What do you think?
Rate this book
Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers
An important volume of scholarship, this book presents a collection of documents previously little known and inaccessible to the English-speaking world. This volume includes writings of the Radical Reformation--Anabaptist and Spiritualist--as well as three treatises by Juan de Valdes as a representative of Evangelical Catholicism. Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.
420 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
4 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
George Williams
337 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 21, 2024
A UNIQUE COLLECTION (IN ENGLISH) OF RARE WRITINGS
This book contains writings of a variety of Protestant writers of the early to mid-16th century, including Thomas Muntzer, Conrad Grebel, Balthasar Hubmaier, Sebastian Franck, Caspar Schwenckfeld, Melchior Hoffman, Obbe Philips, Dietrich Philips, Menno Simons, and Juan de Valdés.
One writer said in 1525, "the pope did not derive infant baptism from Holy Scripture any more than purgatory, the Mass, prayer to the saints, letters of indulgence, and all the rest." (Pg. 41-42) Hofmann wrote in 1530, "all human notions are sternly forbidden by the Lord, and pedobaptism is absolutely not from God but rather is practiced, out of willfulness, by anti-Christians and the satanic crowd, in opposition to God..." (Pg. 193)
Hubmaier wrote in 1527, "The reason that the fall of the soul is partly reparable, however, and not fatal, even here on earth, but the fall of flesh is to a certain extent irreparable and deadly, is that Adam, as a type of the soul (as is Eve, of the flesh), would have preferred not to eat of the forbidden tree. He was also not deceived by the serpent, but Eve was..." (Pg. 121) Later, he added, "the soul, through the eating of the forbidden fruit, lost its perception of good and evil in the sight of God." (Pg. 128)
Franck is critical of the "doctors of unwisdom, apes of the apostles and antichrists," who "mix the New Testament with the Old," and "when they have nothing with which to defend their purposes, they run at once to the empty quiver, that is, to the Old Testament, and from it prove [the legitimacy of] war, oath, government, power of magistry, tithes, priesthood... and ascribe this all forcibly to Christ without his will." (Pg. 150-151) He concludes, "all that we have learned since childhood from the papists, we must all of a sudden again unlearn." (Pg. 160)
Many of these writings were not available in English prior to the publication of this volume; they are very illuminating for the history of the early Anabaptist movement.
This book contains writings of a variety of Protestant writers of the early to mid-16th century, including Thomas Muntzer, Conrad Grebel, Balthasar Hubmaier, Sebastian Franck, Caspar Schwenckfeld, Melchior Hoffman, Obbe Philips, Dietrich Philips, Menno Simons, and Juan de Valdés.
One writer said in 1525, "the pope did not derive infant baptism from Holy Scripture any more than purgatory, the Mass, prayer to the saints, letters of indulgence, and all the rest." (Pg. 41-42) Hofmann wrote in 1530, "all human notions are sternly forbidden by the Lord, and pedobaptism is absolutely not from God but rather is practiced, out of willfulness, by anti-Christians and the satanic crowd, in opposition to God..." (Pg. 193)
Hubmaier wrote in 1527, "The reason that the fall of the soul is partly reparable, however, and not fatal, even here on earth, but the fall of flesh is to a certain extent irreparable and deadly, is that Adam, as a type of the soul (as is Eve, of the flesh), would have preferred not to eat of the forbidden tree. He was also not deceived by the serpent, but Eve was..." (Pg. 121) Later, he added, "the soul, through the eating of the forbidden fruit, lost its perception of good and evil in the sight of God." (Pg. 128)
Franck is critical of the "doctors of unwisdom, apes of the apostles and antichrists," who "mix the New Testament with the Old," and "when they have nothing with which to defend their purposes, they run at once to the empty quiver, that is, to the Old Testament, and from it prove [the legitimacy of] war, oath, government, power of magistry, tithes, priesthood... and ascribe this all forcibly to Christ without his will." (Pg. 150-151) He concludes, "all that we have learned since childhood from the papists, we must all of a sudden again unlearn." (Pg. 160)
Many of these writings were not available in English prior to the publication of this volume; they are very illuminating for the history of the early Anabaptist movement.
September 21, 2022
Always hard to rate theological works that miss the mark Biblically. This volume covers the more significant contributors to a noteworthy minority during the Reformation—“noteworthy” not for their numbers, their influence, their contribution to sound theology, or a key role in the Reformation, but “noteworthy” in that over four centuries later, a great deal of evangelicalism has devolved into the spiritualistic/anabaptistic hokum that started with these writers. Unsound theology aside, Obbe Philips’ “Confession” is a good read for seeing how hindsight-in-humility can recant a great deal of zealous heresy. Valdes is rather sound compared to the other authors included in this collection, even if the olden dialogue form is a rather canned and unrealistically convenient way of presenting instruction-cum-apologetics.
September 5, 2020
En oerhört oerhört tung bok. Och så häftig i sina texter - i ordet "häftig"s många bemärkelser. När den är som bäst - Valdés och Philips - så gör varje sida mig förbluffad, imponerad och matt. När den är som värst - Munsterrepublikens försvarare tex. - så gör den mig mest trött och ledsen - den är där ett bevis på hur lite instinkten till puritanism har slipats av under de senaste seklen.
Jag är glad att jag läst denna. Jag rekommenderar den starkt, till de som redan har ett intresse.
Jag är glad att jag läst denna. Jag rekommenderar den starkt, till de som redan har ett intresse.
July 12, 2008
it's ok, i have a new appreciation for Hans Denck because of it.
November 1, 2013
An excellent collection of illustrative Anabaptist documents.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews