Donne's "The Flea" and Luther's Attack on Iconoclasm

John Donne Journal, 2016

Church History, 1985

This is not of course to deny that specific poems may be greatly illuminated by studying them in relation to the liturgy of specific feasts or seasons-as in Rosemond Tuve's fine study of Herbert's "The Sacrifice" with particular reference to the Improperia (Reproaches) of Good Friday, in A Reading of George Herbert (Chicago, 1952), pp. 19-99; or Helen Gardner's discussion of Donne's "La Corona" sonnets in relation to the Advent liturgy in her edition, John Donne: The Divine Poems (Oxford, 1952), pp. 57-59. Nor is it to deny some pervasive liturgical influence upon the structure and development of Herbert's The Temple. For a suggestive treatment of influences from the entire Christmastide liturgy upon the imagery and motifs of some poems and poetic sequences in Donne, Herbert,

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee history department, 2006

The analysis of Luther’s monk-calf pamphlet focuses on the impact of Augustinian theology in Luther’s interpretation of monstrosity, the body, and original sin. A literature review critiques the various approaches used to interpret monstrosity. A line-by-line analysis and commentary provide an in-depth investigation into Luther’s Augustinian problematics. The later medicalization of the monk-calf concludes the analysis.

“Erasmus laid the egg, Luther hatched it.” Already in the early Reformation this popular quip suggested a direct, causal link between humanism and the Protestant Reformation. Yet Luther’s precise debt to Erasmus has remained an elusive problem. This article reconsiders the issue by investigating how Luther read Erasmus’s scholarship, focusing on two remarkable, little-studied examples: Erasmus’s edition of Jerome and his Annotations to the New Testament. Luther’s annotated copies reveal a deep ambivalence toward the humanist and a distinctly uncharitable reading style. Although Luther diligently collected welcome information, he excoriated what he regarded as Erasmus’s desacralizing philological perspective and his malicious use of humor. Luther’s perception of Erasmian humor in fact operated as an interpretative tool that enabled him to project his suspicions about Erasmus’s skepticism and unbelief into the text. Documenting Luther’s continued preoccupation with Erasmus, this article offers a reevaluation of Erasmus’s intellectual significance for Luther’s theological development.

Reformation and Renaissance Review, 2023

This essay addresses the vexed topic of Martin Luther's relationship to late medieval mysticism through a terminological approach focused on Luther's use of the word contemplation. The contribution that this article seeks to offer arises from the often-repeated observation that what is called mysticism today was called contemplation in the Middle Ages. To that end, this article seeks a clearer view of three things: 1) what Luther meant by contemplation, 2) whether his usage was continuous or discontinuous with medieval usage of the same term, and 3) the extent to which Luther's use of the term maps onto current scholarly discussions about "mysticism." Special attention is given to the first two, thereby laying the groundwork for further reflections by other scholars on the third.

Reviews in Religion and Theology, 2009

Radboud Studies in the Humanities, 2020

Martin Luther wrote his protest song Eyn newes lyed wyr heben an ('We start singing a new song'), when he first heard of the execution of the two Augustinian monks Hendrik Vos and Johannes van Esschen, who had been reluctant to abjure their evangelical faith, in Brussels in July 1523. In this song, he fiercely denounced the act and expressed his deep sorrow over the harsh repression of his adherents.1 It was both a critique and a remembrance aimed at moving people and encouraging them to resist the authorities. In the tenth stanza, inserted in most of the printed copies, the ashes of the executed are compared to the power of song to spread the new ideas despite oppression by the authorities: Die aschen will nicht lassen ab, sie steubt ynn allen landen, Hie hilfft kein bach, loch, grub noch grab, sie macht den feynd zu schanden. Die er ym leben durch den mord zu schweygen hat gedrungen, Die mus er tod an allem ort mit aller stym und zungen Gar frolich lassen singen.2 Execution creates martyrs, and even though they cannot speak anymore, their ashes penetrate everything, as does the song about them. Luther, master of influencing public opinion, must have deliberately chosen the medium of song to send out his message. He knew how accessible it was, how easily and quickly it would spread, how the content would have a direct emotional impact, and how the melody would stick in the mind. When Luther wrote this song, he clearly intended it to be pervasive geographically and emotionally, and so it

2011

Early in his career, Martin Luther twice published (1516 and 1518) prefaces for the anonymous German work, Eyn deutsch Theologia. In these prefaces, as well as in a number of letters, he repeatedly praised the work. His positive appraisal stemmed from his belief that the work replicated not only the foundational teachings of St. Paul, but was consonant with the Pauline interpretations of St. Augustine and Johannes Tauler. Young Luther found in these authors a consistent metaphor for Christian existence: dying and rising with Christ. This narrative enabled Christians to experience death and resurrection as a future hope, as well as a present existential reality within their lives. Young Luther believed that the varied narratives inherent in late medieval spirituality had placed Christ at the periphery of Christian spirituality rather than at its core. Consequently, he repeatedly sought to correct this misplacement and return Christ to the center of Christian life and piety. This dissertation examines this Pauline metaphor, the contemplative spirituality the young Luther built upon it, and the sixteenth-century reception of this spirituality. Chapter one introduces the project and offers a short survey of the literature on Luther's spirituality. Chapter two reviews contemplation in Scripture, then considers St. Paul's presentation of his metaphor. It also discusses how the contemplative writings of St. Augustine, Tauler, and the Frankfurter (the anonymous author of Eyn deutsch Theologia), made use of this Pauline metaphor. Chapters three and four consider Luther's creative employment of the Pauline narrative in five of his devotional works from 1519: Ein Sermon von der Betrachtung des heiligen Leidens Christi, Ein Sermon von der Bereitung zum Sterben, Ein Sermon von dem heiligen hochwürdigen Sakrament der Taufe, Ein Sermon vom Sakrament des Leichnams Christi und von den Brüderschaften, and Tessaradecas Consolatoria pro laborantibus et oneratis. In each case, Luther built upon existing devotional genres, yet altered their contents and/or form by importing the v Pauline metaphor. Chapter five inquires into the sixteenth-century reception of these five devotional works. Paying particular attention to interpretative clues left in correspondence, commentaries, marginal notes and illustrations by a number of publishers and translators, it demonstrates that these persons not only perceived of these writings as contemplative devotional exercises, but chose to market them explicitly as such. It would seem that Luther's "theology of the cross" expressed itself in a corresponding spirituality of "death and resurrection." Although this spirituality entailed a specific contemplative progression, it was adaptable to the life circumstances of any Christian. This universality contributed to the popularity of Luther's early spiritual writings. Young Luther's narrative imagery along with the publishers' additional illustrations helped to revise spiritual practices and reshape Christian piety throughout the sixteenth century. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER I. AN OUTLINE OF YOUNG LUTHER'S SPIRITUALITY vii Translators' Comments H. Peetersen van Middelburch's Certeine prayers and godly meditacyons very nedefull for euery Christen Robert Filles' A treatice conteining certain meditations of trew & perfect consolation… William Gace's A right comfortable treatise conteyning sundrye pointes of consolation… William Gace's Special and Chosen Sermons of D.