro- 
 priating to ourfelves what is God's." 
 But Tauler, as well as our Author, ufes 
 the ftrongeft language to exprefs his 
 horror of Sin, man's own creation, and 
 their view on this fubjed; forms their 
 great contrail: to the philofophers of the 
 Spinoziflic fchool. Among the Re- 
 formers, Luther ftands neareft to them, 
 with refped: to the great fundamental 
 points of theological teaching, but their 
 intenfe dread of Sin as a rebellion 
 againft God, is fhared both by Luther 
 and Calvin. Among later theologians, 
 Julius Muller, in his profound Eflay on 
 Sin, and Richard Rothe, in his great 
 work on Chriftian Ethics, come neareft 
 to them in depth of thought and ethi- 
 cal earneftnefs, and the firft of thefe 
 eminent writers carries out, as it ap- 
 pears to me, moft confiftently that fun- 
 damental truth of the Theoloma Ger- 
 
Ixiv Letter to the 
 
 manica that there is no fin but Selfifh- 
 nels, and that all Selfiflinefs is fin. 
 
 Such appear to me to be the char- 
 adleriftics of our book and of Tauler. 
 I may be allowed to add, that this fmall 
 but golden Treatife has been now for 
 almoft forty years, an unfpeakable com- 
 fort to me and to many Chriftian friends 
 (moft of whom have already departed 
 in peace), to whom I had the happinefs 
 of introducing it. May it in your ad- 
 mirably faithful and lucid tranflation 
 become a real "book for the million" 
 in England, a privilege which it alrea- 
 dy fhares in Germany with Tauler*s 
 matchlefs Sermons, of which I rejoice 
 to hear that you are making a feledlion 
 for publication. May it become a 
 bleffing to many a longing Chriftian 
 heart in that dear country of yours, 
 which I am on the point of leaving, 
 after many happy years of refidence. 
 
Tranjlator. 
 
 Ixv 
 
 but on which I can never look as a 
 ftrange land to me, any more than I 
 fhall ever conlider myfelf as a ftranger 
 in that home of old Teutonic liberty 
 and energy, w^hich I have found to be 
 alfo the home of Practical Chriftianity 
 and of warm and faithful affedtion. 
 
 BUNSEN. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. I. — Of that which is perfeft and that which 
 is in part, and how that which is in part is 
 
 • done away, when that which is perfeft is come 
 
 Chap. II. — Of what Sin is, and how we are not to 
 take unto ourfelves any good Thing, feeing 
 that it belongeth unto the true Good alone . 
 
 Chap. III. — How Man's Fall and his going aftray 
 muft be healed as Adam's Fall was healed 
 
 Ch^p. IV. — How Man, when he claimeth any 
 good Thing for his own, falleth, and toucheth 
 God in his honour 
 
 Chap. V. — How we are to take that Saying, that 
 we muft come to be without Wifdom, Will, 
 Love, Defire, Knowledge, and the like , . 
 
 Chap. VI. — How that which is beft and nobleft 
 fhould alfo be loved above all Things by us, 
 merely becaufc it is the beft 
 
 Chap. VII. — Of the Eyes of the Spirit, wherewith 
 Man looketh into Eternity and into Time, 
 and how the one is hindered of the other in its 
 working 
 
 Chap. VIII.— How the Soul of Man, while it is 
 yet in the Body, may obtain a Foretafte of 
 eternal Bleffednefs .... ^ ... . 
 
Contents. 
 
 Ixvii 
 
 Chap. IX. — How it is better and more profitable 
 for a Man that he (hould perceive what God 
 will do with him, and to what end He will 
 make ufe of him, than if he knew all that 
 God had ever wrought, or would ever work 
 through all the Creatures ; and how Blelfednefs 
 lieth alone in God, and not in the Creatures, 
 or in any Works 24 
 
 Chap. X. — How the perfeft Men have no other 
 Defire than that they may be to the Eternal 
 Goodnefs what his Hand is to a Man : and 
 how they have loft the Fear of Hell, and Hope 
 of Heaven 28 
 
 Chap. XI. — How a righteous Man- in this prefent 
 Time is brought into Hell, and there cannot 
 be comforted, and how he is taken out of Hell 
 and carried into Heaven, and ' there cannot be 
 troubled 32 
 
 Chap. XII. — Touching that True, inward Peace, 
 
 which Chrift left to his Difciples at the laft . 37 
 
 Chap. XIII. — How a man may caft afide images 
 too foon 
 
 Chap. XIV.— Of three Stages by which a Man is 
 
 led upwards till he attaineth true Perfeaion . 42 
 
 Chap. XV.— How all Men are dead in Adam and 
 made alive in Chrift, and of true Obedience 
 and Difobedience . , , , 4^ 
 
 Chap. XVI.— Telleth us what is the old Man, 
 
 and what is the new Man 47 
 
 Chap. XVII. — How we are not to take unto our- 
 felves what we have done well, but only what 
 we have done amifs 
 
 ♦ 
 
Ixviii Contents. 
 
 Chap. XVIII.— How the Life of Chrift is the 
 nobleft and beft Life that ever hath been or can 
 be, and how a carelefs Life of falfe Freedom is 
 the worft Life that can be 57 
 
 Chap. XIX. — How we cannot come to the true 
 Light and Chrift's Life, by much Queftioning 
 or Reading, or by high natural Skill and Rea- 
 fon, but by truly renouncing ourfelves and all 
 Things 60 
 
 Chap. XX. — How, feeing that the Life of Chrift 
 is moft bitter to Nature and Self, Nature will 
 have none of it, and choofeth a falfe carelefs 
 Life, as is moft convenient to herfelf ... 62 
 
 Chap. XXI.— How a Friend of Chrift willingly 
 fulfilleth by his outward Works, fuch Things 
 as muft be and ought to be, and doth not*con- 
 cern himfelf with'^he reft 64. 
 
 Chap. XXII. — How fometimes the Spirit of God, 
 and fometimes alfo the Evil Spirit may poflefs 
 a Man and have the Maftery over him ... 66 
 
 Chap. XXIII — How he who will fubmit himfelf 
 to God and be obedient to Him, muft be ready 
 to bear with all Things j to wit, God, himfelf, 
 and all Creatures, and muft be obedient to them 
 all, whether he have to fuffer or to do . . . 70 
 
 Chap. XXIV. — How that four Things are needful 
 before a Man can receive divine Truth and be 
 poftefled with the Spirit of God 73 
 
 Chap. XXV. — Of two evil Fmits that do fpring 
 up from the Seed of the Evil Spirit, and are 
 two Siltei>, ,A'ho love to dwell together. The 
 one is called fpiritual Pride and Ilighminded- 
 nefs. and the other i<! ^alfe, lawlefs Freedom 76 
 
 4 
 
Contents. Ixix 
 
 Page 
 
 Chap. XXVI. — Touching Poornefs of Spirit and 
 true Humility, and whereby we may difcern the 
 true and lawful free Men, whom the Truth 
 hath made free 80 
 
 Chap. XXVII. — How we are to take Chrift's 
 Words when he bade us forfake all Things ; 
 and wherein the Union with the Divine Will 
 ftandeth 89 
 
 Chap. XXVIII. — How, after a Union with the 
 Divine Will, the inward Man ftandeth im- 
 moveable, but the outward Man is moved 
 hither and thither *. . , . 91 
 
 Chap. XXIX. — How a Man may not attain fo 
 high before Death as not to be touched and 
 moved by outward Things 93 
 
 Chap. XXX. — On what wife we may come to be 
 beyond and above all Cuftom, Order, Law, 
 Precepts, and the like 96 
 
 Chap. XXXI. — How we are not to caft off the 
 Life of Chrift, but praftife it diligently, and 
 walk in it until Death ' . . 99 
 
 Chap. XXXII. — How God is a true, fimple, per- 
 fe6l Good, and how He is a Light and a Rea- 
 fon and all Virtues, and how what is higheft 
 and beft, that is, God, ought to be moft loved 
 by us 102 
 
 Chap. XXXIII. — How when a Man is made truly 
 godlike, his Love is pure and unmixed, and he 
 loveth all Creatures, and doth his beft for them 107 
 
 Chap. XXXIV. — How that if a Man will attain 
 unto that which is beft, he muft forfwear his 
 own Will J and how he who helpeth a Man 
 
Ixx Contents. 
 
 Page 
 
 to his own "Will helpeth him to the "wofil 
 Thing he can no 
 
 Chap. XXXV. — How there is deep and true Hu- 
 mility and Poomefs of Spirit in a Man who is 
 made a Partaker of the Divine Nature . , . 113 
 
 Chap. XXXVI — How nothing is contrary to God 
 
 but Sin only ; and what Sin is in Kind and Aft 116 
 
 Chap. XXXVII.— How in God, as God, there 
 can neither be Grief, Sorrow, Difpleafurc, nor 
 the like, but how it is otherwife with a Man 
 who is made a Partaker of the Divine Nature 119 
 
 Chap. XXXVIIk — How we are to put on the Life 
 of Chrift from Love, and not for the fake of 
 Reward, and how we muft never grow carelefs 
 concerning it, or caft it off \^% 
 
 Chap. XXXIX.— How God will have Order, Cuf- 
 tom, Meafure, and the like in the Creature, 
 feeing that he cannot have them without the 
 Creature, and of four forts of Men who are 
 concerned with this Order, Law and Cuftom . 125 
 
 Chap. XL.— »-A good Account of the Falfe Light 
 
 and its Kind 129 
 
 Chap. XLI. — How he that is to be called and is 
 truly a Partaker of the Divine Nature, who is 
 illuminated with the Divine Light, and inflam- 
 ed with Eternal Love, and how Light and 
 Knowledge are worth nothing without Love . 141 
 
 Chap. XLII. — A Queftion: whethei it be poflible 
 to know God and not love Him j and how 
 there are two kinds of Light and Love, a true 
 and a falfe '45 
 
Contents. Ixxi 
 
 Page 
 
 Chap. XLIII. — Whereby we may know a Man 
 who is a Partaker of the Divine Nature, and 
 what belongeth unto him ; and further, what 
 is the token of a Falfe Light and a Falfe Free- 
 Thinker 151 
 
 Chap. XLIV. — How nothing is contrary to God 
 but Self-will, and how he who feeketh his own 
 Good for his own fake findeth it not ; and how 
 a Man of himfelf neither knoweth nor can do 
 any good Thing 160 
 
 Chap. XLV. — How that where there is a Chriftian 
 life, Chrift dwelleth, and how Chrift's Life is 
 the beft and moft admirable Life that ever hath 
 been or can be J 64 
 
 Chap. XLVI. — How entire Satisfa6lion and true 
 Reft are to be found in God alone, and not in 
 any Creature j and how he who will be obedient 
 to God, muft be obedient to the Creatures with 
 all Quietnefs, and he who would love God, 
 muft love all Things in One 166 
 
 Chap. XLVII.— A Queftion: Whether if we 
 ought to love all Things, we ought to love Sin 
 alfo ? 169 
 
 Chap. XLVIII. — How we muft believe certain 
 Things of God's Truth beforehand, ere we can 
 come to a True Knowledge and Experience 
 thereof 171 
 
 Chap. XLIX —Of Self-will, and how Lucifer and 
 
 Adam fell away from God through Self-will . 172 
 
 Chap. L. — How this prefent Time is a Paradife 
 and Outer Court of Heaven, and how therein 
 
Ixxii Contents. 
 
 Page 
 
 there Is only one Tree forbidden; that is, Self- 
 will 173 
 
 Chap. LI. — Wherefore God hath created Self-will, 
 
 feeing that it is fo contrary to Him . . . . 175 
 
 Chap. LII. — How we muft take that Saying of 
 Chrift- : " No Man cometh unto the Father but 
 by me" 187 
 
 Chap. LIII. — Confidereth that other Saying of 
 Chrift: "No man can come unto me except 
 the Father which hath fent me draw him " .191 
 
 Chap. LIV. — How a Man fhall not feek his own, 
 cither in Things fpiritual or natural, but the 
 Honour of God only ; and how he muft enter 
 in by the right Door, to wit, by Chrift, into 
 Eternity , 199 
 

 
Theologia Germanica. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Of that which is ferfe5l and that which is 
 in part, and how that which is in part is 
 done away^ when that which is perfect is 
 come, 
 
 OT. PAUL faith, "When that which 
 *^is perfed; is come, then that which 
 is in part fhall be done away/'* Now 
 mark what is " that which is perfedt," 
 and **that which is in part." 
 
 "That which is perfedt" is a Being, 
 who hath comprehended and included 
 all things in Himfelf and His own Sub- 
 ftance, and without whom, and befide 
 whom, there is no true Subftance, and 
 
 * I Cor. xiii. lo. 
 
2 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 in whom all things have their Subftance. 
 For he is the Subftance of all things, 
 and is in Himfelf unchangeable and 
 immoveable, and changeth and moveth 
 all things elfe. But that which is in 
 part," or the imperfedt, is that which 
 hath its fource in, or fpringeth from 
 the Perfed:; juft as a brightnefs or a 
 vifible appearance floweth out from the 
 fun or a candle, and appeareth to be 
 fomewhat this or that. And it is called 
 a creature; and of all thefe things 
 which are in part,"' none is the Perfed:. 
 So alfo the Perfed: is none of the 
 things which are in part. The things 
 which are in part can be apprehended, 
 known, and expreffed; but the Perfed: 
 cannot be apprehended, known, or 
 expreffed by any creature as creature. 
 Therefore we do not give a name to 
 the Perfed:, for it is none of thefe. 
 The creature as creature cannot know 
 nor apprehend it, name nor conceive it. 
 " Now when that which is Perfed: 
 
Theologia Germanica. 3 
 
 is come, then that which is in part 
 fhall be done away." But when doth 
 it come? I fay, when as much as may 
 be, it is known, felt and tafted of the 
 foul. [For the lack lieth altogether 
 in us, and not in it. In like manner 
 the fun lighteth the whole world, and 
 is as near to one as another, yet a blind 
 man feeth it not ; but the fault thereof 
 lieth in the blind man, not in the fun. 
 And like as the fun may not hide its 
 brightnefs, but muft give light unto 
 the earth (for heaven indeed draweth 
 its light and heat from another foun- 
 tain), fo alfo God, who is the higheft 
 Good, willeth not to hide Himfelf 
 from any, wherefoever He findeth a 
 devout foul, that is thoroughly purified 
 from all creatures. For in what meaf- 
 ure we put off the creature, in the fame 
 meafure are we able to put on the 
 Creator; neither more nor lefs. For 
 if mine eye is to fee anything, it muft 
 be fingle, or elfe be purified from all 
 
4 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 other things ; and where heat and 
 light enter in, cold and darknefs muft 
 needs depart; it cannot be otherwife.] 
 
 But one might fay, "Now fince the 
 Perfect cannot be known nor appre- 
 hended of any creature, but the foul is 
 a creature, how can it be known by 
 the foul Anfwer : This is why we 
 fay, " by the foul as a creature, " We 
 mean it is impoflible to the creature in 
 virtue of its creature-nature and quali- 
 ties, that by which it faith " I " and 
 
 myfelf." For in whatfoever creature 
 the Perfect fhall be known, therein crea- 
 ture-nature, qualities, the I, the Self and 
 the like, muft all be loft and done away. 
 This is the meaning of that faying of 
 St. Paul : " When that which is perfect 
 is come," (that is, when it is known,) 
 
 then that which is in part " (to wit, 
 creature-nature, qualities, the I, the Self, 
 the Mine) will be defpifed and counted 
 for nought. So long as we think much 
 of thefe things, cleave to them with 
 
heologia Germanica. 5 
 
 love, joy, pleafure or defire, fo long re- 
 maineth the Perfed: unknown to us. 
 
 But it might further be faid, "Thou 
 fayest, belide the Perfedt there is no Sub- 
 ftance, yet fayeft again that fomewhat 
 floweth out from it : now is not that 
 which hath flowed out from it, fome- 
 thing befide it?" Anfwer : This is why 
 we fay, befide it, or without it, there 
 is no true Subftance. That which hath 
 flowed forth from it, is no true Sub- 
 fiance, and hath no Subfl:ance except 
 in the perfeft, but is an accident, or a 
 brightnefs,or a vifible appearance, which 
 is no Subftance, and hath no Subftance 
 except in the fire whence thebrightnefs 
 flowed forth, fuch as the fun or a candle. 
 
6 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of what Sin iSy and how we muft not take 
 unto ourf elves any good 'Things feeing that 
 it helongeth unto the true Good alone, 
 
 'npHE Scripture and the Faith and 
 the Truth fay, Sin is nought 
 elfe, but that the creature turneth 
 away from the unchangeable Good 
 and betaketh itfelf to the changeable ; 
 that is to fay, that it turneth away from 
 the Perfedt, to "that which is in part" 
 and imperfed:, and moft often to itfelf. 
 Now mark : when the creature claim- 
 eth for its own anything good, fuch as 
 Subftance, Life, Knowledge, Power, 
 and in fhort whatever we fhould call 
 good, as if it were that, or pofTelTed 
 that, or that were itfelf, or that pro- 
 ceeded from it, — as often as this Com- 
 eth to pafs, the creature goeth aftray. 
 What did the devil do elfe, or what 
 
Theologia Germanica. 7 
 
 was his going aftray and his fall elfe, 
 but that he claimed for himfelf to be 
 alfo fomewhat, and would have it that 
 fomewhat was his, and fomewhat was 
 due to him? This fetting up of a claim 
 and his I and Me and Mine, thefe were 
 his going aftray, and his fall. And 
 thus it is to this day. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 ' How Man's Fall and going aftray muft he 
 \ amended as Adam's Fail was, 
 
 \ TX7hat elfe did Adam do but this 
 fame thing? It is faid, it was 
 becaufe Adam ate the apple that he 
 was loft, or fell. I fay, it was becaufe 
 of his claiming fomething for his own, 
 I and becaufe of his I, Mine, Me, and 
 I the like. Had he eaten feven apples, 
 and yet never claimed anything for his 
 own, he would not have fallen: but 
 as foon as he called fomething his own, 
 
 i ' 
 
8 Theologia Germantca. 
 
 he fell, and would have fallen if he 
 had never touched an apple. Behold! 
 I have fallen a hundred times more 
 often and deeply, and gone a hundred 
 times farther aftray than Adam; and 
 not all mankind could amend his fall, 
 or bring him back from going aftray. 
 But how fhall my fall be amended ? 
 It muft be healed as Adam's fall was 
 healed, and on the felf-fame wife. By 
 whom, and on what wife was that 
 healing brought to pafs ? Mark this : 
 man could not without God, and God 
 fhould not without man. Wherefore 
 God took human nature or manhood 
 upon himfelf and was made man, and 
 man was made divine. Thus the heal- 
 ing was brought to pafs. So alfo muft 
 my fall be healed. I cannot do the 
 work without God, and God may not 
 or will not without me ; for if it fhall 
 be accomplifhed, in me, too, God muft 
 be made man; in fuch fort that God 
 muft take to himfelf all that is in me. 
 
"Theologia Germanica, 9 
 
 within and without, fo that there may 
 be nothing in me which ftriveth againft 
 God or hindereth his work. Now if 
 God took to himfelf all men that are 
 in the world, or ever were, and were 
 made man in them, and they were made 
 divine in him, and this work were not 
 fulfilled in me, my fall and my wander- 
 ing would never be amended except it 
 were fulfilled in me alfo. And in this 
 bringing back and healing, I can, or 
 may, or fhall do nothing of myfelf, but 
 juft simply yield to God, fo that He 
 alone may do all things in me and work, 
 and I may fufll'er him and all his work 
 and his divine will. And becaufe I 
 will not do fo, but I count myfelf to be 
 my own, and fay, **mine," ''me'' 
 and the like, God is hindered, fo that 
 he cannot do his work in me alone and 
 without hindrance ; for this caufe my 
 fall and my going aftray remain un- 
 healed. Behold ! this all cometh of 
 my claiming fomewhat for my own. 
 
I o 'Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 How Man^ when he claimeth any good 'Thing 
 for his own, falleth, and toucheth God in 
 his Honour. 
 
 /^OD faith, "I will not give my 
 ^""^ glory to another."* This is as 
 much as to fay, that praife and honour 
 and glory belong to none but to God 
 only. But now, if I call any good 
 thing my own, as if I were it, or of 
 myfelf had power or did or knew any- 
 thing, or as if anything were mine or 
 of me, or belonged to me, or were due 
 
 ^ to me or the like, I take unto myfelf 
 fomewhat of honour and glory, and 
 do two evil things : Firft, I fall and 
 go artray as aforefaid: Secondly, I 
 touch God in his honour and take 
 
 . unto myfelf what belongeth to God 
 
 * Ifaiah, xlii. 8. 
 
Theologia Ger7nanka. 1 1 
 
 only. For all that muft be called good 
 belongeth to none but to the true eter- 
 nal Goodnefs which is God only, and 
 whofo taketh it unto himfelf, com- 
 mitteth unrighteoufnefs and is againft 
 God. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 How we are to take that Sayings that we muft 
 come to be without Will, JVi/dom^ Love, 
 Deftre, Knowledge, and the like, 
 
 /CERTAIN men fay that we ought 
 to be without will, wifdom, love, 
 delire, knowledge, and the like. Here- 
 by is not to be underftood that there is 
 to be no knowledge in man, and that 
 God is not to be loved by him, nor 
 defired and longed for, nor praifed and 
 honoured; for that were a great lofs, 
 and man were like the beafls [and as 
 the brutes that have no reafon.] But 
 it meaneth that man's knowledge 
 
12 Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 fhould be fo clear and perfed: that he 
 fhould acknowledge of a truth [that 
 in himfelf he neither hath nor can do 
 any good thing, and that none of his 
 knowledge, wifdom and art, his will, 
 love and good works do come from 
 himfelf, nor are of man, nor of any 
 creature, but] that all thefe are of the 
 eternal God, from whom they all pro- 
 ceed. [As Chrift himfelf faith, With- 
 out me, ye can do nothing."* St. 
 Paul faith alfo, ''What haft thou that 
 thou haft not received ?'*'f' As much 
 as to fay — nothing. *'Now if thou 
 didft receive it, why doft thou glory as 
 if thou hadft not received it?" Again 
 he faith, ''Not that we are fufficient 
 of ourfelves to think anything as of 
 ourfelves, but our fufficiency is of 
 God." X\ Now when a man duly per- 
 ceiveth thefe things in himfelf, he and 
 the creature fall behind, and he doth 
 not call anything his own, and the lefs 
 
 • John XV. 5. fx Cor. iv. 7. | 2 Cor. iii. 5. 
 
T'heologia Gerinanica, 13 
 
 he taketh this knowledge unto him- 
 felf, the more perfect doth it become. 
 So alfo is it with the will, and love 
 and defire, and the hke. For the lefs 
 we call thefe things our own, the more 
 perfed; and noble and godlike do they 
 become, and the more we think them 
 our own, the bafer and lels pure and 
 perfed: do they become. 
 
 Behold on this fort muft we caft all 
 things from us, and ftrip ourfelves of 
 them; we muft refrain from claiming 
 anything for our own. When we do 
 this, we fhall have the beft, fulleft, 
 cleareft and nobleft knowledge that a 
 man can have, and alfo the nobleft and 
 pureft love, will and defire; for then 
 thefe will be all of God alone. It is 
 much better that they fhould be God's 
 than the creature's. Now that I afcribe 
 anything good to myfelf, as if I were, 
 or had done, or knew, or could perform 
 any good thing, or that it were mine, 
 this is all of fin and folly. For if the 
 
14 Theologia Gerjnantca. 
 
 truth were rightly known by me, I 
 fhould alfo know that I am not that 
 good thing and that it is not mine, nor 
 of me, and that I do not know it, and 
 cannot do it, and the Uke. If this 
 came to pafs, I fhould needs ceafe to 
 call anything my own. 
 
 It is better that God, or his works, 
 fhould be known, as far as it be pofii- 
 ble to us, and loved, praifed and ho- 
 noured, and the like, and even that man 
 fhould but vainly imagine he loveth 
 or praifeth God, than that God fhould 
 be altogether unpraifed, unloved, un- 
 honoured and unknown. For when 
 the vain imagination and ignorance 
 are turned into an underftanding and 
 knowledge of the truth, the claiming 
 anything for our own will ceafe of it- 
 felf. Then the man fays: Behold! 
 I, poor fool that I was, imagined it 
 was I, but behold! it is, and was, of a 
 truth, God!" 
 
Theologia Germanica. 15 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 How that which is heft and nohleft JJiould alfo 
 he loved ahove all Things hy us^ merely he- 
 cauje it is the heft, 
 
 A MASTER called Boetius faith, 
 " It is of fin that we do not love 
 that which is beft. He hath fpoken 
 the truth. That which is beft fhould 
 be the deareft of all things to us; and 
 in our love of it, neither helpfulnefs 
 nor unhelpfulnefs, advantage nor inju- 
 ry, gain nor lofs, honour nor dishonour, 
 praife nor blame, nor anything of the 
 kind fhould be regarded; but what is 
 in truth the nobleft and beft of all 
 things, fhould be alfo the deareft of 
 all things, and that for no other caufe 
 than that it is the nobleft and beft. 
 
 Hereby may a man order his life 
 within and without. His outward 
 
1 6 TheoloQ-ia Germanica. 
 
 life: for among the creatures one is 
 better than another, according as the 
 Eternal Good manifefteth itfelf and 
 worketh more in one than in another. 
 Now that creature in which the Eter- 
 nal Good moft manifefteth itfelf, fhi- 
 neth forth, worketh, is moft known 
 and loved, is the beft, and that where- 
 in the Eternal Good is leaft manifefted 
 is the leaft Good of all creatures. 
 Therefore when we have to do with 
 the creatures, and hold converfe with 
 them, and take note of their diverfe 
 qualities, the beft creatures muft al- 
 ways be the deareft to us, and we muft 
 cleave to them, and unite ourfelves to 
 them, above all to thofe which we 
 attribute to God as belonging to him 
 or divine, fuch as wifdom, truth, kind- 
 nefs, peace, love, juftice, and the like. 
 Hereby ftiall we order our outward 
 man, and all that is contrary to thefe 
 virtues we muft efchew and flee from. 
 But if our inward man were to make 
 
Theologia Germanica. 17 
 
 a leap and fpring into the Perfed:, we 
 fhould find and tafte how that the Per- 
 fed: is without meafure, number or 
 end, better and nobler than all which 
 is imperfed: and in part, and the Eter- 
 nal above the temporal or perifhable, 
 and the fountain and fource above all 
 that floweth or can ever flow from it. 
 Thus that which is imperfedl and in 
 part would become taftelefs and be as 
 nothing to us. Be affured of this: All 
 that we have faid muft come to pafs 
 if we are to love that which is nobleft, 
 higheft and beft. 
 
1 8 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Of the Eyes of the Sprit wherewith Man 
 looketh into Eternity and into Time, and 
 how the one is hindered of the other in its 
 Working, 
 
 T ET us remember how it is written 
 ^ and faid that the foul of Chrift had 
 two eyes, a right and a left eye. In 
 the beginning, when the foul of Chrift 
 was created, fhe fixed her right eye 
 upon eternity and the Godhead, and 
 remained in the full intuition and en- 
 joyment of the Divine EfTence and 
 Eternal Perfed:ion; and continued thus 
 unmoved and undifturbed by all the 
 accidents and travail, fuffering, torment 
 and pain that ever befell the outward 
 man. But with the left eye fhe beheld 
 the creature and perceived all things 
 therein, and took note of the difference 
 
Theologia Germanica. 19 
 
 between the creatures, which were 
 better or worfe, nobler or meaner; 
 and thereafter was the outward man 
 of Chrift ordered. 
 
 Thus the inner man of Chrift, ac- 
 cording to the right eye of his foul, 
 ftood in the full exercife of his divine 
 nature, in perfed: bleffednefs, joy and 
 eternal peace. But the outward man 
 and the left eye of Chrift's foul, ftood 
 with him in perfedl fuffering, in all 
 tribulation, affliction and travail ; and 
 this in fuch fort that the inward and 
 right eye remained unmoved, unhin- 
 dered and untouched by all the travail, 
 fuffering, grief and anguifh that ever 
 befell the outward man. It hath been 
 faid that when Chrift was bound to the 
 pillar and fcourged, and when he hung 
 upon the crofs, according to the out- 
 ward man, yet his inner man, or foul 
 according to the right eye, ftood in as 
 full poffeffion of divine joy and bleffed- 
 nefs as it did after his afcenlion, or as 
 
20 Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 it doth now. In like manner his out- 
 ward man, or foul with the left eye, 
 was never hindered, difturbed or trou- 
 bled by the inward eye in its contem- 
 plation of the outward things that 
 belonged to it. 
 
 Now the created foul of man hath 
 alfo two eyes. The one is the power 
 of feeing into eternity, the other of 
 feeing into time and the creatures, of 
 perceiving how they differ from each 
 other as aforefaid, of giving life and 
 needful things to the body, and order- 
 ing and governing it for the beft. But 
 thefe two eyes of the foul of man can- 
 not both perform their work at once ; 
 but if the foul fhall fee with the right 
 eye into eternity, then the left eye muft 
 clofe itfelf and refrain from working, 
 and be as though it were dead. For 
 if the left eye be fulfilling its office 
 toward outward things; that is, hold- 
 ing converfe with time and the crea- 
 tures ; then muft the right eye be hin- 
 
"Theologta Germanica. 2 1 
 
 dered in its working; that is, in its 
 contemplation. Therefore whofoever 
 will have the one muft let the other 
 go; for *'no man can ferve two maf- 
 ters." 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 How the Soul of Marly while it is yet in the 
 Body, may obtain a foretafte of eternal 
 Blejfednefs, 
 
 TT hath been afked whether it be 
 poffible for the foul, while it is yet 
 in the body, to reach fo high as to caft 
 a glance into eternity, and receive a 
 foretafte of eternal life and eternal 
 bleifednefs. This is commonly denied ; 
 and truly fo in a fenfe. For it indeed 
 cannot be fo long as the foul is taking 
 heed to the body, and the things which 
 minifter and appertain thereto, and to 
 time and the creature, and is difturbed 
 and troubled and diftradted thereby. 
 
22 Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 For if the foul fliall rife to fuch a ftate, 
 fhe muft be quite pure, wholly ftripped 
 and bare of all images, and be entirely 
 feparate from all creatures, and above 
 all from herfelf. Now many think 
 this is not to be done and is impoflible 
 in this prefent time. But St. Dyony- 
 fius maintains that it is poflible, as we 
 find from his words in his Epiftle to 
 Timothy, where he faith: '*For the 
 beholding of the hidden things of God, 
 fhalt thou forfake fenfe and the things 
 of the flefh, and all that the fenfes can 
 apprehend, and that reafon of her own 
 powers can bring forth, and all things 
 created and uncreated that reafon is 
 able to comprehend and know, and 
 fhalt take thy ftand upon an utter 
 abandonment of thyfelf, and as know- 
 ing none of the aforefaid things, and 
 enter into union with him who is, and 
 who is above all exiftence and all 
 knowledge." Now if he did not hold 
 this to be poflible in this prefent time. 
 
hgia Germanica. 23 
 
 why fhould he teach it and enjoin it 
 on us in this prefent time? But it 
 behoveth you to know that a mafter 
 hath faid on this palTage of St. Dy- 
 onyfius, that it is poffible, and may 
 happen to a man often, till he become 
 fo accuftomed to it, as to be able to 
 look into eternity whenever he will. 
 [For when a thing is at firft very hard 
 to a man and ftrange, and feemingly 
 quite impoffible, if he put all his 
 ftrength and energy into it, and per- 
 fevere therein, that will afterward grow 
 quite light and eafy, which he at firft 
 thought quite out of reach, feeing that 
 it is of no ufe to begin any work, un- 
 lefs it may be brought to a good end.] 
 And a fingle one of thefe excellent 
 glances is better, worthier, higher and 
 more pleafing to God, than all that the 
 creature can perform as a creature. 
 [And as foon as a man turneth him- 
 felf in fpirit, and with his whole heart 
 and mind entereth into the mind of 
 g 
 
24 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 God which is above time, all that ever 
 he hath loft is reftored in a moment. 
 And if a man were to do thus a thou- 
 fand times in a day, each time a frefli 
 and real union would take place ; and 
 in this fweet and divine work ftandeth 
 the trueft and fulleft union that may 
 be in this prefent time. For he who 
 hath attained thereto, afketh nothing 
 further, for he hath found the Kingdom 
 of Heaven and Eternal Life on earth.] 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 How it is better and more "profitable for a 
 Man that he Jhould -perceive what God 
 will do with him, or to what end He will 
 make life of him, than if he knew all that 
 God had ever wrought, or would ever work 
 through all the Creatures ; and how Blejf- 
 ednefs lieth alone in God, and not in the 
 Creatures, or in any IVorks, 
 
 TXT'E fhould mark and know of a 
 very truth that all manner of 
 virtue and goodnefs, and even that 
 
Theologia Germanica. 25 
 
 Eternal Good which is God Himfelf, 
 can never make a man virtuous, good, 
 or happy, fo long as it is outfide the 
 foul ; [that is, fo long as the man is 
 holding converfe with outward things 
 through his fenfes and reafon, and doth 
 not withdraw into himfelf and learn to 
 underftand his own life, who and what 
 he is.] The like is true of fin and 
 evil. [For all manner of fin and wick- 
 ednefs can never make us evil, fo long 
 as it is outfide of us ; that is, fo long 
 as we do not commit it, or do not give 
 confent to it.] 
 
 Therefore although it be good and 
 profitable that we fhould alk, and learn 
 and know what good and holy men 
 have wrought and fufi^ered, and how 
 God hath dealt with them, and what 
 he hath wrought in and through them, 
 yet it were a thoufand times better that 
 we fhould in ourfelves learn and per- 
 ceive and underftand, who we are, how 
 and what our own life is, what God is 
 
26 Theologia Germantca. 
 
 and is doing in us, what he will have 
 from us, and to what ends he will or 
 will not make ufe of us. [For, of a 
 truth, thoroughly to know onefelf, is 
 above all art, for it is the higheft art. 
 If thou knowefl thyfelf well, thou art 
 better and more praifeworthy before 
 God, than if thou didft not know thy- 
 felf, but didft underftand the courfe of 
 the heavens and of all the planets and 
 ftars, alfo the virtue of all herbs, and 
 the ftrudlure and difpofitions of all 
 mankind, alfo the nature of all beafts, 
 and, in fuch matters, hadft all the fkill 
 of all who are in heaven and on earth. 
 For it is faid, there came a voice from 
 heaven, faying, '^Man, know thyfelf. "J 
 Thus that proverb is ftill true, going 
 out were never fo good, but ftaying at 
 home were much better." 
 
 Further, ye fhould learn that eternal 
 blelTednefs lieth in one thing alone, and 
 in nought elfe. And if ever man or 
 the foul is to be made bleffed, that one 
 
T'heologia Ger7?ianica, 27 
 
 thing alone muft be in the foul. Now 
 fome might afk, **But what is that 
 one thing?" I anfwer, it is Goodnefs, 
 or that which hath been made good, 
 and yet neither this good nor that, 
 which we can name, or perceive or 
 fhow; but it is all and above all good 
 things. 
 
 Moreover, it needeth not to enter 
 into the foul, for it is there already, 
 only it is unperceived. When we fay 
 we fhould come unto it, we mean that 
 we fhould feek it, feel it, and tafte it. 
 And now fince it is One, unity and 
 finglenefs is better than manifoldnefs. 
 For blelTednefs lieth not in much and 
 many, but in One and onenefs. In one 
 word, bleifednefs lieth not in any crea- 
 ture, or work of the creatures, but it 
 lieth alone in God and in his works. 
 Therefore I muft wait only on God 
 and his work, and leave on one fide all 
 creatures with their works, and firft of 
 all myfelf. In like manner all the great 
 
28 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 works and wonders that God has ever 
 wrought or fhall ever work in or 
 through the creatures, or even God 
 himfelf with all his goodness, fo far as 
 thefe things exift or are done outfide 
 of me, can never make me bleffed, but 
 only in fo far as they exift and are done 
 and loved, known, tafted and felt with- 
 in me. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 How the perfe^ Men have no other Defire 
 than that they may he to the Eternal Good- 
 nejs what his Hand is to a Man, and how 
 they have loft the Fear of Hell, and Hop 
 of Heaven, 
 
 "^OW let us mark : Where men 
 are enlightened with the true 
 light, they perceive that all which 
 they might defire or choofe, is nothing 
 to that which all creatures, as crea- 
 tures, ever defired or chofe or knew. 
 Therefore they renounce all defire and 
 
ia Germanica. 29 
 
 choice, and commit and commend 
 themfelves and all things to the Eter- 
 nal Goodnefs. Neverthelefs, there 
 remaineth in them a defire to go for- 
 ward and get nearer to the Eternal 
 Goodnefs; that is, to come to a clearer 
 knowledge, and warmer love, and more 
 comfortable affurance, and perfed: obe- 
 dience and fubjecflion ; fo that every 
 enlightened man could fay : I would 
 fain be to the Eternal Goodnefs, what 
 his own hand is to a man." And he 
 feareth always that he is not enough 
 fo, and longeth for the falvation of all 
 men. And fuch men do not call this 
 longing their own, nor take it unto 
 themfelves, for they know well that 
 this defire is not of man, but of the 
 Eternal Goodnefs ; for whatfoever is 
 good fhall no one take unto himfelf as 
 his own, feeing that it belongeth to 
 the Eternal Goodnefs only. 
 
 Moreover, thefe men are in a ftate 
 of freedom, becaufe they have loft the 
 
30 Theologia Gernianka. 
 
 fear of pain or hell, and the hope of 
 reward or heaven, but are living in 
 pure fubmiffion to the Eternal Good- 
 nefs, in the perfe6l freedom of fervent 
 love. This mind was in Chrift in 
 perfedlion, and is alfo in his followers, 
 in fome more and in fome lefs. But 
 it is a forrow and fhame to think that 
 the Eternal Goodnefs is ever moft gra- 
 cioufly guiding and drawing us, and 
 we will not yield to it. What is bet- 
 ter and nobler than true poornefs in 
 fpirit ? Yet when that is held up be- 
 fore us, we will have none of it, but 
 are always feeking ourfelves, and our 
 own things. [We like to have our 
 mouths always filled with good things,] 
 that we may have in ourfelves a lively 
 tafte of pleafure and fweetnefs. When 
 this is fo, we are well pleafed, and 
 think it ftandeth not amifs with us. 
 [But we are yet a long way off from a 
 perfedl life. For when God will draw 
 us up to fomething higher, that is, to 
 
"Theoloo-ia Germanica. 31 
 
 an utter lofs and forfaking of our own 
 things, fpiritual and natural, and with- 
 draweth his comfort and fweetnefs 
 from us, we faint and are troubled, 
 and can in no wife bring our minds to 
 it ; and we forget God and negled: 
 holy exercifes, and fancy we are loft 
 for ever.] This is a great error and a 
 bad fign. For a true lover of God, 
 loveth him or the Eternal Goodnefs 
 alike, in having, and in not having, in 
 fweetnefs and bitternefs, in good or 
 evil report, and the like, for he feek- 
 eth alone the honour of God, and not 
 his own, either in fpiritual or natural 
 things. And therefore he ftandeth 
 alike unfhaken in all things, at all fea- 
 fons. [Hereby let every man prove 
 himfelf, how he ftandeth towards God, 
 his Creator and Lord.] 
 
32 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 How a righteous Man in this prefent time is 
 brought into Hell, and there cannot he com- 
 forted, and how he is taken out of Hell 
 and carried into Heaven, and there cannot 
 be troubled, 
 
 /CHRIST'S foul muft needs defcend 
 into hell, before it afcended into 
 heaven. So muft alfo the foul of man. 
 But mark ye in what manner this Com- 
 eth to pafs. When a man truly per- 
 ceiveth and confidereth himfelf, who 
 and what he is, and findeth himfelf 
 utterly vile and wicked, and unworthy 
 of all the comfort and kindnefs that 
 he hath ever received from God, or 
 from the creatures, he falleth into fuch 
 a deep abafement and defpiiing of him- 
 felf, that he thinketh himfelf unwor- 
 thy that the earth fhould bear him, and 
 
Theologia Germanica. 33 
 
 it feemeth to him reafonable that all 
 creatures in heaven and earth fhould 
 rife up againft him and avenge their 
 Creator on him, and fhould punifh and 
 torment him ; and that he were un- 
 worthy even of that. And it feemeth 
 to him that he fhall be eternally lofl 
 and damned, and a footltool to all the 
 devils in hell, and that this is right and 
 juft, [and all too little compared to his 
 fins which he fo often and in fo many 
 ways hath committed againft God his 
 Creator.] And therefore alfo he will 
 not and dare not defire any confolation 
 or releafe, either from God or from 
 any creature that is in heaven or on 
 earth ; but he is willing to be uncon- 
 foled and unreleafed, and he doth not 
 grieve over his condemnation and fuf- 
 ferings; for they are right and juft, 
 and not contrary to God, but accord- 
 ing to the will of God. Therefore 
 they are right in his eyes, and he hath 
 nothing to fay againft them. Nothing 
 
34 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 grieveth him but his own guilt and 
 wickednefs ; for that is not right and 
 is contrary to God, and for that caufe 
 he is grieved and troubled in fpirit. 
 
 This is what is meant by true re- 
 pentance for fin. And he who in this 
 prefent time entereth into this hell, en- 
 tereth afterward into the Kingdom of 
 Heaven, and obtaineth a foretafte there- 
 of which excelleth all the delight and 
 joy which he ever hath had or could 
 have in this prefent time from tempo- 
 ral things. But whilft a man is thus 
 in hell, none may confole him, neither 
 God nor the creature, as it is written 
 ''In hell there is no redemption."* 
 Of this ftate hath one faid, *'Let me 
 perifh, let me die ! I live without hope ; 
 from within and from without I am 
 condemned, let no one pray that I may 
 be releafed." 
 
 Now God hath not forfaken a man 
 in this hell, but He is laying His hand 
 
 * The writer is probably alluding to Pf. xlix. 8. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 35 
 
 upon him, that the man may not defire 
 nor regard anything but the Eternal 
 Good only, and may come to knov/ 
 that that is fo noble and paffing good, 
 that none can fearch out or exprefs its 
 blifs, confolation and joy, peace, reft, 
 and fatisfadtion. And then, when the 
 man neither careth for, nor feeketh 
 nor defireth, anything but the Eternal 
 Good alone, and feeketh not himfelf, 
 nor his own things, but the honour of 
 God only, he is made a partaker of 
 all manner of joy, blifs, peace, reft and 
 confolation, and fo the man is hence- 
 forth in the Kingdom of Heaven. 
 
 This hell and this heaven are two 
 good, fafe ways for a man in this pre- 
 fent time, and happy is he who truly 
 findeth them. 
 
 For this hell ftiall pafs away, 
 But Heaven ftiall endure for aye. 
 
 Alfo let a man mark, when he is in 
 this hell, nothing may confole him : 
 and he cannot believe that he fhall ever 
 
36 Theologia Germanka, 
 
 be releafed or comforted. But when 
 he is in heaven, nothing can trouble 
 him ; he beHeveth alfo that none will 
 ever be able to oiFend or trouble him, 
 albeit it is indeed true, that after this 
 hell he may be comforted and releafed, 
 and after this heaven he may be trou- 
 bled and left without confolation. 
 
 Again : this hell and this heaven 
 come about a man in fuch fort, that he 
 knoweth not whence they come ; and 
 whether they come to him, or depart 
 from him, he can of himfelf do nothing 
 towards it. Of thefe things he can 
 neither give nor take away from him- 
 felf, bring them nor banifli them, but 
 as it is written, **The wind bloweth 
 where it lifleth, and thou heareft the- 
 found thereof," that is to fay, at this 
 time prefent, **but thou knoweft not 
 whence it cometh, nor whither it go- 
 eth."* And when a man is in one of 
 thefe two ftates, all is right with him, 
 
 * John iii. 8. 
 
"Theologia Germanica. 37 
 
 and he is as fafe in hell as in heaven, 
 and fo long as a man is on earth, it is 
 poffible for him to pafs ofttimes from 
 the one into the other ; nay even v^ith- 
 in the fpace of a day and night, and 
 all without his own doing. But when 
 the man is in neither of thefe two 
 ftates he holdeth converfe with the 
 creature, and wavereth hither and 
 thither, and knoweth not what man- 
 ner of man he is. Therefore he fhall 
 never forget either of them, but lay 
 up the remembrance of them in his 
 heart. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 touching that true inward Peace^ which 
 Chrift left to his Dijciples at the laft, 
 
 IV/FANY fay they have no peace nor 
 reft, but fo many crofTes and tri- 
 als, afflid:ions and forrows, that they 
 know not how they fliall ever get 
 through them. Now he who in truth 
 
38 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 will perceive and take note, perceiveth 
 clearly, that true peace and reft lie not 
 in outward things; for if it were fo, 
 the Evil Spirit alfo would have peace 
 when things go according to his will, 
 [which is nowife the cafe; for the 
 prophet declareth "There is no peace, 
 faith my God, to the wicked." *] And 
 therefore we muft confider and fee 
 what is that peace which Chrift left to 
 his difciples at the laft, when he faid : 
 "My peace I leave with you, my peace 
 I give unto you/'-f- [We may per- 
 ceive that in thefe words Chrift did 
 not mean a bodily and outward peace ; 
 for his beloved difciples, with all his 
 friends and followers, have ever fuffer- 
 ed, from the beginning, great affliction, 
 perfecution, nay, often martyrdom, as 
 Chrift himfelf faid: "In this world 
 ye fhall have tribulation." X Chrift 
 meant that true, inward peace of the 
 
 * Ifaiah Ivli. 21. f John xlv. 27. 
 
 J John xvi. 33. 
 
Theologia Germanka. 39 
 
 heart, which beginneth here and en- 
 dureth for ever hereafter. Therefore 
 he faid]: "not as the world giveth/' 
 for the world is falfe, and deceiveth in 
 her gifts; [fhe promifeth much, and 
 performeth little. Moreover there 
 liveth no man on earth who may al- 
 ways have reft and peace without trou- 
 bles and croiTes, with whom things 
 always go according to his will ; there 
 is always fome thing to be fuffered here, 
 turn which way thou wilt. And as 
 foon as thou art quit of one alTault, 
 perhaps two come in its place. Where- 
 fore yield thyfelf willingly to them, 
 and feek only that true peace of the 
 heart, which none can take away from 
 thee, that thou mayeft overcome all 
 affaults.] 
 
 Thus then, Chrift meant that inward 
 peace which can break through all 
 aflaults and crofTes of oppreffion, fuf- 
 fering, mifery, humiliation and what 
 more there may be of the like, fo that 
 h 
 
40 T*heologia Germanka. 
 
 a man may be joyful and patient there- 
 in, like the beloved difciples and fol- 
 lowers of Chrift. Now he who will 
 in love give his whole diligence and 
 might thereto, will verily come to 
 know that true eternal peace which is 
 God Himfelf, as far as it is poffible to 
 a creature; [infomuch that what was 
 bitter to him before, fhall become 
 fweet, and his heart fhall remain un- 
 moved under all changes, at all times, 
 and after this life, he fhall attain unto 
 everlafting peace.] 
 
 CHAP. XIIL 
 
 How a man may caft afide Images too Joon, 
 
 'T^AULER faith: there be fome 
 ^ men at the prefent time, who 
 take leave of types and fymbols too 
 foon, before they have drawn out all the 
 truth and inftrudion contained there- 
 in." Hence they are fcarcely or per,- 
 
T'heologia Germanka, 41 
 
 haps never able to underfland the truth 
 aright.* [For fuch men will follow 
 no one, and lean unto their own un- 
 derftandings, and delire to fly before 
 they are fledged. They would fain 
 mount up to heaven in one flight ; al- 
 beit Chrifl: did not fo, for after his 
 refurre6lion, he remained full forty 
 days with his beloved difciples. No 
 one can be made perfed: in a day. A 
 man muft begin by denying himfelf, 
 and willingly forfaking all things for 
 God's fake, and muft give up his own 
 will, and all his natural inclinations, 
 and feparate and cleanfe himfelf thor- 
 oughly from all fins and evil ways. 
 After this, let him humbly take up the 
 crofs and follow Chrift. Alfo let him 
 take and receive example and inftruc- 
 tion, reproof, counfel and teaching from 
 
 * Here Luther's Edition has the following paflage in- 
 ftead of the remainder of this chapter: therefore we 
 fhould at all times give diligent heed to the works of God 
 and his commandments, raovings and admonitions, and 
 not to the works or commandments or admonitions of 
 men." 
 
42 Theologia Ger7nanica, 
 
 devout and perfe6t fervants of God, and 
 not follow his own guidance. Thus 
 the work fhall be eftablifhed and come 
 to a good end. And when a man hath 
 thus broken loofe from and outleaped 
 all temporal things and creatures, he 
 may afterwards become perfect in a 
 life of contemplation. For he who 
 will have the one muft let the other 
 go. There is no other way.] 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Of three Stages by which a Man is led up- 
 wards till he attaineth true Perfections 
 
 '^['OW be affured that no one can 
 be enlightened unlefs he be firft 
 cleanfed or purified and ftripped. So 
 alfo, no one can be united with God 
 unlefs he be firft enlightened. Thus 
 ther.e are three ftages : firft, the puri- 
 fication; fecondly, the enlightening; 
 thirdly, the union. [The purification 
 
Theologia Germantca. 43 
 
 concerneth thofe who are beginning 
 or repenting, and is brought to pafs in 
 a threefold wife; by contrition and 
 forrow for fin, by full confeflion, by 
 hearty amendment. The enlightening 
 belongeth to fuch as are growing, and 
 alfo taketh place in three ways: to 
 wit, by the efchewal of fin, by the 
 practice of virtue and good works, and 
 by the willing endurance of all man- 
 ner of temptation and trials. The 
 union belongeth to fuch as are perfed:, 
 and alfo is brought to pafs in three 
 ways : to wit, by purenefs and fingle- 
 nefs of heart, by love, and by the con- 
 templation of God, the Creator of all 
 things.] 
 
44 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 How all Men are dead in Adam and are made 
 alive again in Chrijly and of true Obedience 
 and Di/obedience. 
 
 A LL that in Adam fell and died, 
 was raifed again and made alive 
 in Chrift, and all that rofe up and was 
 made alive in Adam, fell and died in 
 Chrift. But what was that? I an- 
 fwer, true obedience and difobedience. 
 But what is true obedience ? I anfwer, 
 that a man fhould fo ftand free, being 
 quit of himfelf, that is, of his I, and 
 Me, and Self, and Mine, and the like, 
 that in all things, he fhould no more 
 feek or regard himfelf, than if he did 
 not exift, and fhould take as little ac- 
 count of himfelf as if he were not, 
 and another had done all his works. 
 Likewife he fhould count all the crea- 
 
Theologia Ger?nanica. 45 
 
 tures for nothing. What is there then, 
 which is, and which we may count 
 for fomewhat? I anfwer, nothing but 
 that which we may call God. Behold! 
 this is very obedience in the truth, and 
 thus it will be in a bleffed eternity. 
 There nothing is fought nor thought 
 of, nor loved, but the one thing only. 
 
 Hereby we may m.ark what difobe- 
 dience is : to wit, that a man maketh 
 fome account of himfelf, and thinketh 
 that he is, and knoweth, and can do 
 fomewhat, and feeketh himfelf and his 
 own ends in the things around him, 
 and hath regard to and lovcth himfelf, 
 and the like. Man is created for true 
 obedience, and is bound of right to 
 render it to God. And this obedience 
 fell and died in Adam, and rofe again 
 and lived in Chrift. Yea, ChrilVs 
 human nature was fo utterly bereft of 
 Self, and apart from all creatures, as no 
 man's ever was, and was nothing elfe 
 but *'a houfe and habitation of God." 
 
4-6 TheoloQ-'ia Ger?nanica. 
 
 Neither of that in him which belonged 
 to God, nor of that which was a Hving 
 human nature and a habitation of God, 
 did he, as man, claim any thing for 
 his own. His human nature did not 
 even take unto himfelf the Godhead, 
 whofe dwelling it was, nor any thing 
 that this fame Godhead willed, or did 
 or left undone in him, nor yet any 
 thing of all that his human nature did 
 or fuffered ; but in Chrift's human na- 
 ture there was no claiming of any 
 thing, nor feeking, nor defire, faving 
 that what was due might be rendered 
 to the Godhead, and he did not call 
 this very defire his own. Of this mat- 
 ter no more can be faid or written here, 
 for it is unfpeakable, and was never 
 yet and never will be fully uttered; for 
 it can neither be fpoken nor written 
 but by Him who is and knows its 
 ground ; that is, God Himfelf, who 
 can do all things well. 
 
heologta Germanka. 47 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Telleth us what is the old Man, and what is 
 
 GAIN, when we read of the old 
 
 man and the new man we muft 
 mark what that meaneth. The old 
 man is Adam and difobedience, the 
 Self, the Me, and fo forth. But the 
 new man is Chrifl: and true obedience, 
 [a giving up and denying onefelf of all 
 temporal things, and feeking the hon- 
 our of God alone in all things.] And 
 when dying and perifhing, and the like 
 are fpoken of, it meaneth that the old 
 man fhould be deftroyed, and not feek 
 its own either in fpiritual or in natural 
 things. For where this is brought about 
 in a true divine light, there the new 
 man is born again. In like manner, 
 it hath been faid that man fhould die 
 
 the new Man, 
 
48 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 unto himfelf, [that is, to earthly pleaf- 
 ures, confolations, joys, appetites, the 
 I, the Self, and all that is thereof in 
 man, to which he clingeth and on 
 which he is yet leaning with content, 
 and thinketh much of. Whether it 
 be the man himfelf, or any other crea- 
 ture, whatever it be, it muft depart 
 and die, if the man is to be brought 
 aright to another mind, according to 
 the truth.] 
 
 Thereunto doth St. Paul exhort us, 
 faying: **Put off concerning the for- 
 mer converfation the old man, which 
 is corrupt, according to the deceitful 
 lufts: .... and that ye put 
 on the new man, which after God is 
 created in righteoufnefs and true holi- 
 nefs." * Now he who liveth to him- 
 felf after the old man, is called and is 
 truly a child of Adam ; and though he 
 may give diligence to the ordering of 
 his life, he is ftill the child and brother 
 
 * Ephefians iv. 22. 24. 
 
ia Germanica. 49 
 
 of the Evil Spirit. But he who liveth 
 in humble obedience and in the new 
 man which is Chrift, he is, in like 
 manner, the brother of Chrift and the 
 child of God. 
 
 Behold ! where the old man dieth 
 and the new man is born, there is that 
 fecond birth of which Chrift faith. 
 Except a man be born again, he can- 
 not enter into the kingdom of God." * 
 Likewife St. Paul faith; "As in Adam 
 all die, even fo in Chrift ftiall all be 
 ,made alive. "-f* That is to fay, all who 
 follow Adam in pride, in luft of the 
 flefli, and in difobedience, are dead in 
 foul, and never will or can be made 
 alive but in Chrift. And for this caufe, 
 fo long as a man is an Adam or his 
 child, he is without God. Chrift faith, 
 "he who is not with me is againft 
 me. "J Now he who is againft God, 
 is dead before God. Whence it fol- 
 
 John iii. 3. f i Cor. xv. 22, 
 
 X Matt. xii. 30. 
 
50 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 loweth that all Adam's children are 
 dead before God. But he who ftandeth 
 with Chrift in perfed; obedience, he is 
 with God and liveth. As it hath been 
 faid already, fin lieth in the turning 
 away of the creature from the Creator, 
 which agreeth with what we have now 
 faid. 
 
 For he who is in difobedience is in 
 fin, and fin can never be atoned for or 
 healed but by returning to God, and 
 this is brought to pafs by humble obe- 
 dience. For fo long as a man conti- 
 nueth in difobedience, his fin can never 
 be blotted out ; let him do what he 
 will, it availeth him nothing. Let us 
 be afliired of this. For difobedience 
 is itfelf fin. But when a man entereth 
 into the obedience of the faith, all is 
 healed, and blotted out and forgiven, 
 and not elfe. Infomuch that if the 
 Evil Spirit himfelf could come into 
 true obedience, he would become an 
 angel again, and all his fin and wicked- 
 
Theologia Germanka. 51 
 
 nefs would be healed and blotted out 
 and forgiven at once. And could an 
 angel fall into difobedience, he would 
 ftraightway become an evil fpirit al- 
 though he did nothing afrefh. 
 
 If then it were poflible for a man to 
 renounce himfelf and all things, and to 
 live as wholly and purely in true obe- 
 dience, as Chrift did in his human na- 
 ture, fuch a man were quite without 
 lin, and were one thing with Chrift, 
 and the fame by grace which Chrift 
 was by nature. But it is faid this can- 
 not be. So alfo it is faid : "there is 
 none without fin." But be that as it 
 may, this much is certain ; that the 
 nearer we are to perfedt obedience, the 
 lefs we fin, and the farther from it we 
 are, the more we fin. In brief : whe- 
 ther a man be good, better, or beft of 
 all ; bad, worfe, or worft of all ; finful 
 or faved before God ; it all lieth in this 
 matter of obedience. Therefore it hath 
 been faid : the more of Self and Me, the 
 
52 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 more of fin and wickednefs. So like- 
 wife it hath been faid: the more the 
 Self, the I, the Me, the Mine, that is, 
 felf-feeking and felfifhnefs abate in a 
 man, the more doth God's I, that is, 
 God Himfelf, increafe in him. 
 
 Now, if all mankind abode in true 
 obedience, there would be no grief nor 
 forrow. For if it were fo, all men 
 would be at one, and none would vex 
 or harm another; fo alfo, none would 
 lead a life or do any deed contrary to 
 God's will. Whence then fhould grief 
 or forrow arife? But now alas! all 
 men, nay the whole world lieth in dif- 
 obedience ! Now were a man fimply 
 and wholly obedient as Chrift was, all 
 difobedience were to him a fharp and 
 bitter pain. But though all men were 
 againft him, they could neither (hake 
 nor trouble him, for while in this obe- 
 dience a man were one with God, and 
 God Himfelf were [one with] the man. 
 
 Behold now all difobedience is con- 
 
T'heologia Germanica > 5 3 
 
 trary to God, and nothing elfe. In 
 truth, no Thing is contrary to God; no 
 creature nor creature's work, nor any 
 thing that we can name or think of is 
 contrary to God or difpleafmg to Him, 
 but only difobedience and the difobe- 
 dient man. In fhort, all that is, is 
 well-pleafing and good in God's eyes, 
 faving only the difobedient man. But 
 he is fo difpleafing and hateful to God 
 and grieveth him fo fore, that if it 
 were poffible for human nature to die 
 a hundred deaths, God would willingly 
 fuffer them all for one difobedient man, 
 that He might flay difobedience in 
 him, and that obedience might be born 
 again. 
 
 Behold! albeit no man may be fo 
 fingle and perfect in this obedience as 
 Chrift was, yet it is poffible to every 
 man to approach fo near thereunto as 
 to be rightly called godlike, and 
 partaker of the divine nature."* And 
 
 * 2 Pet. i. 4. 
 
54 'Theologia Germanica. 
 
 the nearer a man cometh thereunto, 
 and the more godHke and divine he 
 becometh, the more he hateth all dif- 
 obedience, fin, evil and unrighteoufnefs, 
 and the worfe they grieve him. Dif- 
 obedience and fin are the fame thing, 
 for there is no fin but difobedience, and 
 what is done of difobedience is all fin. 
 Therefore all we have to do is to keep 
 ourfelves from difobedience. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 How we are not to take unto ourfelves what 
 we have done well, hut only what we have 
 done amifs, 
 
 TlEHOLD! now it is reported there 
 be fome who vainly think and fay 
 that they are fo wholly dead to felf and 
 quit of it, as to have reached and abide 
 in a fl:ate where they fuffer nothing 
 
Theologia Germanica. 55 
 
 and are moved by nothing, juft as if 
 all men were living in obedience, or 
 as if there were no creatures. And 
 thus they profefs to continue alw^ays in 
 an even temper of mind, fo that noth- 
 ing Cometh amifs to them, hov^foever 
 things fall out, well or ill. Nay verily! 
 the matter ftandeth not fo, but as we 
 have faid. It might be thus, if all 
 men were brought into obedience ; 
 but until then, it cannot be. 
 
 But it may be alked : Are not we to 
 be feparate from all things, and neither 
 to take unto ourfelves evil nor good ? 
 I anfwer, no one fhall take goodnefs 
 unto himfelf, for that belongeth to God 
 and His goodnefs only; but thanks be 
 unto the man, and everlafting reward 
 and bleffings, who is lit and ready to be 
 a dwelling and tabernacle of the Eternal 
 Goodnefs and Godhead, wherein God 
 may exert his power, and will and work 
 without hindrance. But if any now 
 will excufe himfelf for fin, by refufing 
 
56 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 to take what is evil unto himfelf, and 
 laying the guilt thereof upon the Evil 
 Spirit, and thus make himfelf out to 
 be quite pure and innocent (as our firft 
 parents Adam and Eve did w^hile they 
 w^ere yet in paradife; whtn each laid 
 the guilt upon the other,) he hath no 
 right at all to do this ; for it is v^ritten, 
 there is none without fin." There- 
 fore I fay; reproach, fhame, lofs, woe, 
 and eternal damnation be to the man 
 who is fit and ready and willing that the 
 Evil Spirit and falfehood, lies and all 
 untruthfulnefs, wickednefs and other 
 evil things fhould have their will and 
 pleafure, word and work in him, and 
 make him their houfe and habitation. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 57 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 How that the Life of Chriji is the nohlefi and 
 befl Life that ever hath been or can he^ and 
 how a carelefs Life of falfe Freedom is the 
 worft Life that can be, 
 
 /^F a truth we ought to know and 
 beUeve that there is no life fo no- 
 ble and good and well pleafing to God, 
 as the life of Chrift, and yet it is to na- 
 ture and felfifhnefs the bittereft life. A 
 life of careleffnefs and freedom is to 
 nature and the Self and the Me, the 
 fweeteft and pleafanteft life, but it is 
 not the beft ; and in fome men may 
 become the worft. But though Chrift's 
 life be the moft bitter of all, yet it is 
 to be preferred above all. Hereby 
 fhall ye mark this : There is an in- 
 ward fight which hath power to per- 
 
58 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 ceive the One true Good, and that it 
 is neither this nor that, but that of 
 which St. Paul faith; **when that 
 which is perfed: is come, then that 
 which is in part fhall be done away."* 
 By this he meaneth, that the Whole 
 and Perfect excelleth all the fragments, 
 and that all which is in part and imper- 
 fedl, is as nought compared to the Per- 
 fed:. Thus likewife all knowledge of 
 the parts is fwallowed up when the 
 Whole is known; and where that Good 
 is known, it cannot but be longed for 
 and loved fo greatly, that all other love 
 wherewith the man hath loved himfelf 
 and other things, fadeth away. And 
 that inward fight likewife perceiveth 
 what is befl: and nobleft in all things, 
 and loveth it in the one true Good, and 
 only for the fake of that true Good. 
 
 Behold! where there is this inward 
 fight, the man perceiveth of a truth, 
 that Chrift's life is the beft and nobleft 
 
 * I Cor. xlii. 10. 
 
heolo^ia German ica . 
 
 life, and therefore the moft to be pre- 
 ferred, and he willingly accepteth and 
 endureth it, without a queftion or a 
 complaint, whether it pleafe or offend 
 nature or other men, whether he like 
 or diflike it, find it fweet or bitter, and 
 the like. And therefore wherever this 
 perfedl and true Good is known, there 
 alfo the life of Chrift muft be led, until 
 the death of the body. And he who 
 vainly thinketh otherwife is deceived, 
 and he who faith otherwife, lieth, and 
 in what man the life of Chrift is not, 
 of him the true Good and eternal 
 Truth will never more be known. 
 
6o Theologia Germanica, 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 How we cannot come to the true Light and 
 Chrifi's Life^ by much ^ejtioning or Read- 
 ings or by high natural Skill and Reafon, 
 hut by truly renouncing our/elves and all 
 Things, 
 
 T ET no one fuppofe that we may- 
 attain to this true hght and perfedl 
 knowledge, or Hfe of Chrift, by much 
 queftioning, or by hearfay, or by read- 
 ing and ftudy, nor yet by high fkill 
 and great learning. Yea fo long as a 
 man taketh account of anything which 
 is this or that, whether it be himfelf, 
 or any other creature; or doeth any- 
 thing, or frameth a purpofe, for the 
 fake of his own likings or defires, or 
 opinions, or ends, he cometh not unto 
 the life of Chrift. This hath Chrift 
 himfelf declared, for he faith: "If 
 
Theologia Germanica. 6i 
 
 any man will come after me, let him 
 deny himfelf, and take up his crofs, 
 and follow me." * He that taketh not 
 his crofs, and followeth after me, is not 
 worthy of me/'-f* And if he "hate 
 not his father and mother, and wife, 
 and children, and brethren and fifters, 
 yea, and his own life alfo, he cannot be 
 my difciple/'J He meaneth it thus: 
 **he who doth not forfake and part 
 with every thing, can never know my 
 eternal truth, nor attain unto my life." 
 And though this had never been de- 
 clared unto us, yet the truth herfelf 
 fayeth it, for it is fo of a truth. But 
 fo long as a man clingeth unto the 
 elements and fragments of this world 
 (and above all to himfelf,) and holdeth 
 converfe with them, and maketh great 
 account of them, he is deceived and 
 blinded, and perceiveth what is good 
 no further than as it is moft convenient 
 
 • Matt. xvi. 24.. f Matt. x. 38. 
 
 I Luke xi^. 26. 
 
62 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 and pleafant to himfelf and profitable 
 to his own ends. Thefe he holdeth 
 to be the higheft good, and loveth 
 above all. [Thus he never cometh to 
 the truth.] 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 How, feeing that the Life of Chrift is moft 
 hitter to Nature, and Self Nature will 
 have none of it, and choofeth a falfe care- 
 lefs Life, as is moft convenient to her, 
 
 ^OW, fince the life of Chrift is 
 every way moft bitter to nature 
 and the Self and the Me (for in the 
 true life of Chrift, the Self and the Me 
 and nature muft be forfaken and loft, 
 and die altogether,) therefore, in each 
 of us, nature hath a horror of it, and 
 thinketh it evil and unjuft and a folly, 
 and grafpeth after fuch a life as fhall 
 be moft comfortable and pleafant to 
 
ia Germanica. 63 
 
 herfelf, and faith, and believeth alfo in 
 her bhndnefs, that fuch a life is the 
 befl: pofTible. Now, nothing is fo 
 comfortable and pleafant to nature, as 
 a free, carelefs way of life, thereforth 
 £he clingeth to that, and taketh enjoy- 
 ment in herfelf and her own powers, 
 and looketh only to her own peace and 
 comfort and the like. And this hap- 
 peneth moft of all, where there are 
 high natural gifts of reafon, for that 
 foareth upwards in its own light and 
 by its own power, till at lafi; it cometh 
 to think itfelf the true Eternal Light, 
 and giveth itfelf out as fuch, and is 
 thus deceived in itfelf, and deceiveth 
 other people along with it, who know 
 no better, and alfo are thereunto in- 
 clined. 
 
64 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 How a Friend of Chrift willingly fulfilleth 
 by his outward Works^ Juch Things as 
 muft he and ought to he^ and doth not con- 
 cern himjelf with the rejt, 
 
 ^VjOW, it may be afked, what is 
 ^ ^ the ftate of a man who followeth 
 the true Light to the utmoft of his 
 power? I anfwer truly, it will never 
 be declared aright, for he who is not 
 fuch a man, can neither underftand nor 
 know it, and he who is, knoweth it 
 indeed; but he cannot utter it, for it 
 is unfpeakable. Therefore let him 
 who would know it, give his whole 
 diligence that he may enter therein ; 
 then will he fee and find what hath 
 never been uttered by man's lips. 
 However, I believe that fuch a man 
 hath liberty as to his outward walk and 
 converfation, fo long as they confift 
 
Theologia Germanica. 65 
 
 with what muft be or ought to be ; 
 but they may not confift with what he 
 merely willeth to be. But oftentimes a 
 man maketh to himfelf many muft-be's 
 and ought- to-be's which are falfe. 
 The which ye may fee hereby, that 
 when a man is moved by his pride or 
 covetoufnefs or other evil difpofitions, 
 to do or leave undone anything, he oft- 
 times faith, It muft needs be fo, and 
 ought to be fo." Or if he is driven 
 to, or held back from anything by the 
 delire to find favour in men*s eyes, or 
 by love, friendfhip, enmity, or the lufts 
 and appetites of his body, he faith, *'It 
 muft needs be fo, and ought to be fo." 
 Yet behold, that is utterly falfe. Had 
 we no muft-be's, nor ought-to-be*s, 
 but fuch as God and the Truth fhow 
 us, and conftrain us to, we fhould have 
 lefs, forfooth, to order and do than now; 
 [for we make to ourfelves much dif- 
 quictude and difficulty which we might 
 well be fpared and raifed above.] 
 
66 T^heologria Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 How Jometimes the Sprit of God, and Jome- 
 times aljo the Evil Spirit may pojfej^ a 
 Man and have the maftery over him. 
 
 TT is written that fometimes the 
 Devil and his fpirit do fo enter into 
 and poffefs a man, that he knoweth 
 not what he doeth and leaveth undone, 
 and hath no. power over himfelf, but 
 the Evil Spirit hath the maftery over 
 him, and doeth and leaveth undone in, 
 and with, and through, and by the 
 man what he will. It is true in a fenfe 
 that all the world is fubjed to and pof- 
 fefled with the Evil Spirit, that is, with 
 lies, falfehood, and other vices and evil 
 ways; this alfo cometh of the Evil 
 Spirit, but in a different fenfe. 
 
 Now, a man who fhould be in like 
 manner poffeffed by the Spirit of God, 
 
Theologia Germanica. 6j 
 
 fo that he fhould not know what he 
 doeth or leaveth undone, and have no 
 power over himfelf, but the will and 
 Spirit of God fhould have the mafliery 
 over him, and work, and do, and leave 
 undone with him and by him, what 
 and as God would; fuch a man were 
 one of thofe of whom St. Paul faith: 
 **For as many as are led by the Spirit 
 of God they are the fons of God,"* 
 and they '*are not under the law but 
 under grace,"'f* and to whom Chrifk 
 faith: "For it is not ye that fpeak, but 
 the Spirit of your Father which fpeak- 
 eth in yonJ"X 
 
 But I fear that for one who is truly 
 poffefled with the Spirit of God, there 
 are a hundred thoufand or an innume- 
 rable multitude pofTefled with the Evil 
 Spirit. This is becaufe men have more 
 likenefs to the Evil Spirit than to God. 
 For the Self, the I, the Me and the 
 
 Romans viii. 14. f Romans vi. 14. 
 
 J Matthew x. 20. 
 
68 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 like, all belong to the Evil Spirit, and 
 therefore it is, that he is an evil Spirit. 
 Behold one or tw^o w^ords can utter all 
 that hath been faid by thefe many- 
 words : " Be limply and w^holly bereft 
 of Self." But by thefe many words, 
 the matter hath been more fully fifted, 
 proved, and fet forth. 
 
 Now men fay, am in no wife 
 prepared for this work, and therefore 
 it cannot be wrought in me," and thus 
 they find an excufe, fo that they nei- 
 ther are ready nor in the way to be fo. 
 And truly there is no one to blame for 
 this but themfelves. For if a man were 
 looking and ftriving after nothing but 
 to find a preparation in all things, and 
 diligently gave his whole mind to fee 
 how he might become prepared ; verily 
 God would well prepare him, for God 
 giveth as much care and earneftnefs and 
 love to the preparing of a man, as to 
 the pouring in of His Spirit when the 
 man is prepared. 
 
igia Germanica. 69 
 
 Yet there be certain means there- 
 unto, as the faying is, "to learn an art 
 which thou knoweft not, four things 
 are needful.""* The firft and moft 
 needful of all is, a great defire and 
 diligence and conftant endeavour to 
 learn the art. And where this is want- 
 ing, the art will never be learned. The 
 fecond is, a copy or enfample by which 
 thou may eft learn. The third is to 
 give earneft heed to the mafter, and 
 watch how he worketh, and to be 
 obedient to him in all things, and to 
 truft him and follow him. The fourth 
 is to put thy own hand to the work, 
 and prad:ife it with all induftry. But 
 where one of thefe four is wanting, the 
 art will never be learned and maftered. 
 So likewife is it with this preparation. 
 For he who hath the firft, that is, 
 thorough diligence and conftant, per- 
 fevering defira towards his end, will 
 alfo feek and find all that appertaineth 
 
 See note, p. 73. 
 
70 Theologia Germanka. 
 
 thereunto, or is ferviceable and profit- 
 able to it. But he who hath not that 
 earneftnefs and dihgence, love and de- 
 fire, feeketh not, and therefore findeth 
 not, and therefore remaineth ever un- 
 prepared. And therefore he never 
 attaineth unto that end. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 He who will Juhmit him/elf to God and be 
 obedient to Him^ muft be ready to bear with 
 all Things; to wit, Gody him/elf, and all 
 Creatures^ and muft be obedient to them all^ 
 whether he hath to Juffer or to do, 
 
 'nr^HERE be fome w^ho talk of other 
 ways and preparations to this end, 
 and fay we muft lie ftill under God's 
 hand, and be obedient and refigned 
 and fubmit to Him. This is true ; 
 for all this would be perfected in a man 
 w^ho fhould attain to the uttermoft that 
 
Theologia Germanica. 7 1 
 
 can be reached in this prefent time. 
 But if a man ought and is willing to 
 lie ftill under God's hand, he muft and 
 ought alfo to be ftill under all things, 
 whether they come from God, himfelf, 
 or the creatures, nothing excepted. 
 And he who would be obedient, re- 
 figned and fubmiffive to God, muft 
 and ought to be alfo refigned, obedient 
 and fubmiffive to all things, in a fpirit 
 of yielding, and not of refiftance, and 
 take them in filence, refting on the 
 hidden foundations of his foul, and 
 having a fecret inward patience, that 
 enableth him to take all chances or 
 croffes willingly, and whatever befall- 
 eth, neither to call for nor defire any 
 redrefs, or deliverance, or refiftance, or 
 revenge, but always in a loving, fincere 
 humility to cry, " Father, forgive them, 
 for they know not what they do!" 
 
 Behold! this were a good path to 
 that which is Beft, and a noble and 
 blefled preparation for the fartheft goal 
 1 
 
72 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 which a man may reach in this prefent 
 time. This is the lovely life of Chrift, 
 for he walketh in the aforefaid paths 
 perfectly and wholly unto the end of 
 his bodily life on earth. Therefore 
 there is no other or better way or pre- 
 paration to the joyful lifeofjefus Chrift, 
 than this fame courfe, and to exercife 
 onefelf therein, as much as may be. 
 And of what belongeth thereunto we 
 have already faid fomewhat; nay, all 
 that we have here or elfewhere faid and 
 written, is but a way or means to that 
 end. But what the end is, knoweth 
 no man to declare. But let him who 
 would know it, follow my counfel and 
 take the right path thereunto, which 
 is the humble life of Jefus Chrift; [let 
 him ftrive after that with unwearied 
 perfeverance, and fo, without doubt, he 
 ftiall come to that end which endureth 
 for ever. **"For he that endureth to 
 the end ftiall be faved."] * 
 
 * Matt. X. 22. 
 
ia Germanica. 73 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 How that four Things are needful before a 
 Man can receive divine 'Truth, and he poj- 
 fejfed with the Spirit of GodJ^ 
 
 lyrOREOVER there are yet other 
 ways to the lovely life of Chrift, 
 befides thofe we have fpoken of : to 
 wit, that God and man fhould be 
 wholly united, fo that it can be faid 
 of a truth that God and man are one. 
 This Cometh to pafs on this wife. 
 Where the Truth always reigneth, fo 
 that true perfed: God and true perfecft 
 man are at one, and man fo giveth place 
 to God, that God Himfelf is there and 
 
 * The heading of this Chapter appears to have no re- 
 lation to its contents, while it perfeftly fuits the latter half 
 of Chap, xxii., (p. 69,) which has nothing correfponding 
 to it in the heading of that chapter. As however the 
 heading of Chap. xxiv. is common both to the Wurtzburg 
 MS. and Luther's editions, the tranflator has no option 
 but to retain it in its prefent pofition. 
 
74 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 yet the man too, and this fame unity 
 worketh continually, and doeth and 
 leaveth undone without any I, and Me, 
 and Mine, and the like; behold, there 
 is Chrift, and nowhere elfe. Now, 
 feeing that here there - is true perfed: 
 manhood, fo there is a perfed: per- 
 ceiving and feeling of pleafure and pain, 
 liking and difliking, fweetnefs and bit- 
 ternefs, joy and forrow, and all that can 
 be perceived and felt within and with- 
 out. And feeing that God is here 
 made man, he is alfo able to perceive 
 and feel love and hatred, evil and good, 
 and the like. As a man who is not 
 God, feeleth and taketh note of all that 
 giveth him pleafure and pain, and it 
 pierceth him to the heart, efpecially 
 what ofFendeth him ; fo is it alfo when 
 God and man are one, and yet God is 
 the man; there everything is perceived 
 and felt that is contrary to God and 
 man. And fince there man becometh 
 nought, and God alone is everything. 
 
Theologta Germanica. 75 
 
 fo is it with that which is contrary to 
 man, and a forrow to him. And this 
 muft hold true of God fo long as a 
 bodily and fubftantial life endureth. 
 
 Furthermore, mark ye, that the one 
 Being in whom God and man are 
 united, ftandeth free of himfelf and of 
 all things, and whatever is in him is 
 there for God's fake and not for man's, 
 or the creature's. For it is the property 
 of God to be without this and that, 
 and without Self and Me, and without 
 equal or fellow; but it is the nature 
 and property of the creature to feek 
 itfelf and its own things, and this and 
 that, here and there; and in all that it 
 doeth and leaveth undone its defire is 
 to its own advantage and profit. Now 
 where a creature or a man forfaketh 
 and Cometh out of himfelf and his own 
 things, there God entereth in with His 
 own, that is, with Himfelf. 
 
76 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 Of two evil Fruits that do fpring up from the 
 Seed of the Evil Spirit, and are two Sifters 
 who love to dwell together, Ihe one is 
 called Jpiritual Pride and Highmindednejs, 
 the other is faljey lawlefs Freedom, 
 
 '^JOW, after that a man hath walked 
 in all the ways that lead him unto 
 the truth, and exercifed himfelf there- 
 in, not fparing his labour ; now, as 
 often and as long as he dreameth that 
 his work is altogether finifhed, and he 
 is by this time quite dead to the world, 
 and come out from Self and given up 
 to God alone, behold! the Devil com- 
 eth and foweth his feed in the man's 
 heart. From this feed fpring two 
 fruits ; the one is fpiritual fulnefs or 
 pride, the other is falfe, lawlefs free- 
 dom. Thefe are two fifters who love 
 
'ia Germanica. 77 
 
 to be together. Now, it beginneth 
 on this wife: the Devil puffeth up the 
 man, till he thinketh himfelf to have 
 climbed the topmoft pinnacle, and to 
 have come fo near to heaven, that he 
 no longer needeth Scripture, nor teach- 
 ing, nor this nor that, but is altogether 
 raifed above any need. Whereupon 
 there arifeth a falfe peace and fatisfac- 
 tion with himfelf, and then it follow- 
 eth that he faith or thinketh: '*Yea, 
 now I am above all other men, and 
 know and underfland more than any 
 one in the world; therefore it is cer- 
 tainly jufi: and reafonable that I fhould 
 be the lord and commander of all 
 creatures, and that all creatures, and 
 efpecially all men, fhould ferve me 
 and be fubjedl unto me." And then he 
 feeketh and defireth the fame, and 
 taketh it gladly from all creatures, ef- 
 pecially men, and thinketh himfelf 
 well worthy of all this, and that it is 
 his due, and looketh on men as if they 
 
yS Theologia Germanica. 
 
 were the beafts of the field, and think- 
 eth himfelf worthy of all that minifter- 
 eth to his body and life and nature, in 
 profit, or joy, or pleafure, or even paf- 
 time and amufement, and he feeketh 
 and taketh it wherever he findeth op- 
 portunity. And whatever is done or 
 can be done for him, feemeth him all 
 too little and too poor, for he thinketh 
 himfelf worthy of fl:ill more and greater 
 honour than can be rendered to him. 
 And of all the men who ferve him and 
 are fubjedt to him, even if they be 
 downright thieves and murderers, he 
 faith neverthelefs, that they have faith- 
 ful, noble hearts, and have great love 
 and faithfulnefs to the truth and to poor 
 men. And fuch men are praifed by him, 
 and he feeketh them and followeth after 
 them wherever they be. But he who 
 doth not order himfelf according to 
 the will of thefe highminded men, nor 
 is fubjed: unto them, is not fought after 
 by them, nay, more fikely blamed and 
 
Theologia Germanica, 79 
 
 fpoken ill of, even though he were as 
 holy as St. Peter himfelf. And feeing 
 that this proud and puffed-up fpirit 
 thinketh thatfhe needeth neither Scrip- 
 ture, nor inftrudlion, nor anything of 
 the kind, therefore fhe giveth no heed 
 to the admonitions, order, laws and 
 precepts of the holy Chriftian Church, 
 nor to the Sacraments, but mocketh at 
 them and at all men who walk accord- 
 ing to thefe ordinances and hold them 
 in reverence. Hereby we may plainly 
 fee that thofe two lifters dwell together. 
 
 Moreover fince this fheer pride think- 
 eth to know and underftand more than 
 all men befides, therefore fhe chdofeth 
 to prate more than all other men, and 
 would fain have her opinions and 
 fpeeches to be alone regarded and lif- 
 tened to, and counteth all that others 
 think and fay to be wrong, and holdeth 
 it in derifion as a folly. 
 
8o Theologia Germanka. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 Touching Poornefs of Spirit and true Humil- 
 ity^ and whereby we may dijcern the true 
 and lawful free Men^ whom the Truth 
 hath made free, 
 
 T)UT it is quite otherwife where 
 there is poornefs of fpirit, and 
 true humiHty; and it is fo becaufe it 
 is found and known of a truth that a 
 man, of himfelf and his own power, 
 is nothing, hath nothing, can do and 
 is capable of nothing but only infirmi- 
 ty and evil. Hence followeth that the 
 man findeth himfelf altogether unwor- 
 thy of all that hath been or ever will 
 be done for him, by God or the crea- 
 tures, and that he is a debtor to God 
 and alfo to all the creatures in God's 
 ftead, both to bear with, and to labour 
 for, and to ferve them. And therefore 
 
Theologia Germanica. 8i 
 
 he doeth not in any wife ftand up for 
 his own rights, but from the humiHty 
 of his heart he faith, "It is juft and 
 reafonable that God and all creatures 
 fhould be againft me, and have a right 
 over me, and to me, and that I fhould 
 not be againft any one, nor have a right 
 to any thing." Hence it followeth 
 that the man doth not and will not 
 crave or beg for any thing, either from 
 God or the creatures, beyond mere 
 needful things, and for thofe only with 
 fhame-facednefs, as a favour and not 
 as a right. And he will not minifter 
 unto or gratify his body or any of his 
 natural defires, beyond what is needful, 
 nor allow that any fhould help or ferve 
 him except in cafe of neceffity, and 
 then always in trembling; for he hath 
 no right to any thing, and therefore 
 he thinketh himfelf unworthy of any 
 thing. So likewife all his own dif- 
 courfe, ways, words and works feem to 
 this man a thing of nought and a folly. 
 
8 2 Theologia Germanica . 
 
 Therefore he fpeaketh little, and doth 
 not take upon himfelf to admonifh or 
 rebuke any, unlefs he be conftrained 
 thereto by love or faithfulnefs towards 
 God, and even then he doth it in fear, 
 and fo little as may be. 
 
 Moreover, when a man hath this 
 poor and humble fpirit, he cometh to 
 fee and underftand aright, how that all 
 men are bent upon themfelves, and in- 
 clined to evil and fin, and that on this 
 account it is needful and profitable that 
 there be order, cuftoms, law and pre- 
 cepts, to the end that the blindnefs and 
 foolifhnefs of men may be corrected, 
 and that vice and wickednefs may be 
 kept under, and conftrained to feemli- 
 nefs. For without ordinances, men 
 would be much more mifchievous and 
 ungovernable than dogs and cattle. 
 And few have come to the knowledge 
 of the truth, but what have begun with 
 holy pradlices and ordinances, and ex- 
 ercifed themfelves therein fo long as 
 they knew nothing more nor better. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 83 
 
 Therefore one who is poor in fpirit 
 and of a humble mind doth not defpife 
 or make light of law, order, precepts 
 and holy cuftoms, nor yet of thofe who 
 obferve and cleave wholly to them, but 
 with loving pity and gentle forrow, 
 crieth: "Almighty Father, Thou Eter- 
 nal Truth, I make my lament unto 
 Thee, and it grieveth Thy Spirit too, 
 that through man's blindnefs, infirmity, 
 and fin, that is made needful and muft 
 be, which in deed and truth were nei- 
 ther needful nor right." [For thofe 
 who are perfeft are under no law. 
 
 So order, laws, precepts and the like 
 are merely an admonition to men who 
 underftand nothing better and know 
 and perceive not wherefore all law and 
 order is ordained.] And the perfect 
 accept the law along with fuch ignorant 
 men as underftand and know nothing 
 better, and pradlife it with them, to 
 the intent that they may be reftrained 
 thereby, and kept from evil ways, or 
 
84 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 if it be poffible, brought to fomething 
 higher. 
 
 Behold! all that we have faid of 
 poverty and humility is fo of a truth, 
 and we have the proof and witnefs 
 thereof in the pure life of Chrift, and 
 in his words. For he both pradtifed 
 and fulfilled every work of true hu- 
 mility and all other virtues, as fhineth 
 forth in his holy life, and he faith alfo 
 expreffly: "Learn of me, for I am 
 meek and lowly of heart, and ye fhall 
 find reft unto your fouls."* More- 
 over he did not defpife and fet at nought 
 the law and the commandments, nor 
 yet the men who are under the law. 
 [He faith: "I am not come to deftroy 
 the law or the prophets, but to fulfil."] 
 But he faith further, that to keep them 
 is not enough, we muft prefs forward 
 to what is higher and better, as is in- 
 deed true. [He faith: "Except your 
 righteoufnefs fhall exceed the right- 
 
 * Matt. xi. 29. 
 
Theologia Germanica, 85 
 
 eoufnefs of the Scribes and Pharifees, 
 ye fhall in no cafe enter into the king- 
 dom of Heaven."* For the law for- 
 biddeth evil w^orks, but Chrift con- 
 demneth alfo evil thoughts; the law^ 
 allow^eth us to take vengeance on our 
 enemies, but Chrift commandeth us 
 to love them. The law forbiddeth not 
 the good things of this world, but he 
 counfelleth us to defpife them. And 
 he hath fet his feal upon all he faid, 
 with his own holy life; for he taught 
 nothing that he did not fulfil in work, 
 and he kept the law and was fubjed: 
 unto it to the end of his mortal life.] 
 Likewife St. Paul faith: Chrift was 
 made under the law to redeem them 
 that were under the law.^-f- That is, 
 that he might bring them to fome- 
 thing higher and nearer to himfelf. 
 He faid again, ''The Son of man came 
 not to be miniftered unto but to min- 
 ifter."+ 
 
 * Matt. V. 20. f Galat. iv. 4. % Matt. xx. 28. 
 
86 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 In a word : in Chrifl's life and 
 words and works, we find nothing but 
 true, pure humility and poverty fuch 
 as we have fet forth. And therefore 
 where God dwelleth in a man, and the 
 man is a true follower of Chrifl:, it 
 will be, and muft be, and ought to be 
 the fame. But where there is pride, 
 and a haughty fpirit, and a light care- 
 lefs mind, Chrift is not, nor any true 
 follower of his. 
 
 Chrift faid: "my foul is troubled, 
 even unto death." He meaneth his 
 bodily death." [That is to fay: from 
 the time that he was born of Mary, 
 until his death on the crofs, he had 
 not one joyful day, but only trouble, 
 forrow and contradicflion.] Therefore 
 it is juft and reafonable that his fervants 
 fhould be even as their Mafter. Chrift 
 faith alfo: "BlelTed are the poor in 
 fpirit," (that is, thofe who are truly 
 humble) "for theirs is the kingdom 
 of Heaven." And thus we find it of 
 
ia Germanica, 87 
 
 a truth, where God is made man. 
 For in Chrift and in all his true fol- 
 lowers, there muft needs be thorough 
 humility and poornefs of fpirit, a lowly 
 retiring difpofition, and a heart laden 
 with a fecret forrow and mourning, 
 fo long as this mortal life lafteth. And 
 he who dreameth otherwife is deceiv- 
 ed, and deceiveth others with him as 
 aforefaid. Therefore nature and Self 
 always avoid this life, and cling to a 
 life of falfe freedom and eafe as we 
 have fa id. 
 
 Behold ! now cometh an Adam or an 
 Evil Spirit, wifhing to juftify himfelf 
 and make excufe, and faith; **Thou 
 wilt almoft have it that Chrift was be- 
 reft of felf and the like, yet he fpake 
 often of himfelf, and glorified himfelf 
 in this and that," Anfwer: when a 
 man in whom the truth worketh, hath 
 and ought to have a will towards any 
 thing, his will and endeavour and 
 works are for no end, but that the 
 
 m 
 
88 Theologia Germanka. 
 
 truth may be feen and manifefted; and 
 this will was in Chrift, and to this end, 
 words and works are needful. And 
 what Chrift did becaufe it was the 
 moft profitable and beft means there- 
 unto, he no more took unto himfelf 
 than any thing elfe that happened. 
 Doft thou fay now: ''Then there war 
 a Wherefore in Chrift?" I anfwer, if 
 thou wert to afk the fun, " why fhineft 
 thou?" he would fay: muft fliine, 
 and cannot do otherwife, for it is my 
 nature and property; but this my pro- 
 perty, and the light I give, is not of 
 myfelf, and I do not call it mine." So 
 likewife is it with God and Chrift and 
 all who are godly and belong unto 
 God. In them is no willing, nor work- 
 ing nor defiring but has for its end, 
 goodnefs, as goodnefs, for the fake of 
 goodnefs, and they have no otii'^r 
 Wherefore than this. 
 
ia Germanka, 89 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 How we are to take Chrijl*s Words when he 
 hade us forjake all Things; and wherein 
 the Union with the Divine Will ftandeth, 
 
 '^TOW, according to what hath been 
 faid, ye muft obferve that when 
 we fay, as Chrift alfo faith, that we 
 ought to refign and forfake all things, 
 this is not to be taken in the fenfe that 
 a man is neither to do nor to purpofe 
 anything; for a man muft always have 
 fomething to do and to order fo long 
 as he liveth. But we are to underftand 
 by it that the union with God ftandeth 
 not in any man's powers, in his work- 
 ing or abftaining, perceiving or know- 
 ing, nor in that of all the creatures 
 taken together. 
 
 Now what is this union? It is that 
 we fhould be of a truth purely, fimply, 
 and wholly at one with the One Eter- 
 
90 'Theologia Germanica, 
 
 nal Will of God, or altogether without 
 will, fo that the created will fhould 
 flow out into the Eternal Will, and be 
 fwallowed up and loft therein, fo that 
 the Eternal Will alone fhould do and 
 leave undone in us. Now mark what 
 may help or further us towards this 
 end. Behold, neither exercifes, nor 
 words, nor works, nor any creature 
 nor creature's work, can do this. In 
 this wife therefore muft we renounce 
 and forfake all things, that we muft 
 not imagine or fuppofe that any words, 
 works, or exercifes, any fkill or cun- 
 ning or any created thing can help or 
 ferve us thereto. Therefore we muft 
 fufFer thefe things to be what they are, 
 and enter into the union with God. 
 Yet outward things muft be, and we 
 muft do and refrain fo far as is neceffa- 
 ry, efpecially we muft fleep and wake, 
 walk and ftand ftill, fpeak and be filent, 
 and much more of the like. Thefe 
 muft go on fo long as we live. 
 
ia Germanica. o i 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 HoWy after a Union with the divine Will^ 
 the inward Man (landeth immoveable^ the 
 while the outward Man is moved hither 
 and thither, 
 
 '^[OW, when this union truly cometh 
 to pafs and becometh eftabhfhed, 
 the inward man ftandeth henceforward 
 immoveable in this union; and God 
 fuffereth the outward man to be moved 
 hither and thither, from this to that, of 
 fuch things as are neceffary and right. 
 So that the outward man faith in lin- 
 cerity, *'I have no will to be or not to 
 be, to live or die, to know or not to 
 know, to do or to leave undone and the 
 like; but I am ready for all that is to 
 be, or ought to be, and obedient there- 
 unto, whether I have to do or to fuffer." 
 And thus the outward man hath no 
 Wherefore or purpofe, but only to do 
 his part to further the Eternal Will. 
 For it is perceived of a truth, that the 
 
92 Theologia Germanka. 
 
 ^ inward man fhall ftand immoveable, and 
 \ that it is needful for the outward man 
 to be moved. And if the inward man 
 have any Wherefore in the actions of 
 the outward man, he faith only that 
 fuch things muft be and ought to be, as 
 are ordained by the Eternal Will. And 
 where God Himfelf dwelleth in theman, 
 it is thus; as we plainly fee in Chrift. 
 Moreover, where there is this union, 
 which is the offspring of a Divine light 
 and dwelleth in its beams, there is no 
 fpiritual pride, or irreverent fpirit, but 
 boundlefs humility, and a lowly broken 
 heart; alfo an honeft blamelefs walk, 
 juftice, peace, content and all that is of 
 virtue muft needs be there. Where 
 they are not, there is no right union, as 
 we have faid. For juft as neither this 
 thing nor that can bring about or fur- 
 ther this union, fo there is nothing 
 which hath power to fruftrate or hinder 
 it, fave the man himfelf with his felf- 
 will, that doeth him this great wrong. 
 Of this be well affured. 
 
'Theologia Germanka. 93 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 How a Man may not attain Jo high before 
 Death as not to he moved or touched by 
 outward Things* 
 
 ^npHERE be fome who affirm, that 
 a man, while in this prefent time, 
 may and ought to be above being 
 touched by outward things, and in all 
 refpedls as Chrift was after his refur- 
 redlion. . This they try to prove and 
 eftablifh by Chrift's words, go be- 
 fore you into Galilee, there fhall ye 
 fee me."* And again, '*A fpirit hath 
 not flefh and bones as ye fee me have."*f- 
 Thefe fayings they interpret thus : *^As 
 ye have feen me, and been followers 
 of me, in my mortal body and life, fo 
 alfo it behoveth you to fee me and fol- 
 low me, as I go before you into Gali- 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 32 and xxviii. 7-10, 
 + Luke xxlv. 39. 
 
94 'Theologia Ger?nanica. 
 
 lee ; that is to fay, into a ftate in which 
 nothing hath power to move or grieve 
 the foul; on which ftate ye fhall enter, 
 and live and continue therein, before 
 that ye have fuffered and gone through 
 your bodily death. And as ye fee me 
 having flefh and bones, and not liable 
 to fuffer, fo fhall ye likewife, while yet 
 in the body and having your mortal 
 nature, ceafe to feel outward things, 
 were it even the death of the body." 
 
 Now, I anfwer, in the firft place, to 
 this affirmation, that Chrift did not 
 mean that a man fhould or could attain 
 unto this ftate, unlefs he have firft gone 
 through and fuffered all that Chrift 
 did. Now, Chrift did not attain 
 thereunto, before he had paffed through 
 and fuffered his natural death, and 
 what things appertain thereto. There- 
 fore no man can or ought to come to 
 it fo long as he is mortal and liable to 
 fuffer. For if fuch a ftate were the 
 nobleft and beft, and if it were poffible 
 
ia Germanica. 95 
 
 and right to attain to it, as aforefaid, 
 in this prefent time, then it would have 
 been attained by Chrift; for the Hfe 
 of Chrift is the beft and nobleft, the 
 worthieft and loveheft in God*s fight 
 that ever was or will be. Therefore 
 if it was not and could not be fo with 
 Chrift, it will never be fo with any 
 man. Therefore though fome may 
 imagine and fay that fuch a life is the 
 beft and nobleft life, yet it is not fo. 
 
g6 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 On what wife we may come to he beyond and 
 above all Cujlom^ Order y Law, Precepts^ 
 and the like, 
 
 COME fay further, that we can and 
 ought to get beyond all virtue, all 
 cuftom and order, all law, precepts and 
 feemlinefs, fo that all thefe ihould be 
 laid afide, thrown off and fet at nought. 
 Herein there is fome truth, and fome 
 falfehood. Behold and mark: Chrift 
 was greater than his own life, and above 
 , all virtue, cuftom, ordinances and the 
 like, and fo alfo is the Evil Spirit above 
 them, but with a difference. For 
 Chrift was and is above them on this 
 wife, that his words, and works, and 
 ways, his doings and refrainings, his 
 fpeech and filence, his fufferings, and 
 whatfoever happened to him, were 
 
Theologia Germanica. 97 
 
 not forced upon him, neither did he 
 need them, neither were they of any 
 profit to himfelf. It was and is the 
 fame with all manner of virtue, order, 
 laws, decency, and the like; for all 
 that may be reached by them is alrea- 
 dy in Chrift to perfedlion. In this 
 fenfe, that faying of St. Paul is true and 
 receiveth its fulfilment, ''As many as 
 are led by the Spirit of God, they are 
 the fons of God,** "and are not under 
 the law but under grace."* That 
 meaneth, man need not teach them 
 what they are to do or abftain from; 
 for their Mafter, that is, the Spirit of 
 God, fhall verily teach them what is 
 needful for them to know. Likewife 
 they do not need that men fhould give 
 them precepts, or command them to do 
 right and not to do wrong, and the like; 
 for the fame admirable Mafter who 
 teacheth them what is good or not good, 
 what is higher and lower, and in fhort 
 
 * Rom. viii. lo, and vi. 14. 
 
98 Theologia Germantca. 
 
 leadeth them into all truth, He reign- 
 eth alfo within them, and biddeth them 
 to hold faft that which is good, and to 
 let the reft go, and to Him they give 
 ear. Behold! in this fenfe they need 
 not to wait upon any law, either to 
 teach or to command them. In another 
 fenfe alfo they need no law; namely, 
 in order to feek or win fomething 
 thereby, or get any advantage for them- 
 felves. For whatever help toward 
 eternal life, or furtherance in the way 
 everlafting they might obtain from the 
 aid, or counfel, or words, or works of 
 any creature, they polTefs already be- 
 forehand. Behold! in this fenfe alfo 
 it is true, that we may rife above all 
 law and virtue, and alfo above the 
 works and knowledge and powers of 
 any creature. 
 
la Germanica, 99 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 How we are not to caft off the Life cf Chrifty 
 but pra5fife it diligently^ and walk in it 
 until Death. 
 
 T>UT that other thing which they 
 affirm, how that we ought to 
 throw off and caft alide the life oi 
 Chrift, and all laws and command- 
 ments, cuftoms and order and the like, 
 and pay no heed to them, but defpife 
 and make light of them, is altogether 
 falfe and a lie. Now fome may fay; 
 — "lince neither Chrift nor others can 
 ever gain anything, either by a Chrif- 
 tian life, or by all thefe exercifes and 
 ordinances, and the like, nor turn them 
 to any account, feeing that they pofTefs 
 already all that can be had through 
 them, what caufe is there why they 
 fhould not henceforth efchew them 
 
loo Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 altogether? Muft they ftill retain and 
 prad:ice them?" 
 
 Behold, ye muft look narrowly into 
 this matter. There are two kinds of 
 Light; the one is true and the other 
 is falfe. The true light is that Eter- 
 nal Light which is God; or elfe it is a 
 created light, but yet divine, which is 
 called grace. And thefe are both the 
 true Light. So is the falfe light Nature 
 •r of Nature. But why is the iirft 
 true, and the fecond falfe? This we 
 can better perceive than fay or write. 
 To God, as Godhead, appertain neither 
 will, nor knowledge, nor manifeftation, 
 nor anything that we can name, or fay, 
 or conceive. But to God as God,* it 
 belongethtoexprefs Himfelf,and know 
 and love Himfelf, and to reveal Him- 
 felf to Himfelf; and all this without 
 any creature. And all this refteth in 
 God as a fubftance but not as a work- 
 ing, fo long as there is no creature. 
 
 * That is, as a Perfonj — "God" being ufed here as a 
 proper name. — Tr. 
 
Theologia Germanica, i o i 
 
 And out of this exprefling and reveal- 
 ing of Himfelf unto Himfelf, arifeth 
 the diftindlion of Perfons. But when 
 God as God is made nian, or where 
 God dwelleth in a godly man, or one 
 who is *'made a partaker of the divine 
 nature," in fuch a man fomewhat ap- 
 pertaineth unto God which is His own, 
 and belongeth to Him only and not to 
 the creature. And without the crea- 
 ture, this would lie in His own Self as 
 a Subftance or well-fpring, but would 
 not be manifefted or wrought out into 
 deeds. Now God will have it to be 
 exercifed and clothed in a form, for it 
 is there only to Be wrought out and 
 executed. What elfe is it for? Shall 
 it lie idle? What then would it profit? 
 As good were it that it had never been; 
 nay better, for what is of no ufe exift- 
 eth in vain, and that is abhorred by 
 God and Nature. However God will 
 have it wrought out, and this cannot 
 come to pafs (which it ought to do,) 
 
102 T'heologta Germanica. 
 
 without the creature. Nay, if there 
 ought not to be, and were not this and 
 that — works, and a world full of real 
 things, and the like, — what were God 
 Himfelf, and what had He to do, and 
 whofe God would he be? Here we 
 muft turn and ftop, or we might follow 
 this matter and grope along until we 
 knew not where we were, nor how we 
 fhould find our way out again. 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 How God is a true^ fmplcy perfe^ Good^ and 
 how He is a Light and a Reajon and all 
 Virtues^ and how what is highejt and hefty 
 that is J God, ought to he mojt loved hy us. 
 
 TN fliort I would have you to under- 
 ftand, that God (in fo far as He is 
 good) is goodnefs as goodnefs, and not 
 this or that good. But here mark one 
 thing. Behold! what is fometimes 
 here and fometimes there is not every- 
 where, and above all things and places; 
 
Theologia Germanica. 103 
 
 fo alfo, what is to-day, or to-morrow, 
 is not always, at all times, and above 
 all time; and what is fome Thing, this 
 or that, is not all things and above all 
 things. Now, behold, if God were 
 fomething, this or that, he would not 
 be all in all, and above all, as he is; 
 and fo alfo. He would not be true Per- 
 fedlion. Therefore God is, and yet he 
 is neither this nor that which the crea- 
 ture, as creature, can perceive, name, 
 conceive or exprefs. Therefore if God 
 (in fo far as He is good) w^ere this or 
 that good. He would not be all good, 
 and therefore he would not be the One 
 Perfeft Good, which He is. Now 
 God is alfo a Light and a Reafon,* the 
 property of which is to give light and 
 fhine, and take knowledge; and inaf- 
 much as God is Light and Reafon, He 
 muft give light and perceive. And 
 all this giving and perceiving of light 
 
 * Cognition is the word which comes neareft to the 
 original Erkenntnifs, but would not harmonize with the 
 llyle of the tranflation. 
 
 n 
 
1 04 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 exifteth in God without the creature; 
 not as a work fulfilled, but as a fub- 
 ftance or well-fpring. But for it to 
 flow out into a work, fomething really 
 done and accomplifhed,* there muft be 
 creatures through whom this can come 
 to pafs. Look ye: where this Reafon 
 and Light is at w^ork in a creature, it 
 perceiveth and knoweth and teacheth 
 what itfelf is; how that it is good in 
 itfelf and neither this thing nor that 
 thing. This Light and Reafon know- 
 eth and teacheth men, that it is a true, 
 fimple, perfedl Good, which is neither 
 this nor that fpecial good, but compre- 
 hended every kind of good. 
 
 Now, having declared that this Light 
 teacheth the One Good, what doth it 
 teach concerning it? Give heed to 
 this. Behold! even as God is the one 
 Good, and Light and Reafon, fo is He 
 alfo Will and Love and Juftice and 
 Truth, and in fliort all virtues. But 
 
 * Or, be realized. 
 
'Theologia Germanica. 105 
 
 all thefe are in God one Subftance, and 
 none of them can be put in exercife and 
 wrought out into deeds without the 
 creature, for in God, without the crea- 
 ture, they are only as a Subftance or 
 well-fpring, not as a work. But where 
 the One, who is yet all thefe, layeth 
 hold of a creature, and taketh pofTeffion 
 of it, and diredteth and maketh ufe of 
 it, fo that he may perceive in it fome- 
 what of His own, behold, in fo far as 
 He is Will and Love, He is taught of 
 Himfelf, feeing that He is alfo Light 
 and Reafon, and He willeth nothing 
 but that One thing which He is. 
 
 Behold! in fuch a creature, there is 
 no longer anything willed or loved but 
 that which is good, becaufe it is good, 
 and for no other reafon than that it is 
 good, not becaufe it is this or that, or 
 pleafeth or difpleafeth fuch a one, is 
 pleafant or painful, bitter or fweet, or 
 what not. All this is not alked about 
 nor looked at. And fuch a creature 
 
io6 Theologria Gennanica. 
 
 doth nothing for its own fake, or in 
 its own name, for it hath quitted all 
 Self, and Me, and Mine, and We and 
 Ours, and the Hke, and thefe are de- 
 parted. It no longer faith, "I love 
 myfelf, or this or that, or what not." 
 And if you were to alk Love, ''what 
 loveft thou?" fhe would anfwer, ''I 
 love Goodnefs." ''Wherefore?" "Be- 
 caufe it is good, and for the fake of 
 Goodnefs." So it is good and juft and 
 right to deem that if there were aught 
 better than God, that muft be loved 
 better than God. And thus God loveth 
 not Himfelf as Himfelf, but as Good- 
 nefs. And if there were, and He knew, 
 ought better than God, He would love 
 that and not Himfelf. Thus the Self 
 and the Me are wholly fundered from 
 God, and belong to Him only in fo far 
 as they are necelTary for Him to be a 
 Perfon. 
 
 Behold! all that we have faid muft 
 indeed come to pafs in a godlike man, 
 
''ia Gennanica. i 
 
 or one who is truly ^'made a partaker 
 of the divine nature;" for elfe he would 
 not be truly fuch. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 How when a Man is made truly godlike^ his 
 Love is pure and unmixed ^ and he loveth 
 all Creatures y and doth his beft for them, 
 
 TTENCE it followeth, that in a truly 
 godlike man, his love is pure and 
 unmixed, and full of kindnefs, infomuch 
 that he cannot but love in fmcerity all 
 men and things, and wifh well, and do 
 good to them, and rejoice in their wel- 
 fare. Yea, let them do what they will 
 to fuch a man, do him wrong or kind- 
 nefs, bear him love or hatred or the 
 like, yea, if one could kill fuch a man a 
 hundred times over, and he always came 
 to life again, he could not but love the 
 very man who had fo often llain him, 
 although he had been treated fo unjuft- 
 ly, and wickedly, and cruelly by him. 
 
io8 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 and could not but wifh well, and do 
 well to him, and £how him the very 
 greateft kindnefs in his power, if the 
 other would but only receive and take 
 it at his hands. The proof and witnefs 
 whereof may be feen in Chrift; for he 
 faid to Judas, when he betrayed him: 
 Friend, wherefore art thou come?" 
 Juft as if he had faid: "Thou hateft 
 me, and art mine enemy, yet I love 
 thee, and am thy friend. Thou de- 
 fireft and rejoiceft in my afflidion, and 
 doft the worft thou canft unto me ; yet 
 I defire and wifh thee all good, and 
 would fain give it thee, and do it for 
 thee, if thou wouldft but take and re- 
 ceive it.'' As though God in human 
 nature were faying: "I am pure, Am- 
 ple Goodnefs, and therefore I cannot 
 will, or defire, or rejoice in, or do or 
 give anything but goodnefs. If I am 
 to reward thee for thy evil and wick- 
 ednefs, I muft do it with goodnefs, for 
 I am and have nothing elfe." Hence 
 
ia Ger77tanica. lo 
 
 therefore God, in a man who is "made 
 partaker of His nature," defireth and 
 taketh no revenge for all the wrong 
 that is or can be done unto him. This 
 we fee in Chrift, when he faid: "Fa- 
 ther, forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do." 
 
 Likewife it is God's property that 
 He doth not conftrain any by force to 
 do or not to do anything, but He al- 
 loweth every man to do and leave un- 
 done according to his will, whether it 
 be good or bad, and refifteth none. 
 This too we fee in Chrift, who would 
 not refift or defend himfelf when his 
 enemies laid hands on him. And when 
 Peter would have defended him, he 
 faid unto Peter: "Put up thy fword 
 into the fheath: the cup which my Fa- 
 ther hath given me, shall I not drink 
 it?" Neither may a man who is made 
 a partaker of the divine nature, opprefs 
 or grieve any one. That is, it never 
 entereth into his thoughts, or intents. 
 
no Theolop-ja Germantca. 
 
 or wifl:ies, to caufe pain or diftrefs to 
 any, either by deed or negled;, by 
 fpeech or filence. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 How that if a Man will attain to that which 
 is heft^ he mujt for/wear his own Will; 
 and he who helpeth a Man to his own Will 
 helpeth him to the worjt Thing he can. 
 
 COME may fay:' "Now fince God 
 willeth and defireth and doth the 
 beft that may be to every one. He ought 
 fo to help each man and order things 
 for him, that they fhould fall out ac- 
 cording to his will and fulfil his defires, 
 fo that one might be a Pope, another a 
 Bifhop, and fo forth." Be affured, he 
 who helpeth a man to his own will, 
 helpeth him to the worft that he can. 
 For the more a man followeth after 
 his own felf-will, and self-will grow- 
 eth in him, the farther off is he from 
 God, the true Good, [for nothing 
 
'Theologia Germanica. 1 1 1 
 
 burneth in hell but felf-will. There- 
 fore it hath been faid, " Put off thine 
 own will, and there will be no hell."] 
 Now God is very willing to help a 
 man and bring him to that which is 
 beft in itfelf, and is of all things the 
 beft for man. But to this end, all felf- 
 will mufi: depart, as we have faid. 
 And God would fain give man his help 
 and counfel thereunto, for fo long as a 
 man is feeking his own good, he doth 
 not feek what is beft for him, and will 
 never find it. For a man's higheft 
 good would be and truly is, that he 
 fhould not feek himfelf nor his own 
 things, nor be his own end in any re- 
 fpedt, either in things fpiritual or things 
 natural, but fhould feek only the praife 
 and glory of God and His holy will. 
 This doth God teach and admonifh us. 
 
 Let him therefore who wifheth that 
 God fhould help him to what is beft, 
 and beft for him, give diligent heed to 
 God's counfels and teachings, and obey 
 
1 1 2 Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 His commandments; thus, and not elfe, 
 will he have, and hath already, God's 
 help. Now God teacheth and admon- 
 ifheth man to forfake himfelf and all 
 things, and to follow Him only. " For 
 he who loveth his foul," * that is him- 
 felf, and will guard it and keep it, *^he 
 fhall lofe it;'* that is, he who feeketh 
 himfelf and his own advantage in all 
 things, in fo doing lofeth his foul. 
 "But hewhohateth his foul for my fake 
 fhall keep it unto life eternal;" that is, 
 he who forfaketh himfelf and his own 
 things, and giveth up his own will, and 
 fulfilleth God's will, his foul will be 
 kept and preferved unto Life Eternal. 
 
 * Mark viii. 35. Our authorized verfion ufes the word 
 "life," in this verfe, but as that would not quite bring out 
 the force of the original, I have ventured to ufe the fame 
 word for ^jvxh here, by which it is tranllated in the two 
 fucceeding verfes. 
 
 Except in this and another paflage, where in quoting 
 John iii. 8. Trvtina is tranllated, as in Luther's verfion, 
 Spirit inftead of Wind, our authorized verfion has been 
 always adhered to. — ^Tr. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 113 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 How there is deep and true Humility and 
 Poorne/s of Spirit in a Man who is made 
 a Partaker of the Divine Nature" 
 
 l\/rOREOVER, in a man who is 
 
 "made a partaker of the divine 
 nature/' there is a thorough and deep 
 humility, and where this is not, the 
 man hath not been '*made a partaker 
 of the divine nature." So Chrift taught 
 in words and fulfilled in works. And 
 this humility fpringeth up in the man, 
 becaufe in the true Light he feeth (as 
 it alfo really is) that Subftance, Life, 
 Perceiving, Knowledge, Power, and 
 what is thereof, do all belong to the 
 True Good, and not to the creature; 
 but that the creature of itfelf is noth- 
 ing and hath nothing, and that when 
 it turneth itfelf afide from the True 
 Good in will or in works, nothing is 
 left to it but pure evil. And therefore 
 
114 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 it is true to the very letter, that the 
 creature, as creature, hath no worthi- 
 nefs in itfelf, and no right to anything,, 
 and no claim over any one, either over 
 God or over the creature, and that it 
 ought to give itfelf up to God and fub- 
 mit to Him becaufe this is juft. And 
 this is the chiefeft and moft vv^eighty 
 matter. 
 
 Now, if we ought to be, and defire 
 to be, obedient and fubmit unto God, 
 we muft alfo fubmit to what we receive 
 at the hands of any of his creatures, or 
 our fubmiffion is all falfe. From this 
 latter article floweth true humility, as 
 indeed it doth alfo from the former.* 
 And unlefs this verily ought to be, and 
 were wholly agreeable to God's juf- 
 tice, Chrift would not have taught it 
 in words, and fulfilled it in his life. 
 And herein there is a veritable mani- 
 feftation of God ; and it is fo of a truth, 
 that of God's truth and juftice this 
 
 * Namely, God"'s having a right to our obedience. 
 
ia ^Germanica. 115 
 
 creature fhall be fubjedl to God and all 
 creatures, and no thing or perfon fhall 
 be fubjed: or obedient to her. God 
 and all the creatures have a right over 
 her and to her, but fhe hath a right to 
 nothing: flie is a debtor to all, and 
 nothing is owning to her, fo that fhe 
 fhall be ready to bear all things from 
 others, and alfo if needs be to do all 
 things for others. And out of this 
 groweth that poornefs of fpirit which 
 Chrift faid: "BlefTed are the poor in 
 fpirit" (that is to fay, the truly hum- 
 ble) "for theirs is the Kingdom of 
 Heaven." All this hath Chrifl taught 
 in words and fulfilled with his life. 
 
ii6 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 How nothing is contrary to God but Sin only ; 
 and what Sin is in Kind and A51. 
 
 PURTHER ye fhall mark: when it 
 is faid that fuch a thing, or fuch a 
 deed is contrary to God, or that fuch 
 a thing is hateful to God and grieveth 
 His Spirit, ye mufi: know that no crea- 
 ture is contrary to God, or hateful or 
 grievous unto Him, in fo far as it is, 
 liveth, knoweth, hath power to do, or 
 produce aught, and fo forth, for all this 
 is not contrary to God. That an evil 
 fpirit, or a man is, liveth, and the like, 
 is altogether good and of God; for 
 God is the Being of all that are, and 
 the Life of all that live, and the Wif- 
 dom of all the wife; for all things 
 have their being more truly in God 
 than in themfelves, and alfo their powers, 
 knowledge, life, and the reft; for if it 
 were not fo, God would not be all good. 
 
Theolo^ia Germanica. 1 1 
 
 And thus all creatures are good. Now 
 what is good is agreeable to God and 
 He will have it. Therefore it cannot 
 
 But what then is there which is 
 contrary to God and hateful to Him? 
 Nothing but Sin. But what is Sin? 
 Mark this : Sin is nothing elfe than that 
 the creature willeth otherwife than God 
 willeth, and contrary to Him. Each 
 of us may fee this in himfelf; for he 
 who willeth otherwife than I, or whofe 
 will is contrary to mine, is my foe ; but 
 he who willeth the fame as I, is my 
 friend, and I love him. It is even fo 
 with God: and that is fin, and is con- 
 trary to God, and hateful and grievous 
 to Him. And he who willeth, fpeak- 
 eth, or is filent, doeth or leaveth un- 
 done, otherwife than as I will, is con- 
 trary to me, and an offence unto me. 
 So it is alfo with God : when a man 
 willeth otherwife than God, or con- 
 trary to God, whatever he doeth or 
 
 be contrary to Him. 
 
1 1 8 Theologia Germanica^ 
 
 leaveth undone, in fhort all that pro- 
 ceedeth from him, is contrary to God, 
 and is fin. And whatfoever Will will- 
 eth otherwife than God, is againft 
 God's will. As Chrift faid : he who 
 is not with me is againft me.'* Here- 
 by may each man fee plainly whether 
 or not he be without fin, and whether 
 or not he be committing fin, and what 
 fin is, and how fin ought to be atoned 
 for, and wherewith it may be healed. 
 And this contradiction to God's will is 
 what we call, and is, difobedience. 
 And therefore Adam, the I, the Self, 
 Self-will, Sin, or the Old Man, the 
 turning afide or departing from God, 
 do all mean one and the fame thing. 
 
Theologia Ger7nanica. 1 1 9 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 How in God, as God, there can neither he 
 Grief, Sorrow, Difpleajurey nor the like, 
 but how it is otherwije in a Man who is 
 " made a Far taker of the Divine Nature'^ 
 
 TN God, as God, neither forrow nor 
 grief nor difpleafure can have place, 
 and yet God is grieved on account of 
 men's fins. Now fince grief cannot 
 befall God without the creature, this 
 Cometh to pafs where He is made man, 
 or when He dwelleth in a godlike man. 
 And there, behold, fin is fo hateful to 
 God, and grieveth Him fo fore, that 
 He would willingly fuffer agony and 
 death, if one man's fins might be there- 
 by wafhed out. And if He were afi^ied 
 whether He would rather live and that 
 fin fhould remain, or die and defliroy 
 fin by His death. He would anfwer 
 that He would a thoufand times rather 
 die. For to God one man's fin is more 
 
120 "Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 hateful, and grieveth Him worfe than 
 His own agony and death. Now if 
 one man's fm grieveth God fo fore, 
 what muft the fins of all men do? 
 Hereby ye may confider, how greatly 
 man grieveth God with his fins. 
 
 And therefore where God is made 
 man, or when He dwelleth in a truly 
 godlike man, nothing is complained of 
 but fin, and nothing elfe is hateful; for 
 all that is, and is done, without fin, is as 
 God will have it, and is His. But the 
 mourning and forrow of a truly god- 
 like man on account of fm, mult and 
 ought to lafl: until death, fhould he 
 live till the day of judgment, or forever. 
 From this caufe arofe that hidden an- 
 guifh of Chrift, of which none can tell 
 or knoweth aught fave himfelf alone, 
 and therefore it is called a myftery. 
 
 Moreover, this is an attribute of 
 God, which He will have, and is well 
 pleafed to fee in a man; and it is in- 
 deed God's own, for it belongeth not 
 
ia Germanica. 121 
 
 unto the man, he cannot make fin to 
 be fo hateful to himfelf. And where 
 God findeth this grief for fin, he loveth 
 and efi:eemeth it more than aught elfe; 
 becaufe it is, of all things, the bittereft 
 and faddefi: that man can endure. 
 
 All that is here written touching this 
 divine attribute, which God will have 
 man to pofi^efs, that it may be brought 
 into exercife in a living foul, is taught 
 us by that true Light, which alfo 
 teacheth the man in whom this god- 
 like forrow worketh, not to take it 
 unto himfelf, any more than if he 
 were not there. For fuch a man 
 feeleth in himfelf that he hath not 
 made it to fpring up in his heart, and 
 that it is none of his, but belongeth to 
 God alone. 
 
122 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 How we are to put on the Life of Chrijl 
 from Love J and not for the Jake of Reward^ 
 and how we mujt never grow carelefs con- 
 cerning ity or cajt it off, 
 
 ^^[OW, wherever a man hath been 
 made a partaker of the divine 
 nature, in him is fulfilled the beft and 
 nobleft life, and the worthieft in God's 
 eyes, that hath been or can be. And 
 of that eternal love which loveth Good- 
 nefs as Goodnefs and for the fake of 
 Goodnefs, a true, noble, Chrift-like 
 life is fo greatly beloved, that it will 
 never be forfaken or caft off. Where 
 a man hath tafted this life, it is impof- 
 fible for him ever to part with it, were 
 he to live until the Judgment Day. 
 And though he muft die a thoufand 
 deaths, and though all the fufferings 
 that ever befel all creatures could be 
 heaped upon him, he would rather 
 
Theologia Germanica, 123 
 
 undergo them all, than fall away from 
 this excellent life; and if he could ex- 
 change it for an angel's life, he would not. 
 
 This is our anfwer to the queftion, 
 **if a man, by putting on Chrift's life, 
 can get nothing more than he hath 
 already, and ferve no end, what good 
 will it do him?'' This life is not 
 chofen in order to ferve any end, or to 
 get anything by it, but for love of its 
 noblenefs, and becaufe God loveth and 
 efteemeth it fo greatly. And whoever 
 faith that he hath had enough of it, 
 and may now lay it afide, hath never 
 tafted nor known it; for he who hath 
 truly felt or tafted it, can never give it 
 up again. And he who hath put on 
 the life of Chrift with the intent to 
 win or deferve aught thereby, hath 
 taken it up as an hireling and not for 
 love, and is altogether without it. For 
 he who doth not take it up for love, 
 hath none of it at all; he may dream 
 indeed that he hath put it on, but he 
 
1 24 Theologia Gennanica, 
 
 is deceived. Chrift did not lead fuch 
 a life as his for the fake of reward, but 
 out of love; and love maketh fuch a 
 life light and taketh away all its hard- 
 fhips, fo that it becometh fweet and is 
 gladly endured. But to him who hath 
 not put it on from love, but hath done 
 fo, as he dreameth, for the fake of re- 
 ward, it is utterly bitter and a weari- 
 nefs, and he would fain be quit of it. 
 And it is a fure token of an hireling that 
 he wifheth his work were at an end. 
 But he who truly loveth it, is not of- 
 fended at its toil nor fuffering, nor the 
 length of time it lafteth. Therefore 
 it is written, '*to ferve God and live to 
 Him, is eafy to him who doeth it." 
 Truly it is fo to him who doth it for 
 love, but it is hard and wearifome to 
 him who doth it for hire. It is the 
 fame with all virtue and good works, 
 and likewife with order, laws, obedience 
 to precepts, and the like. But God re- 
 joiceth more over one man who truly 
 loveth, than over a thoufand hirelings. 
 
ia Germanica. 125 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 How God will have Order ^ Cujtom^ Meafure^ 
 and the like in the Creature^ feeing that 
 he cannot have them without the Great ure, 
 and of four forts of Men who are concerned 
 with this Order^ Law^ and Guftom. 
 
 TT is faid, and truly, God is above and 
 without cuftom, meafure, and or- 
 der, and yet giveth to all things their 
 cuftom, order, meafure, fitnefs, and the 
 like. The which is to be thus under- 
 ftood. God will have all thefe to be, 
 and they cannot have a being in Him- 
 felf without the creature, for in God, 
 apart from the creature, there is nei- 
 ther order nor diforder, cuftom nor 
 chance, and fo forth; therefore he will 
 have things fo that thefe fhall be, and 
 fhall be put in exercife. For wherever 
 there is word, work, or change, thefe 
 muft be either according to order, cuf- 
 tom, meafure and fitnefs, or according 
 
126 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 to unfitnefs and diforder. Now fitnefs 
 and order are better and nobler than 
 their contraries. 
 
 But ye mull: mark: There are four 
 forts of men who are concerned with 
 order, laws, and cuftoms. Some keep 
 them neither for God's fake, nor to 
 • ferve their own ends, but from con- 
 ftraint; thefe have as little to do with 
 them as may be, and find them a bur- 
 den and heavy yoke. The fecond fort 
 obey for the fake of reward: thefe are 
 men who know nothing befide, or bet- 
 ter than, laws and precepts, and imagine 
 that by keeping them they may obtain 
 the kingdom of Heaven and Eternal 
 Life, and not otherwife; and him who 
 pradlifeth many ordinances they think 
 to be holy, and him who omitteth any 
 tittle of them they think to be loft. 
 Such men are very much in earneft 
 and give great diligence to the work, 
 and yet they find it a wearinefs. The 
 third fort are wicked, falfe-hearted 
 
Theologia Germanica. 127 
 
 men, who dream and declare that they 
 are perfect and need no ordinances, and 
 make a mock of them. 
 
 The fourth are thofe who are en- 
 hghtened with the True Light, who 
 do not prad:ife thefe things for reward, 
 for they neither look nor defire to get 
 anything thereby, but all that they do 
 is from love alone. And thefe are not 
 fo anxious and eager to accomplifli 
 much and with all fpeed as the fecond 
 fort, but rather feek to do things in 
 peace and good leifure; and if fome 
 not weighty matter be negledled, they 
 do not therefore think themfelves loft, 
 for they know very well that order and 
 fitnefs are better than diforder, and 
 therefore they choofe to walk orderly, 
 yet know at the fame ^ime that their 
 falvation hangeth not thereon. There- 
 fore they are not in fo great anxiety 
 as the others. Thefe men are judged 
 and blamed by both the other parties, 
 for the hirelings fay that they negledl 
 
128 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 their duties and accufe them of being 
 unrighteous, and the like; and the 
 others, (that is, the Free Spirits,*) hold 
 them in derifion, and fay that they 
 cleave unto weak and beggarly ele- 
 ments, and the like. But thefe en- 
 lightened men keep the middle path, 
 which is alfo the beft; for a lover of 
 God is better and dearer to him than 
 a hundred thoufand hirelings. It is 
 the fame with all their doings. 
 
 Furthermore, ye muft mark, that to 
 receive God's commands and his coun- 
 fel and all his teaching, is the privi- 
 lege of the inward man, after that he 
 is united with God. And where there 
 is fuch a union, the outward man is 
 furely taught and ordered by the inward 
 man, fo that* no outward command- 
 ment or teaching is needed. But the 
 commandments and laws of men belong 
 to the outer man, and are needful for 
 
 * This Is evidently an allufion to the " Brethren of the 
 Free Spirit," mentioned in the Hiftorical Introduction. 
 
ia Germanica. 129 
 
 thofe men who know nothing better, 
 for elfe they would not know what to 
 do and what to refrain from, and 
 would become like unto the dogs or 
 other beafls. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 A good Account of the Falje Light and its Kind, 
 
 "^[OW I have faid that there is a 
 ^ Falfe Light; but I muft tell you 
 more particularly what it is, and what 
 belongeth thereunto. Behold, all that 
 is contrary to the True Light belongeth 
 unto the Falfe. To the True Light 
 it belongeth of neceffity, that it feek- 
 eth not to deceive, nor confenteth that 
 any fhould be wronged or deceived, 
 neither can it be deceived. But the 
 falfe is deceived and a delufion, and 
 deceiveth others along with itfelf. 
 For God deceiveth no man, nor will- 
 eth that any fhould be deceived, and 
 fo it is with His True Light. Now 
 
130 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 mark, the True Light is God or divine, 
 but the Falfe light is Nature or natural. 
 Now it belongeth to God, that He is 
 neither this nor that, neither willeth 
 nor defireth, nor feeketh anything in 
 the man whom he hath made a par- 
 taker of the divine nature, fave good- 
 nefs as Goodnefs, and for the fake of 
 Goodnefs. This is the token of the 
 True Light. But to the Creature and 
 Nature it belongeth to be fomewhat, 
 this or that, and to intend and feek 
 fome thing, this or that, and not fimply 
 what is good without any Wherefore. 
 And as God and the True Light are 
 without all felf-will, felfifhnefs, and 
 felf-feeking, fo do the I, the Me, the 
 Mine, and the like, belong unto the 
 natural and falfe Light; for in all things 
 it feeketh itfelf and its own ends, rather 
 than Goodnefs for the fake of Good- 
 nefs. This is its property, and the 
 property of nature or the carnal man 
 in each of us. 
 
'Theologia Germanka. 1 3 1 
 
 Now mark how it firft cometh to 
 be deceived. It doth not defire nor 
 choofe Goodnefs as Goodnefs, and for 
 the fake of Goodnefs, but defireth and 
 choofeth itfelf and its own ends, rather 
 than the Higheft Good ; and this is an 
 error, and is the firft deception. 
 
 Secondly, it dreameth itfelf to be 
 that which it is not, for it dreameth 
 itfelf to be God, and is truly nothing 
 but nature. And becaufe it imagineth 
 itfelf to be God, it taketh to itfelf 
 what belongeth to God; and not that 
 which is God's, when He is made man,, 
 or dwelleth in a godlike man, but that 
 which is God's, and belongeth unto 
 Him, as He is in eternity, without the 
 creature. For, as it is faid, God need- 
 eth nothing, is free, not bound to work, 
 apart by himfelf, above all things, and 
 fo forth (which is all true;) and God 
 is unchangeable, not to be moved by 
 anything, and is without confcience, 
 and what He doeth that is well done; 
 
132 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 "So will I be," faith the Falfe Light, 
 **for the more like God one is, the 
 better one is, and therefore I will be 
 like God and will be God, and will fit 
 and go and ftand at His right hand:" 
 as Lucifer the Evil Spirit alfo faid.* 
 Now God in Eternity is without con- 
 tradiction, fuffering and grief, and no- 
 thing can hurt or vex him of all that 
 is or befalleth. But with God, when 
 He is made Man, it is otherwife. 
 
 In a word: all that can be deceived 
 is deceived by this Falfe Light. Now 
 lince all is deceived by this Falfe Light 
 that can be deceived, and all that is 
 creature and nature, and all that is not 
 God nor of God, may be deceived, and 
 fince this Falfe Light itfelf is nature, 
 it is pofTible for it to be deceived. And 
 therefore it becometh and is deceived 
 by itfelf, in that it rifeth and climbeth 
 to fuch a height that it dreameth itfelf 
 to be above nature, and fancieth it to 
 
 * Ifaiah xiv, 13, 14., 
 
Theologia Germanica. 133 
 
 be impoffible for nature or any creature 
 to get fo high, and therefore it cometh 
 to imagine itfelf God. And hence it 
 taketh unto itfelf all that belongeth 
 unto God, and fpecially what is His as 
 He is in Eternity, and not as He is 
 made man. Therefore it thinketh and 
 declareth itfelf to be above all works, 
 words, cuftoms, laws and order, and 
 above that life which Chrift led in the 
 body which he pofTefTed in his holy 
 human nature. So likewife it profef- 
 feth to remain unmoved by any of the 
 creature's works; whether they be good 
 or evil, againft God or not, is all alike 
 to it; and it keepeth itfelf apart from 
 all things, like God in Eternity, and all 
 that belongeth to God and to no crea- 
 ture it taketh unto itfelf, and vainly 
 dreameth that this belongeth unto it; 
 and deemeth itfelf well worthy of all 
 this, and that it is jufi: and right that 
 all creatures fhould ferve it, and do it 
 homage. And thus no contradidlion. 
 
134 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 fufFering or grief is left unto it; indeed 
 nothing but a mere bodily and carnal 
 perceiving: this muft remain until the 
 death of the body, and what fuffering 
 may accrue therefrom. Furthermore, 
 this Falfe Light imagineth, and faith, 
 that it has got beyond Chrift's life in 
 the flefh, and that outward things have 
 loft all power to touch it or give it 
 pain, as it was with Chrifl: after his re- 
 furredtion, together with many other 
 ftrange and falfe conceits which arife 
 and grow up from thefe. 
 
 And now lince this Falfe Light is 
 nature, it pofTelTeth the property of na- 
 ture, which is to intend and feek itfelf 
 and its own in all things, and what 
 may be moft expedient, eafy and plea- 
 fant to nature and itfelf. And becaufe 
 it is deceived, it imagineth and pro- 
 claimeth it to be beft that each fhould 
 feek and do what is beft for himfelf. 
 It refufeth alfo to take knowledge of 
 any Good but its own, that which 
 
Theologia Germanica. 135 
 
 it vainly fancieth to be Good. And if 
 one fpeak to it of the One, true, ever- 
 lafting Good, which is neither this nor 
 that, it knoweth nothing thereof, and 
 thinketh fcorn of it. And this is not 
 unreafonable, for nature as nature can- 
 not attain thereunto. Now this Falfe 
 Light is merely nature, and therefore 
 it cannot attain thereunto. 
 
 Further, this Falfe Light faith that 
 it hath got above confcience and the 
 fenfe of fin, and that whatever it doeth 
 is right. Yea, it was faid by fuch a 
 falfe free fpirit, who was in this error, 
 that if he had killed ten men he fhould 
 have as little fenfe of guilt as if he had 
 killed a dog. Briefly: this falfe and 
 deceived Light fleeth all that is harfh 
 and contrary to nature, for this belong- 
 eth to it, feeing that it is nature. And 
 feeing alfo that it is fo utterly deceived 
 as to dream that it is God, it were rea- 
 dy to fwear by all that is holy, that it 
 knoweth truly what is beft, and that 
 P 
 
136 Theologia Germanica, 
 
 t>oth in belief and pradice it hath 
 reached the very lummit. For this 
 caufe it cannot be converted or guided 
 into the right path, even as it is with 
 the Evil Spirit. 
 
 Mark further: in fo far as this Light 
 imagineth itfelf to be God and taketh 
 his attributes unto itfelf, it is Lucifer, 
 the Evil Spirit; but in fo far as it fet- 
 teth at nought the life of Chrift, and 
 other things belonging to the True 
 Light, which have been taught and 
 fulfilled by Chrifl, it is Antichrift, for 
 it teacheth contrary to Chrift. And 
 as this Light is deceived by its own 
 cunning and difcernment, fo all that is 
 not God, or of God, is deceived by it, 
 that is, all men who are not enlighten- 
 ed bv the True Light and its love. 
 For all vrho are enlightened by the 
 True Light can never more be de- 
 ceived, but whofo hath it not and 
 choofeth to walk by the Falfe Light, 
 he is deceived. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 1 37 
 
 This Cometh herefrom, that all men 
 In whom the True Light is not, are 
 bent upon themfelves, and think much 
 of themfelves, and feek and propofe 
 their own ends in all things, and what- 
 ever is moft pleafant and convenient to 
 themfelves they hold to be beft. And 
 whofo declareth the fame to be beft, 
 and helpeth and teacheth them to attain 
 it, him they follow after, and maintain 
 to be the beft and wifeft of teachers. 
 Now the Falfe Light teacheth them 
 this very doctrine, and fhoweth them 
 all the means to come by their defire; 
 therefore all thofe follow after it, who 
 know not the True Light. And thus 
 they are together deceived. 
 
 It is faid of Antichrift, that when he 
 Cometh, he who hath not the feal of 
 God in his forehead, followeth after 
 him, but as many as have the feal fol- 
 low not after him. This agreeth with 
 what hath been faid. It is indeed true, 
 that it is good for a m.an that he fhould 
 
138 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 defire, or come by his own good. But- 
 this cannot come to pafs fo long as a 
 man is feeking, or purpofing his own 
 good; for if he is to find and come by 
 his own higheft good, he mufi: lofe it 
 that he may find it. [As Chrift faid: 
 "He who loveth his life fhall lofe it." 
 That is; he fhall forfake and die to the 
 defires of the fle£h, and fhall not obey 
 his own will nor the lufts of the body, 
 but obey the commands of God and 
 thofe who are in authority over him, 
 and not feek his own, either in fpiritual 
 or natural things, but only the praife 
 and glory of God in all things. For 
 he who thus lofeth his life fhall find it 
 again in Eternal Life. That is : all the 
 goodnefs, help, comfort, and joy which 
 are in the creature, in heaven or on 
 earth, a true lover of God findeth com- 
 prehended in God Himfelf; yea, un- 
 fpeakably more, and as much nobler 
 and more perfedl as God the Creator 
 is better, nobler, and more perfed than 
 
Theologia Germanica. 139 
 
 His creature. But by thefe excellen- 
 cies in the creature the Falfe Light is 
 deceived, and feeketh nothing but itfelf 
 and its own in all things. Therefore 
 it Cometh never to the right way.] 
 
 Further, this Falfe Light faith, that 
 we fhould be without confcience or 
 fenfe of fin, and that it is a weaknefs 
 and folly to have anything to do with 
 them : and this it will prove by faying 
 that Chrifl: was without confcience and 
 fenfe of fin. We may anfwer and fay: 
 Satan is alfo without them, and is none 
 the better for that. Mark what a fenfe 
 of fin is. It is that we perceive how 
 man has turned away from God in his 
 will (this is what we call fin,) and that 
 this is man's fault, not God's, for God 
 is guiltlefs of fin. Now, who is there 
 that knoweth himfelf to be free from 
 fin fave Chrifi: alone? Scarcely will 
 any other affirm this. Now he who 
 is without fenfe of fin is either Chrifi: 
 or the Evil Spirit. 
 
140 Theologia Germanka. 
 
 Briefly : where this True Light is, 
 there is a true, juft life fuch as God loveth 
 and efteemeth. And if the man's Ufe 
 is not perfed: as Chrift's was, yet it is 
 framed and builded after his, and his hfc 
 is loved, together with all that agreeth 
 with decency, order, and all other vir- 
 tues, and all Self-will, I, Mine, Me, and 
 the like, is loft; nothing is purpofed or 
 fought but Goodnefs, for the fake of 
 Goodnefs, and as Goodnefs. But where 
 that Falfe Light is, there men become 
 heedlefs of Chrift's life and all virtue, 
 and feek and intend whatever is conve- 
 nient and pleafant to nature. From 
 this arifeth a falfe, licentious freedom, 
 fo that men growregardlefs and carelefs 
 of everything. For the True Light is \ 
 God's feed, and therefore it bringeth 
 forth thefruitsof God. And fo likewife 
 the Falfe Light is the feed of the Devil: 
 and where that is fown, the fruits of 
 the Devil fpring up — nay, the very De- 
 vil himfelf. This ye may underftand 
 by giving heed to what hath been faid. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 141 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 How that he is to he called^ and is truly ^ a 
 Partaker of the Divine Nature^ who is 
 illuminated with the Divine Light, and 
 inflamed with Eternal Love, and how 
 Light and Knowledge are worth nothing 
 without Love, 
 
 COME may alk, *'What is it to be 
 *a partaker of the divine nature/ 
 or a godlike man?" Anfwer: he who 
 is imbued with or illuminated by the 
 Eternal or divine Light, and inflamed 
 or confumed with Eternal or divine 
 love, he is a godlike man and a parta- 
 ker of the divine nature; and of the 
 nature of this True Light we have faid 
 fomewhat already. 
 
 But ye muft know that this Light or 
 knowledge is worth nothing without 
 Love. This ye may fee if ye call to 
 mind, that though a man may know 
 very well what is virtue or wickednefs, 
 yet if he doth not love virtue, he is not 
 
142 Theologta Germanica. 
 
 virtuous, for he obeyeth vice. But if 
 he loveth virtue he followeth after it, 
 and his love maketh him an enemy to 
 w^ickednefs, fo that he will not do or 
 pradlife it, and hateth it alfo in other 
 men; and he loveth virtue fo that he 
 would not leave a virtue unpra(5tifed 
 even if he might, and this for no re- 
 ward, but limply for the love of virtue. 
 And to him virtue is its own reward, 
 and he is content therewith, and would 
 take no treafure or riches in exchange 
 for it. Such an one is already a virtu- 
 ous man, or he is in the way to be fo. 
 And he who is a truly virtuous man 
 would not ceafe to be fo, to gain the 
 whole world, yea, he would rather die 
 a miferable death. 
 
 It is the fame with juftice. Many a 
 man knoweth full well what is juft or 
 unjuft, and yet neither is nor ever will 
 become a juft man. For he loveth 
 not juftice, and therefore he worketh 
 wickednefs and injuftice. If he loved 
 
Theologia Ger^nanica. 143 
 
 juftice, he would not do an unjuft thing; 
 for he would feel fuch hatred and in- 
 dignation towards injuftice wherever 
 he faw it, that he would do or fuffer 
 anything that injuftice might be put an 
 end to, and men might become juft. 
 And he would rather die than do an 
 injuftice, and all this for nothing but 
 the love of juftice. And to him, juf- 
 tice is her own reward, and rewardeth 
 him with herfelf; and fo there liveth 
 a juft man, and he would rather die a 
 thoufand times over than live as an un- 
 juft man. It is the fame with truth: 
 a man may know full well what is true 
 or a lie, but if he loveth not the truth 
 he is not a true man; but if he loveth, 
 it is with truth even as with juftice. 
 Of juftice fpeaketh Ifaiah in the 5th 
 chapter: *'Woe unto them that call 
 evil good, and good evil; that put dark- 
 nefs for light, and light for darknefs; 
 that put bitter for fweet, and fweet for 
 bitter!" 
 
144 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 Thus may we perceive that knowl- 
 edge and light profit nothing without 
 Love. We fee this in the Evil Spirit; 
 he perceiveth and knoweth good and 
 evil, right and wrong, and the like; but 
 fince he hath no love for the good that 
 he feeth, he becometh not good, as he 
 would if he had any love for the truth 
 and other virtues which he feeth. It 
 is indeed true that Love muft be guid- 
 ed and taught of Knowledge, but if 
 Knowledge be not followed by Love, it 
 will avail nothing. It is the fame with 
 God and divine things. Let a man 
 know much about God and divine 
 things, nay, dream that he feeth and 
 underftandeth what God himfelf is, if 
 he have not Love, he will never become 
 like unto God, or a partaker of the 
 divine nature." But if there be true 
 Love along with his knowledge, he 
 cannot but cleave to God, and forfake 
 all that is not God or of Him, and 
 hate it and fight againfl: it, and find it 
 a crofs and a forrow. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 145 
 
 And this Love fo maketh a man one 
 with God, that he can never more be 
 feparated from Him. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 A ^eflion: whether we can know God and 
 not love Him^ and how there are two kinds 
 of Light and Love — a true and a falje. 
 
 TTERE is an honeft queftion; name- 
 ly, it hath been faid that he w^ho 
 knoweth God and loveth Him not, will 
 never be faved by his knowledge; the 
 which founds as if we might know God 
 and not love Him. Yet we have faid 
 elfewhere, that where God is known. 
 He is alfo loved, and whofoever know- 
 eth God mufl: love Him. How may 
 thefe things agree? Here ye muft 
 mark one thing. We have fpoken of 
 two Lights — a True and a Falfe. So 
 alfo there are two kinds of Love, a 
 True and a Falfe. And each kind of 
 Love is taught or guided by its own 
 
146 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 kind of Light or Reafon. Now, the 
 True Light maketh True Love, and 
 the Fahe Light maketh Falfe Love; 
 for whatever Light deemeth to be beft, 
 fhe deUvereth unto Love as the beft, 
 and biddeth her love it, and Love obey- 
 eth, and fulfiUeth her commands. 
 
 Now, as we have faid, the Falfe 
 Light is natural, and is nature herfelf. 
 Therefore every property belongeth 
 unto it which belongeth unto nature, 
 fuch as the Me, the Mine, the Self, 
 and the like; and therefore it muft 
 needs be deceived in itfelf and be falfe; 
 for no I, Me, or Mine, ever came to 
 the True Light or knowledge unde- 
 ceived, fave once only; to wit, in God 
 made Man. And if we are to come to 
 the knowledge of the fimple Truth, all 
 thefe muft depart and perifh. And in 
 particular it belongeth to the natural 
 Light that it would fain know or learn 
 much, if it were poffible, and hath 
 great pleafure, delight and glorying in 
 
Theologia Germanka. 147 
 
 its difcernment and knowledge; and 
 therefore it is always longing to know 
 more and more, and never cometh to 
 reft and fatisfaftion, and the more it 
 learneth and knoweth, the more doth 
 it delight and glory therein. And when 
 it hath come fo high, that it thinketh 
 to know all things and to be above all 
 things, it ftandeth on its higheft pin- 
 nacle of delight and glory, and then it 
 holdeth Knowledge to be the beft and 
 nobleft of all things, and therefore it 
 teacheth Love to love knowledge and 
 difcernment as the befl: and moft excel- 
 lent of all things. Behold, then knowl- 
 edge and difcernment come to be more 
 loved than that which is difcerned, for 
 the falfe natural Light loveth its knowl- 
 edge and powers, which are itfelf, more 
 than that which is known. And were 
 it poffible that this falfe natural Light 
 fliould underftand the limple Truth, as 
 it is in God and in truth, it ftill would 
 not lofe its own property, that is, it 
 
148 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 would not depart from itfelf and its own 
 things. Behold, in this fenfe there is 
 knowledge, without the love of that 
 which is or may be known. 
 
 Alfo this Light rifeth and climbeth 
 fo high that it vainly thinketh that it 
 knoweth God and the pure, fimple 
 Truth, and thus it loveth itfelf in Him. 
 And it is true that God can be known 
 only by God. Wherefore as this Light 
 vainly thinketh to underftand God, it 
 imagineth itfelf to be God, and giveth 
 itfelf out to be God, and wifheth to be 
 accounted fo, and thinketh itfelf to be 
 above all things, and well worthy of all 
 things, and that it hath a right to all 
 things, and hath got beyond all things, 
 fuch as commandments, laws, and vir- 
 tue, and even beyond Chrift and a Chrif- 
 tian life, and fetteth all thefe at nought, 
 for it doth not fet up to be Chrift, but 
 the Eternal God. And this is becaufe 
 Chrift's life is diftafteful and burden- 
 fome to nature, therefore fhe will have 
 
Theohgia Germanica. 149 
 
 nothing to do with it; but to be God 
 in eternity and not man, or to be Chrift 
 as he was after his refurredlion, is all 
 eafy, and pleafant, and comfortable to 
 nature, and fo fhe holdeth it to be beft. 
 Behold, with this falfe and deluded Love, 
 fomething maybe known without being 
 loved, for the feeing and knowing is 
 more loved than that which is known. 
 
 Further, there is a kind of learning 
 which is called knowledge; to wit, 
 when, through hearfay, or reading, or 
 great acquaintance with Scripture, 
 fome fancy themfelves to know much, 
 and call it knowledge, and fay, "I 
 know this or that/' And if you afk, 
 ''How doft thou know it?" they an- 
 fwer, '' I have read it in the Scriptures," 
 and the like. Behold, this they call 
 underftanding and knowing. Yet this 
 is not knowledge, but belief, and many 
 things are known and loved and feen 
 only with this fort of perceiving and 
 knowing. 
 
150 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 There is alfo yet another kind of 
 Love, which is efpecially falfe, to wit, 
 when fomething is loved for the fake 
 of a reward, as when juftice is loved 
 not for the fake of juftice, but to obtain 
 fomething thereby, and fo on. And 
 where a creature loveth other creatures 
 for the fake of fomething that they 
 have, or loveth God, for the fake of 
 fomething of her own, it is all falfe 
 Love; and this Love belongeth proper- 
 ly to nature, for nature as nature can 
 feel and know no other love than this; 
 for if ye look narrowly into it, nature 
 as nature loveth nothing befide herfelf. 
 On this wife fomething may be feen 
 to be good and not loved. 
 
 But true Love is taught and guided 
 by the true Light and Reafon, and this 
 true, eternal and divine Light teacheth 
 Love to love nothing but the one true 
 and Perfed: Good, and that limply for 
 its own fake, and not for the fake of a 
 reward, or in the hope of obtaining any- 
 
Theologia Ger^nanica. 151 
 
 thing, but fimply for the love of Good- 
 nefs, becaufe it is good and hath a right 
 to be loved. And all that is thus feen 
 by the help of the True Light muft 
 alfo be loved of the True Love. Now, 
 that Perfedl Good, which we call God, 
 cannot be perceived but by the True 
 Light; therefore He muft be loved 
 wherever He is feen or made known. 
 
 CHAP. XLIIL 
 
 Whereby we may know a Man who is made 
 a partaker of the divine Nature^ and what 
 helongeth unto him; and further^ what is 
 the token of a Falfe Lights and a Falfe 
 Free-Thinker, 
 
 PURTHER mark ye; that when the 
 True Love and True Light are in 
 a man, the Perfed Good is known and 
 loved for itfelf and as itfelf; and yet 
 not fo that it loveth itfelf of itfelf and 
 as itfelf, but the one True and Perfeft 
 Good can and will love nothing elfe, 
 q 
 
152 T'heologia Germanica, 
 
 in fo far as it is in itfelf, fave the one, 
 true Goodnefs. Now if this is itfelf, 
 it muft love itfelf, yet not as itfelf nor 
 as of itfelf, but in this wife: that the 
 One true Good loveth the One Perfed: 
 Goodnefs, and the One Perfed: Good- 
 nefs is loved of the One, true and Per- 
 fect Good. And in this fenfe that fay- 
 ing is true, that " God loveth not Him- 
 felf as Himfelf." For if there were 
 aught better than God, God would 
 love that, and not Himfelf. For in 
 this True Light and True Love there 
 neither is nor can. remain any I, Me, 
 Mine, Thou, Thine, and the like, but 
 that Light perceiveth and knoweththat 
 there is a Good which is all Good 
 and above all Good, and that all good 
 things are of one Subftance in the one 
 Good, and that without that One, 
 there is no good thing. And therefore, 
 where this Light is, the man's end and 
 aim is not this or that. Me or Thee, or 
 the like, but only the One, who is 
 
Theologia Germanica. 153 
 
 neither I nor Thou, this nor that, but 
 is above all I and Thou, this and that; 
 and in Him all Goodnefs is loved as 
 One Good, according to that faying: 
 '*A11 in One as One, and One in All 
 as All, and One and all Good, is loved 
 through the One in One, and for the 
 fake of the One, for the love that man 
 hath to the One." 
 
 Behold, in fuch a man muft all 
 thought of Self, all felf-feeking, felf- 
 will, and what cometh thereof, be ut- 
 terly loft and furrendered and given 
 over to God, except in fo far as they 
 are neceffary to make up a perfon. 
 And whatever cometh to pafs in a man 
 who is truly godlike, whether he do or 
 fuffer, all is done in this Light and this 
 Love, and from the fame, through the 
 fame, unto the fame again. And in 
 his heart there is a content and a quiet- 
 nefs, fo that he doth not defire to know 
 more or lefs, to have, to live, to die, 
 to be, or not to be, or anything of the 
 
1 54 Theologia Ger?nanica, 
 
 kind; thefe become all one and alike 
 to him, and he complaineth of nothing 
 but of fin only. And what fin is, we 
 have faid already, namely, to defire or 
 will anything otherwife than the One 
 Perfed: Good and the one Eternal Will, 
 and apart from and contrary to them, 
 or to wifh to have a will of one's own. 
 And what is done of fin, fuch as lies, 
 fraud, injuftice, treachery, and all iniqui- 
 ty, in fhort, all that we call fin, cometh 
 hence, that man hath another will 
 than God and the True Good ; for were 
 there no will but the One Will, no fin 
 could ever be committed. Therefore 
 we may well fay that all felf-will is fin, 
 and there is no fin but what fpringeth 
 therefrom. And this is the only thing 
 which a truly godlike man complaineth 
 of; but to him, this is fuch a fore pain 
 and grief, that he would die a hundred 
 deaths in agony and fhame, rather than 
 endure it; and this his grief muft: laft 
 until death, and where it is not, there 
 
ia Germanica. 155 
 
 be fure that the man is not truly god- 
 like, or a partaker of the divine nature. 
 
 Now, feeing that in this Light and 
 Love, all Good is loved in One and as 
 One, and the One in all things, and in 
 all things as One and as All, therefore 
 all thofe things mufi: be loved that 
 rightly are of good report; fuch as vir- 
 tue, order, feemlinefs,juflice, truth, and 
 the like; and all that belongeth to God 
 in the true Good and is His own, is lov- 
 ed and praifed; and all that is without 
 this Good, and contrary to it, is a for- 
 row and a pain, and is hated as fin, for 
 it is of a truth fin. And he who liveth 
 in the true Light and true Love, hath 
 the bell:, noblefl:, and worthieft life that 
 ever was or will be, and therefore it 
 cannot but be loved and praifed above 
 any other life. This life was and is in 
 Chrifl: to perfedion, elfe he were not 
 the Chrift. 
 
 And the love wherewith the man 
 loveth this noble life and all goodnefs. 
 
156 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 maketh, that all which he is called up- 
 on to do, or fuffer, or pafs through, and 
 which muft needs be, he doeth or en- 
 dureth willingly and worthily, however 
 hard it may be to nature. Therefore 
 faith Chrift: "My yoke is eafy, and 
 my burden is light."* This cometh 
 of the love which loveth this admirable 
 life. This we may fee in the beloved 
 Apoftles and Martyrs; they fuffered 
 willingly and gladly all that was done 
 unto them, and never afked of God that 
 their fufFering and tortures might be 
 made fhorter, or lighter or fewer, but 
 only that they might remain fteadfaft 
 and endure to the end. Of a truth 
 all that is the fruit of divine Love in a 
 truly godlike man is fo fimple, plain 
 and ftraightforward, that he can never 
 properly give an account of it by writ- 
 ing or by fpeech, but only fay that fo 
 it is. And he who hath it not doth 
 not even believe in it; how then can 
 he come to know it? 
 
 * Matt. xl. 30. 
 
T'heologia Gennanica. 157 
 
 On the other hand, the hfe of the 
 natural man, where he hath a lively, 
 fubtle, cunning nature is fo manifold 
 and complex, and feeketh and invent- 
 eth fo many turnings and windings and 
 falfehoods for its own ends, and that fo 
 continually, that this alfo is neither to 
 be uttered nor fet forth. 
 
 Now, fince all falfehood is deceived, 
 and all deception beginneth in felf- 
 deception, fo is it alfo with this falfe 
 Light and Life, for he who deceiveth 
 is alfo deceived, as we have faid before. 
 And in this falfe Light and Life is 
 found every thing that belongeth to the 
 Evil Spirit and is his, infomuch that 
 they cannot be difcerned apart; for the 
 falfe Light is the Evil Spirit, and the 
 Evil Spirit is this falfe Light. Hereby 
 we may know this. For even as the 
 Evil Spirit thinketh himfelf to be God, 
 or would fain be God, or be thought 
 to be God, and in all this is fo utterly 
 deceived that he doth not think him- 
 
158 'Theologia Germanka. 
 
 felf to be deceived, fo is it alfo with 
 this falfe Light, and the Love and Life 
 that is thereof. And as the Devil 
 would fain deceive all men, and draw 
 them to himfelf and his works, and 
 make them like himfelf, and ufeth 
 much art and cunning to this end, fo 
 is it alfo with this falfe Light; and as 
 no one may turn the Evil Spirit from 
 his own way, fo no one can turn this 
 deceived and deceitful Light from its 
 errors. And the caufe thereof is, th?' 
 both thefe two, the Devil and Nature, 
 vainly think that they are not deceived, 
 and that it ftandeth quite well with 
 them. And this is the very worft and 
 moft mifchievous delufion. Thus the 
 Devil and Nature are one, and where 
 nature is conquered the Devil is alfo 
 conquered, and in like manner where 
 nature is not conquered the Devil is 
 not conquered. Whether as touching 
 the outward life in the world, or the 
 inward life of the fpirit, this falfe Light 
 
Theologia Germanica. 159 
 
 continueth in its ftate of blindnefs and 
 falfehood, fo that it is both deceived 
 itself and deceiveth others with it, 
 wherefoever it may. 
 
 From what hath here been faid, ye 
 may underftand and perceive more 
 than hath been exprefllly fet forth. 
 For .whenever we fpeak of the Adam, 
 and difobedience, and of the old man, 
 of felf-feeking, felf-will, and felf- 
 ferving, of the I, the Me, and the 
 Mine, nature, falfehood, the Devil, 
 fin; it is all one and the fame thing. 
 Thefe are all contrary to God, and 
 remain without God. 
 
i6o Theologia Germanka. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 
 
 How nothing is contrary to God hut Self -willy 
 and how he who Jeeketh his own Good for 
 his own fake^ findeth it not; and how a 
 Man of himjelf neither knoweth nor can do 
 any good thing, 
 
 XJOW, it may be alked; is there 
 ought which is contrary to God 
 and the true Good? I fay. No. Like- 
 wife there is nothing without God, ex- 
 cept to will otherwife than is willed by 
 the Eternal Will; that is, contrary to the 
 Eternal Will. Now the Eternal Will 
 willeth that nothing be willed or loved 
 but the Eternal Goodnefs. And where 
 it is otherwife, there is fomething con- 
 trary to Him, and in this fenfe it is 
 true that he who is without God is con- 
 trary to God; but in truth there is no 
 Being contrary to God or the true Good. 
 
 We muft underftand it as though 
 God faid: "he who willeth without 
 
Theologia Germanica. i6i 
 
 Me, or willeth not what I will, or 
 otherwife than as I will, he willeth 
 contrary to Me, for My will is that no 
 one fhould will otherwife than I, and 
 that there fhould be no will without 
 Me, and without My will; even as 
 without me, there is neither Subllance, 
 nor Life, nor this, nor that, fo alfo there 
 fhould be no Will apart from Me, and 
 without My will." And even as in 
 truth all beings are one in fubftance in 
 the Perfed; Being, and all good is one 
 in the One Being, and fo forth, and 
 cannot exift without that One, fo fhall 
 all wills be one in the One Perfedt Will, 
 and there fhall be no will apart from 
 that One. And whatever is otherwife 
 is wrong, and contrary to God and His 
 will, and therefore it is fin. Therefore 
 all will apart from God's will (that is, 
 all self-will,) is fin, and fo is all that is 
 done from felf-will. So long as a man 
 feeketh his own will and his own high- 
 eft Good, becaufe it is hisy and for his 
 
1 62 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 own fake, he will never find it; for fo 
 long as he doeth this, he is not feeking 
 his own higheft Good, and how then 
 fhould he find it? For fo long as he 
 doeth this, he feeketh himfelf, and 
 dreameth that he is himfelf the highefi: 
 Good; and feeing that he is not the 
 highefi Good, he feeketh not the high- 
 eft Good, fo long as he feeketh himfelf. 
 But whofoever feeketh, loveth, and 
 purfueth Goodnefs as Goodnefs and for 
 the fake of Goodnefs, and maketh that 
 his end, for nothing but the love of 
 Goodnefs, not for love of the I, Me, 
 Mine, Self, and the like, he will find 
 the higheft Good, for he feeketh it 
 aright, and they who feek it otherwife 
 do err. And truly it is on this wife 
 that the true and Perfedl Goodnefs 
 feeketh and loveth and purfueth itfelf, 
 and therefore it findeth itfelf. 
 
 It is a great folly when a man, or 
 any creature dreameth that he knoweth 
 or can accomplifh aught of himfelf, and 
 
Theologia Germanica. 163 
 
 above all when he dreameth that he 
 knoweth or can fulfil any good thing, 
 whereby he may deferve much at God's 
 hands, and prevail with Him. If he 
 underftood rightly, he would fee that 
 this is to put a great affront upon God. 
 But the True and Perfedt Goodnefs 
 hath compaffion on the foolifh fimple 
 man who knoweth no better, and or- 
 dereth things for the beft for him, and 
 giveth him as much of the good things 
 of God as he is able to receive. But 
 as we have faid afore, he findeth and 
 receiveth not the True Good fo long 
 as he remaineth unchanged; for unlefs 
 Self and Me depart, he will never find 
 or receive it. 
 
164 "Theologia Germanka. 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 
 
 How that where there is a Chriftian Life, 
 Chrift dwellethy and how ChriJVs Life is 
 the heft and m jt admirable Life that ever 
 hath been or can he, 
 
 TIE who knoweth and underflandeth 
 Chrifl's life, knoweth and under- 
 ftandeth Chrift himfelf; and in like 
 manner, he who underftandeth not his 
 life, doth not underftand Chrift himfelf. 
 And he who believeth on Chrift be- 
 lieveth that his life is the beft and no- 
 bleft life that can be, and if a man be- 
 lieve not this, neither doth he believe 
 on Chrift himfelf. And in fo far as a 
 man's life is according to Chrift, Chrift 
 himfelf dwelleth in him, and if he hath 
 not the one neither hath he the other. 
 For where there is the life of Chrift, 
 there is Chrift himfelf, and where his 
 life is not, Chrift is not, and where a 
 man hath his life, he may fay with St. 
 
Theologia Germanka. 165 
 
 Paul, live, yet not I, but Chrift liv- 
 eth in me."* And this is the nobleft 
 and beft life; for in him who hath it, 
 God Himfelf dwelleth, with all good- 
 nefs. So how could there be a better 
 life ? When we fpeak of obedience, of 
 the new man, of the True Light, the 
 True Love, or the life of Chrift, it is 
 all the fame thing, and where one of 
 thefe is, there are they all, and where 
 one is wanting, there is none of them, 
 for they are all one in truth and fub- 
 ftance. And w^hatever may bring about 
 that new birth which maketh alive in 
 Chrift, to that let us cleave with all our 
 might and to nought elfe; and let us 
 forfwear and flee all that may hinder it. 
 And he who hath received this life in 
 the Holy Sacrament, hath verily and 
 indeed received Chrift, and the more 
 of that life he hath received, the more 
 he hath received of Chrift, and the lefs, 
 the lefs of Chrift. 
 
 * Galatians ii. ao. 
 
1 66 Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 How entire Satis fusion and true Reft are to 
 he found in God alone y and not in any Crea- 
 ture ; and how he who will he ohedient unto 
 God, mujt aljo he ohedient. to the Creatures, 
 with all Qjiietnejs, and he who would love 
 God, muJt love all things in One. 
 
 TT is faid, that he who is content to 
 find all his fatisfadlion in God, hath 
 enough; and this is true. And he who 
 findeth fatisfadlion in aught which is 
 this and that, findeth it not in God; 
 and he who findeth it in God, findeth 
 it in nothing elfe, but in that which 
 is neither this nor that, but is All. 
 For God is One and muft be One, 
 and God is All and muft be All. 
 And now what is, and is not One, is 
 not God; and what is, and is not All 
 and above All, is alfo not God, fi^r God 
 is One and above One, and All and 
 above All. Now he who findeth full 
 
ia Germanica. 167 
 
 fatisfadlion in God, receiveth all his 
 fatisfadtion from One fource, and from 
 One only, as One. And a man can- 
 not find all fatisfadlion in God, unlefs 
 all things are One to him, and One is 
 All, and fomething and nothing are 
 alike.* But where it fhould be thus, 
 there would be true fatisfadtion, and 
 not elfe. 
 
 Therefore alfo, he who will wholly 
 commit himfelf unto God and be obe- 
 dient to Him, muft alfo reiign himfelf 
 to all things, and be willing to fuffer 
 them, without refifting or defending 
 himfelf or calling for fuccor. And he 
 who doth not thus refign or fubmit him- 
 felf to all things in One as One, doth 
 not refign or fubmit himfelf to God. 
 Let us look at Chrift. And he who 
 fhall and will lie ftill under God's hand, 
 muft lie ftill under all things in One as 
 One, and in no wife withftand any fuf- 
 
 * Literally aught and nought, tcht und nicht j but aught 
 means any thing, the idea of the original is emphatically 
 fomt thing, a part, not the whole. — Tr. 
 
1 68 Theolo^ia Ger7nanica. 
 
 fering. Such an one were a Chrift. 
 And he who fighteth againft afflidion 
 and refufeth to endure it, is truly fight- 
 ing againft God. That is to fay, we 
 may not withftand any creature or thing 
 by force or war, either in will or works. 
 But we may indeed without fin prevent 
 afflidlion, or avoid it, or flee from it. 
 
 Now, he who fhall or will love God, 
 loveth all things in One as One and 
 All, and One in All as All in One; and 
 he who loveth fomewhat, this or that, 
 otherwife than in the One, and for the 
 fake of the One, loveth not God, for 
 he loveth fomewhat which is not God. 
 Therefore he loveth it more than God. 
 Now he who loveth fomewhat more 
 than God or along with God, loveth 
 not God, for He muft be and will be 
 alone loved, and verily nothing ought 
 to be loved but God alone. And when 
 the true divine Light and Love dwell 
 in a man, he loveth nothing elfe but 
 God alone, for he loveth God as Good- 
 
"Theolo^ia Germanica* i 
 
 nefs, and for the fake of Goodnefs, and 
 all Goodnefs as One, and One as All; 
 for, in truth, All is One and One is 
 All in God. 
 
 CHAP. XLVIi. 
 
 A §ueftion ; Whether^ if we ought to love all 
 1 kings y we ought to love Sin alfo? 
 
 COME may put a queftion here and 
 fay: **If we are to love all things, 
 muft we then love fin too?" I anfwer : 
 No. When I fay "all things," I mean 
 all Good; and all that is, is good, in fo 
 far as it hath Being. The Devil is good 
 in fo far as he hath Being. In this fenfe 
 nothing is evil, or not good. But fin 
 is to will, defire, or love otherwife than 
 as God doth. And Willing is not Be- 
 ing, therefore it is not good. Nothing 
 is good except in fo far as it is in God 
 and with God. Now all things have 
 their Being in God, and more truly in 
 God than in themfelves, and therefore 
 all things are good in fo far as they have 
 
I JO T'heologia Germanica, 
 
 a Being, and if there were aught that 
 had not its Being in God, it would not 
 be good. Now behold, the willing or 
 defiring which is contrary to God is not 
 in God; for God cannot will or defire 
 anything contrary to Himfelf, or other- 
 wife than Himfelf. Therefore it is evil 
 or not good, and is merely nought. 
 
 God loveth alfo works, but not all 
 works. Which then? Such as are 
 done from the teaching and guidance 
 of the True Light and the True Love; 
 and what is done from thefe and in 
 thefe, is done in fpirit and in truth, and 
 what is thereof, is God's, and pleafeth 
 Him well. But what is done of the 
 falfe Light and falfe Love, is all of the 
 Wicked One; and efpecially what hap- 
 peneth, is done or left undone, wrought 
 or fuffered from any other will, or de- 
 fire, or love, than God's will, or defire, 
 or love. This is, and cometh to pafs, 
 without God and contrary to God, and 
 is utterly contrary to good works, and 
 is altogether fin. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 171 
 
 CHAP. XLVIII. 
 
 How we mujt believe certain Things of God*s 
 Truth beforehand^ ere we can come to a true 
 Knowledge and Experience thereof. 
 
 r^HRIST faid, ^'He that believeth 
 not," or will not or cannot believe, 
 fhall be damned." It is fo of a truth ; 
 for a man, while he is in this prefent 
 time, hath not knowledge; and he can- 
 not attain unto it,unlefs he first believe. 
 And he who would know before he 
 believeth, cometh never to true know- 
 ledge. We fpeak not here of the arti- 
 cles of the Chriftian faith, for every- 
 one believeth them, and they are com- 
 mon to every Chriftian man, whether 
 he be finful or faved, good or wicked, 
 and they muft be believed in the firft 
 place, for without that, one cannotcome 
 to know them. But we are fpeaking 
 of a certain Truth which it is poffible 
 to know by experience, but which ye 
 
172 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 muft believe in, before that ye know it 
 by experience, elfe ye will never come 
 to know it truly. This is the faith of 
 which Chrift fpeaketh in that faying 
 of His. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. 
 
 Of Self- will ^ and how Lucifer and Adam fell 
 away from God through Self-will, 
 
 TT hath been faid, that there is of 
 nothing fo much in hell as of felf- 
 will. The which is true, for there is 
 nothing elfe there than self-will, and 
 if there were no felf-will there would 
 be no Devil and no hell. When it is 
 faid that Lucifer fell from Heaven, and 
 turned away from God and the like, 
 it meaneth nothing elfe than that he 
 would have his own will, and would 
 not be at one with the Eternal Will. 
 So was it likewife with Adam in Para- 
 dife. And when we fay Self-will, we 
 mean, to will otherwife than as the 
 One and Eternal Will of God willeth. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 173 
 
 CHAP. L. 
 
 How this prejent Time is a Paradije and 
 outer Court of Heaven, and how therein 
 there is only one Tree forbidden, that is, 
 Self-wilL 
 
 ^HAT is Paradife? All things 
 that are; for all are goodly and 
 pleafant, and therefore may fitly be 
 called a Paradife. It is faid alfo that 
 Paradife is an outer court of Heaven. 
 Even fo this world is verily an outer 
 court of the Eternal, or of Eternity, 
 and fpecially whatever in Time, or any 
 temporal things or creatures, manfefi:- 
 eth or remindeth us of God or Eter- 
 nity; for the creatures are a guide and 
 a path unto God and Eternity, Thus 
 this world is an outer court of Eternity, 
 and therefore it may well be called a 
 Paradife, for it is fuch in truth. And 
 in this Paradife, all things are lawful, 
 fave one tree and the fruits thereof. 
 
174 Theologia Germa?2ica. 
 
 That is to fay: of all things that are, 
 nothing is forbidden and nothing is 
 contrary to God but one thing only: 
 that is, Self-will, or to will otherwife 
 than as the Eternal Will would have it. 
 Remember this. For God faith to 
 Adam, that is, to every man, What- 
 ever thou art, or doeft, or leaveft un- 
 done, or whatever cometh to pafs, is 
 all lawful and not forbidden if it be not 
 done from or according to thy will, but 
 for the fake of and according to My will. 
 But all that is done from thine own 
 will is contrary to the Eternal Will." 
 
 It is not that every work which is 
 thus wrought is in itfelf contrary to 
 the Eternal Will, but in fo far as it is 
 wrought from a different will, or 
 otherwife than from the Eternal and 
 Divine Will. 
 
Theologia Germanica. 175 
 
 CHAP. LI. 
 
 Wherefore God hath created Self-will^ f^^^^g 
 that it is fo contrary to Him. 
 
 '^TOW fome may afk: *^fince this 
 tree, to wit. Self-will, is fo con- 
 trary to God and the Eternal Will, 
 wherefore hath God created it, and fet 
 it in Paradife?" 
 
 Anfwer: whatever man or creature 
 defireth to dive into or underftand the 
 fecret counfel and will of God, fo that 
 he would fain know wherefore God 
 doeth this, or doeth not that, and the 
 like, defireth the fame as Adam and the 
 Devil. For this defire is feldom from 
 aught elfe than that the man taketh de- 
 light in knowing, and glorieth therein, 
 and this is fheer pride. And fo long as 
 this defire lafieth, the truth will never be 
 known, and the man is even as Adam 
 or the Devil. A truly humble and 
 enlightened man doth not defire of God 
 
176 Theologia Germanka. 
 
 that He fhould reveal His fecrets unto 
 him, nqr alk wherefore God doeth this 
 or that, or hindereth or alloweth fuch 
 a thing, and fo forth; but he defireth 
 only to know how he may pleafe God, 
 and become as nought in himfelf, hav- 
 ing no will, and that the Eternal Will 
 may live in him, and have full poffeffion 
 of him, undiflurbed by any other will, 
 and how its due may be rendered to the 
 Eternal Will, by him and through him. 
 
 However, there is yet another an- 
 fwer to this queflion, for we may fay: 
 the moft noble and delightful gift that 
 is beftowed on any creature is that of 
 perceiving, or Reafon, and Will. And 
 thefe two are fo bound together, that 
 where the one is, there the other is alfo. 
 And if it were not for thefe two gifts, 
 there would be no reafonable creatures, 
 but only brutes and brutifhnefs; and 
 that were a great lofs, for God would 
 never have His due, and behold Him- 
 felf and his attributes manifefled in 
 
Theologia Germanica, 177 
 
 deeds and works; the which ought to 
 be, and is neceflary to perfection. 
 Now, behold, Perception and Reafon 
 are created and beftowed along with 
 will, to the intent that they may inftrudl 
 the will and alfo themfelves, that neither 
 perception nor will is of itfelf, nor is 
 nor ought to be unto itfelf, nor ought 
 to feek or obey itfelf. Neither fhall 
 they turn themfelves to their own ad- 
 vantage, nor make ufe of themfelves to 
 their own ends and purpofes; for His 
 they are from Whom they do proceed, 
 and unto Him fhall they fubmit, and 
 flow back into Him, and become nought 
 in themfelves, that is, in theirfelfifhnefs. 
 
 But here ye muft confider more par- 
 ticularly, fomewhat touching the Will. 
 There is an Eternal Will, which is in 
 God a firft principle and fubftance, 
 apart from all works and efl^ed:s,* and 
 the fame will is in Man, or the creature, 
 willing certain things, and bringing 
 
 * Or realization, wirklichkeit. 
 
178 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 them to pafs. For it belongeth unto 
 the Will and is its property that it fhall 
 will fomething. What elfe is it for? 
 For it were in vain, unlefs it had fome 
 work to do, and this it cannot have 
 without the creature. Therefore there 
 muft be creatures, and God will have 
 them, to the end that the Will may- 
 be put in exercife by their means, and 
 work, which in God is and muft be 
 without work. Therefore the will in 
 the creature, which we call a created 
 will, is as truly God*s as the Eternal 
 Will, and is not of the creature. 
 
 And now, fince God cannot bring 
 His will into exercife, working and 
 caufing changes, without the creature, 
 therefore it pleafeth Him to do fo in 
 and with the creature. Therefore the 
 will is not given to be exerted by the 
 creature, but only by God, who hath a 
 right to work out His own will by 
 means of the will which is in man, and 
 yet is God's. And in whatever man 
 
ia Germanic a, 179 
 
 or creature it fhould be purely and 
 wholly thus, the will would be exerted 
 not by the man but by God, and thus 
 it would not be felf-will, and the man 
 would not will otherwife than as God 
 willeth; for God Himfelf would move 
 the will and not man. And thus the 
 will would be one with the Eternal 
 Will, and flow out into it, though the 
 man would fliill keep his fenfe of liking 
 and difliking, pleafure and pain, and 
 the like. For wherever the will is 
 exerted, there muft be a fenfe of liking 
 and difliking; for if things go accord- 
 ing to his will, the man liketh it, and 
 if they do not, he difliketh it, and this 
 liking and difliking are not of the man's 
 producing, but of God's. [For what- 
 ever is the fource of the will, is the 
 fource of thefe alfo.*] Now the will 
 Cometh not of man but of God, there- 
 fore liking and difliking come from Him 
 
 * This fentence is found in Luther's edition, but not in 
 that bafed on the Wurtzburg Manufcript. 
 
i8o Theologia Germanica. 
 
 alfo. But nothing is complained of, 
 fave only what is contrary to God. So 
 alfo there is no joy but of God alone, 
 and that which is His and belongeth 
 unto Him. And as it is with the will, 
 fo is it alfo with perception, reafon, 
 gifts, love, and all the powers of man; 
 they are all of God, and not of man. 
 And wherever the will fhould be alto- 
 gether furrendered to God, the reft 
 would of a certainty be furrendered like- 
 wife, and God would have His right, and 
 the man's will would not be his own. 
 Behold, therefore hath God created the 
 will, but not that it fhould be felf-will. 
 
 Now Cometh the Devil or Adam, 
 that is to fay, falfe nature, and taketh 
 this will unto itfelf and maketh the 
 fame its own, and ufeth it for itfelf and 
 its own ends. And this is the mifchief 
 and wrong, and the bite that Adam 
 made in the apple, which is forbidden, 
 becaufe it is contrary to God, And 
 therefore, fo long as there is any felf- 
 
'Theoloo-ia Germantca. i8i 
 
 will, there will never be true love, true 
 peace, true reft. This we fee both in 
 man and in the Devil. And there will 
 never be true bleffednefs either in time 
 or eternity, where this felf-will is work- 
 ing, that is to fay, where man taketh 
 the will unto himfelf and maketh it his 
 own. And if it be not furrendered in 
 this prefent time, but carried over into 
 eternity, it may be forefeen that it will 
 never be furrendered, and then of a 
 truth there will never be content, nor 
 reft, nor bleftednefs; as we may fee by 
 the Devil. If there were no reafon or 
 will in the creatures, God were, and 
 muft remain for ever, unknown, un- 
 loved, unpraifed and unhonored, and all 
 the creatures would be worth nothing, 
 and were of no avail to God. Behold 
 thus the queftion which was put to us 
 is anfwered.* And if there were 
 any, who, by much writing (which 
 yet is brief and profitable in God,) 
 
 * Namely, why God had created the will. 
 
1 82 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 might be led to amend their ways, this 
 were indeed well-pleafing unto God. 
 
 That which is free, none may call 
 his own, and he who maketh it his own, 
 committeth a wrong. Now, in the 
 whole realm of freedom, nothing is fo 
 free as the will, and he who maketh it 
 his own, and fuffereth it not to remain 
 in its excellent freedom, and free no- 
 bility, and in its free exercife, doth a 
 grievous wrong. This is what is done 
 by the Devil and Adam and all their 
 followers. But he who leaveth the will 
 in its noble freedom doeth right, and 
 this doth Chrift with all his followers. 
 And whofo robbeth the will of its no- 
 ble freedom and maketh it his own, 
 mufi: of neceffity as his reward, be laden 
 with cares and troubles, with difcon- 
 tent, difquiet, unreft, and all manner 
 of wretchednefs, and this will remain 
 and endure in time and in eternity. 
 But he who leaveth the will in its free- 
 dom, hath content, peace, reft and bleff- 
 
"Theologia Germanica. 183 
 
 ednefs in time and in eternity. But he 
 who leaveth the will in its freedom, 
 hath content, peace, reft and bleffed- 
 nefs in time and in eternity. Where- 
 ever there is a man in whom the will 
 is not enflaved, but continueth noble 
 and free, there is a true freeman not in 
 bondage to any, one of thofe to whom 
 Chrift faid: **the truth fhall make you 
 free;" and immediately after, he faith: 
 "if the Son fhall make you free, ye 
 fhall be free indeed."* 
 
 Furthermore, mark ye that where 
 the will enjoyeth its freedom, it hath 
 its proper work, that is, willing. And 
 where it choofeth whatever it will 
 unhindered, it always choofeth in all 
 things what is noblefl and beft, and all 
 that is not noble and good it hateth, 
 and findeth to be a grief and offence 
 unto it. And the more free and un- 
 hindered the will is, the more is it pain- 
 ed by evil, injuftice, iniquity, and in 
 
 * John vili. 31-36. 
 S 
 
184 Theologia Germantca. 
 
 fhort all manner of wickednefs and fin, 
 and the more do they grieve and afflidt 
 it. This we fee in Chrift, whofe will 
 was the pureft and the leaft fettered, 
 or brought into bondage of any man's 
 that ever lived. So like wife was Chrift's 
 human nature the moft free and fingle 
 of all creatures, and yet felt the deepeft 
 grief, pain, and indignation at fin that 
 any creature ever felt. But when men 
 claim freedom for their own, fo as to 
 feel no forrow or indignation at fin and 
 what is contrary to God, but fay that 
 we muft heed nothing and care for 
 nothing, but be, in this prefent time, 
 as Chrift was after his refurredlion, and 
 the like; — this is no true and divine 
 freedom fpringing from the true divine 
 Light, but a natural, unrighteous, falfe, 
 and deceitful freedom, fpringing from 
 a natural, falfe and deluded light 
 
 Were there no felf-will, there would 
 be alfo no ownerfhip. In heaven there 
 is no ownerfiiip; hence there are found 
 
Theologia Germanica. 185 
 
 content, true peace and all bleffednefs. 
 If any one there took upon him to call 
 anything his own, he would ftraight- 
 w^ay be thruft out into hell, and would 
 become an evil fpirit. But in hell 
 every one will have felf-will, therefore 
 there is all manner of miferyandwretch- 
 ednefs. So is it alfo here on earth. 
 But if there were one in hell who fhould 
 get quit of his felf-will and call nothing 
 his own, he would come out of hell into 
 heaven. Now, in this prefent time, 
 man is fet between heaven and hell, 
 and may turn himfelf towards which 
 he will. For the more he hath of 
 ownerfhip, the more he hath of hell 
 and mifery; and the lefs of felf-will, 
 the lefs of hell, and the nearer he is to 
 the Kingdom of Heaven. And could 
 a man, while on earth, be wholly quit 
 of self-will and ownerfhip, and ftand 
 up free and at large in God's true light, 
 and continue therein, he would be fure 
 of the Kingdom of Heaven. He who 
 
1 86 Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 hath fomething, or feeketh or longeth 
 to have fomething of his own, is him- 
 felf a flave, and he who hath nothing 
 of his own, nor feeketh nor longeth 
 thereafter, is free and at large, and in 
 bondage to none. 
 
 All that hath here been faid, Chrift 
 , taught in words and fulfilled in works 
 \ for three and thirty years, and he teach- 
 1 eth it to us very briefly when he faith : 
 Follow me." But he who will fol- 
 low him muft forfake all things, for 
 he renounced all things fo utterly as no 
 man elfe hath ever done. Moreover, 
 he who will come after him muft take 
 up the crofs, and the crofs is nothing 
 elfe than Chrift's life, for that is a bit- 
 ter crofs to nature. Therefore he faith: 
 "And he that taketh not his crofs, and 
 folio weth after me, is not worthy of me, 
 and cannot be my difciple." * But na- 
 ture in her falfe freedom, weeneth fhe 
 hath forfaken all things, yet fhe w^ill 
 
 * Matt. X. 38, and Luke xlv. 27. 
 
Theologia Gennanica. 187 
 
 have none of the crofs, and faith fhe 
 hath had enough of it already, and 
 needeth it no longer, and thus fhe is 
 deceived. For had fhe ever tafted the 
 crofs fhe w^ould never part with it again. 
 He that believeth on Chrift mufl be- 
 lieve all that is here v^ritten. 
 
 CHAP. LIL 
 
 How we muft take thqfe two Sayings of Chrift: 
 ^^No man cometh unto the Father y hut by 
 me,'' and ^^No man cometh unto me, except 
 the Father which hath Jent me draw him'' 
 
 /^HRIST faith: "no man cometh 
 unto the Father but by me."* 
 Now mark how we muft come unto 
 the Father through Chrift. The man 
 fhall fet a watch over himfelf and all 
 that belongeth to him within and with- 
 out, and fhall fo diredl, govern, and 
 guard his heart, as far as in him lieth, 
 that neither will nor defire, love nor 
 longing, opinion nor thought, fliall 
 
 * John xiv. 6. 
 
1 88 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 fpring up in his heart, or have any 
 abiding place in him, fave fuch as are 
 meet for God and would befeem Him 
 well, if God Himfelf were made man. 
 And whenever he becometh aware of 
 any thought or intent rifing up within 
 him that doth not belong to God and 
 were not meet for Him, he mull: refift 
 it and root it out as thoroughly and as 
 fpeedily as he may. 
 
 By this rule he muft order his out- 
 ward behaviour, whether he work or 
 refrain, fpeak or keep filence, wake or 
 fleep, go or ftand ftill. In fhort: in 
 all his ways and walks, whether as 
 touching his own bufinefs, or his deal- 
 ings with other men, he muft keep his 
 heart with all diligence, left he do 
 aught, or turn afide to aught, or fuffer 
 aught to fpring up or dwell within him 
 or about him, or left anything be done 
 in him or through him, otherwife than 
 were meet for God, and would be pof- 
 fible and feemly if God Himfelf were 
 verily made Man. 
 
ia Germanica. 189 
 
 Behold! he, in whom it fhould be 
 thus, whatever he had within, or did 
 without, would be all of God, and the 
 man would be in his life a follower of 
 Chrift, more truly than we can under- 
 ftand or fet forth. And he who led 
 \ fuch a life would go in and out through 
 Chrift; for he would be a follower of 
 Chrift: therefore alfo he would come 
 with Chrift and through Chrift unto 
 the Father. And he would be alfo a 
 fervant of Chrift, for he who ccmeth 
 after him is his fervant, as he himfelf 
 alfo faith: *'If any man ferve me, let 
 him follow me; and w^here I am, there 
 fliall alfo my fervant be."* And he 
 who is thus a fervant and follower of 
 Chrift, Cometh to that place where 
 Chrift himfelf is; that is, unto the 
 Father. As Chrift himfelf faith : " Fa- 
 ther, I will that they alfo, whom thou \ 
 haft given me, be with me where I 
 am."-f* Behold, he who walketh in 
 
 • John xli. 26. -j- John xvii. 24. 
 
190 Theologia Germanica, 
 
 this path, **enteieth in by the door into 
 the fl:ieep-fold/' that is, into eternal 
 life ; and to him the porter openeth 
 but he who entereth in by fome other 
 way, or vainly thinketh that he would 
 or can come to the Father or to eter- 
 nal bleffednefs otherwife than through 
 Chrift, is deceived; for he is not in the 
 right Way, nor entereth in by the right 
 Door. Therefore to him the porter 
 openeth not, for he is a thief and a 
 murderer, as Chrift faith. 
 
 Now, behold and mark, whether 
 one can be in the right Way, and enter 
 in by the right Door, if one be living 
 in lawlefs freedom or licenfe, or difre- 
 gard of ordinances, virtue or vice, order 
 or diforder, and the like. Such liberty 
 we do not find in Chrift, neither is it 
 in any of his true followers. 
 
 * John X, I, 3. ' 
 
ia German tea . 191 
 
 CHAP. LIII. 
 
 Confidereth that other faying of Chrifty ^^No 
 Man can come unto me^ except the Father 
 which hath fent me draw him,'' 
 
 /^HRIST hath alfo faid: ''No man 
 Cometh unto me, except the Fa- 
 ther which hath fent me draw him."* 
 Now mark: by the Father, I under- 
 ftand the Perfedt, Simple Good, which 
 is All and above All, and without 
 which and befides which there is no true 
 Subftance, nor true Good, and without 
 which no good work ever was or will 
 be done. And in that it is All, it muft 
 be in All and above All. And it can- 
 not be any one of thofe things which 
 the creatures, as creatures, can com- 
 prehend or underftand. For whatever 
 the creature, as creature (that is, in her 
 creature kind), can conceive of and un- 
 derftand, is fomething, this or that, and 
 
 * John vi. 44. 
 
192 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 therefore is fome fort of creature. And 
 now if the Simple Perfecit Good were 
 fomewhat, this or that, which the crea- 
 ture underftandeth, it would not be the 
 All, nor the Orriy One, and therefore 
 not Perfed:. Therefore alfo it cannot 
 be named, feeing that is none of all the, 
 things which the creature as creature 
 can comprehend, know, conceive, or 
 name. Now behold, when this Per- 
 fed: Good, which is unnameable, flow- 
 eth into a Perfon able to bring forth, 
 and bringeth forth the Only-begotten 
 Son in that Perfon, and itfelf in Him, 
 we call it the Father. 
 
 Now mark how the Father draweth 
 men unto Chrift. When fomewhat 
 of this Perfect Good is difcovered and 
 revealed within the foul of man, as 
 it were in a glance or flafh, the foul 
 conceiveth a longing to approach unto 
 the Perfedl Goodnefs, and unite herfelf 
 with the Father. And the flronger 
 this yearning groweth, the more is re- 
 
Theologia Germanica. 193 
 
 vealed unto her; and the more is re- 
 vealed unto her, the more is fhe drawn 
 toward the Father, and her defire 
 quickened. Thus is the foul drawn 
 and quickened into a union with the 
 Eternal Goodnefs. And this is the 
 drawing of the Father, and thus the 
 foul is taught of Him who draweth her 
 unto Himfelf, that fhe cannot enter 
 into a union with Him except fhe 
 come unto Him by the life of Chrift. 
 Behold! now fhe putteth on that life 
 of which I have fpoken afore. 
 
 Now fee the meaning of thefe two 
 fayings of Chrift's. The one, no man 
 Cometh unto the Father but by me;" 
 that is, through my life, as hath been 
 fet forth. The other faying, "no man 
 Cometh unto me except the Father 
 draw him;" that is, he doth not take 
 my life upon him and come after me, 
 except he be moved and drawn of my 
 Father; that is, of the Simple and Per- 
 fed: Good, of which St. Paul faith: 
 
194 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 when that which is perfedl is come, 
 then that which is in part fhall be done 
 away." That is to fay; in whatever 
 foul this Perfect Good is known, felt 
 and tafted, fo far as may be in this 
 prefent time, to that foul all created 
 things are as nought compared with this 
 Perfed: One, as in truth they are; for 
 befide or without the Perfed; One, is 
 neither true Good nor true Subftance. 
 Whofoever then hath, or knoweth, or 
 loveth, the Perfeft One, hath and 
 knoweth all goodnefs. What more 
 then doth he want, or what is all that 
 *'is in part" to him, feeing that all the 
 parts are united in the Perfeft, in One 
 Subftance. 
 
 What hath here been faid, concern- 
 eth the outward life, and is a good way 
 or accefs unto the true inward life; but 
 the inward life beginneth after this. 
 When a man hath tailed that which is 
 perfedl as far as is poffible in this pref- 
 ent time, all created things and even 
 
Theologia Germanica. 195 
 
 himfelf become as nought to him. 
 And when he perceiveth of a truth 
 that the Perfect One is All and above 
 All, he needs mufl follow after Him, 
 and afcribe all that is good, fuch as 
 Subftance, Life, Knowledge, Reafon, 
 Power, and the like, unto Him alone 
 and to no creature. And hence fol- 
 loweth that the man claimeth for his 
 own neither Subfliance, Life, Knowl- 
 edge, nor power. Doing nor Refraining, 
 nor any thing that we can call good. 
 And thus the man becometh fo poor, 
 that he is nought in himfelf, and fo 
 are alfo all things unto him which are 
 fomewhat, that is, all created things. 
 And then there beginneth in him a true 
 inward life, wherein from hencefor- 
 ward, God Himfelf dwelleth in the 
 man, fo that nothing is left in him but 
 what is God's or of God, and nothing 
 is left which taketh anything unto it- 
 felf. And thus God Himfelf, that is, 
 the One Eternal Perfedinefs alone is. 
 
196 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 liveth, knoweth, worketh, loveth,will- 
 eth, doeth and refraineth in the man. 
 And thus, of a truth, it fhould be, and 
 where it is not fo, the man hath yet 
 far to travel, and things are not alto- 
 gether right with him. 
 
 Furthermore, it is a good way and 
 accefs unto this life, to feel always that 
 what is beft is deareft, and always to 
 prefer the beft, and to cleave to it, and 
 unite onefelf to it. Firft: in the crea- 
 tures. But what is beft in the Cica- 
 tures? Be aflureu: that, in which the 
 Eternal Perfed: Goodnefs and what is 
 thereof, that is, all which belongeth 
 thereunto, moft brightly fhineth and 
 worketh, and is beft known and loved. 
 But what is that which is of God, and 
 belongeth unto Him? I anfwer : what- 
 ever with juftice and truth we do, or 
 might call good. 
 
 When therefore among the creatures 
 the man cleaveth to that which is the 
 beft that he can perceive, and keepeth 
 
Theologia Germanica. 197 
 
 fteadfaftly to that, in finglenefs of heart, 
 he Cometh afterward to what is better 
 and better, until, at laft, he findeth and 
 tafteth that the Eternal Good is a Per- 
 fed: Good, without meafure and num- 
 ber above all created good. Now if 
 what is beft is to be deareft to us, and 
 ^ we are to follow after it, the One Eter- 
 nal Good muft be loved above all and 
 alone, and we muft cleave to Him 
 alone, and unite ourfelves with Him 
 as clofely as we may. And now if we 
 are to afcribe all goodnefs to the One 
 Eternal Good, as of right and truth we 
 ought, fo mufl we alfo of right and 
 truth afcribe unto Him the beginning, 
 middle, and end of our courfe, fo that 
 nothing remain to man or the creature. 
 So it (hould be of a truth, let men fay 
 what they will. 
 
 Now on this wife we fhould attain 
 unto a true inward life. And what 
 then further would happen to the foul, 
 or would be revealed unto her, and 
 
198 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 what her Hfe would be henceforward, 
 none can declare or guefs. For it is 
 that which hath never been uttered by 
 man's lips, nor hath it entered into the 
 heart of man to conceive. 
 
 In this our long difcourfe, are brief- 
 ly comprehended thofe things which 
 ought of right and truth to be fulfilled : 
 to wit, that man fhould claim nothing"** 
 for his own, nor crave, will, love, or 
 intend anything but God alone, and 
 what is like unto Him, that is to fay, 
 the One, Eternal, Perfedt Goodnefs. 
 
 But if it be not thus with a man, and 
 he take, will, purpofe, or crave, fome- 
 what for himfelf, this or that, whatever 
 it maybe, befide or other than the Eter- 
 nal and Perfedl Goodnefs which is God 
 Himfelf, this is all too much and a great 
 injury, [and hindereth the man from a 
 perfedl life; wherefore he can never reach 
 the Perfed: Good, unlefs he firft forfake 
 all things and himfelf firft of all. For 
 no man can ferve two mafters, who are 
 
T'heologia Germanica, 199 
 
 contrary the one to the other; he who 
 will have the one, mufi: let the other 
 go. Therefore if the Creator fhall 
 enter in, the creature muft depart. Of 
 this be affured.] 
 
 CHAP. LIV. 
 
 How a Man fJiall not feek his own^ either in 
 Things /piritualor natural, but the Honour 
 of God only ; and how he muft enter in by 
 the right Door, to wit, by Chrift, into 
 Eternal Life, 
 TF a man may attain thereunto, to be 
 unto God as his hand is to a man, let 
 him be therewith content, and not feek 
 further. [This is my faithful counfel, 
 and here I take my fland. That is to 
 fay, let him flrive and wreftle with all 
 his might to obey God and His com- 
 mandments fo thoroughly at all times 
 and in all things, that in him there be 
 nothing, fpiritual or natural, which 
 oppofeth God; and that his whole foul 
 and body with all their members may 
 t 
 
200 Theolo^ia Germanica. 
 
 ftand ready and willing for that to which 
 God hath created them; as ready and 
 willing as his hand is to a man, which 
 is fo wholly in his power, that in the 
 twinkling of an eye, he movethand turn- 
 eth it whither he will. And when we 
 find it otherwife with us, we muft give 
 our whole diligence to amend our ftate; 
 and this from love and not from fear, and 
 in all things whatfoever,feek and intend 
 the glory and praife of God alone. We 
 muft not feek our own, either in things 
 fpiritual or in things natural.] It muft 
 needs be thus, if it is to ftand well with 
 us. And every creature oweth this of 
 right and truth unto God, and efpeci- 
 ally man [to whom, by the ordinance 
 of God, all creatures are made fubjedl, 
 and are fervants, that he may be fub- 
 jedl to and ferve God only.] 
 
 Further, when a man hath come fo 
 far, and climbed fo high, that he think- 
 eth and weeneth he ftandeth fure, let 
 him beware left the Devil ftrew afhes 
 
Theologia Gennanica. 201 
 
 and his own bad feed on his heart, and 
 nature feek and take her own comfort, 
 reft, peace, and delight in the profperity 
 of his foul, and he fall into afoolifh,law- 
 lefs freedom and licentioufnefs, which is 
 altogether alien to, and at war with a 
 true life in God. And this will happen 
 to that man who hath not entered, or 
 refufeth to enter in by the right Way 
 and the right Door (which is Chrift, as 
 we have faid), and imagineth that he 
 would or could come by any other way 
 to the higheft truth. He may perhaps 
 dream that he hath attained thereunto, 
 but verily he is in error. 
 
 And our witnefs is Chrift, who de- 
 clareth : Verily, verily, I fay unto you, 
 Hethatentereth not by the door into the 
 fheepfold, but climbeth up fome other 
 way, the fame is a thief and a robber.'' 
 [A thief, for he robbeth God of His ho- 
 nour and glory, which belong to God 
 alone; he taketh them unto himfelf,and 
 feeketh and purpofeth himfelf. A mur- 
 derer, for he flayeth his own foul, and 
 
2 02 Theologia Germanica. 
 
 taketh away her life which is God. For 
 as the body Kveth by the foul, even fo 
 the foul liveth by God. Moreover, he 
 murdereth all thofo who follow him, by 
 his dodlrine and example. For Chrift 
 faith: "I came down from- heaven, 
 not to do mine own will, but the will 
 of Him that fent me."* And again: 
 "Why call ye me Lord, Lordl-f-" as if 
 he would fay, it will avail you nothing 
 to Eternal Life. And again: "Not 
 every one that faith unto me. Lord, 
 Lord, fhall enter into the Kingdom of 
 Heaven; but he that doeth the will of 
 my Father which is in Heaven. "J But 
 he faith alfo: "If thou wilt enter into 
 life, keep the commandments. "§ And 
 what are the commandments? "To 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 heart, with all thy foul, and with all 
 thy ftrength, and with all thy mind; 
 and to love thy neighbour as thyfelf ''|| 
 
 * John vi. 38. -j" Luke vi. 46. 
 
 J Matt. vii. 21. § Matt. xix. 17. 
 
 II Luke oc. 27. 
 
ia Germanka. 203 
 
 And in thefe two commandments all 
 others are briefly comprehended. 
 
 There is nothing more precious to 
 God, or more profitable to man, than 
 humble obedience. In his eyes, one 
 good work, wrought from true obe- 
 dience, is of more value than a hundred 
 thoufand wrought from self-will, con- 
 trary to obedience. Therefore he who 
 haththisobedience need notdread Him, 
 for fuch a man is in the right way, and 
 following after Chrift.] 
 
 That we may thus deny ourfelves, and 
 forfakeand renounceall thingsfor God's 
 fake, and give up our own wills, and 
 die unto ourfelves, and live unto God 
 alone and to His will, may He help us, 
 who gave up His will to His Heavenly 
 Father — Jefus Chrift our Lord to whom 
 be bleiTing for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
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