Thursday, May 12, 2022

Rodney L. Petersen on Thomas Müntzer (c. 1490-1525) and "The Spirit of Elijah"

  

The Spirit of Elijah

 

When Thomas Müntzer (c. 1490-1525) wrote to Nikolaus Hausmann in the summer of 1521, clarifying what it means for him to come in the spirit of Elijah, he was describing the nature of his reforming vision by drawing upon a fiery tradition of prophetic invective:

 

Believed, the justice of God’s mandates in which I have earnestly directed my steps, according to his declaration, has instructed me that it teaches the modesty of the spirit, not of the flesh; this should be clear to all the elect people of God in the candlestick of truth; this is also not opposed to that most modern servant, the prophet Elijah when he slew one thousand prophets of Baal (except 150 priests) For he was most modest precisely at the time when to carnal people he appeared to be in raging fury.

 

Müntzer saw himself coming in the spirit of Elijah, not in a general sense, but increasingly with the consciousness of being placed in a unique situation in order to fulfill a prophetic role. That mission was the cleansing of Christendom of false belief and easy Christianity in a historical period marked by impending cataclysmic events. As was said of Elijah of old, “you troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17), so it was said of Münzter. . . . The person of Elijah was not the only prophetic model appealed to by Müntzer. Rather, following an initial period of Zwickau as an erstwhile ally of Martin Luther, Müntzer used a variety of prophetic models to define his ministry. These are, for example, the new Jeremiah in the “Prague Manifesto” inveighing against false religion, the new Daniel in his “Sermon Before the Princes” offering spiritual direction to the princes of Saxony, the new Baptist of the “Special Exposé” working in the spirit of Elijah, and finally as Elijah in his “Defense,” opening the way to a new apostolic chiliastic church. (Rodney L. Petersen, Preaching in the Last Days: The Theme of ‘Two Witnesses’ in the 16th and 17th Centuries [New York: Oxford University Press, 1993], 60-61)

 

In On Jeremiah, at least three things stand out: a coming time of suffering; a pressing apocalyptic horizon that offers a new order of existence following that suffering; and a special place for new spiritual prophets. All of these items appear in some form in this letter. The time of suffering is now. The apocalyptic horizon is evident in the marginal references at the end of the first paragraph (Isa. 54 and Jer. 31). A definite seven-year deadlines appears to have been preached in Wittenberg in 1521-1522 by the “Zwickau Prophets.” Even the emphasis upon new spiritual prophets is here, though not specifically, perhaps for reasons of humility or even self-preservation. Müntzer does imply his genuine faith as opposed to the false faith of others, his having been tested while others are untested and, by implication, unfit for ministry. He has been taught by God while the teaching of others is suspect. (Ibid., 64)

 

Blog Archive