Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century
by James D. Heiser, M.Div., S.T.M.
Before Martin Luther called upon the Church to return “ad fontes” to Holy
Scripture, Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
(1463–1494) endeavored to call the Church to a far different ‘font’—the
writings of the “prisci theologi“ (ancient theologians) of pagan antiquity.
Although Ficino and Pico are well-known for their pivotal role in the Italian
Renaissance, they also sought to ‘reform’ the Church—but they wanted to have
the Catholic Church treat pagan religions and various mystery cults as
divinely-inspired. Neo-Platonism, Zoroastrianism, Hermetical mysticism and
magic, astrology, and the Cabala were all set forth as divine revelations from
the same God.
Zoroaster and Hermes Trismegistus were interpreted as inspired teachers whom
men such as Ficino and Pico believed could provide guidance for the Church in
their time. Their students included future popes (most notably Pope Leo X) and
leaders of the Renaissance, such as Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522) and Konrad
Mutian (1470-1526). Their influence lingers to this day in the “Traditionalist”
movement and in the “postmodern” belief that all religions ultimately lead to
the truth.
In Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century,
Heiser traces the development of this forgotten “Reformation” undertaken by
Ficino and Pico, evaluates its theology and the traces its influence on
contemporary theologians and leaders of the Renaissance.
James D. Heiser is Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America
(ELDoNA) and Pastor of Salem Lutheran Church in Malone, Texas. He also serves
as Dean of Missions of the Augustana Ministerium. He earned his M.Div. and
S.T.M. at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
ISBN 978-1461093824 • 248 pages • paperback • $19.95
To order from Amazon, please use this link: http://amzn.com/1461093821
A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven—
An Exploration of Sacred History
by James D. Heiser, M.Div., S.T.M.
What is history? For many post-modern men—maltreated and miseducated by
substandard pseudo-educators in the holding pens which society calls “public
schools”—history is just a string of disassociated events which reduces to a
catalog of ‘one blasted thing after another.’ Taught to avoid any awareness of
a transcendent significance associated with any event and to simply become
immersed in fleeting concerns, the cultivated ignorance of history has
partially blinded its victims to the reality which surrounds them from before
the moment of birth.
In an age when the value of life is measured only by the perception of
personal material affluence, the most fundamental needs of human beings have
been woefully neglected.
Ours is a dark age, in the proper sense of the concept. It is an age in
which those who claim to know are often the most ignorant—ignorant of the
sacred history which undergirds the history of the race—and thus men are
ignorant of who they are, when they are, and where they are.
An awareness of the darkness of the present age offers the possibility
of repentance, and a return to a civilization worthy of the term.
A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven is an examination of the
relationship between sacred and secular history and mythology in “modern” and
“post-modern” Western civilization. The book is divided into three major
sections:
1) Time and the Church—An Exploration of Sacred, Secular and
Mythological Conceptions of History;
2) The Seven Deadly Values of Contemporary Culture—The Shape of the
Enemy's Weapons Against Our People Today; and,
3) The Thousand Year Descent of the West.
342 Pages • Paperback • ISBN 978-1891469398 • $14.95
To order from Amazon, please use this link: http://amzn.com/1891469398
Rt. Rev. James Heiser, M.Div., S.T.M.
Repristination Press
P.O. Box 173
Bynum, Texas 76631
www.repristinationpress.com
[email protected]
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