REFORMATION THEOLOGY AND THE MYTH OF FAUST
I. Martin Luther's Break with Rome:
1517 95 Theses against
Indulgences
Central Theological
Themes
1. Human nature as fallen (St. Augustine)|
2. Salvation by faith alone: not by effort or good works
3. Scripture as only source of religious authority
4. Rejection of Catholic hierarchy (Pope and priests) and
of Catholic "works righteousness" (earning salvation)
Attack on "ECCLESIASTICAL MAGIC" of Catholicism
1. Attack on Mass and transubstantiation; role of priest in
turning
bread
and wine into body of Christ seen as
magical;
words of the consecration seen as incantation: "This is my Body"
Latin:
"Hoc Est Enim Corpus Meum" source of "HOCUS POCUS"
2. Attack on devotion to saints, shrines, rosaries,
statues
ICONOCLASM: breaking of statues, religious objects
3. Attack on "ECCLESIASTICAL MEDICINES" offered by church
as
protection against demons and witches:
e.g. holy
water, images, relics,
exorcism--
all now classified as "superstitious" by Protestants
Role of the devil is expanded by Reformation
1. Polemical attacks on Pope as
Anti-Christ
All enemies as agents of the devil
2. New literary genre: TEUFELSBUCHER ("Devil
books")
personification of vices as demonic
e.g. Sauffteufel = devil of
drunks
1550's to 1590's: multiple editions
II. FAUST
LEGEND
Image of scholar as sorcerer from Renaissance
magic
interest in
"occult" topics at universities
George Faustus of Heidelberg
1540
real scholar with reputation for magic
1587: 1st FAUSTBUCH (Faust Book) published
in Germany
1588-92: Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus in England
III. Why does the witch panic occur
in 16th-17th C. after Reformation?
Issue of availability of remedies vs. fear of the
witch