-" ^ ; ARIES - JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY

\rat( / OF WESTERN ESOTERICISM 14 (2014) 1-19

ARIES
BRILL brill.com/arie

From Spiritual Regeneration to Collective

Reformation in the Writings of Christoph
Besold and Johann Valentin Andreae
Stefania Salvadori
Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
salvadorí@hab.de

Abstract .'

The article aims to analyze the cultural environment underlying the publication of
the first Rosicmcian manifestos, considering in particular some aspects of the work
of Christoph Besold (1577-1638) and Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1654). Under
the influence of Johann Amdt, both authors made the process of personal spiritual
regeneration the foundation for every program of reform. As a remedy to the difficult
situation in Europe on the eve of the Thirty Years' War, Christoph Besold proposes in
his Axiomata a path of purification of the soul and inner rebirth based on the concepts
of unio mystica and imitatio Christi. Similarly, Johann Valentin Andreae describes in
Civis Christianus the path of transmutation to which the individual believer comes to
be subjected. The unbreakable bond that is established in this way between the true
believers and Christ provides the basis for the realization of an ideal societas Christiana,
only in which lies the possibility of an effective intervention for universal reform.

Keywords . ' .

Rosicmcianism - unio mystica - rebirth - Christian brotherhood - Johann Valentin

Andreae -Johann Arndt - Christoph Besold

The content and history of the reception of the Rosicrucian manifestos have
long been discussed in the literature. From the very beginning a keen debate
has divided the scholarsbip into opposing parties, sometimes giving rise to mis-
conceptions. However, in the last decades research efforts have been directed
towards a more detailed contextualizatlon and historico-critical analysis of tbe

© KONINKUJKE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2014 | DOI: 10.1163/15700593-01401001

2 SALVADORI

sources.^ Thus new evidence has come to light concerning the intricate history
of the emergence and fortune of the early Rosicrucian movement, and many
of the legends associated with the movement and its main actors—especially
Johann Valentin Andreae—have heen dispelled. Besides the now classic works
hy Martin Brecht,^ the researches of Carlos Gilly and his acquaintance with
the primary sources have granted us new insights into the composition of the
manifestos, and specifically Andreae's involvement not only in the composi-
tion of the Chymische Hochzelt (his authorship of this tract is now as good as
ascertained) hut also in the compilation of the other pamphlets, In particular
the Confessio and the Fama drafted around t6to within the so-called "Tiihingen
circle".^
Even so, many questions undouhtedly need to be addressed in more detail,
beginning with the different stances that are taken up hy the individual actors
of early Rosicruclanistn during and after the tumultuous years subsequent to
the publication of the manifestos (1614-1615). An exhaustive analysis of the
development of their personal thinking, as well as of their mutual influence,
could shed light not only on how they contributed to the intellectual network
which underlay early Rosicrucianism, but also on how they reworked and inte-
grated its main impulses in their thought at a later stage. Yet this desideratum is
still far from being achieved and is probably hard to realize, not least because
of the lack of primary sources. This is the case, for example, in relation to Tobias
Hess (1568-1614).'^ A learned jurist from Nuremberg who practiced Paracelsian
medicine and demonstrated a strong interest in alchemy, the natural sciences
and apocalyptic chihasm, Hess was a central actor within the circle at Tübin-
gen and exercised a deep influence upon all its other members, in particular
upon Johann Valentin Andreae. Unfortunately, in his case both handwritten
and printed sources are lacking; we can therefore rely only upon indirect refer-

1 For examples and also for further literature see the contributions included in the volume
edited by the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermética, Rosenkreuz als europäisches Phänomen im
1/. Jahrhundert.
2 Among the many publications of Martin Brecht concerning Johann Valentin Andreae I
refer here to his recent biography; also for further information on literature, Brecht, fohann
Valentin Andreae, for the connection with Rosicrucianism especially 25-92.
3 For examples and also for further literature see Gilly, her rosicrucianus and Gilly, Die Rosen-
kreuzer, on the intellectual circle at Tübingen, see Brecht, Johann Valentin Andreae, 25-50;
for an overview of texts and manuscripts of early Rosicrucianism, see also Gilly, Cimelia Rho-
dostaurotica.
4 On Tobias Hess see Gilly, Iter rosicnicianum; Brecht, Johann Valentin Andreae, 34-44.
5 See especially Andreae, Tobiae Hessi Immortalitas.

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FROM SPIRITUAL REGENERATION 3

It may be more profitable to focus on the second key figure within the cir-
cle at Tübingen, Christoph Besold (1577-1638),^ Even if in this case we can
also lament the almost complete loss of his correspondence, Besold's aca-
demic and scientific output on different subjects, as well as a large part of his
famous private library—today hosted at the University Library of Salzburg^—
still exist and represent an attractive field for further research. They disclose,
for example, significant information about the development of his thought
before his conversion to Catholicism (in 1630, then publicly in 1635)^ and
about the interests and ideas he shared with other members of the circle
at Tübingen in the 1610s and 1620s, These sources have yet to achieve the
attention they deserve, with the exception of a monograph by Michael Wid-
mann,^
Building upon these recent findings, the present contribution focuses upon
the friendship between Christoph Besold and Johann Valentin Andreae, and
seeks to investigate their common interest in a reformation of Christianity that
was also in accordance with Johann Arndt's teaching of inner rebirth. The great
impact Arndt's Vier Bücher vom wahren Christentum^^ had on the Rosicrucian
milieu is undisputed," yet each thinker reshaped Arndt's legacy in a personal

6 For a biographical introduction and information on literature see Brecht, fohann Valentin
Andreae, 46-50; see also Widmann, Wege aus der Krise, 108-153.
7 For further information on Besoid's library see Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, 61-62, and
Widmann, Wege aus der Krise, 210-212.
8 On Besold s conversion to Catholicism see Friedeburg, Between Scylla and Charybdis, and
Pohlig, Gelehrter Frömmigkeitsstil.
g Widmann, Wege aus der Krise. Besides a detailed analysis of Besold's thinking, Widmann's
study also discusses the influence of Matthias Hafenreifer and Johann Arndt on the young
Johann Valentin Andreae.
10 The first book of Arndt's Vier Bücher von wahrem Christenthumb [Four Books on True
Christianity) appeared in 1605; the work underwent several revisions and expansions
before its completion in 1610. Due to its great popularity, it appeared in twenty separate
editions prior to Arndt's death in 1621. After his death, it was reprinted over 125 times prior
to 1800, normally with two additional books: Book V includes Arndt's tracts On True Faith
and a Holy Life, On the Union of the Faithful with Jesus Christ, Our Head, and On the Holy
Trinity; Book VI consists of his replies to his critics. For the influence of Arndt's Four Books
on True Christianity on the Lutheran world see the contributions to Otte and Schneider,
Frömmigkeit oder Theologie.
11 It is well known that Johann Arndt's teaching influenced the circle at Tübingen,
especially its combination of Lutheran theology with important aspects of Paracelsian-
ism, apocalyptic-chiliastic expectations and theosophical-Hermetic ideas. Early Rosicru-
cianism also criticized a stagnant Lutheran orthodoxy in need of re-establishing the

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 SALVADORI

way and integrated it into his own intellectual work.'^ Therefore attention is
directed in the following pages to the manner in which Besold and Andreae
conceptualised the idea of a renovation of the world as the corollary of personal
spiritual regeneration. Indeed, at the centre of hoth authors' works during
the i6tos and 1620s we find the process of rehirth—Wiedergeburt—of the
individual believer, his union with God and his transmutation as prerequisites
not only for good works in daily life, hut also for all activities assisting the
collective regeneration of society as a whole.

1 Between Spiritual Rebirth and Restoration of the Social Peace:

Besold's Ideal of Christian Life

Born in 1577 in Tübingen, Christoph Besold studied in the city university where
he received his doctorate in hoth Roman and Canon law in lögg.'-* He became
first advocate in the main territorial court of law of Württemberg, then pro-
fessor of Roman law at the University of Tübingen In 1610. Although chal-
lenged twice hy the ecclesiastical authorities for chiliastic sympathies (1622)
and alleged Catholic leanings (t626), his authority in legal matters among col-
leagues and contemporaries was not undermined at least until the end of the
t62os. However, Besold was a multitalented scholar: he was also well-versed in
languages, in the natural sciences, in medieval mysticism and in the Hermetic
tradition. It is sufficient to browse his works and consider the authors he quotes
to ascertain the range of his erudition in a great number of academic disci-
plines.''*
It was precisely this encyclopaedic learning that fascinated the young
Johann Valentin Andreae, who had already come into contact with Besold and

relationship between theory and praxis, and supported a reformation of the whole of soci-
ety as part of a cosmic revolution. Christ was presented as the greatest physician who
treated not only the souls of his believers, but who also ruled the world and the historical
epoch leading to the restoration of the original harmony between the spiritual and natural
realms, and between the micro- and macrocosms. See for example Confessio Fratemitatis,
193-195-
12 No other devotional book circulated more widely or influenced the Lutheran tradition
more deeply than Amdt's Four Books on True Christianity. For an introduction and infor-
mation on recent literature, see Schneider, Der Fremde Arndt.
13 On the legal activity of Besold and the importance of his work see Wall, Politik, Recht und
"maiestas".
14 See, for example, Brecht, Christoph Besold.

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FROM SPIRITUAL REGENERATION 5

intensified the friendship with him by the mid i6ios.'^ In his writing in mem-
ory of his brother Johann Ludwig, for example, he describes his meeting and
almost familial acquaintance with Besold as a great fortune.'^ Not only the per-
sonal virtues and the erudition of his friend deeply influenced his intellectual
life: Besold's library, too, had an enormous impact on Andreae, providing him
with unrestricted access to a collection of volumes ranging from theology to
medicine, from Kabbalah to history, from natural science to philosophy,''' Their
mutual esteem is revealed in their constant cultural exchange and in their dia-
logue on common interests, as also in the dedications of many of their writings
up until the end of the i62os.'^ Even if their friendship formally broke off in
1635 as Besold publicly converted to Catholicism, the influence they had on
each other during a crucial phase of their intellectual development can hardly
be underestimated.
Among the common interests that Besold shared with Andreae—and with
the other members of the cultural circle at Tübingen that produced the Rosi-
crucian manifestos—the desire for a reformation of the whole of Christian
society plays a crucial role. A reformation that appears more and more press-
ing, considering the European historical context on the eve of the Thirty Years'
War. A disenchanted analysis of the political and ecclesiastical situation is
In fact the starting point of Besold's discourse. His diagnosis of the diseases
which aiïlict the Christian society of his time and the way to overcome them
is presented in a work conceived already in 1610 and entitled Signa tempo-
rumP
The text is divided into two sections analysing the main political and reli-
gious events that had occurred in the German Empire since the Reformation,
both before and after the Peace of Augsburg, and also taking into account the
situation in neighbouring countries. Luther's work is described as providen-
tiaF° and tbus connected to tbe previous struggles of John Wycliffe and Jan

15 Widmann, Wege aus der Krise, 21Z-220.

16 kïiàxeae. Diefrühe Vollendung,X'iz-i'jß.
17 Andreae, Diefi-Uhe Vollendung, 132-133.
18 Andreae dedicated many works to Besold, among them Christliche Herkules (1615), Pere-
grinus (1618) and the poetic book Geistliche Kurzweil (1619), in which both Besold and his
wife are praised for their Christian virtues: Andreae, Geistliche Kurzweil, 104-109,151-155
and 165-170. In his turn Besold dedicated to Johann Valentin Andreae his Axiomata (1616),
among other works.
19 The book was only printed in 1616 in Tübingen: see Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotiea, 62-63.
A short analysis of the work is provided by Widmann, Wege aus der Krise, 220-222.
20 Besold, Signa temporum, 39-40.

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b SALVADORI

Hus;2' his collaboration with Philipp Melanchthon Is also regarded as fortunate

for the early phase of the Reformation.^^ On tbe otber band, tbe papacy and
tbe Jesuit order in particular are charged witb working against all attempts to
conciliate tbe opposing parties, and bence witb destroying tbe Cbristian com-
munity. In tbe course of bis bistorical report, wbicb discloses a clearly Lutberan
point of view, Besold constantly attributes tbe acbievement of all reformations
to God's intervention in tbe world.^^ True believers cannot trust buman ruling
classes: tbey can only bope tbat God vk^ill belp tbem and vk^ill restore tbe peace,
as He bas promised.^* Tbus tbe treatise links tbe sequence of bistorical facts
witb tbe propbecies revealed in Scripture and witb tbe apocalyptic literature,
including tbe interpretations of tbe Book of Revelation put forward byjoacbim
of Fiore.^5 Furtbermore, according to Besold tbe classical topoi of tbe cbilias-
tic tradition, i.e. tbe definitive fall of tbe Roman Babylon (Revelation 18.19) and
tbe future conversion of tbe Jews (Romans 11.25) will mark tbe beginning of a
better era for tbe Cbristian cburcb.^^
Yet tbe constant reference to God's intervention as a decisive principle of
all improvement in personal and social life does not lead to a passive attitude.
On tbe contrary, Besold asserts tbat every individual believer must cooper-
ate witb tbe divine plan, commencing witb tbe purification of bis own nature
and tbe cultivation of virtuous bebaviour. Besold tberefore suggests a sbift of
intervention: instead of aiming immediately at tbe reformation of tbe wbole
world, one bas to start from tbe purgatio and regeneratio of one's soul, and
only tben strive for collective purification. In order to combine botb divine
and buman efforts at reform, in writings sucb as tbe Axiomata philosophica-
theologica (1616) Besold places tbe Lutberan principle of justification (against
any buman self-confidence) and tbe doctrine of imitatio Christi (as motive for
engagement in tbe everyday life of tbe believer) witbin tbe framework of bis
teacbing of inner rebirtb.^''
Tbe Axiomata constitute a selection of passages from classical, patristic
and mystical autbors,^^ and are dedicated to Jobann Valentin Andreae, wbose

21 Besold, Signa temporum, 15-16 and again 37.

22 Besold, Signa temporum, 51.
23 Besold, Signa temporum, 8.
24 Besold, Signa temporum, 135-136.
25 For example Besold, Signa temporum, 24.
26 See Kim, Nicht nur eine Vermutung.
27 Widmann, Wege aus der Krise, 226-250.
28 Among others, Besold quotes Augustine, Bernard von Clairvaux, Tauler, Staupitz, Luther,

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FROM SPIRITUAL REGENERATION

Theca v^ras published in the same year, 1616.^^ Although the work has no fixed
argumentative structure, it clearly deals with the theme of inner rebirth. Here
medicine and theology seem to define symmetrical semantic fields. The be-
liever's relationship with Christ resembles the intercourse between a sick man
and his physician. He alone can treat believers for their sins and preserve
them from the assaults of evil.^o He is the skilled doctor who administers
them His spiritual medicine, which is both sweet (when He supports and
comforts them) and bitter (when he puts them on probation with difiicul-

According to Besold, the process of soul-healing consists in recovering

the effective righteousness of human nature in full accordance with Luther's
theological premise sola fide gratia. Besold also asserts that the sinner's
health depends on the one hand in believing God's promises announced
in Scripture, and on the other hand in receiving the imputation of the jus-
tice of Christ on account of this same believing. Human nature was in fact
so corrupted by Adam's fall that it cannot be restored without the inter-
vention of God. Even if Besold praises the role of reason in directing
moral actions, he always states that all human philosophies—even the
prisca philosophia—are imperfect and therefore need the support of theol-
Ogy.32

Thus the first step toward regeneration consists in abandoning all human
self-confidence and initiative, in taking a humble attitude and in retiring to
a perfect soul-stillness w^hich Besold describes with a term also widely used by

Gerhard, Hermes Trismegistus and, of course, Johann Arndt See Brecht, Christoph Besold,
21-22.

29 Andreae's Theca, first published in Strasbourg in 1616, is a commemorative work for Tobias
Hess and gathers together notes from Hess' manuscripts.
30 Besold, Axiomata, 54.
31 Besold, Axiomata, 116.
32 See for example Besold, De verae philosophiae fundamento. The treatise was published
in 1619 and dedicated to Johann Arndt and Tobias Adami, the translator of Campanella's
Utopian work Civitas SoUs in 1623. The work follows Arndt in its description of a prisca
philosophia whose sources are Scripture, the book of Nature and the book of Conscience.
It describes the cosmos as an instrument of God's grace, where the natural laws are
perfectly mirrored in the conscience and in the reason of all human beings. Macrocosms
and microcosms, the natural world and human nature are in fact closely interconnected.
However, even in this work Besold stresses that all philosophies have to be corrected by
theology, i.e. by personal spiritual conversion and the imitation of Christ: see Gilly, Cimelia
Rhodostaurotica, 64-65.

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8 SALVADORI

t:33 "the Sabbath of the heart" i,e, "the rest in God",^* Precisely this humble
attitude enables the sinner to enter the process of spiritual transmutation
according to the example of Christ, Just as Christ endured suffering until death
on the cross to assure the imputation of His justice to humankind, similarly the
believer must deny himself, turn from the world, undergo all sufferance and so
kill his old post-lapsarian nature, the "old man". As soon as he gives himself up
completely to God's will, he then becomes a participant in Christ's nature and
is born to new life,^^
All believers are put through this healing process, this medical-theological
purification and rehabilitation, and transformed into "new men", A complete
and real (i,e, ontological) sanatio will never take place during this earthly life,
states Besold, All perfectionist leanings are therefore to be refused,^*' Never-
theless, this healing process leads to an inner transmutation through the unio
mystica which corresponds in the Axiomata with Christ's inhabitation and rul-
ing force in man's soul, and which entails the active cooperation of the reborn
believer,^^
Besold emphasizes not only that Christ died/or humanity on the cross, but
also that He comes to live within Christians to carry out a work of spiritual
transformation and ethical improvement. If it is true that nobody can attribute
anything good to oneself and all merits must be ascribed to God's intervention
and support,^^ Besold notes at the same time that God rules his believers not

33 A citation from Arndt's Four Books on True Christianity can already be found in Besold's
inaugural lecture at the University of Tübingen in 1610. The text was published two
years later by Cellius under the title Templum Iustitiae, sive De addiscenda et exercenda
Iurisprudentia Dissertatio: here Besold refers to the fourth book of Arndt's Four Books on
True Christianity. See Gilly, Cimelia Rhodostaurotica, 63. A consideration of Besold's role in
the reception ofJohann Arndt within the intellectual circle at Tübingen is given in Brecht,
Chiliasmus in Württemberg, 34-35.
34 See, for example, Besold, Axiomata, 153: 'Nihil magis a nobis requirit Deus, quam Sab-
bathum: ut ipsi feriamur, et non repugnemus: ut quiescamus ab omnibus operibus nostris,
et praesertim a nobis metispsis. Tune enim Deus non est otiosus. Et haec est unio Dei ac
mentis'. See also Besold, Axiomata, 226-227.
35 Besold, Axiomata, 111,130.
36 Besold, Axiomata, 16: 'Exercitium purgationis animae, nec potest nec débet, nisi cum
vita finiri. Non ergo perturbent nos imperfectiones nostrae. Perfectio quippe nostra in
eo consistit, ut cum imperfectionibus pugnemus, non ut illas non sentiamus. [...] Utile
est peccata nostra saepius, et quidem minutim considerare: ut admiremur misericordiam
Dei, qui nos peccantes tanta cum patientia ad poenitentiam exspectavit'.
37 Besold, Axiomata, 228-229,
38 Besold, Axiomata, 91.

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FROM SPIRITUAL REGENERATION 9

as if they were static rocks: on the contrary, he demands their human collabo-
ration.^^ The principle of imitatlo Christi is therefore not restricted to a humhle
and patient attitude; it also implies repentance and the exercise of all Chris-
tian virtues in daily life. In fact the Christian must strive to adapt all aspects of
human existence—from daily trivialities to political commitment—to God's
^¡jj 40 fhig jg tjjg reason why personal regeneration must always he considered
as a part of a process of the "restitution of all things".*'
According to Besold, the connection between personal spiritual regener-
ation—Wiedergeburt—and practical imitation of Christ in the daily life—
imitatio Christi—are the distinctive features of a lived faith.'*^ True theology
Is in fact a practical "science" and has to he opposed to all scholastic and
hookish knowledge or doctrinal disputes.'*^ The idea of a theological sapien-
tia experimentalis ruling all aspects of the Christian life can also he traced in
Besold's later juristic works, especially in relation to the question of tolerance
towards heretics and the role played by civil powers in maintaining the reli-
gious peace.'*^ Yet we shall now turn to Johann Valentin Andreae, in order to
consider hriefly how he developed a similar process of reformation—from the
individual to the collective—and how he then tried to translate it into a con-
crete program for a Christian brotherhood.

2 Johann Valentin and the Idea of a fratemitas Christi

With its opposition to all arid theological speculations, Johann Arndt's mys-
tical doctrina pietatis deeply influenced Andreae's thinking, as testified hy his
early work entitled Christianismus genuinus, which was first puhlished in 1615
in Strasbourg, then again in 1644 in Lüneburg hy Stern."*^ This small text is—

39 Besold, Axiomata, gj: 'Non ex nobis sanctificamur; velle enim et perficere est penes Deum.
Philip. 2, V. 13. Et tamen Deus nos non movet ut lapides: debemus com eum sequi lubentes.
Unde vocamur cooperatores cum Deo, I, Cor, 9.9'.
40 Besold, Axiomata, 33-34.
41 Besold, Axí'omaía, 24, ' •'
42 On the ideal of imitatio Christi in Besold's work, see also Bubenheimer, Rezeption.
43 Besold, Axiomata, 86-87.
44 An interesting overview on the subject is provided by Friedeburg, The Juridification of
Natural Law. Concerning the question of tolerance towards the "heretics", Besold openly
refers to Sebastian Castellio, whose reception in the circle at Tübingen deserves to be
investigated. The differences between the Savoyard humanist and Calvin on the execution
of Servet are discussed in Besold, Politicorum Ubri, 569.
45 The work was a digest of Arndt's Four Books on True Christianity.

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10 SALVAD o RI

like Besold's Axiomata—an anthology of quotations which highlights how

"true Christianity" requires a living, practical faith. However, references to the
author of the Vier Bücher vom wahren Christentum are also crucial in the sub-
sequent works of Andreae—for example in his tract Theophilus'*^ or in the
satirical pamphlet Apap.'^'^ If his original literary output decreased steadily
in the 1630s and 1640s due to the conditions of the time and his pastoral
responsibilities, his correspondence with other theologians and fellows in par-
ticular gives clear evidence of Andreae's lasting commitment to the defence
of Arndt's legacy.'^^ During his entire lifetime Andreae constantly rejected all
attacks against Arndt and the recurring charges of Weigelianismus against his
supporters, though at the same time he also disapproved of tbe misinter-
pretation of the genuine doctrine of "true Christianity".'*'' Yet the reception
of Arndt's tbinking in Johann Valentin Andreae is much deeper and more
nuanced, and contributes to the development of his personal agenda for the
improvement of tbe whole of society. In this connection, attention shall be
restricted here to Andreae's appeal for personal rebirth and spiritual conversion

46 This short treatise was written around 1622 and only published in 1649.
47 The text was composed in 1632 and published three years later in Strasbourg.
48 The epistolary exchange between Johann Valentin Andreae and the theologians Tobias
Wagner of Esslingen and Johannes Saubert of Nuremberg housed in the Herzog August
Bibliothek deserves particular attention. Unfortunately Andreae's early correspondence
was almost completely destroyed by a fire in the city of Calw in 1634 during the Thirty
Years War. Yet a corpus of more than 5000 letters stemming from the last period of his
life is preserved in the Herzog August Bibliothek of Wolfenfüttel, where a project began
in October 2012 to catalogue them. Andreae's correspondence promises to open up new
research perspectives on seventeenth-century church history as well as on the Hermetic
traditions; light will also be cast upon the development of Andreae's concept of piety in
relation to his reception of Johann Amdt. For access to the project and to the on-line
catalogue see 'Erschließung des Briefwechsels von Johann Valentin Andreae (1586-1654)',
http://diglib.hab.de/?link=042 (accessed 13 November 2013).
49 Arndt's concern about the moral and spiritual deterioration of society and the relative
failure of the Lutheran church to adequately provide for the moral needs of its ordinary
members was soon regarded as suspicious. Already in 1606 a colleague in Braunschweig
charged Arndt with teaching synergism and faulted him for quoting from Catholic mys-
tical writers. In 1617 Arndt again faced questions about his orthodoxy from some clergy
in Danzig after they noted the popularity of his teaching among supporters of Valentin
Weigel. The charge was not completely unfounded: Arndt in fact used crypto-quotations
from Weigel in his Four Books on True Christianity. See Schneider, Der Fremde Arndt, on the
reception of Arndt in Tübingen and the charges of Weigelianismus see Geyer, Verborgene
Weisheit, vol. 1,51-63.

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FROM SPIRITUAL REGENERATION 11

as tbe precondition of all social engagement, wbicb bas to be put into practice
and supported by grounding a Cbristian brotberbood.
It is well known tbat after leaving Tübingen in 1607 because be was suspected
of baving written scurrilous verses, Jobann Valentin Andreae came back in 1612
and spent two years in tbe Tübinger Stifl, before being ordained in 1614 and
establisbed in ministry in Vaibingen;^° be tben moved in 1620 to Calw.^^ Tbe
years in Vaibingen in particular were cbaracterized by pastoral activities and a
lively literary production, wbicb included different genres from satirical pam-
pblets to tbeological treatises. All tbese works point to an essential purpose,
namely to establisb a clear metbod to support and acbieve a spiritual, political
and educational improvement of society.^^
According to Andreae botb tbe decline of tbe Cbristian faitb and also tbe
moral corruption of politics and education are undeniable, and seem to be
overwbelming in magnitude. Even in tbe Lutberan world botb Cburcb dis-
cipline and catecbism instruction are neglected, despite Lutber's legacy. It is
tberefore imperative to identify appropriate remedies for tbe diseases wbicb
are affecting religion, state and culture.^^ Yet all attempts to organize an imme-
diate general reformation are to be mistrusted. Again and again Andreae dis-
tances bimself from tbe ambitions of Rosicrucianism, depicted as a fiction tbat
caused only tumult and offered no useful solution to buman difficulties.^
Tbe scbolarly literature bas oft discussed tbe meaning of tbese negative judg-
ments upon tbe Rosicmcians in Andreae's printed works, usually interpreting
tbem not as a definitive rejection of tbe ideas sketcbed in tbe manifestos, but
ratber as a mistrust of tbe purposes for wbicb tbey bad been co-opted. More-
over, if we consider tbe violent reactions occasioned by tbe publication of tbe
manifestos, we can suppose tbat being identified as tbe autbor of tbem may
bave represented a real danger for Andreae, wbo was now moving towards a
more "ortbodox" position and starting bis career as a minister of tbe Lutberan
cburcb.55 Here one may note tbat Andreae often combines tbis circumspect—
and even critical—judgment upon tbe manifestos witb a corrective counter-

50 See, for example, the introduction of Andreae, Menippus.

51 During the period in Vaihingen Andreae became a correspondent of Melchior Breler, who
translated FourBooics on True Christianity into Latin; see Andreae, Vita, 1.1,175.
52 An overvievif of Andreae's thought during his stays in Vaihingen and Calw is to be found
in Brecht, fohann Valentin Andreae, 93-203.
53 See, for example, Andreae, Jonathan Wense, 272-274.
54 See, also for literature, Dickson, Tessera ofAntilia, 40-51.
55 A detailed analysis of Andreae's theological and political thinking during the last decade
of his life is far from being achieved and should be the object of further research.

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12 SALVADORI

proposal for the general public, and with a parallel program to reform the whole
of society.^^ Along with Besold, in his printed output he therefore shifts from
the problem of a cosmic reformation to prioritising the personal conversion
and the spiritual rebirth of the individual believer.
The short treatise entitled Clvis Christianus is particularly useful to illu-
mine Andreae's thinking on this point.^^ It describes a vision of a Christian
who wanders aimlessly in the world, a chaotic labyrinth in which all virtues
are neglected and all attempts to understand and modify society are flawed.^^
Exhausted and frustrated, the Christian turns finally to God: this is his last hope
to discover the meaning of his life. And so the personal conversion takes place.
God's voice calls him and leads him to tum within himself, starting a sort of
mystical voyage.^s In a small dark chapel, which represents his soul, he first
sees various statues and paintings of virtues lying half broken with demol-
ished wheels and tools, vestiges of a great project that has failed. Suddenly
there descends a light which takes human form, with flesh and a body like all
other human beings, yet in a divine splendour: it Is Christ, true man and true
God.60
The mystical union of the soul with Christ has immediate consequences,
and the protagonist of Cms Christianus vividly describes his transmutation: the
benevolent light illumines the small chapel, and the images of virtues which
were lying half broken in the dark are now illuminated so that they reflect the
light like the purest crystals, without any defect; these images of the virtues
even seem to move as if they are alive. In this vision the protagonist becomes
a participant in Christ's nature, and the imago Dei is finally restored in him: he
is receptum, redemtum, renatum, reformatum.^^ This regeneration of the soul

56 See, for example, the report by Andreae in a letter to Duke August of Braunschweig
written in June of 1642, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 65.1 Extrav., fol. 22 recto:
'Annus post vigesimum tertius, vel quartus agitur, cum annitente et stimulante Wilhelmo
Wensio, Eq. Luneb. Ex seleetissimis amico, informem hanc Societatis alicuius Christianae
imaginem, machinatus sum quam fictitiae Fraterninatis Rosaecurciae ludibrio indigno,
opponeremus'.
57 The work appeared in 1619 in Strasbourg.
58 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 5-6.
59 Andreae, Civts Christianus, 7: 'Dum etiamnum a Satanae ministremo et totus stupeo, vox a
tergo inclamat penetrantior, et vitalior SURGE, quae me simul in pedes veluterexit, et novo
robore animavit: cumque circumspicerem iterum inclamat VENI, ac mox cum haesitarem
RETRO ait, ac me totum invertit et avertit, sive verius introvertit'.
60 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 9.
61 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 186.

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FROM SPIRITUAL REGENERATION I3

simultaneously reflects the renovated harmony between the motions of the

universe and the plan of God's governments^
Christ does not simply reveal the marvellous perfection of God's work; He
also invites the believer to establish a connection with Him, to imitate His
example and to live in an indissoluble bond of love. Therefore He first urges
the abandonment of all human self-confidence and initiative, so that the di-
vina inhabitatio can take place and the believer may be transformed into a new
man^^ by the flames of the divine love.^"* As in the work of Besold, Andreae
combines in his description of the process of purification both Luther's theol-
ogy of the cross and Arndt's teaching of the Wiedergeburt^^ From this moment
onward, the believer lives in a close connection with Christ, who is described
once again with the classical image of the holy physician offering His spiritual
medicine to cure the post-lapsarian nature,'''' or as a "love magnet" attracting
the hearts of His lovers,^''
Yet this process of regeneration, of restitutio ad integrum of the believer,^^
entails a continuous practical process of transmutation. Rejecting any intel-
lectualism, Andreae stresses that the distinctive mark of the Christian is the
fact that he thinks, feels, and acts like Christ, Otherwise he is only a fictive
believer,^^ And the struggle against Satan or against the worldly and fleshly
pleasures is for all Christians an unavoidable task which cannot be reduced
to a passive and cloistered meditation,'''' Having experienced a spiritual regen-
eration and living in close connection with Christ, they must on the contrary
practice their faith in the world.
First and foremost, this entails the constant exercise of moral virtues in
personal daily life; but it also implies a collective dimension, insofar as they
must contribute to the common good and not least to the regeneration of the
Church,'''' True Christians are in factjoined together in a spiritual brotherhood

62 For the entire passage with the description of thefirstunion with Christ in the soul-chapel,
see Andreae, Civls Christianus, 8-12.
63 On the rebirth of the Christian to a new life, see, for example, Andreae, Civis Christianus,
32.
64 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 16-17.
65 Widmann, Wege aus der Krise, 413-438.
66 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 17,31-33,98.
67 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 13.
68 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 32.
6g Andreae, Civis Christianus, 10-11.
70 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 66.
71 Andreae, Civis Christianus, especially 63-64.

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14 SALVADORI

hy their amicitia Christiana, i.e. hy a common soul connection with their

Saviour. Unlike worldly associations, their union cannot therefore he destroyed
even if the individual members are scattered in the world and oppressed,
hecause everything is grounded in Christ: he is the centre of this invisible con-
ference which embraces all his friends, i.e. all true helievers.''^
Andreae's ideal of Christian hrotherhood may he traced to a classical distinc-
tion between the outward mixed hody of saints and sinners and the commu-
nity of true helievers, i.e. to the distinction between the visible and invisihle
Churches. However, the opposition hetween the purity of the faith and the
decline in Christian practice is not restricted to a simple and passive condem-
nation of the defects in the world of his time: according to Andreae the discrep-
ancy rather indicates a gap which has to be filled in accordance with God's will.
The ideal—or "utopian model"—of the perfect Christian community is out-
lined in ChrlstianopoUsP Besides this, Andreae develops a practical attempt at
reforming Christianity with his lifelong commitment to found a societas Chris-
tiana.
The scholarly literature has extensively discussed and analysed the—some-
times intricate—history of Andreae's attempts to found a Christian brother-
hood.''"* The first one dates hack to the early i6ios. According to a letter he wrote
In June 1642 to Duke August of Braunschweig, in this first Societas Christiana
an epistolary circle of like-minded Christians included Wilhelm vom Wense as
well as other members of the intellectual circle at Tühingen.''^ This seems to

72 Andreae, Civis Christianus, 47-49: 'Nam etiamsi Christianorum unus est Deus, unus bap-
tismus, una fides, et hinc inter se insolubiliter omnes coaluemnt, tamen privato foedere
quosdam in unum quasi conflatos deprehendi, non Antichristiano aliquo glutine, aut
mundana conspiratione, sed animomm inter se similitudine, et eiusdem consilii con-
solnantia. Id vocabant amicitiam Christianam, quasi Christo parado idem volentes, idem
ambientes convenerint, atque pium aliquid animaeque expediens unanimiter meditar-
entur. [..,] Haec unitas eruditissima potest esse, opulentissima, fortissima, Nam quamvis
hie Mundus magna corpora jactitet, tamen ubicunque intimus consensus, quem unus
dare Christus potest, abest, arena sunt sine cake, et palearum potius acervus, quam soli-
da moles. Hie Christus centrum est, res Christiana circumferentia, ipsi radij, qui in uno
conveniunt et ad eandem se explicant, ut quicquid Christus docuerit, rei communi com-
municetur, quicquid res communis habet amplitudinis, ad Christum principem referatur',
73 See Dülmen, Die Utopie; Schmidt-Biggemann, VonDamcarnach ChristianopoUs.
74 Johannes Saubert's daughter married Gottlieb Andreae, Johann Valentin's son, in 1643,
Johannes Saubert also shared with Johann Valentin Andreae a high estimation of Johann
Arndt: see Sommer, Johann Saubert.
75 Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod, Guelf 65,1 Extrav,, fol, 22 recto-verso. On the friendship

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FROM SPIRITUAL REGENERATION 15

testify that Andreae was developing his ideal of Christian brotherhood simul-
taneously with his involvement in the Rosicrucian affaire. He also pursues this
aim during the following years, and succeeds at least in founding tbe Unio
Christiana at Nuremberg with his friend, colleague and later daughter-in-law's
father, Johannes Saubert (1592-1646), along with other patricians of the city.^^
All blueprints for tbe constitution of a Christian brotherhood sketched by
Andreae during this time-span—from Invitatio Fratemitatis Christi (1617) or
Christianae societatis imago and Christiani amoris dextera porrecta (1619 and
1620) to Verae unionis in ChristoJesu specimen (1628)—demonstrate his attempt
to gather a group of learned (Lutheran) believers under the patronage of a
"pious prince". He draws once again upon Arndt's emphasis on developing
an inner Christian life, and he stresses that spiritual regeneration necessar-
ily entails a practical commitments^ In contrast to Arndt, however, Andreae
clearly extends the concrete exercise of faith to tbe social dimension. True
Christians wish on the one band to correct the problems of tbe world, to apply
themselves to a constant struggle against Satan's stratagems. On tbe other
hand, they are beset with obstacles and they soon despair.^^ Thus their spir-
itual regeneration remains unable to cooperate with the reformation of tbe
world according to God's plan. According to Andreae, the best remedy for this
impasse is to ground a Socletas Christiana, which is not intended to replace the
Cburch, but to form an elite within it, offering mutual support and comfort to
all tme Christians scattered in the world, and coordinating their efforts for the
betterment of religion, society and science. The only requirement to join it is
to be "friends of God", i.e. to live united in a bond of mutual love^^ and in a
common soul connection with Christ.^°
In bis manifestos Andreae describes in minute detail how a "Christian union"
should be organized. Each member is called upon to fulfil his own duty for the
good of bis brothers according to God's will, as an actor playing on the world's
stage.^' Besides the practical organisation of this union, it should be noted here

between Andreae and Herzog August, see Brecht, Johann Valentin Andreae und Herzog
August.
76 See Dickson, Johannes Saubert; Dickson, Tessera ofAntilia, 101-114.
77 See, for example, Andreae, Christiani Amoris, 260-263.
78 See, for example, Andreae, Christianae Societatis Imago, 216-219; Andreae, Verae Unionis,
280-283.
79 Andreae, Christiani Amoris, 256-259; Andreae, Verae Unionis, 280.
80 Andreae, Christianae Societatis Imago, 220-223,246-247.
81 Andreae, Christiani Amoris, 258-259.

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l6 SALVADORI

tbat in Andreae's tbougbt tbe ideal of a Cbristian society represents a concrete

manifestation of tbe invisible community of tme believers,^^ wbo are tied
togetber by tbeir amicitia,^^ i.e. by tbe awareness of being brotbers in Cbrist.^'^
God's Son establisbed an indissoluble bond among bis lovers and gathered
tbem in a Charitatis mutuae quasi Societatem, a sort of society of mutual love.
Tbus Christianity is transformed into a brotberbood—Fratemitas—of all tbose
wbo bave rejected tbe worldly pleasures and now live in close connection witb
tbe source of tbe purest love, Cbrist, and in an uninterrupted imitation of His
example.^^ It is only witbin sucb a brotberbood, witbin tbis continuous stream
of charitas flowing from Cbrist to His believers, from tbe Head to all otber
parts of tbe (Cburcb's spiritual) body—tbat personal spiritual regeneration can
finally find concrete realization in tbe reform of tbe wbole of society.

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82 See Dülmen, Die Utopie, 143-163.

83 See, for example, Andreae, Christiani Amoris, 262-263. For a definition of amicitia Chri-
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consensus, ad Deum vere colendum; Evangelium seio amplectendum, Proximum sincere
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