Redaktion und Memoria. Die Lutherbilder der "Tischreden." by Ingo Klitzsch

Abstract

Reviewed by: Redaktion und Memoria. Die Lutherbilder der "Tischreden." by Ingo Klitzsch Robert Kolb Redaktion und Memoria. Die Lutherbilder der "Tischreden." By Ingo Klitzsch. Spätmittelalter, Humanismus, Reformation volume 114. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020. xii + 635 pp. This massive and meticulous study of the ways in which collections of the reports of what Luther said "at table" were constructed is a significant, impressive, and painstaking investigation of the three extant topically organized compendia of Luther's "Table Talks," two in manuscript, one in print. The printed collection of Johann Aurifaber, Luther's last amanuensis, who was deeply engaged in the controversies over his legacy after his death, enjoyed many years as a source of edification and [End Page 239] information, despite some initial criticism, before falling under the scrutiny of modern scholarly standards. As students of the Reformation sought historically accurate reports of the man and his times, some demonstrated in recent years that the alterations Aurifaber made in what Luther actually said undermined in large measure their reliability as accurate sources. Klitzsch demonstrates that Aurifaber and the collectors of the other two topically arranged collections, manuscripts compiled by a circle around Hieronymus Weller in Saxon Freiberg and another circle around Anton Lauterbach in Pirna, had other purposes in mind. The historical precision demanded today was less important than the tasks of—in German theoretical terminology in current use—"monumentalization" of the legacy of Luther's teaching and the "heroization" of his person. Klitzsch places what were called "Tischreden" [table talks] in the sixteenth century in the ancient tradition of gathering the apophthegmata—short, pithy statements, axioms, maxims—of famous people into collections, the Colloquies of Erasmus (1518) being a prime example. Klitzsch argues that "table talks" is a misnomer for the apophthegms Luther uttered. He assesses the Tischreden tradition in the context of current studies of the cultural aspects of cultivating the memory of a famous person. On the basis of detailed analyses and comparisons of the structure of the topics and the wording of the individual apophthegms in the texts assembled by the circles around Weller and Lauterbach in the 1550s, Klitzsch demonstrates that the positions taken by Weller, tutor to Luther's children and then a sort of director of continuing education in his native Freiberg, and by Lauterbach, Luther's student and superintendent of the church in Pirna, in the controversies of the 1550s influenced their conception of their task and the goal of their editing recollections of the reformer. Although Weller did not engage in the public debates of the 1550s, he supported the Gnesio-Lutheran critics of electoral Saxon policies. One indication of this is his critical attitude toward Melanchthon, exhibited in the selection of apophthegms relating to him. Lauterbach also did not enter into the fray over the interpretation of Luther's legacy, but he was a part of the [End Page 240] electoral Saxon ecclesiastical establishment. Nonetheless, Klitzsch warns against overemphasizing the party differences as a factor in shaping the way in which each circle fashioned its collection. The chief image advanced by the Weller circle focused on Luther as the exceptional teacher of biblical doctrine, rather than viewing him as prophet or third Elijah. Lauterbach's circle, including his archdeacon, Josef Hänel, aimed to provide guidance for pastors in their exercise of office, especially in the cultivation of the moral life of the congregation, with an accent on the historical account of Luther's contribution as a model for a new generation as well. However, both circles praise Luther's person while conveying his teaching. Despite his personal devotion to Luther's person, Aurifaber dedicated his later life to publishing his mentor's teaching, in his correspondence and in works not printed in the two major editions (Wittenberg and Jena) of Luther's Works. Aurifaber shaped his collection of apophthegms around the principle of continuing the prophetic witness to faithful biblical teaching that Luther had set down. He presented Luther as God's prophet in order to lead readers to see that Aurifaber himself was continuing Luther's prophetic mission. Aurifaber named several fellow Wittenberg students from whose personal notes he received gems from Luther's conversations, but he...