Cutting the roots or transforming them? Luther and mysticism after 1522

Abstract

Abstract The paper argues that the image of Luther cutting his mystical roots when he became a reformer draws more from a concept of orthodox or even liberal Lutheranism than from Luther himself. It shows that Luther and Karlstadt did not divide about the question of following mysticism or not, but about the way mysticism was shaped theologically. For Luther, after his debate with Karlstadt, mysticism was always based on the Word. He also developed a sacramental mysticism, with the Eucharist at its core. One might say, thus, that Luther's mysticism shaped the central aspects of Lutheran ecclesiology.