The Friend of God from the Oberland
Encyclopedia
The Friend of God from the Oberland (Der Gottesfreund vom Oberland, sometimes translated as "the friend of God from the Upland," or "the mysterious layman from the Oberland") was the name of a figure in Middle Age
German mysticism
, associated with the Friends of God
and the conversion of Johannes Tauler
.
His name comes from the Bernese Oberland
.
In Story of the First Four Years of a New Life, Rulman Merswin
writes: "Of all the wonderful works which God had wrought in me I was not allowed to tell a single word to anybody until the time when it should please God to reveal to a man in the Oberland to come to me. When he came to me God gave me the power to tell him everything." The identity and personality of this "Friend of God," who bulks so largely in the great collection of mystical literature, and is everywhere treated as a half supernatural character, is one of the most difficult problems in the history of mysticism
.
The accounts of his life say that about 1343 he was forbidden to reveal his identity to anyone save Rulman Merswin. As all the writings bear the marks of a single authorship it has been assumed, especially by Denifle, that "the Friend of God" is a literary creation of Merswin and that Merswin (and his school) produced the entire body of work as tendency-literature designed to set forth the ideals of the movement to which he had given his life. Thus "the great unknown" from the Oberland is the ideal character, "who illustrates how God does his work for the world and for the Church through a divinely trained and spiritually illuminated layman," just as William Langland
in England about the same time drew the figure of Piers Plowman
. There is much in this contention that is sound, but Rieder seems to go unnecessarily far in denying altogether that Merswin wrote any of the mystical books. The conclusion remains that the literature must be treated as tendency-writing and not as genuine biography and history.
See besides the works cited, Rufus M Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion, ch. xiii. (London, 1909).
Literature: Wilhelm Rath, The Friend of God From the High Lands - His Life According to the Records of the St. John's Hospice, the 'Green Island', in Strasbourg. Translated By Roland Everett. Publisher: Hawthorn Books, Date Published: 1991, ISBN 9781869890346, ISBN: 1869890345 (Original German title: Der Gottesfreund vom Oberland, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, 4. Auflage, 1985. Written from an anthroposophical point of view. Rath was an early follower of Rudolf Steiner, also established one of the first bio-dynamic farms, Gut Farrach, in Carinthia, Austria, in 1935. He was also a friend or even a relative of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Eidlitz, who wrote extensively about Theistic Vedanta of the Gaudiya Vaishnava (Krishna Caitanya's acintya bheda abheda).
Middle age
Middle age is the period of age beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings....
German mysticism
German mysticism
German mysticism, sometimes called Dominican mysticism or Rhineland mysticism, was a late medieval Christian mystical movement, that was especially prominent within the Dominican order and in Germany. Although its origins can be traced back to Hildegard of Bingen, it is mostly represented by...
, associated with the Friends of God
Friends of God
The Friends of God was a medieval lay mystical group within the Catholic Church and a center of German mysticism. It was founded between 1339 and 1343 in Basel, Switzerland, and was also fairly important in Strasbourg and Cologne, because around those times, some of the area was placed under a...
and the conversion of Johannes Tauler
Johannes Tauler
Johannes Tauler was a German mystic theologian.- Life :He was born about the year 1300 in Strasbourg, and was educated at the Dominican convent in that city, where Meister Eckhart, who greatly influenced him, was professor of theology in the monastery school...
.
His name comes from the Bernese Oberland
Bernese Oberland
The Bernese Oberland is the higher part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the southern end of the canton: The area around Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and the valleys of the Bernese Alps .The flag of the Bernese Oberland consists of a black eagle in a gold field The Bernese Oberland (Bernese...
.
In Story of the First Four Years of a New Life, Rulman Merswin
Rulman Merswin
Rulman Merswin was a German mystic, leader for a time of the Friends of God.He was originally a successful merchant in Strasbourg. In 1347, he retired from business to join the Friends of God as one of mystic Johannes Tauler's disciples....
writes: "Of all the wonderful works which God had wrought in me I was not allowed to tell a single word to anybody until the time when it should please God to reveal to a man in the Oberland to come to me. When he came to me God gave me the power to tell him everything." The identity and personality of this "Friend of God," who bulks so largely in the great collection of mystical literature, and is everywhere treated as a half supernatural character, is one of the most difficult problems in the history of mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
.
The accounts of his life say that about 1343 he was forbidden to reveal his identity to anyone save Rulman Merswin. As all the writings bear the marks of a single authorship it has been assumed, especially by Denifle, that "the Friend of God" is a literary creation of Merswin and that Merswin (and his school) produced the entire body of work as tendency-literature designed to set forth the ideals of the movement to which he had given his life. Thus "the great unknown" from the Oberland is the ideal character, "who illustrates how God does his work for the world and for the Church through a divinely trained and spiritually illuminated layman," just as William Langland
William Langland
William Langland is the conjectured author of the 14th-century English dream-vision Piers Plowman.- Life :The attribution of Piers to Langland rests principally on the evidence of a manuscript held at Trinity College, Dublin...
in England about the same time drew the figure of Piers Plowman
Piers Plowman
Piers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus"...
. There is much in this contention that is sound, but Rieder seems to go unnecessarily far in denying altogether that Merswin wrote any of the mystical books. The conclusion remains that the literature must be treated as tendency-writing and not as genuine biography and history.
See besides the works cited, Rufus M Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion, ch. xiii. (London, 1909).
External links
Literature: Wilhelm Rath, The Friend of God From the High Lands - His Life According to the Records of the St. John's Hospice, the 'Green Island', in Strasbourg. Translated By Roland Everett. Publisher: Hawthorn Books, Date Published: 1991, ISBN 9781869890346, ISBN: 1869890345 (Original German title: Der Gottesfreund vom Oberland, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, 4. Auflage, 1985. Written from an anthroposophical point of view. Rath was an early follower of Rudolf Steiner, also established one of the first bio-dynamic farms, Gut Farrach, in Carinthia, Austria, in 1935. He was also a friend or even a relative of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Eidlitz, who wrote extensively about Theistic Vedanta of the Gaudiya Vaishnava (Krishna Caitanya's acintya bheda abheda).