Significantly, the author differentiates between the material and the spiritual perception of God. While many Christians would pursue only a superficial, mechanical worship, true faith in God would reveal itself in spiritual worship. Almost in a bitter lament, he concludes: “die Erkanntnus Gottes und Christi nach dem Geist / ist fast aus der Christenheit ausgemustert” (30, p. 21). But not everyone needs to have access to the biblical text in order to comprehend God. There are, as he insists, many heathens who know nothing about the Old and the New Testament and yet demonstrate a spiritual understanding and, thus, a higher level of devotion and piety than those Christians who embrace only a faith in the flesh (31). According to the Gospel of John (I.V.9), Christ is the light of the entire world and illuminates all people “in und ausser der Christenheit” (32, p. 23; within and outside of Christianity). Christ comes to the door of every person and knocks at it, asking to be let in (33).
Irrespective of the formal features, all people could have worshipped God well before the arrival of Christ, such as the ancient Greeks in Athens (38). In the subsequent paragraphs, the author turns to the basic nature of all people, lamenting Adam’s inheritance which detracts from the path toward God, meaning that there is no one who is really doing good (“auch nicht einer,” 41, p. 29). However, God’s divine word is implanted in everyone’s soul and only needs to be elicited to make its power felt (43). Hence, heathens can gain the same understanding of God as Christians (44) because the word itself is waiting outside the door to every heart (45). In sum, as he asserts,
wer dem anklopffenden Geist dieser selbststaendigen Weißheit / welche niemand anders als Christus ist / Raum gibet / der wird dessen Tempel und Wohnung; und wer den Geist Christi (also besitzlich) hat / der ist sein; und der ihn nicht also hat / ist auch nicht sein
(48, p. 33)
[whoever grants space to the knocking spirit of this independent wisdom, what is nothing but Christ Himself, will become His temple and living space; and who has (like a possession) Christ’s spirit, is his; and who does not have it, is also not his]
As in the beginning of this treatise, the author virtually favors those who have the inner spirit and disfavors those who pursue nothing but rituals and practice their faith only formally. In this regard, hence, some of the ancient philosophers such as Socrates, Pythagoras, Plato, or Seneca had put to shame many modern Christians through their words and deeds because they had followed the spirit and, thus, had proven to be God’s children (48).
As much as he criticized Christians for their lack in spirituality and for their excessive reliance on rituals, so does he criticize Jews for their exclusive emphasis on circumcision. That procedure would help to confirm the validity of the law, but it would not achieve anything in terms of worshiping God (50). By the same token, too many Christians would trust their own baptism as a guarantee to reach heaven while they would transgress their own oaths and commit sins after all (51). “haeltest du aber den Tauffbund nicht / so ist deine Tauffe schon eine Untauffe worden” (36; if you do not abide by the baptismal covenant, then your baptism has already turned into a non-baptism).
In reference to the parable of the vineyard, he comments: “Tuerken / Juden und Heiden bekennen sich nicht darzu [baptismal covenant] / und doch viel unter ihnen suchen den Herrn / daß sie ihn fuehlen und finden” (36; Turks, Jews, and heathen do not profess to this covenant, but many among them are searching for the Lord so that they can feel and find Him). Consequently, many more non-Christians might enter heaven than Christians (36–37).
After all, as we hear later, the Holy Spirit can reveal itself also among the wise heathens “im Licht der Natur” (67, p. 51; in the light of nature). It would be erroneous to assume that Christian teachings would be conveyed only through sermons; it can also enter every person’s heart “durch sein innerlich Zeugnus” (p. 51; through its inner witness) and teach, remind, urge, and motivate him to do what is good and pleasing to God (p. 51). Conscience, thereby, emerges as the universal force by which everyone can find his/her way to God, whereas Christian preaching would not be always necessary (p. 52). The counterargument consists in the opinion that only those could become blessed who exist within the external church, that is, the official institution (68). The author insists, however, on the preeminence of Christ’s mercy, which alone would help the individual to achieve the status of blessedness (69). The religious law would not make the difference, but Christ’s grace (p. 53).
The author identifies the heathen as God’s “Natur=Kinder[ ]” (p. 54; natural children), especially if they do not resist the knocking at their doors. Just as much as children cannot fully understand the rational explanations of this world, and yet know exactly who their mother is, so the heathens are to be identified as ‘underage’ individuals who have not yet been able to learn the articles of faith constitutive of Christianity and still have found God’s Spirit in themselves in a “Natur=Liecht” (p. 61; natural light), which would actually elevate them above ordinary Christians who rely entirely on laws and rituals to satisfy their religious demands.
Christian teachings or sermons would not be required when the “Geist der Warheit” (p. 62; spirit of truth) fills the heart. What matters would be to feel the divine justice and to believe in the divine grace, even if the individual would not know anything about the Holy Trinity (p. 62). The central issue reappears here again, resting on the “innern Menschen” (p. 62; inner person). Hence, even though Aristotle and others did not comprehend the Christian faith, Christ’s light has illuminated every person who enters this world (p. 63), and since the “Geist der Warheit” (p. 64; spirit of truth) overcomes the flesh, that is, the material existence, every heathen would also be capable of grasping the Christian teaching, but from the inside.
In fact, as he emphasizes, many heathens would be considerably closer to the Holy Spirit than many foolish Christians who project their understanding of God onto silly images and sculptures, confusing the spiritual with the material dimension (pp. 64–5). Most impressively, as the author opines, the philosopher Plato already understood the mysterium of the Holy Trinity although he was entirely a heathen (81). The Greek philosophers in general can be credited, as the author underscores, with having superseded the modern Christians through their insights, spirituality, and intellect, since it had all brought the individual closer to God than most Christian teachings (83, p. 67).
From here on, the author summarizes some general points, voices his criticism of the papacy, which he equates with Islam as an equal enemy, and warns about the true dangers for any Christian, that is, the temptations by Phariseeism (absolutely doctrinal observation of the law in disregard of the spirit) and Sadduceism (atheism) (88). He also reflects on the huge discrepancy between the small number of Christians in Europe and the huge number of non-Christians all over the world, and warns his audience to continue with their prejudice against Jews and Muslims. There would be many among those who understand the working of the Holy Spirit and should be treated with love, especially because many would demonstrate much higher ethical ideals and behavior in contrast to the crudeness and lasciviousness as displayed by many Christians.
The argument put forth here could have been formulated even today: “wie sich die gefangene Tuerckische Weibs=Bilder / an denen man kaum das Angesicht und die Haende sehen koennen / an der Christinen Leibs=Bloesung und Reitzungen zur Unzucht geaergert / und ihren Aberwillen mit Worten und Geberden bezeuget haben” (93, p. 76; the imprisoned Turkish women, whose bodies are entirely veiled except for the face and the hands, have taken objection to the Christian women’s bodily exposure through which they are inciting immoral behavior. They have demonstrated their disagreement with all that through words and gestures). Similarly, the tendency by Christians to get drunk meets the Muslims’ strong criticism, which serves God to warn the Christians to abstain from this vice (p. 76).
Moreover, the author warns about the strong disagreement between the Lutherans and the Reformists (77), which reminds us again of Franck’
s significant poem, “Von vier zwiträchtigen Kirchen,” in which all formal churches are condemned in favor of a purely spiritual approach to God. It would be wrong, however, as the author opines, to condemn all heathens in Asia, Africa, and America simply because they have not accepted the Gospels (pp. 78–9). If they allow Christ’s spirit to enter their heart, they would be blessed after all, and perhaps even more so than Christians who live only according to external, material rules. After all, as the author emphasizes, Christ has granted atonement not only for His own faithful, but also for the entire world (95, p. 81). God has selected His own people, but not to the exclusion of everyone else, since all other people will later join the heavenly kingdom as well (“gemeine Unterthanen int seinem Geistlichen und dermaleins triumphierenden Gnaden Reich seyn sollten” [83; ordinary citizens in His spiritual and ultimately triumphant King of Grace]).
Altogether then, here we recognize a noteworthy continuation of the concepts developed by Franck, insofar as the true faith is freed from any religious organization and traced in the spirit alone. This then makes it possible for the Christian author to embrace all other people here on earth as well, as long as they do not deliberately object to the divine rules and teachings.
Let us return from here to Franck’s own writing. He actually demanded the dissolution of all churches and related institutions because, embracing tolerance in a surprisingly strong fashion already at that time, only the human being could judge his/her relationship with the numinosum.48 We recognize here the direct influence of Tauler and his Theologia Deutsch on Franck’s thinking, and yet Franck was not a mystic himself and only accepted some of the mystical concepts for his own teachings. He demanded, however, a clearly rational approach to the Godhead and the reliance on logical evidence.49
The purpose here cannot be to trace Franck’s complex and highly individualistic theological understanding altogether in his various writings. He was, after all, an independent thinker who created much controversy and yet also reached large audiences over the centuries. The main interest here focuses on how Franck laid the foundation for a tolerant approach to all spirituality and was explicitly opposed to clerical institutions, emphasizing, instead, the need to establish a personal connection between the individual and the divine.50 Little wonder that he ran into so much enmity everywhere because he represented a free spirit strongly opposed to orthodoxy and dogma and critically warned about granting too much authority to the written word.
In the prologue to his Diallage from 1528, Franck formulated a number of significant thoughts regarding the way of how to establish the true faith, independent from the church authorities and the Holy Scriptures.51 Not even being concerned with the Catholic Church, Franck raised the scepter that the Bible was too easily abused by too many people who relied on it as an absolute testimony of God’s will: “Dann die heylig schrifft zuo vnsern zeyten von vilen gewalt leydet” (5; The Holy Scripture suffers violence from many sides at our time). Anybody could draw on the biblical word and abuse it: “auff manchen seltzamen kopff gedent / deuet vnd zogen / schier mer dann in dem Bapstumb” (5; it is stretched onto many strange head, interpreted, and pulled, even worse than under the papacy).52 He warns that the Bible has become a free-for-all, like a Proteus, a book out of wax that can be used as the individual user preferred. As the subtitle of Althamer’s book indicates, he intended to bring to light the many contradictions in the Bible, very much in the tradition as it had been initiated already by Peter Abelard and others.
Already here in the prologue to the translation, Franck insists on the need to differentiate between a learned and a spiritual approach to the holy text. Those who would do nothing but to study the Bible from a scholastic point of view would miss badly the divine message. So, he is pleading with God “das wir nit allein gelert / sonder auch Gotselig werden” (7; that we become not only learned, but also blessed in God). Franck criticizes many of his contemporaries for their cantankerous and hypocritical approach in theological issues: “Dann zuo vnsern zeyten fast yederman nur kunst vnd fürwitz in der schrifft suocht / wie man etwas seltzams herfür bring” (7; In our times almost everyone is looking only for art and wit in the Scriptures, which would allow to present something unusual). The true task would be to anchor God in one’s heart instead of chatting and bragging out aloud about one’s Christian faith (7).
God could be found not in words, but in deeds; and those hypocrites who would be guilty of this misunderstand he is calling “wortheyligen vnd maul Christen” (7; wordy saints and mouth-Christians), in contrast to the “werckheyligen” (7; saints in deeds). Those who would arrogantly claim to be good Christians ought to demonstrate this not with words, but with deeds. Formulating rather biting criticism against many of the new Protestants, Franck postulates:
Wo nun die werck nit volgen / so ist es ein gewiß zeychen / das kein wort / kein glaub / kein geyst / vorhanden ist / bist auch kein Christ / sonder noch Mosis juenger / vnd vnter dem gesetz.
(7)
[When the deeds do not follow the words, then this will be a good sign that there is no word, no gaith, no spirit. You are then not a Christ, but a disciple of Moses and a follower of the law.]
In other words, Franck demands from his readers to pursue the true faith and to integrate it into their hearts. This also implies here a rejection of the Jewish faith, but for him, the issue here pertains to the conflict between external and internal Christians, between those who only proclaim their faith by dint of words and those who shine forth in their faith, even without words (8). In this context, he also resorts to the metaphor of the book for people into which God Himself has written the words (9). Hence, the challenge, as he insists, is that we leave our sinfulness behind and strive for good Christian values (9). It is the faith alone, as he insists, which ultimately makes the difference, so the true Christians would first of all pursue Christ Himself (10), instead of any Scriptures. In short, Franck supports a religious concept according to which the soul alone is the decisive factor and not the adherence to a specific faith or church (11).
Only at the conclusion does he return to his initial concern, warning once again about the danger of too many individuals claiming to have the full understanding of the biblical text all by themselves, whereas they really distort it completely and translate it into “rotwelsch” (18; a thief’s argot). He is particularly concerned about the many diverse allegorical readings suddenly offered by the various Spiritualists, who transform the Holy Bible into their own text and thereby destroy its true message: “das du die schrifft anders verstehest dann sie klingt vnd laut / vnd woellest den Herrn leren reden” (18; do not understand the Scripture differently than what it says and do not pretend that you could teach the Lord).
At the same time, Franck clearly distances himself from the Jews because the divine message and messenger, that is, the Messiah, has already arrived, so there is no need for waiting any longer (19). The prologue does not necessarily serve as a manifesto of an early form of tolerance, since it clearly speaks to the Christian audience and strengthens the Christian values, disregarding explicitly the Jews. However, already here we notice how much Franck sets the tone against the many different sectarians and Spiritualists and insists on the one and only message contained in the Bible, irrespective of how that can be retrieved. He emphasizes exclusively the power of the Holy Spirit: “Dann den syn Gottes ways nymant / dann der geist Gottes / vnd wem es der selb will eroeffnen” (19; No one knows the meaning of God except for the spirit of God and those to whom he has revealed it).
For him, the cacophony of voices, who all suddenly claim to understand God better than the traditional church and all their own contemporaries, reveals nothing but a thorough lack of understanding. Instead of being a “maulbett” (20; mouth bed), that is, a chatter mouth, the true Christian ought to think only of God and be dedicated to Him without being overly concerned with the true interpretation of the Scripture: “Also ist die schrifft yr selbs maister / ausleger / darumb hat Gott nicht vergessen no
ch gespart / das eynem frumen trewen schulamister zustet” (20; Hence, Scripture is its own master interpreter, so God has neither forgotten anything nor left out too much, as it is fitting for a true schoolmaster). Of course, Franck does not explain how he then would proceed in gaining a full understanding of the biblical word and simply assumes that the truth would come from the text by itself, automatically. But at that point, he expressed his great discomfort with the many different sectarians and warned against relying too much on the Scripture in order to find God, which could lead only to different interpretations, conflicts, strife, disagreement, and ultimately to the ignorance of the true meaning of the word.
Without going into many further details, similar comments can be found in Franck’s Vonn dem grewlichen laster der trunckenheit (1531), insofar as here the author warns his audience that excessive drunkenness could lead to much silly talk, evil fighting, debates, strife, and conflict: “Laßt euch nyemant werfueren mit vergeblichen worten” (396; let no one ever seduce you with vain words).53 In anticipation of his later significant interest in creating proverbs, he formulates: “Den esel kennt man bey den oren / vnd bey den worten den thorn. Die wort seind des hertzen tolmetsch / vnd verraten ein yeden wer er sey” (396; You recognize the ass by its ears, and the fool by his words. The words are the translator of the heart and reveal to everyone who they are). Evil chatter destroys, as he underscores, good customs and habits (397).
When excess in eating and drinking become commonplace, people are in danger of losing their true faith and forgetting about God (399): “Vnd da er fayßt vnd satt wurde / da ward er gayl / ließ den Gott der jn gemacht het / faren / jaget fremden goettern nach” (399: And when he became fat and full, he became gay, forgot about God his creator and followed other gods). Drunkards, hence, do not have the true God in their heart and easily enter into many different conflicts with their neighbors (400). Here, Franck actually includes a reference to the historical context, warning about the many military conflicts that had raged over religious issues:
Toleration and Tolerance in Medieval European Literature Page 39