Heretical microcosmogony in Paracelsus's Astronomia Magna (1537/8) and the anonymous Astrologia Theologizata (1617): Paracelsian anthropology in the light of Lutheran biblical hermeneutics

Abstract

The study evaluates Paracelsus's and Paracelsian-Weigelian microcosmogonies, i.e. theories concerning the nature and creation of human beings, especially their biblical underpinnings, and particularly in the light of Luther's and Lutheran anthropological and biblical-exegetical stances. The Lutheran approach to the origin and components of human beings-as seen in Luther's early Magnificat Commentary and the Genesis Commentary of his late career-relied on such magisterial principles as adherence to sola scriptura, literal biblical exegesis, and the hermeneutical standard to 'let scripture interpret scripture,' whereas the Paracelsians, Weigelians, and Pseudo-Weigelians-in such works as Paracelus's Astronomia Magna (1537/38) and the anonymous Astrologia Theologizata (1617)-employed such extra-biblical concepts as 'sidereal bodies,' the 'light of nature,' and a microcosm-macrocosm theory based on an alchemical interpretation of the limus terrae of Genesis 2:7. Seventeenth-century Orthodox Lutherans, including Nikolaus Hunnius and Ehregott Daniel Colberg, castigated the 'heretical' in Paracelsus and the Astrologia Theologizata. The study also addresses the authorship of several texts entitled Astrologia Theologizata and speculates on reasons for the tracts' deviations from Paracelsus's views. The case study of Paracelsian-Weigelian microcosmogonies underscores the centuries-long staying power of some of Paracelsus's core theological concepts, which were both seconded by votaries and vituperatively criticized by opponents.

Keywords: Martin Luther; Nikolaus Hunnius; Paracelsus; Pseudo-Weigel; Radical Reformation; Valentin Weigel; biblical hermeneutics.