Reformation, Renaissance and Hermeticism: Contexts and Interfaces of the Early Reformation Movement

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article contextualizes three theological currents that emerged on the eve of the Reformation and traces their interdependence: first, Luther's anti-Pelagian Augustinianism and the sola scriptura principle; second, the Florentine project of linking Hermeticism and the Christian Cabbala, exemplified in the works of Ficino and Pico della Mirandola. Attempting to link a new concept of magic with prisca theologia, both sought to harmonize contemporary forms of worship using Hermetic sources to advance the notion of common Christian origins and an optimistic anthropology alien to Luther's soteriology. The third current relates to magic, as delineated in Heinrich Kramer's Malleus maleficarum. Directed against Florentine Hermeticism, the book's Augustinian imprint, demonology, and view of witches bore significant parallels to Luther's theology. This aspect remains largely unexamined. Developing the premise that sixteenth-century Wittenberg was receptive to Florentine ideas, this article shows that Luther's early Christocentrism must arguably be seen as an alternative to those of others.