Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures
- Introduction: Celestial Wonders, Confessional Conflicts and Apocalypticism
- 1 Exploring the World of Wunderzeichen
- 2 Lutheran Clergy and Wunderzeichen Discourses
- 3 ‘An Eagle Hurting Himself’: Flacius's Tract against the Interim
- 4 Irenaeus against ‘Spiritual Wolves’: Polemical Use of Wunderzeichen, I
- 5 Irenaeus against the Concord: Polemical Use of Wunderzeichen, II
- 6 Andreae's Pastoral Use of Wunderzeichen
- 7 Celestial Wonders under the Shadow of War
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Conclusion
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures
- Introduction: Celestial Wonders, Confessional Conflicts and Apocalypticism
- 1 Exploring the World of Wunderzeichen
- 2 Lutheran Clergy and Wunderzeichen Discourses
- 3 ‘An Eagle Hurting Himself’: Flacius's Tract against the Interim
- 4 Irenaeus against ‘Spiritual Wolves’: Polemical Use of Wunderzeichen, I
- 5 Irenaeus against the Concord: Polemical Use of Wunderzeichen, II
- 6 Andreae's Pastoral Use of Wunderzeichen
- 7 Celestial Wonders under the Shadow of War
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
We have explored the world of sixteenth-century Wunderzeichen discourses, focusing on the interaction between celestial wonders, confessional conflicts, apocalypticism and the perception of human sin. Let us summarize what we have discovered from these sources, particularly the Lutheran clergy's publications on Wunderzeichen.
People in the sixteenth century showed great interest in comets, halo phenomena, Fewerzeichen and various celestial visions, which they regarded as signs of God's wrath and impending punishment. Many Lutheran theologians and pastors shared this interest in celestial phenomena, actively engaging in the production of Wunderzeichen literature. The list of theologians who discussed Wunderzeichen in their writings includes prominent ecclesiastical leaders from the latter half of the sixteenth century, such as all five formulators of the Formula of Concord. There were several factors that encouraged their interest in Wunderzeichen. The foremost factor was their eschatological conviction that the Day of the Last Judgement was at hand and the final countdown to the End Times had started with Luther's Reformation. The Gospel and the Book of Revelation warned that restoration of the Gospel, the revelation of Antichrist and the persecutions of believers would occur prior to the Last Judgement, and Lutheran theologians generally agreed that all of these prophecies had come true during their days. Various celestial phenomena strengthened their eschatological conviction because Christ explicitly stated that various signs would appear among the heavenly bodies.
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- Information
- Celestial Wonders in Reformation Germany , pp. 159 - 164Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014