German Sermons - Classic Text | Alexandria
German Sermons - Meister Eckhart
Meister Eckhart's German Sermons (c. 1290-1328) represent a revolutionary corpus of medieval mystical literature that transformed the landscape of vernacular religious discourse and philosophical thought in medieval Europe. These sermons, delivered primarily in Middle High German rather than traditional Latin, constitute a bold departure from conventional theological expression and remain among the most profound articulations of Christian mysticism ever produced.
The sermons emerged during a period of remarkable intellectual and social ferment in the Dominican order, when Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) served as a prominent preacher and spiritual director, particularly to Dominican nuns and Beguines in the Rhineland. The earliest documented references to these vernacular teachings appear in contemporary accounts from the convents of Unterlinden and Engelthal, where Eckhart's radical interpretations of scripture and mystical theology found both enthusiastic audiences and suspicious critics.
These approximately 86 surviving German sermons explore the nature of God, the soul, and their ultimate unity through a sophisticated blend of Neo-Platonic philosophy and Christian doctrine. Eckhart's innovative use of vernacular German to express complex theological concepts created a new mystical vocabulary that influenced subsequent German philosophical and religious thought. His bold formulations, such as the concept of "breakthrough" (durchbruch) to the divine ground and the "birth of God in the soul," eventually contributed to his posthumous condemnation for heresy in 1329, though his influence persisted underground.
The sermons' legacy extends far beyond medieval Christianity, inspiring diverse thinkers from German Idealists to Zen Buddhists. Modern scholars continue to decode their philosophical complexity and linguistic innovation, while contemporary spiritual seekers find in them a surprisingly modern approach to non-dualistic spirituality. The paradoxical nature of Eckhart's teachings - at once deeply orthodox and radically subversive - raises enduring questions about the relationship between institutional religion and direct mystical experience, between learned theology and lived spirituality. How did these vernacular sermons, delivered to largely female audiences, come to reshape the very language of Western mysticism, and what might they still reveal to us about the possibilities of religious discourse?