Hans Denck (c. 1495 – November 27, 1527) was a German

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

and

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

leader during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

Biography

Denck was born in 1495 in the Bavarian town of Habach. After a classical education, he became

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

at the St. Sebaldus school in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

in 1523. He became involved in the trial of the artist brothers Sebald and

Barthel Beham Barthel Beham (or Bartel)With manother variants/ref> (1502–1540) was a German engraver, miniaturist, and painter. Biography The younger brother of Hans Sebald Beham, he was born into a family of artists in Nuremberg. Learning his art from hi ...

, who were expelled from the city in 1524 at the instigation of

Andreas Osiander Andreas Osiander (; 19 December 1498 – 17 October 1552) was a German Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. Career Born at Gunzenhausen, Ansbach, in the region of Franconia, Osiander studied at the University of Ingolstadt before b ...

. In Nuremberg, he met

Thomas Müntzer Thomas Müntzer ( – 27 May 1525) was a German preacher and theologian of the early Reformation whose opposition to both Martin Luther and the Roman Catholic Church led to his open defiance of late-feudal authority in central Germany. Müntzer w ...

, and so first came in contact with radical theology, which he accepted with modifications. In consequence of his convictions, he was banished from Nuremberg in January 1524, and forced upon a wandering life, which he henceforth led until his death. In 1525 he went to

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

where he met in April 1526

Balthasar Hubmaier Balthasar Hubmaier (1480 – 10 March 1528; la , Pacimontanus) was an influential German Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation. Early life and education He was born in Fr ...

who impressed him very much and who most probably baptized him. In late 1526 he fled from there and arrived in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

in November 1526 where he stayed with

Ludwig Haetzer Ludwig Haetzer (also Ludwig Hetzer, Ludwig Hätzer and sometimes Ludwig Hatzer) (1500 – 4 February 1529) was an Anabaptist. Born in Bischofszell, Thurgau, Switzerland, he wrote an article against the uses of images in worship, translated som ...

, a like-minded Anabaptist. He was also expelled from there, and after a long time of wandering in

Southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

he found refuge with

Johannes Oekolampad Johannes Oecolampadius (also ''Œcolampadius'', in German also Oekolampadius, Oekolampad; 1482 – 24 November 1531) was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition from the Electoral Palatinate. He was the leader of the Protestant ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

. After attending the

Martyrs' Synod The Martyrs' Synod took place in Augsburg, Germany, from 20 to 24 August 1527. The purpose of this meeting, attended by about sixty representatives from different Anabaptist groups, was to come to agreement over the differences related to the cent ...

in Augsburg, he returned to Basel where he died in 1527 of

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well ...

. In his writings he fiercely attacked the reformers; together with Haetzer he translated the Biblical books of the Prophets into German (Worms 1527).

Theology

For Denck the living, inner word of God was more important than the letters of the Scripture. He thought of the Bible as a human product, the individual books being different witnesses of one truth. He did not value the scripture as the source of all true religious knowledge, but instead the spirit that speaks from within each person. For Denck the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the rea ...

s were only symbols:

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

a sign of commitment, communion a ceremony of remembrance. Denck held that

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

is the embodiment the perfect person, never separated from God because he has always done God's will. Thus does

serve as model.

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

taught the doctrine of justification by faith whereas Denck's whole emphasis was put instead on discipleship to Jesus. Indeed, his motto was: "''No one may truly know Christ except one who follows Him in life''". It is not clear if Denck was

Anti-Trinitarian Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essence ...

. His enemies as well as modern Unitarian scholars have presented him as Anti-Trinitarian, despite the lack of evidence of this in Denck's own writings. Clearly though, he was a non-dogmatic Christian.

Joachim Vadian Joachim Vadian (29 November 1484 – 6 April 1551), born as Joachim von Watt, was a humanist, scholar, mayor and reformer in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Biography Vadian was born in St. Gallen into a family of wealthy and influential linen mer ...

and Johann Kessler accused Denck of Universalism, but this is unlikely.Ludlow M. 2004

Selected works

*''Von der wahren Liebe''. Reprint of the edition Worms 1527. Nördlingen: Uhl 1983. *''Alle Prophetenn Nach Hebräischer Sprache verdeutscht''. Translation: Ludwig Hätzer u. Hans Dengk. Augspurg 1530. **

Microfiche Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...

-edition: ''The radical Reformation microfiche project ikroform Section 1, Mennonite and related sources up to 1600''. Zug: InterDocumentation Comp., 19XX. *''Micha der Prophet auss rechter Hebraischen sprach verteutsch und wie den H. D. auf diese letste Zeit verglichen hat''. Strassburg, circa 1535.

References

External links

Denck, Hans (ca. 1500-1527)
in ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online'' *Why Was Hans Denck Thought To Be a Universalist?

in ''The Journal of Ecclesiastical History'' / Volume 55 / Issue 02 / April 2004, pp 257–274 {{DEFAULTSORT:Denck, Hans 1490s births 1527 deaths 16th-century German Protestant theologians People from Weilheim-Schongau German Anabaptists Antitrinitarians Protestant mystics Translators of the Bible into German Christian radicals 16th-century deaths from plague (disease) 16th-century Anabaptist ministers 16th-century Christian mystics German male non-fiction writers Anabaptist theologians 16th-century German male writers

Biography

Theology

Selected works

References

Further reading

Anabapist history

Denck material

External links