Dirk Philips

Dirk Philips (* 1504 in Leeuwarden , †  1568 near Emden ) was, together with his brother Obbe Philips, one of the first leaders of the Dutch and North German Anabaptist movement . Together with his brother and Menno Simons , Dirk Philips became one of the co-founders of the Mennonites .

Life

Dirk Philips, born the illegitimate son of a Catholic pastor, studied theology and then joined the Franciscans . At the end of 1533, Philips joined the Anabaptist movement. A year later he was ordained an elder by his brother Obbe . Within the still young movement, Philips made a name for himself primarily as a strict theologian and dogmatist. Like his brother and Menno Simons, Dirk Philips rejected the apocalyptic and militant ideas of the Anabaptists of Münster around Jan Matthys and collected the pacifist Anabaptists who followed up on the ideas of the Stäbler . With Menno Simons, Philips also shared views on nonviolence , the Incarnation of God (Incarnation) and the Trinity (Trinity). Philips stood for a spiritualistic and monophysite christology . In the discussions about the community spell Philips took along with Leenaert Bouwens a strict position, which led to the emergence of the liberal parties of the Water Country and High German in the Mennonite-Anabaptist movement. In the conflict between Flemings and Frisians, however, he later positioned himself on the side of the Flemings, who more strongly emphasized municipal autonomy. This led to the rejection with Leenaert Bouwens, who joined the Frisians.

Since 1550 he had his main residence in Gdansk , where there were already many Dutch Mennonites at that time.

literature

• Daniel Heinz:  Philips, Dirk. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 512-514.

Web links

• Nanne van der Zijpp : Dirk Philips (1504-1568) . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online