Abstract

THEOLOGIA DEUTSCH: BETWEEN MEISTER ECKHART AND LUTHER Piotr Augustyniak offers a commentary on the 14th century treatise Theologia Deutsch which belongs to the tradition of “Rhenish mysticism” and constitutes one of the most important links in the development of German theology. The author points to the work’s existential and ontological dimension. The latter centers around the concept of “wesen” and is discussed by Augustyniak in relation to the thought of Meister Eckhart, clearly alluded to by the anonymous author of Theologia Deutsch. However, the ontological speculations are meant to prepare the reader for a much broader discussion of proper and improper ways of being and experiencing the world. This existential dimension of the treatise is explained by Augustyniak as a radicalization of Eckhart’s position and at the same time – as an anticipation of Luther’s thought.