Mystiker, Mittler, Mensch: 600 Jahre Niklaus von Flüe. Roland Gröbli, Heidi Kronenberg, Markus Ries, and Thomas Wallimann-Sasaki, eds. Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 2017. 388 pp. €24.80.
Izbicki provides a comprehensive analysis of indulgences granted by Cusanus during his legation in Germany, foreshadowing grievances that would give shape to Luther’s agenda. Noting the lack of evidence that Luther was influenced by Cusanus, Knut Alfsvåg nevertheless identifies important parallels in the theological and philosophical issues they engaged with, as well as the Neoplatonic thinking they expressed in strikingly similar passages. Not all essays are about Cusanus. Christopher Bellitto, for example, considers the transition from reform to Reformation in his examination of the 1513 reform treatise Libellus ad Leonem Decimum. Michiel Decaluwé proposes that church councils can be fruitfully studied as cultural—not just political—phenomena, drawing attention to the human aspect of delegates interacting in a concentrated space, in and outside of formal meetings. To write about Cusanus or about the councils of the fifteenth century without quoting a work edited or written by Gerald Christianson has become no easy task. This festschrift is, therefore, a fitting tribute to Christianson, a former president of the American Cusanus Society and a continuing driving force behind its activities. The essays are no introduction to Cusanus, or an overview of his life and work; they assume a familiarity with the person and his times. Cusanus scholars will acquire new insights throughout these chapters, which, in total, discuss some fifteen major works along with a number of his sermons. In addition, students of church councils, church reform, the Reformation, and Neoplatonism will find papers of value here.