Daniel Zwicker (22 January 1612 – 10 November 1678) was a German physician from Danzig, and a

Socinian Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...

theologian and controversialist of the

Polish Brethren The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called "Arians" or "Socinians" (, ' ...

Life

He was the son of Friedrich Zwicker,

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

minister of the Church of St. Bartholomew at Danzig. He was educated for the medical profession at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...

which he entered in 1629, and where he graduated with a

Doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

. Florian Crusius first influenced him in the direction of Unitarian theology. He met with considerable opposition, beginning with his brother Friedrich who had succeeded his father as minister. He left Danzig for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Meeting some

Hutterite Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Refor ...

missionaries from

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, around 1650, he spent time at Bruderhofs in the community of Andreas Ehrenpreis; but returned to Danzig. He returned to Strassin, where he lived for a while. From 1657 he moved to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Works

His main theological interest lay in patristics. His ''Irenicum Irenicorum'' (1658) attempted to reconstruct Christian theology before the

Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...

.Arthur Middleton, ''Fathers and Anglicans: The Limits of Orthodoxy'' (2001), p. 245. Zwicker proposed that Christ's

divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

, the

pre-existence of Christ The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ before his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis (substantive ...

, and the

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

were inventions of early heretics. It was attacked in detail by

George Bull George Bull (25 March 1634 – 17 February 1710) was an English theologian and Bishop of St David's. Life He was born, 25 March 1634, in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, and educated in the grammar school at Wells, and then at Blundell's ...

. Bull's biographer Robert Nelson considered him an influential Unitarian, writing: He was criticized by

Samuel Przypkowski Samuel Przypkowski (Przipcovius, Pripcovius) (1592–19 April 1670, Königsberg) was a Polish Socinian theologian, a leading figure in the Polish Brethren and an advocate of religious toleration. In ''Dissertatio de pace et concordia ecclesiae'', p ...

, and fell into controversy with Jan Amos Komenský (Comenius). Following

David Blondel David Blondel (1591 – 6 April 1655) was a French Protestant clergyman, historian and classical scholar. Life He was born at Châlons-en-Champagne. Ordained in 1614, he had positions as parish priest at Houdan and Roucy. After 1644, he was re ...

's ''Joanna Papissa'' (1657) which disproved the historical reality of

Pope Joan Pope Joan (''Ioannes Anglicus'', 855–857) was, according to legend, a woman who reigned as pope for two years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The s ...

Zwicker criticized the ''Joanna Papissa restituta'' of Samuel Desmarets (Maresius) anonymously, in a work published with those of

Étienne de Courcelles Étienne de Courcelles (Latin: ''Stephanus Curcellaeus''; Geneva 2 May 1586 – Amsterdam 20 May 1659) was an Arminian Greek scholar and translator. He studied from 1609 in Zurich, and after that he was French Protestant minister of Amiens, transl ...

Notes

External links

Zwicker, Daniel
in the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwicker, Daniel 1612 births 1678 deaths Antitrinitarians 17th-century German physicians 17th-century German Protestant theologians Polish Unitarian theologians Physicians from Gdańsk German emigrants to the Netherlands German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers

Life

Works

Notes

Further reading

External links