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)