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Melchior Hofmann
Melchior Hofmann

Melchior Hoffman or Hofmann (c. 1495 – 1543) was an Anabaptist prophet and a visionary leader in northern Germany and the Netherlands. Anabaptists ( Greek ανα (again twice + βαπτιζω (baptize thus "re-baptizers" are Christians of the Radical Reformation Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands

Contents

Life

He was born at Schwäbisch Hall in Franconia before 1500. Schwäbisch Hall (or Hall for short is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg; it is the capital of the District of Franconia (Franken is a historic region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and the area to its immediate west His biographers usually give his surname as Hofmann; in his printed works it sometimes appears as Hoffman, and in his manuscripts as Hoffmann.

He was without scholarly training, and first appeared as a furrier in Livonia. Livonia (Līvõmō Latvian and Livonija Estonian: Liivimaa; Finnish: Liivinmaa; German and Swedish: Livland Attracted by Luther's teachings, he came forward as a lay preacher, combining business travels with a religious mission. Martin Luther (November 10 1483 February 18 1546 was a German Monk, theologian, university professor Father of Protestantism, and church reformer In religious organizations the laity comprises all persons who are not Clergy. He worked as a lay preacher in the cities of Wolmar (from 1523), Dorpat and Reval. Valmiera ( is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region Latvia, with a total area of 18 Tartu is the second largest City of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual In Dorpat he became involved in an iconoclastic revolt, and the magistrates obliged him to go to Wittenberg to obtain Luther's approval of his preaching. Iconoclasm, Greek for "image-breaking" is the deliberate destruction within a culture of the culture's own religious Icons and other symbols or monuments Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a Town in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe After his return to Dorpat he was involved in more controversy and forced to leave the city.

After the same thing happened in Reval, he decided to go to Stockholm, Sweden, where he arrived in the autumn of 1526. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Here too he was involved religious disturbances and so left Sweden again.

After a short stay in Lübeck he made his way to Denmark, where he found favour with King Frederick I, and was appointed by royal ordinance to preach the Gospel at Kiel. Lübeck ( is the second largest City in Schleswig-Holstein, in Northern Germany, and one of the major The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Frederick I of Denmark and Norway ( October 7 1471 &ndash April 10 1533) was the son of the first Oldenburg King Christian For the city in the United States, see Kiel Wisconsin. For the name see Kiel (name. He was probably the first printer in the city. He was extravagant in his denunciations, and developed a Zwinglian view of the Eucharist. The study of the theology of Huldrych Zwingli since the 1990s has been facilitated by a modern critical edition of his works

Luther himself was alarmed at this. At a colloquy of preachers in Flensburg on (April 8, 1529), Hoffman, John Campanus and others were put on their defence. Flensburg ( Danish: Flensborg, Low Saxon: Flensborg, North Frisian: Flansborj) is an independent town in Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Johann Campanus (also Johannes Campanus) was an Flemish Anabaptist religious reformer of the sixteenth century Hoffman maintained (against the "magic" of the Lutheran interpretation) that the function of the Eucharist, like that of preaching, is nothing more than an appeal for spiritual union with Christ. Refusing to retract, he was banished.

Making his way to Strasbourg, he was well received, until his Anabaptist tendencies became apparent. Strasbourg (Strasbourg stʁazbuʁ Alsatian: Strossburi,; Straßburg) is the capital and principal City of the Alsace région Anabaptists ( Greek ανα (again twice + βαπτιζω (baptize thus "re-baptizers" are Christians of the Radical Reformation He joined with the Anabaptists of the city, and, according to Estep, was rebaptized in April 1530.

In May he travelled to East Frisia, where he established churches and baptized about 300 people. East Frisia or Eastern Friesland ( Low Saxon: Oostfreesland, German Ostfriesland) is a coastal region in the northwest of the He was in relations with Schwenkfeld and with Karlstadt, but assumed a prophetic role of his own. Caspar (or Kaspar Schwen(ckfeld von Ossig (1489 or 1490 &ndash December 10 1561) was a German nobleman who became a Protestant Reformer and Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt (1486 &ndash December 24 1541) better known as Andreas Karlstadt or Andreas Carlstadt, was a In 1532 he founded a community at Emden, securing a large following of artisans. Emden is a City and Seaport in the northwest of Germany, on River Ems.

Because of the prophecy of an old man foretelling six months in prison for him, he returned in the spring of the following year to Strasbourg, where there is reference to his wife and child. He gained from his study of Apocalypse the belief that the Lord would return there in 1533 and received a vision of "resurrections" of apostolic Christianity, first under John Hus, and now under himself. Jan Hus ( (ˈjan ˈɦus alternative spellings John Hus, Jan Huss, John Huss) (c The year 1533 was to inaugurate the new era; Strasbourg was to be the seat of the New Jerusalem. In The Bible, the New Jerusalem (also called the tabernacle of God, holy city, city of God, celestial city, and heavenly Jerusalem

When however he prophesied that the return of Christ would be preceded by a purging of the ungodly, Hoffman was seen as a revolutionary. Under examination, he denied that he had made common cause with the Anabaptists and claimed to be no prophet but a mere witness of the Most High, but nevertheless refused the articles of faith proposed to him by the provincial synod. A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church convened to decide an issue of doctrine administration or application

Hoffman's failed prophecy of the return of Christ contributed significantly to the Münster Rebellion (1533-1534), of which he is seen as one of the authors. The Münster Rebellion was an attempt by radical Anabaptists to establish a Theocracy in the German city of Münster. Two of his followers, Jan van Matthijs and Jan van Leiden, proclaimed that Hoffman was wrong on the questions of the exact time and place, where Christ would return and reign, and named Münster as the correct location. Jan Matthys (also known as Jan Matthias, Johann Mathyszoon, et al John of Leiden ( Dutch: Jan van Leiden, Jan Beukelsz or Jan Beukelszoon; aka John Bockold or John Bockelson Münster ( is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the

As a consequence of the terror inspired by the rebellion and its savage suppression, Hoffman, together with Claus Frey, another Anabaptist, was detained in prison. Although the synod made a further effort to reclaim him in 1539, he stayed there for the rest of his life, until his death in 1543.

Teachings and influence

Hoffman was important in at least one aspect of the development of the Mennonites. The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496&ndash1561 though his teachings were a relatively He adopted the views of Kaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig concerning the incarnation of Jesus, and taught what has been called the "heavenly flesh of Christ". Caspar (or Kaspar Schwen(ckfeld von Ossig (1489 or 1490 &ndash December 10 1561) was a German nobleman who became a Protestant Reformer and Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Menno Simons accepted this view, probably received from the peaceful Melchiorites Obbe and Dirk Philips, and it became the general belief of Dutch Anabaptists in the first century of their existence. Menno Simons (1496 – January 25[[ 561]] was an Anabaptist religious leader from Friesland (today a province of The Netherlands) Obbe Philips (ca 1500-1568 (also spelled Philipsz and Filips) was one of the early founders of Dutch Anabaptism. Dirk Philips (1504-1568 was an early Anabaptist writer and theologian.

Hoffman wrote a commentary on the Book of Daniel in 1526. The Book of Daniel (דניאל, originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a Book in both the Hebrew Bible ( Tanakh) and the Christian Two of his publications with similar titles from 1530 ("Weissagung aus heiliger gotlicher geschrift" (Prophecy from Holy and Divine Scripture) and "Prophecey oder Weissagung vsz warer heiliger gotlicher schrifft" (Prophecy from True, Holy and Divine Scripture) are noteworthy as having influenced Menno Simons and David Joris. Bock treats him as an antitrinitarian, on grounds which Wallace rightly deems inconclusive. Nontrinitarianism includes all Christian belief systems that reject as non-scriptural wholly or partly the doctrine of the Trinity; the Doctrine With better reason Trechsel includes him among pioneers of some of the positions of Servetus. Michael Servetus (also Miguel Servet or Miguel Serveto; 29 September, 1511 &ndash 27 October, 1553) was a Spanish His Christology was Valentinian: while all are elected to salvation, only the regenerate may receive baptism, and those who sin after regeneration sin against the Holy Spirit, and cannot be saved. Christology (from Christ and Greek grc -λογία -logia) is a field of study within Christian theology which is concerned with Valentinus (also spelled Valentius) ( c 100 - c160 CE) was the best known and for a time most successful Early Christian gnostic

His followers were known as Hoffmanites or Melchiorites.

References

External links

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