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Luther on Dionysius
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AbstractIn his early writings Martin Luther shows some appreciation for the Mystical Theology of Dionysius, setting his desire for the personal knowledge of God against the arid quibbling of the scholastics; at the same time, he is always suspicious of any reliance on mystical knowledge at the expense of faith. His critique of Dionysius grows sharper in The Babylonish Captivity of the Church because the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy was being invoked by authors such as Johannes Eck to justify papal authority. The doubts of authenticity which were being raised by Valla and other Humanists reinfored Luther’s conviction that Dionysius was often an anomaly among the Church Fathers and more a Platonist than a Christian. Fanciful appeals to the Song of Songs by Eck and others, together with antinomian misuse of the Mystical Theology strengthened his opposition, but there was never a time when he read Dionysius without reservations.
Title: Luther on Dionysius
Description:
AbstractIn his early writings Martin Luther shows some appreciation for the Mystical Theology of Dionysius, setting his desire for the personal knowledge of God against the arid quibbling of the scholastics; at the same time, he is always suspicious of any reliance on mystical knowledge at the expense of faith.
His critique of Dionysius grows sharper in The Babylonish Captivity of the Church because the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy was being invoked by authors such as Johannes Eck to justify papal authority.
The doubts of authenticity which were being raised by Valla and other Humanists reinfored Luther’s conviction that Dionysius was often an anomaly among the Church Fathers and more a Platonist than a Christian.
Fanciful appeals to the Song of Songs by Eck and others, together with antinomian misuse of the Mystical Theology strengthened his opposition, but there was never a time when he read Dionysius without reservations.
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