GERMANIC THEOLOGY. – Title (Theologia Teutsch or Deutsch) of an ascetic-mystical writing composed around 1400, whose anonymous author was a priest and guardian («custos») of the house of the Teutonic Order in Frankfurt am Main.
The work was first edited by the man himself in 1516, then a second time in 1518, though the text differed. The writing enjoyed wide circulation and was translated into several languages. In 1850 another manuscript from 1497 was discovered, which is probably quite close to the original no longer extant; it was published by Franz Pfeiffer (1851, 4th ed. 1900) and by W. Uhl under the title Der Frankforter (1912).
In simple language, in 54 chapters, the T. G. directs its readers to the pursuit of Christian perfection, whose supreme end is union with God, through which man is deified. Mystical experiences are mentioned here and there with a certain reticence. The work lacks full overall coherence of thought, and at times contains contradictions and inconsistencies. Some detached propositions seem to deny any independence to created being and action. Yet on the whole, self-denial, renunciation of the ego, humble obedience to the commandments of God and the Church are strongly emphasized. The movement of the Brothers of the Free Spirit is sharply attacked. The human nature of Christ is presented as exemplary in its union with the Godhead, with divine knowledge and operation. The T. G. is entirely foreign to the Lutheran conception of Christianity. Yet, beginning with Luther, it was often distorted in Protestant circles and especially favored by the Pietists (S. Franck [1499–1543], who made a Latin paraphrase of it; Ph. J. Spener; J. Arndt). Calvin, on the other hand, rejected the T. G. The Latin translation by the humanist S. Castellio (1515–63) was placed on the Index in 1612. Various Catholics have wrongly seen in the T. G. a pantheistic spirit opposed to the Church. Significant indications reveal affinities with Dominican spirituality and mysticism. The T. G. may be described as a concise synthesis of German medieval mysticism.
Of a different nature is the T. G. by Berthold Pürstinger (1465–1543), bishop of Chiemsee from 1508 to 1526; his Teutsche Theology (Munich 1528; reprint by W. Reithmeier 1852), which he reworked in Latin (Augsburg 1531), is the first treatise of dogmatic theology in German, based on Sacred Scripture and St. Thomas Aquinas, and is of great linguistic and doctrinal importance.