Jacob Kautz (also Jakob Kautz) (c. 1500 – c. 1532) was an

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, 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- ...

who posted seven theses to the door of the

Worms Cathedral St Peter's Cathedral (German: ''Wormser Dom'') is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral in Worms, southern Germany. The cathedral is located on the highest point of the inner city of Worms and is the most important building of the Roma ...

in 1527. He undermined the authority of the church with accusations of

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...

. In essence, he took

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

's protest to the logical conclusion that individual

freedom of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...

should be enshrined in law. The protest claimed that by baptising infants (and by indoctrinating children with church customs), the church was suppressing individual

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

. Thus, church supporters were not acting on any decision of their own but merely because they were given no other choice. A soul cannot be saved by force, but only by moral persuasion that leads to a conscious decision to embrace salvation. Baptism must be willingly chosen by an adult who understands the meaning of the act. The protest also criticized

's reformation by claiming that the sacrifice of

Jesus 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), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

is not in itself sufficient atonement for sin, especially the sins of people who lived long after Christ and who had no influence on the events of the past. In other words, belief in Jesus must entail following the guidance of Christ in one's own life. Other

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

labeled this "works righteousness" and claimed that the essence of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

is not to be found in doing good works. Kautz, like many Anabaptists, was a Christian universalist. The fifth of his seven theses was "All that was lost in the first Adam is and will be found more richly restored in the Second Adam, Christ; yea, in Christ shall all men be quickened and blessed forever."Apocatastasis
. ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. I''.

References

External links

Kautz, Jakob (1500-1532?)
on ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kautz, Jacob 1500 births 1530s deaths German Anabaptists

See also

References

External links