Gudrun Litz, Heidrun Munzert, Roland Liebenberg, eds. FrÖ¶mmigkeit-Theologie-FrÖ¶mmigkeitstheologie: Contributions to European Church History--Festschrift fÖ¼r Berndt Hamm zum 60. Geburtstag. Leiden: Brill, 2005. xxiv + 828 pp. $322.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-90-04-14335-7.
Reviewed by R. Emmet McLaughlin (Department of History, Villanova University)
Published on H-German (December, 2006)
A Cloud of Witnesses
This massive collection reflects well the breadth of Berndt Hamm's interests and publications, stretching from the early Middle Ages to postwar Germany. The volume is unusual in a number of respects. Although the contributions vary in length and depth, the quality is uniformly high. Many of the pieces actually draw upon or respond to Hamm's work on the theology of piety and some apply Hamm's conception of "normative centering" in their discussion of various topics. On occasion articles address the same issues but in different time periods, for example, the eschatological role of the Jews as a source of more favorable valuations of the Jews in German-speaking lands in both the early seventeenth century and post-World War II. Not surprisingly, some of the pieces contradict each other or provided evidence for opposing interpretations. For example, Marcel Nieden's attempt, by providing evidence of an early modern pastor's sustained criticism of the state, to deny that Luther's "two kingdoms" theology and political conservatism played a role in the failure of the Lutheran Church to resist Nazism is badly undermined by Axel Töllner's analysis of the Lutheran Church's institutional and theological stance vis-à-vis the Third Reich. Leading Luther scholars Werner Elert and Paul Althaus drew directly upon Luther's teachings to formulate practices that conceded the secular realm to the Nazis. These practices preserved, in principle, the autonomy of the church, even though the church often aligned its policies with those of the Nazi state.
The volume's usefulness is greatly enhanced by indices of places and persons, which should be included in all such publications. The festschrift as a genre always poses problems for the reviewer, since despite some overlap in topics or approach, the contributions are usually too heterogeneous to allow for generalizations, a problem that clearly applies in this case. It is nonetheless worthwhile to consider the fifty-two individual contributions at least briefly with capsule descriptions, so that readers can identify those which merit further investigation.
The first section of the book includes articles on the medieval period, in response to Hamm's work on late medieval theology of piety and his coining of the term Frömmigkeitstheologie. Arnold Angenendt, in "Stiftung und Fürbitte," discusses the significance and implications of early medieval acceptance of repeatable private confession for the economic underpinnings of monasticism, the establishment of monastic exemptions, the Crusades and the cultic shape of Catholicism. In the second piece, Jörg Ulrich argues that an early confession of faith given by Cathars at Lombers provides evidence of an early non-dualistic form of Catharism. Medieval interpretations of the biblical ban on idol worship are the focus of the third article, in which Thomas Lentes argues that differing understandings of what constituted the "sin" in idolatry lay at the root of clashes in the later Middle Ages and the Reformation.
In "Geographie des unendlichen: (Räumliche) Vorstellungen von Paradies und Infernum im Mittelalter," Julia Eva Wannenmacher discusses the history of western Christian views on the physical placement of Paradise and Hell from the patristic era to the twelfth century. Wannenmacher's essay is followed by Christoph Burger's article on division within the Catholic Church over the emphasis placed on free grace and the necessity of good works. Burger uses a late medieval sermon and response to the sermon to make claims about the state of the church during the period. Based upon evidence that papal interdicts against Ludwig the Bavarian were ignored by the city governments of Swabia in general and Esslingen in particular, Jörg Bauer argues in "Der Kampf Ludwigs des Bayern mit dem Papsttum: Die Nichtauswirkung des Interdikts auf die Reichsstadt Esslingen" that the interdicts were not the heavy burden upon ordinary Christians some have assumed.
Jürgen Miethke's "Frömmigkeit als politisches Argument im 14. Jahrhundert. Der 'Libellus de Zelo Christiane Rieligionis Veterum Principum Germanorum' des Lupold von Bebenburg" examines the way in which a late medieval German author argued for the political autonomy of German rulers from papal authority, by appealing to the nobility's traditional piety and support of the Church. In "Der gesegnete Leib. Die Schwangerschaft Mariens als Gegenstand der Devotion im Kontext einer somatischen Religiosität des ausgehenden Mittelalters," Anne Bezzel focuses on late medieval devotion to the pregnant Virgin Mary and argues that such devotion served to revalue the female body by referencing the incarnation. In the following article, "The Misery of Monks and the Laziness of the Laity: Overcoming the Sin of Acedia," J. Jeffery Tyler argues that the monastic "noonday devil" was transformed into the deadly sin of sloth for late medieval laity in order to urge them to grasp the always available mercy of God offered in the sacrament of confession.
Anne Bollmann examines late medieval biographical sketches of Sisters of the Common Life in her essay, "'Apostolinne van Gote gegeven'. Die schwestern vom Gemeinsamen Leben als geistliche Reformerinnen in der Devotio moderna." Bollmann argues that the sisters, who often taught and did charitable work, were not merely silent junior partners to the Brethren, but were actually quite active as proponents in the larger community of the new piety. Eva Schlotheuber reports, in "Die Wahl der Priorin," on a very rare detailed description of the election of a new prioress by Benedictine sisters, a source based on events in Lüne during 1504. Argo Vanderjagt examines the ways in which Dutch "biblical humanists" actually used Scripture to display their knowledge of the Hebrew in his essay, "Wessel Gansfort (1419-1489) and Rudolph Agricola (1443?-1485): Piety and Hebrew."
In order to demonstrate the possibility and usefulness of the exercise, Christine Magin and Falk Eisermann place selected anti-Jewish broadsides in their original historical context in the article, "'Ettwas zu saen von den iuden'. Themen und Formen antijüdischer Eindlattdrucke im späten 15. Jahrhuntert." Sabine Griese discusses an edition of a late medieval broadside that demonstrates the ways in which depictions in saints' lives came to possess a life separate from and in some instances in contrast to the original written context in her article, "Ein neuer Eligius. Die disparate Parallelität von Heiligenvita und Heiligenbild im 15. Jahrhundert." In "Die Heiligen des Arnold von Harff. Zum Umgang mit den Heiligen in einem spätmittelalterlichen Pilgerreisebericht," Volker Honemann describes a late medieval pilgrim's journal and pilgrimage guide that makes clear the centrality of the tombs of the saints and their mediating function for one late-fifteenth-century German nobleman. Werner Williams-Krapp, in "'Diser Mensch was ein Schneider'. Der Homobonus-kult im deutschsprachigen Raum," looks at an edition of a late medieval life of Saint Homobonus of Cremona and argues that his cult enjoyed great popularity among the urban middle classes because it reflected their own concerns.
Mysticism and religious objects are the focus of the remaining articles related to the medieval period. In the next essay, "'Gratiam habere desideras'. Die 'Mystische Kelter' im Kapitelsaal der Zisterzienserinnen von Sonnefeld," Heidrun Stein-Kecks analyses the depiction on the walls of a Cistercian nunnery of the mystical wine press in which Christ presses out his own blood, a topos meant to convey the mystical appropriation of grace as the fruit of the crucifixion. In the following article, "Zwei spenglersche Gedächtnistafeln. Notizen zum Stiftungswesen im vorreformatorischen Nürnberg," Gudrun Litz uses archival sources to describe two memorial tablets from the Spengler family. Sven Grosse provides a theological evaluation of mysticism's trajectory from Bernard of Clairvaux through Henry of Susa to Martin Luther in his article, "Wendepunkt der Mystik. Bernhard--Seuse--Luther." Grosse detects a dialectical tension between the possibilities of deification and the humble acceptance of God's otherness and human insufficiency.
The articles on the early modern period in the second section also examine a variety of topics and approaches, both in response to the continuing validity of the idea of Frömmigkeitstheologie and that of "normative centering" with which Hamm has been associated. Volker Leppin argues, in "Von der Polarität zur Vereindeutigung. Zu den Wandlungen in Kirche und Frömmigkeit zwischen spätem Mittelalter und Reformation," that the later Middle Ages were marked by polarities in piety, social life and institutions, which continued in the early modern period in the form of separate and competing churches. Wolfgang Simon treats three key theological differences between Karlstadt and Luther in his essay, "Karlstadt neben Luther. Ihre theologische Differenz im Kontext der 'Wittenberger Unruhen' 1521/22." Simon exposes both Karlstadt's autonomous intellectual development and his undeniable debt to Luther.
Based upon an edition of an early printed sermon by an anonymous Carmelite, Thomas Hohenberger discusses the fundamental Lutheran teachings on justification in "Gottes Wort zum 'Lesenhören'. Edition einer anonymen Predigtflugschrift aus dem Jahr 1522." Robert J. Bast, in "Constructing Protestant Identity: The Pastor As Prophet in Reformation Zürich," discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the use of the office of prophet by Zwingli and Bullinger as a model for the new Protestant clergy. In "Christoph Schappelers 'Reformation der Freiheit' als theoretische Begründung von Bürgerrechten," Peter Blickle argues that in its thoroughgoing opposition to serfdom Schappeler's extension of what Berndt Hamm has described as Zwingli's "Reformation of freedom" anticipated the notion of civil rights fueling revolutions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Matthieu Arnold, in "Ein Trostbrief Martin Bucers an einen Gefangenen. Beobachtungen anhand eines Vergleichs mit den Trostbriefen Luthers und Calvins," compares a letter of consolation from Martin Bucer that conforms to a Bucerian genre that is little studied, with the better-known correspondence of Luther and Calvin. Scott Hendrix examines Rhegius's doctrine of angels in his submission, "Angelic Piety in the Reformation: The Good and Bad Angels of Urbanus Rhegius." Hendrix argues that, for Rhegius, the good angels are offered to the laity in place of the saints, albeit with limited success, as protectors against the fallen variety, the devils. Alasdair Heron innovatively explores Calvin's correspondence to illuminate Calvin's Eucharistic teaching and his evaluation of Luther's role in ongoing controversies of the time, in "'Wenn Luther uns mit unserem Bekenntnis annehmen will'. Luther und die Abendmahlsfrage in den Briefen Calvins bis 1546."
In "Faith and Politics in the Urban Reformation: Claus Kniebis (1479-1552) of Strasbourg and 'die gute alte frundschafft' with the Swiss," Thomas A. Brady, Jr. examines the decision by a leading Strasbourg politician, and early proponent of the Reformation to allow political concerns to trump religious stringency when confronted by the continuing threat to urban interests and independence posed by the Protestant princes. Emidio Campi discusses the theological creativity and independence of Heinrich Bullinger in "Heinrich Bullinger als Theologe." Bullinger has been neglected or marginalized despite his admitted importance for reformed Protestantism in the decades following the death of Zwingli. Franciscan Johann Wild, the most published Catholic sermon author in sixteenth-century Germany, is the focus of John M. Frymire's work, "'Der rechte Anfang zur volkommenen Reformation der Kirchen'. Johann Wild und die katholische Predigt im Anschluss an das Augsburger Interim." Frymire examines the role played by Wild in the revival of Catholic preaching in the wake of the Augsburg interim.
Susan R. Boettcher argues that Cyriakus Spangenberg, despite the generally accepted perception of Protestant preachers, evinced a concern for the daily fears, temptations and problems of his congregation in her article "The Rhetoric of 'Seelsorge' for Miners in the Sermons of Cyriakus Spangenberg." Spangenberg did not, therefore, limit himself to proclaiming a transcendent Gospel that ignored the concrete setting of the congregation. In "Die französischen Generalstände im 16. Jahrhundert und die religiöse 'Propagandamaschine'," Martin Gosman provides a brief account of the development of popular propaganda and the fostering of a form of public opinion centered on the episodic meetings of the Estates General primarily in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Martin Schieber provides a short history of the Reformation in a small territory near Nuremberg ruled by a consortium of imperial knights, in "'Auf das sie also die milch Gottes worts mit nutz und freuden mugen drincken'. Die Ganerbschaft Rothenberg als lutherisches Territorium 1529-1629."
Several of the chapters in this section also deal with topics related to witchcraft and superstition, later aspects of early modern society's search for a normative center. Heidrun Munzert, in "'Ich klage die rechten Zauberer hefftig an'. Anton Prätorius' Kampf gegen Zauberei," analyzes the way in which Prätorius undermined prosecution of witches by casting doubt on their existence and by redirecting attention to sorcerers, by which he meant anyone who disobeyed or opposed the will of God. In "'Nicht nur eine Vermutung ...' Der Topos der endzeitlichen Judenbekehrung dei Christoph Besold (1577-1638)," Hans-Martin Kirn evaluates the role played by the idea of an apocalyptic conversion of all Jews in the thought of an early Rosicrucian author as an argument for harmony among Christians and toleration for Jews. Sigrun Haude discusses the impact of the Thirty Years' War on religiosity in "Religion während des Dreissigjährigen Krieges (1618-1648)." Haude focuses on the mutual lack of comprehension on the part of both the rulers, who were intent upon reestablishing true religion as a way to avert God's wrath, and the rulers' desperate and despairing subjects who felt compelled in the interests of mere survival to call upon all available religious and "superstitious" means. Susanne Kleinöder-Strobel presents evidence concerning a late wave of witchcraft trials by a forward-looking "improving" prince who received little support and perhaps passive resistance from local pastors in "Eine neue Welle von Hexenverfolgungen im Markgrafentum Kulmbach/Bayreuth nach dem Dreissigjährigen Krieg." Rudolf Suntrup, in "Frömmigkeit im Dienste der Gegenreformation. Die Begründung der Telgter Wallfahrt durch Christoph Bernhard von Galen," applies to the Telgter Marian pilgrimage Werner Freitag's model of "pious elites" and rulers co-opting local popular cults in order to transform them into instruments of centralized authority and orthodox piety.
Wolfgang Sommer discusses the life and writings of the court preacher and influential sermon author Martin Geier in order to analyze the piety at the court of Dresden in the period between Arndt and Spener in "Frömmigkeit am Dresdner Hof zur Zeit der lutherischen Orthodoxie." Marcel Nieden argues against accepting a relationship between early modern Lutheran ecclesio-political teachings and the failure to resist Nazism by twentieth-century Lutherans in "Heiliger Zorn. Eine Fallstudie Obrigkeitskritik im frühneuzeitlichen Luthertum." Nieden bases his argument on the criticism and verbal attacks on princely government by the combative Lutheran pastor Anton Knoll. Hubertus Lutterbach argues, in "Christuskind-mystik und Weltgestaltung," that the tradition of Christ Child mysticism, particularly as exemplified in the work of Margaretha von Beaune, helped lay the basis for the "discovery of the child" and modern notions of childhood.
Gerhard Philipp Wolf, the author of "Frömmigkeit und kirchliches Leben im Schatten der Reichsstadt Nürnberg" argues for the effective imposition of uniformity of practice and belief on the clergy of Velden by Nuremberg. Wolf supports Frank Fätkenhäuser's conclusion that the evidence available to us for piety reflects elite perceptions and can not necessarily be used to evaluate popular belief or religious behavior. Frömmigkeit is also the subject of Hans-Christoph Rublack's essay, "Frömmigkeit in Büchendach. Ein Dorf und seine Pfarrer vom 16. bis 18. Jahrhundert," which plots the trajectory of village piety in Lutheran Büchendach from one limited to public forms of worship in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to a growing disinterest in the eighteenth century. According to Rublack little sign of a pietistic interiorization is evident at any stage. Finally, in "Johann Jacob Rape und seine deutsche Mischnaübersetzung," Barbara Eberhardt provides a short biography of the early career of the eighteenth-century Ansbach pastor who translated the Mishnah and, probably, the entire Talmud into German, undertakings encouraged and praised by Moses Mendelssohn.
The final sections of the book focus upon various topics related to the modern period. Here readers can see the ways in which Hamm's approaches have influenced work not directly related in subject material to his own concerns. Martin H. Jung and Horst Weigelt's submissions both deal with different aspects of the religious awakening movement. In "Anna Schlatters Deutschlandreise 1821. Bobachtungen und Erlebnisse einer erweckten Schweizerin im Wuppertal und in Württemberg," Jung reconstructs and analyzes the journey to Germany in 1821 of a Swiss participant in the movement of religious awakening that shows interconnections between various progressive religious movements in southern Germany and Switzerland. Much recent scholarship has investigated Wilhelm Löhe's ties to the movements of religious awakening in the early nineteenth century. Weigelt's article, "Löhe und die Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine," adds new insights to this discussion by evaluating Löhe's early attraction and progressive disenchantment with the Herrnhuter Brotherhood, a relationship that has been overlooked.
Moving into a more recent section of modernity, Reinhold Friedrich analyzes the role of the unofficial Münchner Agende in moving the Bavarian Protestant churches from Enlightenment to Lutheran confessionalism in "Die 'Münchner Agende' vom Jahr 1836 innerhalb der offiziellen Agendenentwickleung in Bayern im 19. Jahrhundert." The movement was significant in its enjoyment of support and encouragement from the Catholic ruler of Bavaria. Martin Ohst's "Kriegserfahrung und Gottesglaube. Zu den 'Schopfheimer Predigten' (1917) von Emanuel Hirsch" examines the recently edited wartime sermons of Emanuel Hirsch. Ohst discusses Hirsch's German nationalism, his reactions to the shortages and sufferings and his appropriation of Karl Holl's interpretation of Luther's theology, which argued that negative experience is an essential part of the Christian life.
Reflecting Hamm's work on the Erlangen theologians, several of the essays also deal with the relationship of the church and its members to National Socialism and its policies. Axel Töllner, in "'Nicht auf dem Monde, sondern im Dritten Reich'. Bemerkungen zur Wirkungsgeschichte des Erlanger 'Arierparagraf'-Gutachtens in der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche in Bayern," provides a commentary on the significance of the opinions of the Erlangen theologians Paul Althaus and Werner Elert concerning whether and to what extent the Bavarian Lutheran church should adopt rules excluding non-Aryans from church office. Björn Mensing discusses the works of a Lutheran minister in Nazi Germany whose critics of the National Socialist resulted in his imprisonment at Dachau, in "' ... Nicht nur ein priesterliches, sondern auch ein prophetisches Amt'. Von der fränkischen Kanzel ins KZ Dachau--Das 'Vergessene' Zeugnis von Pfarrer Wolfgang Niederstrasser." Despite his imprisonment at Dachau, he claimed individual absolution from the general failure of the church to oppose National Socialism.
Only two of the chapters deal with topics related to the post-1945 period. In the article "Rudi Dutschke: Radikal Fromm," Angela Hager argues that 1960s radical Rudi Dutschke, even though he labeled the Church a regressive institution that nonetheless harbored some great men, did in fact remain a Christian based on his identification of primitive Christianity as progressive. In the final chapter, "Der Staat Israel in der pietistisch-evangelikalean Endzeitfrömmigkeit nach 1945," Gerhard Gronauer analyses forty-two post-1945 "evangelical" publications in German-speaking lands. Gronauer finds that the establishment of the state of Israel was widely seen as an important marker of the end of time, and that as a result the authors strongly supported the Jewish state in its conflicts with the Arab world and others.
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Citation:
R. Emmet McLaughlin. Review of Litz, Gudrun; Munzert, Heidrun; Liebenberg, Roland, eds., FrÖ¶mmigkeit-Theologie-FrÖ¶mmigkeitstheologie: Contributions to European Church History--Festschrift fÖ¼r Berndt Hamm zum 60. Geburtstag.
H-German, H-Net Reviews.
December, 2006.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12649
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