Menace Eastern-Light, the Man in the Grey Suit

By Johann Heinrich Jung

Jung-Stilling was a mystic and Christian visionary, and member of the German Pietist Brethren. He personally experienced the terrors and tragedies of war after the invasion of Germany by France in 1792, and the effects of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution on religion, morality and life in his homeland. Jung believed that Jesus Christ would come in the year 1836, convinced that the events of Europe during this era were the signs of the end of the age. Jung developed a plan to evangelize and prepare Germany for the return of Jesus Christ, which he expounds in this book. Menace Eastern-Light, the Man in the Grey Suit, written 1795-1800, is a compilation of the mystical and evangelical concepts of Jung. This translation makes available to the English-reading public the valuable ideas and concepts of this unique and famous German mystic and Christian visionary.

The person of Menace Eastern-Light is the alter-ego of Jung. Menace was originally the main character in Jungs book Homesickness, and who always wore grey clothing. Even though Jung is a character in his own book, his is distinct from Menace, and Jung becomes the recorder of the thoughts and opinions of Menace. As alter-ego of Jung, Menace considers himself a demi-god, an angelic entity who descended from heaven and became incarnated; he is commissioned to rectify the corruption of the Christian religion in Germany and to prepare the people for the arrival of Christ in 1836.

The translator is Daniel H. Shubin, who has previously translated 5 books into English dealing with Christianity in Russian and Europe; and is the author of 2 books on the Bible and one on Christian pacifism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 13, 2002
• ISBN: 9781462837694

Johann Heinrich Jung

Daniel H. Shubin, Bible student and teacher for over 25 years in southern California, is author of 2 books on Bible interpretation, one book on Christian pacifism, and has translated into English 5 books dealing with Christianity in Russia and Europe. Dan has been happily married 29 years to wife AnnaMarie, with 3 children and 2 grand-children.

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Copyright © 2002 by Daniel H. Shubin.

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BOOK I

BOOK II

BOOK III

BOOK IV

BOOK V

BOOK VI

BOOK VII

BOOK VIII

INTRODUCTION

BY THE TRANSLATOR

1

Jung-Stilling was born Johann Heinrich Jung on September 12, 1740 in Florenburgh, Westphalia, Germany. His parents were Wilhelm and Doris. His mother passed away while in his youth and he was raised by his father who was a tailor. He was raised in poverty but showed an exceptional ability to grasp information and was able to become a schoolteacher at age 14. After great difficulty and deprivation he was able to study medicine at Strasbourg to become a doctor. In 1772 he settled as a physician at Elberfeld and became prominent in the field of cataract eye surgery, also writing many books in the area of ophthalmology. Later he became a professor at the universities at both Heidelburg and Marburg. Stilling considered himself a German pietist and member of the Moravian Brethren and identified himself with the community at Herrnhut.

On June 17, 1771, Stilling married Christina Friedenberg; he was 30 and she was about 21. Christina was ill most of her life and semi-invalid. When they were married she was in bed, unable to remove herself for a formal ceremony; but Stilling loved her regardless. She passed away after 10 years of marriage. Jung-Stilling married twice after, but for professional reasons rather than that of love.

Stilling died April 2, 1817, at Karlsruhe, Germany, at the age of 76.

2

Among the writings of Stilling are 4 prominent mystical compositions. The first is Das Heimweh, or Homesickness, a massive narrative of several thousand pages written over the period 17941797. The second is this volume, Der graue Mann, or The Grey Man, written over the period 1795-1800. The third is Die Siegeageschichte der christlichen religion, or The Triumph of the Christian Faith, also known as Victory’s Narrative, a commentary on the Bible book of Revelation, published 1799. The final is his Theorie de Geister Kunde, or Theory of Pneumatology, written 1808; it was translated by Samuel Jackson into English and subsequently published in 1851. Some of the content of Grey Man was transferred over to the more thorough Theory. The initial 3 books noted above were translated into Russian by Aleksandr Feodorovich Labsin in the years 1805-1818 and published in St. Petersburg. The books became very popular among Evangelical denominations in Russia.

The title of Menace Eastern-Light: The Man in the Grey Suit, selected by the translator is due to the fact that the lowest classes in Germany during this era wore gray clothes, hence the German title, the Grey Man. The main character of the book is Menace Eastern-Light, and which was also the title of the book in its Russian translation, Ugroz Sveto-Vostokov. Stilling composed Der Graue Mann during the era of the worst of upheavals that devastated Germany society, economy and land, in the years 1795-1800. This period of social, economic and material devastation progressed from 1792 to 1801 as a result of the war with France.

On April 20, 1792, King Louis XIV proposed war on Austria and the French Assembly overwhelmingly approved the proposition. Prussia subsequently entered the war with the initial invasion. The French army numbered 140,000 at the time it invaded Belgium with 3 armies. Two of the armies were defeated and the third retreated. Both sides regrouped their forces, and the French army

further penetrated into Germany, Austria and Prussia. On September 20, 1792, the Prussian army faltered and retreated. France’s army pushed further toward the Rhine River. By the end of 1792, the French gained considerable advance into foreign territory. By 1795, French armies occupied Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, south Germany and north Italy. Prussia concluded a peace treaty with France in 1795, recognizing the Rhine River as the eastern boundary of France. Austrian forces continued to struggle against French forces, but were finally defeated by the military genius of Napoleon Bonaparte. Peace was concluded between Austria and France in 1797, but the wars against the Hapsburg Empire did not cease until peace was concluded with the Treaty of Luneville in 1801. France gained 25,000 square miles of new territory and 3.5 million new inhabitants. The land west of the Rhine River became France, while the land east languished in economic, social and moral decay. It was during these years that Stilling, living in Germany, composed Homesickness and Grey Man.

War against France was renewed by Germany and Prussia in 1805, but the victory was gained shortly after by Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1806, the French-occupied land east of the Rhine River was organized into the Confederation of the Rhine under Napoleonic control, and which so remained until the defeat of Napoleon in 1813, and the subsequent reorganization of the national boundaries of Prussia, Austria, Germany and Poland at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

3

The person of Menace Eastern-Light is the alter-ego of Stilling. Menace was originally the main character in Stilling’s book Homesickness, and who always wore grey clothing. Even though Stilling is a character in his own book, he is distinct from Menace, and Stilling becomes the secretary or recorder of the thoughts and

opinions of Menace. Only toward the conclusion of Book 8 is any autobiographical information provided.

The book is composed of 8 sections, each of them written during the time span 1795-1800. Part of the book is the direct expression of Menace. The balance of the book is designed as a round-table discussion, a question-answer format, with Menace as moderator, preceptor and supreme authority. There are a total of 6 characters involved: Menace, Stilling, Evsevi, Philomist, Policarp, and Evfronim, all of them fictitious characters acting as a channel for the thoughts and convictions of Stilling.

Menace, as alter-ego of Stilling, considers himself a demi-god, an angelic entity who descended from heaven and became incarnated; he is commissioned to rectify the corruption of the Christian religion in Germany and to prepare the people for the arrival of Christ. Stilling was convinced that Jesus would arrive in 1836 in accord with the predictions of Johann Albrecht Bengel, who is mentioned in the text (although Stilling never saw it, having died in 1817).

4

Stilling considered himself a member of the Moravian Brethren, which he mentions as an autobiographical note in Book VIII. The Moravian Brethren was pietist, it was based on teachings originally compiled by John Huss and later materializing as the Bohemian Unity of Brethren in 1457. The Brethren was established in 1727 as an independent denomination at the community of Herrnhut, founded by Count Zinzendorf, a great promoter of German Pietism. Their leadership was taken over by Augustus Spangenber in 1762 after the death of Zinzendorf.

One of the struggles of Stilling in his work for the establishment of a pietistic Christianity was against both the Enlightenment movement and secular clericalism. The precepts and philosophy of the Enlightenment were promulgated in France after the revolution by Robespierre, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the French philosopher Rousseau. The efforts of the new generation of Enlightenment philosophers materialized in the de-christianization of France, with many churches and cathedrals closing for lack of attraction, and some being replaced by shortlived Temples of Reason. The dogmas of the Enlightenment especially migrated to the east into Germany.

The French Revolution equally affected religion as it did politics and economics. The intention of the new Assembly was to secularize religion, making it a branch of the state. This included primarily the secularization of church property and schools. A document drafted by one of the committees assigned by the Assembly was titled the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. It was passed by the Assembly on July 12, 1790, and reduced the Christian religion in France to the Department of Religion, and pertained to Protestantism and Catholicism alike. Bishops, priests and clergy were required to take an oath of loyalty to the new constitution and were now to be elected by popular vote, much like a political position.

This new attitude caused a schism among both the Protestant and Catholic clergy. The assembly attempted to support the clergy who took the oath of loyalty, while the general population tended to favor the clergy who held to the ancient traditions, rites and teachings of their respective denominations. The new order of secular clergy now advocated the gospel of the Enlightenment, whose god was a nebulous supreme being materialized in the concept of Reason, which was now the rule and conscience of the people.

Stilling’s conservative evangelical upbringing and association lead him to denounce the validity of a secular clergy, claiming it inconsistent with the truth of the Bible, and to reprimand them at every occasion for corrupting Christian truth by bringing it in line with the philosophy of the Enlightenment. The modern priests or preachers mentioned in the text are this new order of secular clergy. Stilling also reprimanded hypocrisy that he noticed within his own denomination of the Brethren or Pietists, viewing it as a stumbling to others seeking a community possessing the truth of the Christian teaching. The translator will not further deal with the role or opinions of Stilling, but will leave this up to the reader to ascertain as you study the character of Menace Eastern-Light.

Daniel H. Shubin April 6, 2002

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I first extend gratitude toward the late elder Isaiah Ivanovich Dalmatov, who in 1972 lent me his copy of Menace in Russian (Ugroz Sveto-Vostokov) to read. Shortly after I returned the book to him he passed away and his copy also passed into history. I thank Eliot Fred Nikitin and Allen David Samaduroff who both were able to acquire a copy of Menace for me in 1997.

The word processing of my manuscript was accomplished by my old friend Jack Wolf, who also assisted in editing and review.

The translation is faithful to the original text; and the only emendations added by the author are those to clarify areas and are placed in (parenthesis) or in [brackets].

BOOK I

(Written 1795)

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree:

When its twigs are tender and its leaves appear,

You know that summer is near.

Even so, when you see these events occurring,

Know that it is near, right at the door.

Mark 13:28-29.

1

Menace explains about himself, who he is.

My friend Stilling, in his book Homesickness, burdened me with many matters, and since I often do not enjoy dealing with mischievous persons, he nicknamed me Menace. Although it is not proper to apply such a nickname to an honorable person, I am not angered at Stilling for this. He named me Menace because when I appear in the presence of people, I quite often send shivers up their spine and a cold sweat breaks out on them; while the hair of long-haired criminals stands on end. No doubt there are many who have little concern for me, and these I will leave off until another time when the Lord, who has sent me, arrives in victory with many crowns upon his head to judge all the descendents of Adam. Then I also will appear and those who have had no concern for me during this life will worry over me more than all else.

My full name is Menace God-given Eastern-Light. I am called Menace because I possess a menacing appearance and am seldom joyful due to the crimes of humanity. God-given I am called because I evolved from God; and Eastern-Light because my fatherland, my native country, is the eternal East. In my land the eternal morning reigns, there the sun never sets and I always have an endeavor toward that direction, or a homesickness, as my friend Stilling wrote. And I would want all to be homesick for that place and would want them all to allow me to lead them there. The Lord who sent me to you desires that all of you would travel there. He invites us through his word, Come to me you who labor and are burdened, and especially at the present when these external catastrophes make our path and passage difficult, and more difficulties can be foreseen in the future. I walk throughout solitary places, through forests, mountains, and wild steppes and fertile fields. I travel in the darkness because pseudo-enlighteners are on guard for me, and a multitude of them have darted out of the shadow of death. They throw mud at me, and like juvenile delinquents chase after me with rocks. Although none of this bothers me in the least but I stand on guard for them for your sake, so that those who know me little would not err in understanding me and would not count me a vagrant.

But in order that you would know what my affairs among you consist of, this will clearly disclose that I am a messenger of the King of Kings who is at present armed for the final battle with the power of darkness, and will certainly defeat all of his enemies and conquer them in the end with the sword of his lips which is the word of God. I have been entrusted with the commission to gather good and courageous soldiers for the service of our great and all-benevolent king. His wages are the joy of a good conscience and the inner peace of God. After the war, every one who courageously and valiantly fought and was faithful even unto death will receive as a reward the glistening crown of victory and endless goodness in my fatherland.

But whoever remains neither here nor there, or will not join either the one side or the other, or else will cross over the lines to the enemy, to them I must declare that my King, at the conclusion of the battle and defeat, will execute a stern judgment upon all the negligent and upon all his enemies, and he will incarcerate them in eternal captivity and in a gloomy dungeon where not even one ray of consolation will penetrate, and they will be punished with a continuous dying but not able to ever actually die. From the powerful breath of the eternal spirit the smoldering lamp of the pseudo-enlighteners will be extinguished; they will stumble and fall, never to rise again. Heed this you blind, the blind leaders of the blind! Then I will encompass all of them, scare away the negligent, comfort those suffering and snatch from the flames those blackened by the smoke, and I will continue to do so to the arrival of the Lord. Whoever does not love the Lord Jesus let him be anathema, maranatha; that is, let him be exiled until the arrival of the Lord.1

In order to better fulfill my obligation, I will unveil the command of my King not only orally but also in letters, and will regularly send them to you via my friend Stilling, my friend Rabbah in Nuremberg will be [printing them]. You will gain an advantage by reading them. You live at present in dangerous times: everywhere is war, everywhere is dissatisfaction, and nowhere is there a community effort for the person in need. For this reason it is necessary to motivate you on occasion. Although there is hope that the kind-hearted God will gift you peace and freedom from the burden of the intolerable war, but do not be assured by this, for as long as seditious laws are taught against Christ and the authorities, so will the danger continue and increase, but the judgment of God draws near. Heed this, it is the truth. Sorrowful experience will confirm this to you.

2

Menace disputes with a Pastor, who recedes into numbness as a result of his word and leaves him.

Not long ago I traveled in Bavaria to visit some unfortunate persons suffering from the effects of the war. I possessed the type of passport that allowed me to venture anywhere and no one could hinder me. First, I went along the mountainous shore of the Rhine to discover the type of changes that occurred in the convictions of the residents as a result of the war in their vicinity, and who daily heard the thunder of cannon fire. Seldom did I meet a person who felt that times would return to the way they were earlier, and the number of those that did was comparatively small. So it is said, You punish them, but they do not sense it.2 I began to investigate: For what reason are people so insensitive, careless, cold and lifeless toward every benevolent activity. And I saw that the reason was this: Their preachers do not fulfill their obligation. They should have explained to the people that the actual reason for all the Divine judgments and the present war is due to the fact that when people are not motivated to repentance by the goodness of God their hard hearts must be tested.

The preachers should have been able to turn the attention of their audience to the extreme corruption of every human soul; should have taught them to review closely and diligently their life, to recount the amount—at the same time or at leisure—that they had sinned and how little good they have accomplished. Such a retrospect of yourself would inevitably have created the following results, that they would realize the dangerous state they were in. It is apparent to every person that they can die at any minute. Whoever dies as a sinner cannot be saved, but will absolutely perish. But whoever will recognize that he is in a dangerous state, he will not be lax but will begin to seek means to attain a salvation, one presented to him by faith and which he will utilize.

You will recognize how these preachers think and act based on a conversation which I had with a young priest. He had attained such a high level of enlightenment that he had no religious convictions and he believed in almost nothing at all. He was inflated from his scholarship and knew everything better than the Bible did, accepting only those parts which were conducive to him. The balance of it he considered as the concoctions of men or that it was by some mistaken writer, or that it was bombastic rhetoric and oriental poetic syllabus. But the principal truth of the Christian teaching, regarding the corruption of human nature, regarding the salvation of souls through the Lord our Jesus Christ, regarding the forgiveness of sins through the suffering and death of Christ, he did not believe at all or reinterpreted in his own personal manner. But it is better for me to repeat the more important points of my conversation with him.

From the mountainous portion of Bavaria I turned to the meadows of the sector of the Palatinate, and it seemed to me that I walked as though through the fields of the Promised Land before the destruction of Jerusalem. All nature surrounding me was motionless, as before an impending storm. To the west along the opposite side of the Rhine, I saw mountains that were blue in the distance, and then warm tears flowed out of my eyes as I imagined all the terror and destruction violently waging there in the cities and villages from the French armies. Meanwhile as I was walking alone, thinking about the suffering population, the sun, as a fiery balloon, set behind the thundering mountain. I said to myself, Will the golden sun shine for a long while with its radiant rays upon all of this destruction? When will your Lord and mine command you to set and then arise on peaceful fields and then shine only upon the benevolent, and not upon evil people? I listened; it was as if some type of invisible essence wanted to answer me regarding the question, but then I heard someone behind me speedily moving. Then I turned to look behind me—and not accustomed to standing, gaping in the air—and looked ahead and behind, I allowed a traveler to run past me, who did not look at me. Then, I noticed that he was a handsome young man of about 26 or 28 years. Based on his attire, he appeared to be a clerk from some county seat. His eyes opened widely at me, which people often do when they state directly at my face. He then bows, and as if scared he wanted to run again but could not move forward, and so was forced to walk alongside me for a while.

There are people with whom I will not be the first to strike up a conversation—so it was with this person. Since I was silent he likewise could not strike up a conversation. Finally, he gained some courage and said, Can I ask you dear gentleman, are you from afar?

I: For those who seek me and love me, I am from nearby. But for

those who flee from me and hate me, I am from afar. He: I do not understand this. Are you an immigrant or a displaced person?

I: No, I am not an immigrant, but a migrant.

The young man inspected me from head to foot and could not

understand.

He: So you live here in the Palatinate?

I: Here, and there also. Everywhere and nowhere. Whoever loves me, I will reside with them. Whoever hates me, I will abandon. He: You are an odd fellow. No doubt, you are educated. I: Yes I am educated in the knowledge of God. He: Oh, so the two of us are friends, and we have the same calling.

Where were you taught? I: I am the teacher of all teachers.

He: And not in a university? But I was educated in a secondary school.

I: Don’t you know of the even higher school, the one I was taught in?

He: Oh, this is the question. Is your school really of the type that you describe?

I: How can I prove to you that my school is better and superior that the others?

He: The superior and best school is where genuine truth is taught in all its completeness.

I: Well said. But what is the true and complete truth?

He: According to theology, pure and complete truth consists in the fullest and accurate recognition of all our responsibilities to God, to ourselves, and to our associates.

I: What person is the most evil of all?

He: The one who does not fulfill his obligations to God, to himself, and to associates.

I: Mister Pastor! So are children the most evil of all?

He: Well, children still are not aware nor understand these obligations.

I: So then you ought to say: The most evil of all is the one who knows and understands his obligations to God, to themselves, and to associates, but does not fulfill them.

He: A person should recognize this on their own.

I: Do all people observe their obligations to the extent they know and understand them?

He: Certainly. People possess such strengths, it is only necessary to teach them how to utilize them.

I: Is that how it is? Tell me, Mister Pastor, when people possess such strengths, why do they not utilize them? Do they not know that they possess such strengths?

He: Without doubt, they know. For this reason, when someone wants to do evil but coincidentally senses that he has the strength not to do it—that people only need to not want to do evil—then he will not do it.

I: Marvelous. But why would a person even want to do evil, when he has the strength not to do it?

He: The strength of his carnal senses does not permit him to utilize that strength which he possesses for some benevolence.

I: Tell me in better terms, is the strength to do evil stronger than the strength to do good?

He: Of course. This has always been a basic fact.

I: But can the weaker strength defeat the stronger?

He: No! But the weaker strength for benevolence can gradually strengthen and become finally stronger than the strength to do evil.

I: Well said. But through what means can the weaker strength for benevolence be strengthened, and the stronger for evil be weakened?

He: When a person will present more clearly to themselves, little by little, their obligations to God, to themselves and to associates, little by little he will be convinced in the absolute obligation to observe it. And if bliss be subsequently added to this teaching, which accompanies the life of philanthropy, the strength toward benevolence will increase, while the strength to evil will decease.

I: Mister Pastor, Mister Pastor. If your suppositions are correct, then evil spirits should be the most prone since they are aware of all of this. But perhaps you still do not believe that evil spirits exist, and so we will focus only on people. Do you not know of any learned and lauded people who wrote magnificently about the obligations of a person, and who knew without doubt that evil deeds are accompanied by misfortune, and so while all this was occurring they were wicked and corrupt. In general, Mr. Pastor, I must say that you do not agree with yourself. First you agreed with me, that a person conducts themselves criminally when he does not fulfill his obligations, which they know well. You likewise admitted that no one fulfills their obligations to the extent that they know them. You even affirmed that people know they have the strength for benevolence but do not utilize them. Now you say that it is only necessary to show people their obligations and explain to them the consequences that accompany both crimes and benevolence. You know that people knowing their obligations and the subsequent consequences do not fulfill them. How do you now affirm that it is sufficient for them to know of them in order for them to fulfill them? Pastor blushes and after a quiet moment sincerely spoke.

He: I see that you want to see strength in benevolence in the supernatural activity of the holy Spirit in the soul of a person. But I must dismiss myself from this teaching because it is contrary to sound discernment.

I: Mister Pastor! The truth is not all that you don’t understand. And everything contrary to sound discernment is not beyond your intellect.

He: This I will not state. There is much in nature which no person of any type can understand. But the teaching of the activities of grace in the soul of a person contradicts truth and the