Valentin Weigel (or ''Weichel''; 7 August 1533, in Hayn10 June 1588, in Zschopau) was a German theologian, philosopher and mystical writer, from Saxony, and an important precursor of later theosophy. In English he is often called Valentine Weigel. He was born at Hayn, near Dresden, into a Catholic family. He studied at

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

, Leipzig, and Wittenberg. In 1567 he became a Lutheran pastor at Zschopau, near

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

. There, he lived out a quiet life, engaged in his writings. Weigel was best known for his belief that the Virgin Mary was herself the product of a virgin birth. He based his belief on the idea of the immaculate conception, which required that Mary must also be sinless in order to bear God in the flesh. He kept his ideas secret, entrusting them only to personal friends (in contrast to

Jakob Böhme Jakob Böhme (; ; 24 April 1575 – 17 November 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant theologian. He was considered an original thinker by many of his contemporaries within the Lutheran tradition, and his first ...

). He carried out his parochial duties and kept a low profile. He left around 6000 pages in printed or manuscript works. His ideas on human nature were only gradually and posthumously published. Johann Arndt, Gottfried Arnold, and Gottfried Leibniz helped to spread Weigel's ideas. His teachings are known as ''Weigelianism''. His mysticism was marked by that of Johannes Tauler and by doctrines of

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He w ...

; he was also a follower of

Sebastian Franck Sebastian Franck (20 January 1499 Donauwörth, Swabia – c. 1543 Basel, Switzerland) was a 16th-century German freethinker, humanist, and radical reformer. Biography Franck was born in 1499 in Donauwörth, Swabia. Because of this he styled hims ...

and Caspar Schwenckfeldt. Like these two latter, he emphasized the inner life. He advocated a "spiritual church" in which one could know Christ without books or scripture.

Works

*''"Unterrichts-Predigt: Wie man christlich trauern und täglich solle im Herrn sterben"'', 1576 *''"Libellus de vita beata"'', 1609 *''"Ein schön Gebetsbüchlein, welches die Einfältigen unterrichtet"'', 1612 *''"Der güldene Griff, alle Ding ohne Irrtum zu erkennen"'', 1613 *''"Ein nützliches Traktätlein vom Ort der Welt"'', 1613 *''"Dialogus de Christianismo"'', 1614 *''"Erkenne dich selbst"'', 1615 *''"Informatorium oder Kurzer Unterricht"'', 1616 (erweitert: ''"Soli deo gloria"'', 1618) *''"Kirchen- oder Hauspostill"'', 1618 *''"Libellus disputatorus"'', 1618 *''"De bono et malo in homine"'', 1618 *''"Zwei schöne Büchlein"'', 1618 *''"Studium universale"'', 1618 *''"Tractatus de opere mirabili"'', 1619

References

External links

''Astrology Theologised'', online book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weigel, Valentin 1533 births 1588 deaths German Lutheran theologians 16th-century German Protestant theologians 16th-century German Lutheran clergy Paracelsians German male non-fiction writers People from Mansfeld-Südharz 16th-century German male writers