CARLSTADT, carl'stat (KARLSTADT, CAROL- STADT), ANDREAS RUDOLF BODENSTEIN VON:
Protestant Reformer; b. at Karlstadt (14 m. n.w. of Wiirzburg), Bavaria, o. 1480; d. at Basel Dec. 24, 1541. The assumption that he pursued his academical studies at foreign universities rests upon a confusion with his later journey to Rome. In the winter term of 1499-1500 he entered the University of Erfurt, where he remained until 1503, and then removed to Cologne. In 1504 he turned to the newly established University of Wittenberg, in which he acquired considerable fame as a teacher of philosophy. He was a zealous adherent of scholasticism, advocating the uncon- Training ditional authority of Thomas Aquinas, and Life to By 1510 he had obtained all the higher 1518. academical degrees. In 1508 he received a canonry at the collegiate church in Wittenberg and in 1510 became archdeacon. As such he had to preach and read mass once a week and to lecture at the university. In 1515 he left Wittenberg, without the permission of the university and the elector, and went to Rome, where he studied law and took a degree, hoping to obtain the first prelacy at Wittenberg, for which legal training was necessary. He did not succeed, however, in obtaining the position after his return. His journey to Rome brought about a rupture with scholasticism. The evidence of the worldliness of the papacy which Carlstadt.
Carlstadt
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
saw in Rome may have been the chief factor in the change of his religious views. His 151 theses of Sept., 1516, contain the fundamental traits of his later theology. He combats the scholastics and Aristotle (theses xxxvii., cxliii.), and even anticipates Luther, en the basis of Augustine, concerning the inability of the human will to attain unto God and in attributing the act of redemption exclusively to the work of divine grace. Thus no direct dependence of Carlstadt upon Luther can be assumed : each influenced the other after 1516, although a bond oi personal friendship never united them.
In the spring of 1518 Carlstadt published a comprehensive collection of theses, on the occasion of Eek's attack upon the ninety-five theses of Luther. Here he affirms for the Bible the most absolute authority as a source of religious knowledge and adheres to its literal interpretation. In June and July a disputation took place between Carlstadt and Eck, and although the former was always equal to the dialectic cleverness of his opponent, he became more and more conscious of the impossibility of reconciling his convictions with
the ruling doctrine of the Church.
Deviates He emphasized more and more the
from efficacy of divine grace alone in the
Church redemption of humanity, and wrote
Teachings, polemical treatises against the church
doctrine of justification by works and against indulgences. In 1521 he went to Denmark by invitation of King Christian II. and helped in the establishment of ecclesiastical laws, but after a few weeks in Copenhagen he had to give way before the united resistance of nobility and clergy. In June he was again at Wittenberg, where he expressed his views concerning the Lord's Supper in a treatise Von den Empjahern Zeichen und Zusag des heiligen Sacraments. In this treatise he still clings to the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament, but looks upon it only as a sign of divine promise. In another treatise Carlstadt places beside the literal explanation of Scripture a spiritual interpretation which penetrates its deeper sense and rests upon divine interpretation. Here are to be found certain points of contact between the views of Carlstadt and those of the enthusiasts.
The attitude of Carlstadt in the Wittenberg disturbances and his doings there during Luther's stay at the Wartburg have frequently been represented in an erroneous light. When the Augustinians, in Oct., 1521, refused to hold mass and demanded the administration of the Lord's Supper in both kinds, the university appointed a commission of four theologians, among them Carlstadt, to investigate. Against the more decided attitude of Melanchthon, Carlstadt conceded that the abolition of the mass could only be accomplished with the consent of the magistracy. A letter,
expressing the same spirit and signed
The Ref- by seven professors, was sent to the elec-
ormation at tor. As the excitement did not abate,
Wittenberg, Carlstadt tried to quiet the more strenu-
1521-22. ous by emphasizing the Gospel as the
proper guide in all actions. Nevertheless, the disturbances continued until on Christmas day he administered the Lord's Sup-
per in both kinds. His action was approved by all Evangelicals. From this moment he was silently acknowledged as the leader of the reformatory movement in Wittenberg. He did not stop with the reformation of the Lord's Supper. At the end of 1521 and at the beginning of 1522 auricular confession, the elevation of the host, and the injunctions concerning fasting were abolished. Jan. 19, 1522, Carlstadt married. On being informed of the events in Wittenberg, the so-called Zwickau prophets arrived (see Anabaptists, II., § 1; Zwickau Prophets), but Carlstadt kept aloof; it was only at the end of 1522 that he began to correspond with Thomas Miinzer (q.v.). He proceeded in his reforms in entire conformity with the Council of Wittenberg, in which he saw the supreme authority in the ecclesiastical affairs of the city. He soon opened the battle against pictures in the churches, in which he was assisted by the council. Some small excesses occurred, which, however, were severely condemned by both the council and Carlstadt.
These ecclesiastical changes had aroused the displeasure of Frederick the Wise, who was especially offended by the abolition of the mass. Carlstadt and Melanchthon were called to account. Melanchthon immediately showed himself submissive; Carlstadt also promised in Feb., 1522, to renounce further innovations after he had carried through the reforms which he deemed essential. But Frederick desired an entire rehabilitation of the Old Church usages. The course of events made it impossible for Luther to remain at the Wartburg. He did not agree with Carlstadt's radical measures, believing that forbearance ought to be shown toward the weak. After his arrival at Wittenberg, on Mar. 6, he succeeded in shaking the dominating position of Carlstadt and counteracting his reforms. The Lord's Supper sub una specie was restored, also the elevation of the host. Carlstadt remained as professor in the university, but lost all his influence. As he was thus deprived of the possibility of being active in a practical way, he devoted himself to speculative theology. His views were somewhat mystical, but, unlike the true mystics, Carlstadt was not satisfied with the contemplative rapture in the union of the soul with God, and set up ethical standards for the practical realization of his new convictions. In his desire to do away with all intermediary agencies in the religious communication between God and man, he denied the indelible character of orders and did not even acknowledge the ministry as a special profession. He called himself after 1523 " ein neuer Lai," put off his clerical robes, and lived for some time as a peasant in Segrena, near Wittenberg, with relatives of his wife.
In 1524 Carlstadt became preacher in Orlamiinde, where he carried on the reform of the church service as he had done two years before in
At Orla- Wittenberg. He expounded the book
miinde, of Acts daily to his congregation, and 1524. on Sundays and holidays the Gospel of John. In the course of his development Carlstadt arrived at the conviction that baptism and the Lord's Supper are not sacraments.