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This book features Anabaptism of the Low Countries from its earliest traceable beginnings to the end of the sixteenth century. The major part of the book is devoted to the hundred years preceding the death of Menno Simons in 1561, after whom the Anabaptists received the name, Mennonites. A decade later the Netherlands gained independence and the Anabaptists were granted relative freedom. Prior to this Dutch Anabaptist refugee settlements and churches had been established along the North Sea and the Baltic Coast from Emden and Hamburg Altona up to the mouth of the Vistula River. The roots of Dutch Anabaptism, similar to those of the Dutch Reformed Church, can be found in the native soil and were nourished and stimulated from near and far. The emerging hwnanistically influenced Sacramentarian movement of the Low Countries modified and spiritualized the meaning of the remaining two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's supper. Dutch mysticism, the Brethren of Common Life, Erasmian hwnanism, the chambers of rhetoric, and the ties with Wittenberg (Luther, Karlstadt, Muntzer), Cologne (Westerburg), (B. Rothmann), Strassburg (Bucer, Capito), Zurich (Zwingli), Munster and Emden led to the introduction of Anabaptism in the Low Coun tries by Melchior Hofmann, coming from Strassburg in 1530.
Sommario
I. The Low Countries During the Middle Ages.- 1. The Geographic and Ethnic Background.- 2. The Political Constellations.- 3. The Cultural Life.- 4. The Religious Life.- 5. Faith, Life, and Leaders.- 6. Asceticism and Monasticism.- 7. The Administration of the Church.- II. The Dawn of a New Day.- A. The Soil and the Seed.- B. In the Embrace of a World Revolution (1517-1530).- III. The Evangelical Sacramentarian Reformation.- A. From Sacrament to Symbol.- B. The Evangelical Movement.- IV. Melchior Hofmann: A Prophetic Layman.- A. From Wittenberg to Strassburg.- B. The Anabaptist Apostle to the North.- V. Anabaptism at the Crossroads.- A. In Search of the City of God.- B. Münster: The New Jerusalem.- VI. Gathering a Christian Fellowship.- A. Sifting and Gathering.- B. The Covenanted Church of God.- VII. Growth and Molding of the Brotherhood.- A. From Antwerp to Danzig.- B. Defining and Defending the Faith.- VIII. Conclusion.- 1. In the Context of the Reformation.- 2. The Swiss and Dutch Anabaptists.- 3. At the Crossroads.- 4. Covenanters of Christ.- 5. The Ministry and the Ordinances.- 6. The Disciplined Brotherhood.- 7. The Christian and his Citizenship.- 8. Lasting Contributions.- Footnotes.- I. The Low Countries During the Middle Ages.- II. The Dawn of a New Day.- III. The Evangelical Sacramentarian Reformation.- W. Melchior Hofmann: A Prophetic Layman.- V. Anabaptism at the Crossroads.- VI. Gathering a Christian Fellowship.- VII. Growth and Molding of the Brotherhood.- VIII. Conclusion.- Selected Bibliography.
