Niht Enwil Und Niht Enweiz Und Niht Enhât: Eckhart’s Triple Negation and its History

Abstract

ABSTRACT German Sermon 52 (Pr. 52) is one of Meister Eckhart’s most famous. Preached on the first beatitude, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven’ (Mt. 5:3), the homily is an analysis of the de-creation of the self by three negations, ‘not willing, not knowing, not having’ (niht enwil, niht enweiz, niht enhât). Eckhart appears to have adopted this triple negation from Marguerite Porete’s Mirror of Simple Souls, Pr. 52 has been often commented on; what has not been studied is the use of the triple formula by a number of mystics down to 1700. Some of these writers had direct contact with Pr. 52, but in other cases the formula appears to have ranged freely as a kind of aphorism for programs of mystical annihilation. This is part one of a two-part essay, and will offer a comparison of Marguerite Porete and Eckhart on the formula.