Meister Eckhart
Philosopher of Christianity

Kurt Flasch
Translated by Anne Schindel
and Aaron Vanides

new haven and london

 The translation of this work was funded by Geisteswissenschaften International—Translation Funding for
Humanities and Social Sciences from Germany, a joint initiative of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the German
Federal Foreign Office, the collecting society VG WORT, and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels
(German Publishers & Booksellers Association).

Published with assistance from the Ronald and Betty Miller Turner Publication Fund.

English translation copyright © 2015 by Yale University. Translated 2015 by Anne Schindel and Aaron Vanides.

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Originally published as Meister Eckhart: Philosoph des Christentums, 3rd ed. Copyright © Verlag C.H. Beck oHG,
München 2011.

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 For
Maria Antonietta Terzoli
November 27, 2009
 One must speak wholly differently of the grounds of being of
things and the knowledge of them, differently also of the things
outside in nature. Likewise, it is to be spoken differently of
substance and differently of accident. Those who fail to consider
this will often fall into error.
—Meister Eckhart, In Ioh., LW 3, n. 514, 445

All things, or almost all, that we ask about God are easily
solved. And what is written about God—often also the obscure
and difficult things—is explained clearly through natural reason.
—Meister Eckhart, Prologus generalis, LW 1, n. 2, 39.3–4

Everything that is written or taught about the blessed

Trinity is not necessarily so or true.
—Meister Eckhart, Latin sermon 4, LW 4, n. 1, 31

It is a kinship of the divine kind. It is one within itself. It does

not have anything in common with anything. In this matter,
many a great scholar stumbles.
—Meister Eckhart, German sermon 28, DW 2, n. 66, 4–5

If only they understood what mind is.

—Meister Eckhart, DW 4, n. 1, 652.211, stating his reason for
rejecting all the theologians of his time

We are concerned here with a thinker who presents—granted,

at times more casually than we are accustomed to demand—
thoughts, not impressions, and strives to prove them by a strict
method. He would believe that he was merely treading water if
he were to keep his sentences unexplained and unproven.
—Adolf Lasson, Meister Eckhart: Der Mystiker (Berlin, 1868), 3
 Contents

Translators’ Preface xi

Preface xiii

pa rt on e
1. Life and Works around 1300 3
2. A Forgotten Concept: Philosophy of Christianity 14
3. Self-Portrayals 31
4. Beginnings: Paris and Erfurt, 1292–1298 45
5. The Sermon Cycle on Eternal Birth 57
6. Too Grand a Plan: Prologues to the
Opus tripartitum 75
7. Parisian Debates, 1302–1303 88
8. Programmatic Speeches 102
9. Golden Apples in Silver Peels: The Origin of
the World—An Explanation of Genesis 115
10. Wisdom: In Sapientiam 131
11. Departure: In Exodum 142
 x contents

pa rt two
12. Interlude: Writing about Eckhart Today 155
13. Eckhart’s Intention: Commentary on John, Part 1 166
14. Unity according to Kind: Commentary on John,
Part 2 177
15. A New Christianity for the People: German
Sermons, Part 1 190
16. Spicy Nutmegs: German Sermons, Part 2 207
17. A New Consolation of Philosophy 224
18. Eckhart’s Trial: The Charges 234
19. Eckhart’s Trial: The Defense 252
20. The End in Avignon: “Devil’s Seed” 263
21. Epilogue 274

Notes 281

Bibliography 307

Timeline 311

List of Abbreviations 315

Index 317
 Translators’ Preface

Every act of translation requires negotiation and compromise, especially

with two translators collaborating on the same text. We agreed from the
outset that we wanted to re-create as closely as possible the experience of
reading the German original. Both of us are fluent in English and German,
but both of us are also native speakers of just one language. We naturally
disagreed about nuances of tone and style in the original and the translation,
though we were in agreement about the content and the direction of the
argument. Kurt Flasch’s style is unique, subtle, and careful: how he says
something is nearly as important as what he says. It is in terms of the “how”
that we had to make compromises. A subtlety in the German that one of us
found important could not always be re-created without introducing alienat-
ing diction into the English version, and we therefore decided to retain
Flasch’s idiosyncrasies only where the German is equally peculiar.
A few of these idiosyncrasies merit special mention. Flasch’s style
oscillates between the formal and the conversational and is aimed at a learned
and curious general audience, not just specialists. At times his tone may
border on the irreverent, and Flasch delights in wordplay and vivid images,
some of them taken from German daily life. In our translation we have
attempted to keep the text equally whimsical.
Flasch’s style also relies on a flexible terminology: the same philosoph-
ical concepts are often presented with German synonyms. We have collapsed
some of these synonyms to make the text more readable in English, but
without sacrifi cing variation completely. In this context, our term “being”
deserves a special note. It represents the German terms Wesen, Sein, and
Seiendes to avoid unnecessary complications.We have followed Flasch more
closely in his use of compounds by breaking them apart and translating each
part literally wherever possible. Flasch often eschews Latinisms in favor of

xi
 xii t r a n s l a t o r s ´ p r e f a c e

words with Germanic roots to avoid the impression of loftiness and mysticism
attached to many modern interpretations of Eckhart. Latinate words have a
more elevated sense in German than they do in English, but we have also
tended to avoid Latinisms where possible—with the caveat that they were
sometimes inevitable. Readers familiar with Eckhart scholarship will there-
fore encounter certain terms that seem new or different from those to which
they are accustomed.
Finally, two typographical decisions deserve mention. First, Kurt
Flasch repeatedly uses colons to connect main clauses. We have kept this
important facet of his style to preserve the author’s unique voice. Second, we
have chosen to capitalize certain nouns, such as Oneness, Wisdom, and
Justice, when they refer to the primary determinations. The precise relation-
ship between these primary determinations and their existence in specific
entities is developed throughout Flasch’s reading of Eckhart, but those who
wish to acquaint themselves with the distinction between “Wisdom” and
“wisdom,” for example, can refer to Flasch’s discussion of the prologues to
the Opus Tripartitum on pages 77 to 82 for a preliminary explanation.
We are indebted to our copyeditor Kip Keller and the anonymous
reader for their attentive reading of the manuscript. They offered many
suggestions for improvement, prevented us from introducing inconsistencies,
and caught various typos. Their invaluable comments helped us wade
through and rethink many thorny issues, and both their eye for detail and
their deep understanding of the content helped us improve the text at
several stages.