The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

VI. Stiefel Sets Day and Hour Despite Luther’s Protests

MICHAEL STIEFEL (Styfel, Stiffel, Stifel, Stieffel) (1486-1567) was born at Esslingen. He became an Augustinian monk, and was consecrated a priest in 1511. But the spirit of the Reformation set his heart aflame, and in 1520 he left the cloister and went to Wittenberg. He later relates that while still a monk, though not having reached a final decision, he had nevertheless applied the beast of Revelation 13 to Pope Leo X, and attempted, by a slight manipulation of spelling, to get 666 out of Leo’s name, or from “Mystery.” ³⁸ In 1523 Luther appointed him court preacher to Count Albrecht of Mansfeld, and in 1528 he became pastor at Lochau. Luther thought very highly of him, recommending him as a pious, industrious, and well-mannered man of extensive knowledge. He was also an able mathematician and is considered by competent critics as one of the outstanding arithmeticians of his time. PFF2 320.3

Yet for some time Stiefel had devoted himself to a strange cabalistic system of transforming letters into so-called trigonal numbers, seeking to discover the hidden time secrets of the Bible. ³⁹ Sharing the views of the Reformers on the Papacy as the Antichrist, he published in 1532, despite Luther’s protest, Ein Rechen Buchlin vom End Christ. Apocalypsis in Apocalypsim (A Booklet of Arithmetic About the Antichrist. A Revelation of Revelation). PFF2 320.4

CONTRIVES EXACT DAY BY CABALISTIC NUMBERS PFF2 321.1

Believing he had solved the prophetic times by these curious triangular numbers, he thought that the figure 2300 would designate the beginning of the time of the end, and 1335 that of the blessed time. ⁴⁰ He claimed to have found the deep meanings of these prophetic numbers, and submitted twenty-two propositions to Luther intended to show that Christ’s coming in judgment would occur at 8 A.M., on October 19, 1533. ⁴¹ Luther warned Stiefel not to be rash in his conclusions. But Stiefel would not listen, and continued to speak publicly about the exact hour of Christ’s advent. According to his explanation, Christ’s declaration that only the Father knew the day and the hour did not apply after the resurrection. The word of the calculation spread far and wide. PFF2 321.2

Three days before the fateful date he gathered the crowds together, exhorted them to be ready, and began to administer the Lord’s supper. Peasants from far and near had flocked to Lochau; and as he had given away all his belongings, so they had neglected their work for quite a time, thereby losing their harvest. As the appointed hour passed, and Christ did not come, the resultant disappointment of the people knew no bounds. They took Stiefel, bound him with ropes, and brought him to Wittenberg, where some sued him for damages. ⁴² This episode brought upon the Reformation cause reproach for which the leaders were in no way responsible. Yet Luther himself did not take it too seriously, merely calling it a mild temptation. He accepted him in his house for further instruction, and in 1535 he was given another chance at Holzdorf. ⁴³ PFF2 321.3

For fourteen years Stiefel kept himself aloof from prophetic numbers, pursuing PFF2 321.4

purely mathematical studies, and published his Arithmetica Integra in 1543. During the Schmalkaldic Wars, however, his parish was destroyed and he had to flee. He then returned to his cabalistic play with the numbers of Daniel and the Apocalypse, attempting to establish new dates by means of this strange “spiritual arithmetic” that was a plague to his associates. In 1553, in his second treatise, Ein sehr wunderbarliche Wortrechnung, Stiefel admitted his error, in the 1533 experience, and his refusal to heed Luther’s warning. ⁴⁴ In 1558 he joined the faculty at Jena, where for a decade he continued as a simple teacher of mathematics. PFF2 321.5