Hans Denck

The title page of Hans Denck's work Vom Gsatz (Law) of God in the Strasbourg edition of 1526. The woodcut shows the lamb of God on the left as a symbol of Christ, on the right a snake as a symbol of Satan , in the middle a scholar with fool's shoes, whose face is cracked open Book is covered. Theologians who believe in Scripture are caricatured as narrow-minded, ignorant book scholars .

Hans Denck (also Johann (es) Den (c) k , authentic name form Dengk , Latinized Johannes Dengkius; * probably around 1500 in Habach , Upper Bavaria ; † November 1527 in Basel ) was a German theologian, humanist , writer and Bible translator.

He turned away from the Catholic Church and turned to the Reformation . He later joined the Anabaptist movement , which practiced believing baptism instead of infant baptism, and became one of its most notable spokesmen. However, he distanced himself from the belief in the salvific meaning of the baptismal rite , because he viewed rites as mere externalities. Denck represented a spiritualistic doctrine that proclaimed the primacy of the voice of God in the human spirit over the wording of external revelation in the Bible.

As a theorist of the radical Reformation movement, Denck formulated core theses of a self-reliant Christianity independent of external authorities. The aim of the radical reformation efforts was to emancipate the individual from religious tutelage that went far beyond Martin Luther's struggle against the papacy and the Catholic hierarchy . Denck's ideas were very influential in the Anabaptist movement. From the opposing point of view, he was perceived as the “Pope” of the Anabaptists, although he did not hold any office. His concept attracted public attention and was taken up by spiritualist thinkers outside of the institutional faith communities.

Denck was highly controversial among his contemporaries. Again and again he got into conflicts with Lutheran preachers, which repeatedly led to his expulsion and forced him to live a wandering life. In modern research, his pioneering role as an independent thinker in an era characterized by denominational compulsion is recognized.

Life

Youth and encounter with humanism and the Reformation

Hans Denck was born around 1500 in the Upper Bavarian town of Habach. Its origin is unknown. Apparently his parents chose him for the profession of scholar. After attending the Latin school , he was enrolled on October 29, 1517 at the University of Ingolstadt as a student of the artist faculty . There he completed his artes liberales studies with the degree of a baccalaureus . Already during his studies he acquired an excellent knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. With that he became a homo trilinguis , a "trilingual" man who realized a humanistic educational ideal by mastering the three classical educational languages ​​Latin, Greek and Hebrew. During a stay in Augsburg he gained access to the local humanist milieu and made friends with the scholar Veit Bild. Thanks to his connection to this educational class, he received a position as a private tutor in the Swabian village of Niederstotzingen in the family of the Augsburg cathedral provost Marquard vom Stain, who belonged to the noble family of the Lords of Stain . At that time Denck wrote three epigrams , two in Latin and one in Greek, for Veit Bild. In June 1520, however, he left the unattractive place and returned to Augsburg or went straight to Donauwörth , where he worked for some time as a cantor and perhaps as a teacher.

The young humanist finally got a job as a schoolmaster in Regensburg in 1521 or 1522 . The historian Johannes Aventinus introduced him to the cartographer Peter Apian , and when Apian published an explanation of a world map in 1521 , Denck contributed a Latin poem to it. At this time at the latest, perhaps already in Augsburg, Denck came into contact with the beginning Reformation movement and joined it. He became a Lutheran and moved to Basel , where the reformer Johannes Oekolampad worked and the famous humanist Erasmus had his residence. As a city shaped by humanism, Basel was very attractive to a scholar like Denck.

In Basel, Denck probably supported Oekolampad, who was a proofreader for the printer Andreas Cratander , and then became a proofreader himself for Valentin Curio . In Curio's printing works he was particularly involved in the publication of the four-volume Greek grammar of Theodorus Gaza .

The rectory of St. Sebald, Denck's temporary residence in Nuremberg

When the position of the rector of the Latin school, the "Sebaldusschule", became vacant in the imperial city of Nuremberg , they wanted to fill it with a humanistically educated scholar, because the lessons had included humanist education since 1509. Oekolampad recommended the influential Nuremberg councilor and humanist Willibald Pirckheimer Denck as a suitable personality. The proposal was accepted, and in September 1523 Denck arrived in Nuremberg and took up the position. In addition to his salary, he received free accommodation and board in the rectory of St. Sebald and frequented Pirckheimer's house. From a minutes of the city council of February 10, 1524 it emerges that he was married. As a zealous supporter of the Reformation, he forbade his students to perform the altar service at mass . But that went too far for the cautious city council: The ban was lifted in June 1524, although Nuremberg had already decided in favor of the Reformation the previous year.

In Nuremberg Denck came into contact with radical Reformation groups that were dissatisfied with the Lutheran Reformation. They called for a more far-reaching reform of the church and, in some cases, of the political and social conditions. Thomas Müntzer , a leading representative of the social-revolutionary wing of this direction, and the reformer Hans Hut , who was close to Müntzer at the time, stayed temporarily in Nuremberg. It is unclear whether Denck met Müntzer. In any case, he met Hut, which he also housed. Out of disappointment with the concrete results of the Lutheran Reformation, he joined the radical Reformation movement. He came into sharp contrast to the ruling Lutheranism.

The first page of the Confession written by Hans Denck in January 1525. State Archives Nuremberg , SI, L 78, No. 14

The reason for the outbreak of Denck's conflict with the Lutherans was his relationship with two students of Albrecht Dürer , the painters and engravers Barthel Beham and Sebald Beham . In particular through them he was connected to Nuremberg humanism, but the Behams were suspicious outsiders in the city; they were scolded as "godless painters" because they were suspected of completely disregarding the authority of scriptures. They were denounced and held accountable for their criticism of religion. During the interrogation, Sebald Beham named Dencks, whereupon he was summoned by the city council to investigate his orthodoxy and questioned on January 10, 1525. Among the Lutheran preachers who subjected him to the test of faith was the reformer Andreas Osiander . They tried to corner him, but they failed to elicit compromising statements from him. According to the preachers' statements, he defended himself so skillfully that they could not get hold of him because of his oral answers. He was therefore required to give written comments on seven controversial theological questions. He complied with this request by submitting a confession, which he also had a copy circulated. It is the first surviving testimony to his theological world of thought and shows considerable similarities with the writings of Müntzer. Openly and drastically, he also described his insecurity and his agonizing doubts about faith. The council submitted the confession to the Lutheran ministers for consideration. Their report, in which Osiander was in charge, turned out to be devastating: Denck was accused of spreading a poisonous error together with his friends. He is unteachable. He was particularly resentful of the publication of his statement, which shows his stubbornness. On January 21, 1525, the city council decided to expel him. He was forced to leave the city that same day after taking an oath never to return. His wife stayed behind in Nuremberg. The news of these events spread in Germany and caused a stir.

Radical reformatory and scientific activity

In the spring or summer of 1525 Denck went to St. Gallen . His local host belonged to the movement of the Baptist at which the infant baptism rejected and the believers' baptism practiced adult. Denck made an excellent impression on the St. Gallen reformers Johannes Kessler and Joachim Vadian as a person, although they resolutely rejected his theology.

In September 1525 Denck settled in Augsburg. There the city council allowed him to work as a Latin and Greek teacher. In April 1526 he met the Baptist missionary Balthasar Hubmaier . Its persuasiveness is said to have moved him to receive the baptism of believers, but this is controversial in research; only its connection to the Anabaptist movement is certain. When Hans Hut came to Augsburg soon afterwards, Denck baptized him. In the following years Hut became one of the most famous Anabaptist missionaries. With the entry into the Anabaptist community, which was opposed everywhere by the reformers as well as by the Catholic Church, Denck definitely made himself a dissident . He now belonged to a religious minority that was suspect, hated and persecuted in many places.

In Augsburg, Denck published his three writings in 1526: “ What is said that the Scriptures say that God does and makes good and bad ”, “ Of God's law ” and “ Who truly loves the truth ”. In the first two works he attacked core elements of Lutheran theology, in the third he put together contradictions between biblical statements in order to discredit the literal interpretation of the Bible by Lutherans. In doing so, he provoked the local preachers, who first warned him and then summoned him for interrogation, with Urbanus Rhegius playing a key role. Denck initially allowed himself to be interviewed, but then did not wait for the outcome of the conflict, but left the city and turned to Strasbourg . He arrived there in early November 1526. The imperial city of Strasbourg was then a refuge for religious dissidents, because the Strasbourg Council was known to be relatively tolerant. The three writings printed in Augsburg were widely distributed; they were read in southern Germany and Switzerland as well as in Upper Austria and Moravia .

In Strasbourg Denck met the dissident theologian Ludwig Hätzer , with whom he later worked closely on an academic basis. He openly spread his convictions, with much approval after the portrayal of the reformer Wolfgang Capito . However, as before in Nuremberg and Augsburg, he soon came into conflict with the local preachers, who found his appearance as a serious disturbance. The city's leading reformer, Martin Bucer , perceived his spiritualism as a threat to Reformation work and wanted to suppress his influence. On December 22nd, 1526, a public disputation took place between Bucer and Denck, in which Denck appeared conciliatory, highlighted the similarities and defended his position very skilfully. He tried to bring about an understanding, but it was precisely his assessment that there was essentially a consensus that provoked Bucer and Capito, as it appeared to the preachers to be hypocrisy. The city council took offense that Bucer had held the event without permission, but took his side in the matter. Bucer succeeded in getting his opponent expelled. At Christmas 1526 Denck had to leave Strasbourg. He now went missionary through the country; There is evidence of stays in Bergzabern , where he discussed with Jews, and in Landau , where he put forward arguments against infant baptism in a public debate. Finally he settled in Worms for a while .

Title page of an Augsburg edition of the Worms Prophets from 1528

In Worms, Denck completed his most famous work, which he created together with Ludwig Hätzer: the Worms prophets named after the place where the first edition was printed . This is the first printed German translation of the Old Testament prophets based on the original Hebrew text. It was published on April 13, 1527 by the Worms printer Peter Schöffer the Younger and was soon widely distributed in numerous editions. The motivation and objectives of the translators were not only theological, but also critical of rule and society: Against the background of the bloody suppression of the peasant uprisings in the peasant war and the beginning of the Anabaptist executions, the polemics of the Old Testament prophets against injustice and abuse of power became particularly topical.

Jewish scholars who were consulted by Hätzer and Denck made a significant contribution to the high-quality translation. As a result of this collaboration, Jewish influence can be seen in the Worms prophets . What is striking is the complete abandonment of a christological interpretation of the Old Testament texts. It has always been customary in Christian theology to interpret certain statements of the prophets as indications of the future appearance of Christ as Messiah . Hätzer and Denck omitted any reference to these common interpretations in their explanatory notes. Thus they created a neutral translation that was also acceptable from a Jewish point of view.

In addition, Denck published two of his own writings in Schöffer's print shop in 1527, Of the true love and order of God . In Worms he worked with some success for the spread of Anabaptism. Among other things, he succeeded in converting the preacher Jakob Kautz . When the dissidents went public with their convictions, the city council intervened. Kautz, who in June 1527 had publicly committed himself to central points of Denck's theology with seven theses, was expelled. Denck moved away from the city and thus anticipated the expulsion.

Now Denck had to go hiking again. Since, by his own admission, he was not fit for any manual labor, he was dependent on support to secure his livelihood. To make matters worse, he was faced with resistance from local preachers everywhere. In opposing his works, the Lutherans warned against him and his teaching. The pastor Andreas Althamer , a decided opponent of spiritualistic theology, wrote the treatise Diallage in response to Denck's Who Truly Loves Truth . However, Althamer avoided naming the author of the opposed work. He wanted to show that the contradictions between biblical passages compiled in Denck's writing were only apparent and that the statements could therefore be taken literally. In doing so, he defended the Lutheran principle " sola scriptura ", according to which the Holy Scriptures interpret themselves because their wording is clear and the meaning is obvious. Bucer, Urbanus Rhegius, Martin Cellarius and Johannes Bader also wrote treatises with which they confronted Denck.

Denck moved around in Swabia and Switzerland and spread his ideas. He came to Basel, Zurich , Constance , Schaffhausen , Ulm and Augsburg. In August 1527 he took part in the " Augsburg Synod of Martyrs ", a supraregional meeting of Anabaptist theologians who wanted to reach a minimum consensus among themselves. Denck was a celebrity there, but does not seem to have played a significant role.

End of life in Basel

In October 1527 Denck arrived again in Basel. There he was able to build on his old friendship with Oekolampad, who was still well-disposed towards him, but his Anabaptism aroused offense even in this relatively tolerant environment, and the city council had strictly forbidden citizens to accommodate Anabaptists. Probably at Oekolampad's insistence, Denck decided to write a statement in which he declared the baptism of believers to be insignificant and dispensable and thus distanced himself from Anabaptism. This did not mean a conversion to the Lutheran or Zwinglische doctrine, but a rejection of any form of denominational dogmatics and thus also of the binding force of Anabaptist beliefs. The controversy over the rites of baptism and the Lord's Supper , which upset contemporaries, was irrelevant for Denck and basically irrelevant. Since he saw only external signs in ceremonies, he could renounce Anabaptism without betraying his beliefs. What was left was religious individualism. Denck died of the plague in mid-November 1527 . The title Revocation , under which his last statement was printed after his death, is misleading because he had revoked nothing of what was essential to him.

Teaching

In Denck's teaching, the core ideas of the spiritualistic theology of the sixteenth century are already fully formulated. The starting point is his criticism of the main reformers' faith in scripture, especially Luther. He warns against superficially equating the literal wording of the Bible with the truth, rather than advancing to a genuine understanding. To justify this warning, he points to contradicting statements in the biblical books, because of the contradictions of which a literal interpretation fails. Denck is convinced that the Bible reveals the divine will, but it is only an external testimony and belongs to the imperfect earthly world. Therefore, if one wants to grasp the meaning, one must not cling to the letter. The insistence on the wording is an expression of human complacency and only leads to the formation of sects and discord. A text cannot contain the pure divine truth, but can only point to it and prepare for its knowledge. Thus, one cannot come to a correct understanding of God's will and work and fathom his mysteries simply by reading the Holy Scriptures. Rather, what is required is an inner revelation that God gives to the prepared man. Only then does one obtain the key to understanding the biblical statements and resolving the contradictions. The text of the Bible serves only as a subsequent confirmation of what has been revealed by the Spirit. One can certainly attain bliss without a Bible or a sermon; otherwise all would be lost who cannot read and no preacher can get to their homes. Where one is unsure, one has not yet participated in the inner revelation and must therefore abstain from judgment.

Denck describes the source of inner revelation as "the truth in me" or "the word in the heart". What is meant is an unspectacular, spontaneously occurring act of knowledge, not an ecstasy or a vision . According to Denck, the prerequisite for the occurrence of revelation is an inward conversion of man. This includes that the seeker of truth puts his learning, the source of his prejudices, aside, recognizes his ignorance and thus creates space in his heart for the voice of God's spirit. Denck sees the outward sign of this inner renewal in baptism. Therefore, he rejects infant baptism because it is not connected with a personal decision of the person being baptized, and opposes it with the “believing baptism” of adults as a conscious step. However, in the performance of the baptismal rite he does not see an act that mediates salvation, but only a symbol. Likewise, in his mature doctrine - unlike in the early days - he regards the Lord's Supper only as a celebration of remembrance and rejects the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in bread and wine , which Luther defended . For Denck, all rites are mere externalities that do not contribute to salvation .

In Denck's view, the historical Jesus is the teacher and the binding example of Christians, but not the immediate cause of redemption. People are not redeemed by a unique historical event, the death of Christ on the cross, but by God's will to redeem, which is always and everywhere independent and to which they can open at any time. Christ differs from other people only in that he never apostatized from God.

Denck regards the opinion widespread among Protestants as a fatal error that Christ saved Christians through his sacrifice, so that one now only has to believe in him and no longer have to exert himself, because the way of life is irrelevant. For Denck, faith and ethical action are inseparable, an unethical lifestyle proves a lack of faith. With this he turns against the Lutheran doctrine of the “ justification ” of believers solely through grace ( sola gratia ) and solely through faith ( sola fide ) . He rejects the separation of faith from moral demands, which, according to his criticism, leads to the fact that one can regard oneself as a Christian based on an act of faith and at the same time lead an unchristian life. Denck's emphasis on right action, however, does not mean a return to the principle of work righteousness , which was rejected by the Reformation , according to which one should do good in order to earn merit from God and to obtain His grace. Like Luther, Denck rejects such an attitude.

From the absolute goodness of God, according to Denck's argument, it inevitably follows that all punishments that God imposes serve exclusively to instruct and correct the punished and thus to redeem them. Otherwise there would be something evil in God and thus an inner contradiction and conflict. From this, Denck concluded, as can be seen from reports from his interlocutors, that there could be no eternal punishment in hell. Rather, redemption in the sense of the apocatastasis must be given to all. This view, which is now called universalism , contradicts both Catholic dogmatics and the teaching of the reformers. Denck's opponents found his universalist position particularly scandalous. They objected that the wicked and the devils would also have to be saved. The subject was highly explosive, and Denck only verbally advocated universalism; his writings contain no statement in this sense.

Another consequence of Denck's conception of God is the rejection of Luther's doctrine of predestination . According to Denck's criticism, their concept of predestination by God shifts the origin of evil to the deity, since it makes God himself the author of sin, and relieves man of responsibility for his deeds.

In his main address , a short treatise published posthumously in 1528, Denck deals with the problem of the relationship between unity and plurality. He emphasizes the oneness of God. All unity has its origin in God, who stands as " the one " of all duality and thus all discord. Everything created must be created for the some, otherwise there would be no order. Every creature is a “counter-throw” of the one and as such offers the opportunity to recognize the one. First and foremost, this applies to man as a rational being. It is man's destiny to return from everything "divided" - the division - into the unity. This can only happen by giving up everything that is “contrary to the one”. Since all disagreement is based on inequality in will, it is only a matter of establishing unity between the divine and human will. That is the serenity . Denck sees this process based on a free human act of will as the deification of man.

The state is a necessary evil from the perspective of the dissident Denck. The existing social order is godless, the authorities unjust and bellicose. The believer has to accept this and keep away from it. With regard to earthly goods, Denck believes that one should neither desire nor despise them. He calls for general religious tolerance that should also extend to Jews, Muslims and pagans .

Aftermath

Denck's oeuvre is narrow in comparison with the production of contemporary reformers, which is due to its short lifespan. The real works - writings, letters and poems - comprise around a hundred pages in the modern complete edition. It was not until he was two years old that he began to publish. The aftermath that he achieved was based not only on the dissemination of the scriptures, but also on the fact that other dissidents took up his ideas and carried them on.

Early modern age

The contemporaries remembered Denck, who died early, as the spokesman for the Anabaptist movement. Martin Bucer called him the “Pope” of the Anabaptists, Urbanus Rhegius their “Abbot”, and Sebastian Franck their “Bishop”. The influence of his ideas on contemporary radical Reformation-minded theologians such as Franck and Johannes Bünderlin , and probably also on Christian Entfelder, was significant . The core theses of these spiritualists agree with his own. Hans Hut took over Denck's list of contradictions between biblical statements in a script that he had printed in 1527. Sebastian Franck dedicated a chapter to Denck in his heretic chronicle published in 1531 .

The Worms prophets met with a negative response from leading contemporary reformers, based not on philological objections to quality, but on aversion to the theology of the translators. Luther, who did not finish his own translation of the books of the prophets until 1532, expressed his appreciation of the diligence that had been expended in Worms, but criticized that Denck and Hätzer had used the help of Jewish scholars. Because of the participation of contributors who were not devoted to Christ, he rejected the result because it did not grow out of right faith. The Zurich reformer Huldrych Zwingli also criticized the Worms prophets . He accused the translators - without naming them - of advocating an erroneous theology and therefore being unable to provide a consistently correct translation. In Nuremberg the censors reacted quickly to the publication of the unpopular scholars: there, the sale of the Worms prophets was banned as early as May 1527 . In 1560, the Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger polemically referred to Denck and Hätzer as " rabbis " of the Anabaptists, alluding to their collaboration with Jews and suggesting that the two dissidents were close to Judaism.

In the year after Denck's death, Peter Schöffer printed the last statement of the deceased on theological issues, misleadingly titled as revocation , which was also the legacy of the radical Reformation thinker. In the same year Schöffer brought out an edition of the late medieval Theologia deutsch , a spiritual writing that Luther valued and which apparently also influenced Denck. As an appendix to this print he added a number of main speeches , a short compilation of theses that should be “studied by every student of Christ”. A “servant of God” - probably meant is a hater - sent the Theologia in German to him for printing. Denck has been the author of the main speeches since the late 17th century . This ascription is considered plausible in modern research. The main speeches became widespread in the Protestant world with the Theologia deutsch . They were translated into Latin in 1557 and into French in 1558.

In 1532 a German Micha commentary appeared in Strasbourg , the printer of which, Jakob Cammerlander, named Denck as the author. Although the work contains ideas of the spiritualist, it is considered spurious because of its style in research. It probably comes from Denck's environment.

Later, Denck was largely forgotten. In the 17th and 18th centuries it received little attention outside of Anabaptism. However, the Anabaptists - both Mennonites and Hutterites - cherished the memory of him. In 1680 an anthology of edifying texts was published in Amsterdam with the title Spiritual Flower Garden , which contains five works by Denck.

Modern

General

In the modern era, Denck has been widely recognized as a progressive spirit and forerunner of modern ideas. In the 19th century, liberal theologians were enthusiastic about him, and the influential church historian Adolf von Harnack counted him among the “heroes of a rising age” and creators of the modern spirit. Denck's attitude, which was unusually conciliatory for the time, is recognized in modern judgments. On the other hand, it is criticized several times that he did not work out his teaching clearly enough. In older specialist literature he is portrayed as an important leader of the Anabaptist movement. Later studies and more recent special literature, on the other hand, describe him primarily as an outsider and individualist; as the author of an independent teaching, he was only a marginal figure in Anabaptism. He is referred to as a non-representative “half-baptist”. It is also stated that although he was impressive and able to convince his audience, he was not suitable as a leader.

An often discussed and highly controversial topic is the extent of Thomas Müntzer's influence on Denck. Some historians emphasize the similarities between the two, others consider the similarities to be secondary and point out significant differences. An alternative explanation of the parallels is that they can be traced back to the adoption of ideas of the late medieval theologian Johannes Tauler . The background of the different perspectives is formed by different ideas of Denck's personality: One research group sees him as an apolitical pacifist who has little in common with the revolutionary Müntzer, while another assumes that Müntzer's socially critical and anti-governmental ideas had a significant influence on all spiritualists of the 16th century .

Individual contributions to the discussion

The archivist Ludwig Keller drew the attention of experts and the public interested in the history of the Reformation to Denck when he published an account of him in 1882 with the title An Apostle of the Anabaptists . As a proponent of an undogmatic Christianity, Keller made a reference to the present; he wanted to spread Denck's ideas and make them fruitful for the modern age. His presentation met with criticism because of errors and lack of balance, but met with strong response.

The historian Friedrich von Bezold , who was particularly concerned with the history of the Reformation, wrote in 1890 that the "fine and linguistically well-trained" Denck had with the boldness of a resolute idealist also drawn the extreme conclusions from the teachings of the late medieval German mystics , up to the abolition of the deity of Christ and denial of the Trinity . He opposed the doctrine of predestination of Luther and Zwingli with his conviction of the ability of man to rise to God. This inevitably had to lead to the negation of eternal damnation.

The Tübingen church historian Alfred Hegler wrote the article on Denck in the third edition of the Realencyklopadie for Protestant Theology and Church (1898). He found that Denck's principles “do not carry out the Reformation ideas more consistently, but destroy them at their core”; his opponents correctly recognized this. He was a "noble, ideally directed person", but was not able to bring his ideas into a fixed context and to full clarity.

The theologian, philosopher and historian Ernst Troeltsch described Denck in 1912 as one of the most humanly attractive personalities of the Reformation period. He had opposed both the "externality of the contradicting Bible letter" and the "disregarding the divine soul ground of people into the chosen and the damned" and the "ecclesiastical ethics that are compatible with the world".

The Mennonite historian Christian Neff paid tribute to Denck's writings in 1913, which were "on a moral level" that was extremely rare in his time. His statements are characterized by purity and honesty of disposition as well as by religious tolerance and tolerance, and he has tried to do justice to opponents. With this attitude he far surpassed his contemporaries.

In 1929, the historian Rudolf Stadelmann described Denck's intellectual situation during his time in Nuremberg. It was an atmosphere of spiritual dissolution that "wore out and ruined the heretic who doubted his faith at a young age."

The Reformation historian Robert Stupperich found in 1957 that Denck had put ethical interests above religious ones. His religious feeling had turned against all fixed forms. He had not been able to develop his thoughts to full clarity.

For the Reformation historian Werner O. Packull , who characterized Denck as an “ecumenical Baptist” in 1977, the teaching of the dissident reformer should be understood from the point of view of God's immanence . The individual aspects of his theology, anthropology and ethics, especially the demand for tolerance, are consequences of his conviction of the presence of God in all of creation and therefore in every human being. With the concept of a general, supra-historical inner revelation as the highest authority, he undermined the importance of historical revelation. Therefore, his conflicts with the church preachers were inevitable.

In 2000, the historian of philosophy André Séguenny, who is primarily concerned with the religious and intellectual history of the Reformation, emphasized the basic humanistic trait in Denck's world of thought, which is evident in his high regard for human dignity. In Denck you can see a student of Erasmus who has pushed his reflection to its final consequences, which Erasmus himself wanted to avoid. As a defender of Erasmus' image of man and the humanistic ideals, Denck had become an opponent of Luther, whose teaching he had completely rejected.

expenditure

• Hans Denck: Writings. 1955-1960
  • Part 1: Bibliography. Edited by Georg Baring. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1955.
  • Part 2: Religious Writings. Edited by Walter Fellmann. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1956.
  • Part 3: Exegetical writings, poems and letters. Edited by Walter Fellmann. Gütersloh publishing house Gerd Mohn, Gütersloh 1960.
• Adolf Laube (Ed.): Pamphlets from the Peasants' War to the Anabaptist Empire (1526–1535). Volume 1, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-05-000936-5 , pp. 622–666, 798–807 (edition of the writings “ What is spoken that the scriptures say, God does and does good and bad ”, " From the law of God " and " Revocation " with preliminary remarks and explanations).

literature

Overview representations

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Denck, Hans. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1256-1257.
• Werner O. Packull :  Denck, Hans . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE). Volume 8, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1981, ISBN 3-11-008563-1 , pp. 488-490.
• Gottfried Seebaß : Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer , Alfred Wendehorst (Hrsg.): Fränkische Lebensbilder. Volume 6, Schöningh, Würzburg 1975, ISBN 3-87717-207-5 , pp. 107-129
• Robert Stupperich :  Den (c) k, Hans. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 599 f. ( Digitized version ).

Investigations

• Wayne A. Allen: Hans Denck: A First Generation Radical Reformer. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor 1985 (Dissertation, Rutgers University, New Brunswick 1985)
• Clarence Bauman: The Spiritual Legacy of Hans Denck. Interpretation and Translation of Key Texts. Brill, Leiden 1991, ISBN 90-04-09291-9
• André Séguenny: Les spirituels. Philosophy et religion chez les jeunes humanistes allemands au seizième siècle (= Bibliotheca Dissidentium . Scripta et studia , No. 8). Valentin Koerner, Baden-Baden 2000, ISBN 3-87320-878-4 , pp. 89–127

Web links

• Literature by and about Hans Denck in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by Hans Denck  in the German Digital Library

Remarks

1. ↑ See also Georg Baring (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 1, Gütersloh 1955, pp. 16-18.
2. ↑ For the dating see Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 8 and note 1.
3. ^ Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 8 f .; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 109–111; Jan J. Kiwiet: The Life of Hans Denck. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 31, 1957, pp. 227-259, here: 230-233.
4. ^ Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 9; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 110 f .; Georg Baring (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 1, Gütersloh 1955, p. 61.
5. ^ Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 9; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 111 f .; Georg Baring (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 1, Gütersloh 1955, p. 65 f.
6. ^ Georg Baring: Hans Denck and Thomas Müntzer in Nuremberg 1524. In: Archive for Reformation History 50, 1959, pp. 145–181, here: 147 f.
7. ↑ Georg Baring: Hans Denck and Thomas Müntzer in Nuremberg 1524. In: Archive for Reformation History 50, 1959, pp. 145–181, here: 148 f .; Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 9 f .; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 113 f .; Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525-1531 , Scottdale 1977, p. 37.
8. ↑ See Georg Baring: Hans Denck and Thomas Müntzer in Nuremberg 1524. In: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 50, 1959, pp. 145–181, here: 148–155; Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 10.
9. ↑ Georg Baring: Hans Denck and Thomas Müntzer in Nuremberg 1524. In: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 50, 1959, pp. 145–181, here: 155 ff., 175; Gottfried Seebaß: Müntzers Erbe , Gütersloh 2002, pp. 178–180.
10. ↑ The report is edited by Gerhard Müller (Ed.): Andreas Osiander d. Ä .: Writings and letters 1522 to March 1525 , Gütersloh 1975, pp. 411–417.
11. ^ Walter Fellmann (ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 10 f .; Clarence Bauman: The Spiritual Legacy of Hans Denck , Leiden 1991, p. 8 f .; Georg Baring: Hans Denck and Thomas Müntzer in Nuremberg 1524. In: Archive for Reformation History 50, 1959, pp. 145–181, here: 176 f.
12. ↑ On this stay and its dating, see Wayne A. Allen: Hans Denck: A First Generation Radical Reformer , Ann Arbor 1985, pp. 98–116.
13. ^ Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 11 f .; Jan J. Kiwiet: The Life of Hans Denck. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 31, 1957, pp. 227-259, here: 241-243.
14. ↑ Werner O. Packull: Denck's Alleged Baptism by Hubmaier. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 47, 1973, pp. 327-338, here: 327-330; Clarence Bauman: The Spiritual Legacy of Hans Denck , Leiden 1991, p. 10 and note 14; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 118 f.
15. ^ Walter Fellmann (ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 12; Clarence Bauman: The Spiritual Legacy of Hans Denck , Leiden 1991, p. 10 f.
16. ↑ Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, p. 12 f.
17. ^ Claude R. Foster: Hans Denck and Johannes Bünderlin: A Comparative Study. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 39, 1965, pp. 115-124, here: 115 f.
18. ^ Klaus Deppermann: Melchior Hoffman , Göttingen 1979, p. 163; Otto Erich Vittali: The Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, p. 8 f. and note 5.
19. ↑ For the course of the debate, see Hans-Werner Müsing: The Anabaptist Movement in Strasbourg from Early 1526 to July 1527. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 51, 1977, pp. 91-126, here: 101-104.
20. ^ Klaus Deppermann: Melchior Hoffman , Göttingen 1979, p. 163; Otto Erich Vittali: The Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, p. 25.
21. ↑ Hans-Werner Müsing: The Anabaptist Movement in Strasbourg from Early 1526 to July 1527. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 51, 1977, pp. 91-126, here: 106 f.
22. ^ Walter Fellmann (ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, pp. 13–15; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 120–123.
23. ↑ Alejandro Zorzin: "O God, free the prisoners!" - The Worms prophets (1527). In: Volker Gallé , Wolfgang Krauß (Ed.): Between provocation and withdrawal. The Politics of the Radical Reformation in the Southwest , Worms 2016, pp. 105–129, here: 106 f., 113–115, 124 f.
24. ↑ See James Beck: The Anabaptists and the Jews: The Case of Hätzer, Denck and the Worms Prophets. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 75, 2001, pp. 407-427, here: 407-409, 414-427.
25. ↑ Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 123–125.
26. ^ Walter Fellmann: Martin Bucer and Hans Denck. In: Mennonitische Geschichtsblätter 23, 1966, pp. 29-35.
27. ^ Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, p. 26.
28. ↑ Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 125.
29. ↑ Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 125 f .; Walter Fellmann (Ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, pp. 16-18.
30. ↑ Adolf Laube (Ed.): Pamphlets from the Peasant War to the Anabaptist Empire (1526–1535) , Vol. 1, Berlin 1992, p. 804.
31. ↑ Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 126–128.
32. ↑ Gerhard Müller (Ed.): Andreas Osiander d. Ä .: Writings and letters 1522 to March 1525 , Gütersloh 1975, p. 409; Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, pp. 35–37; Walter Fellmann: The theological content of Denck's writings. In: Otto Michel , Ulrich Mann (ed.): Die Leibhaftigkeit des Wort , Hamburg 1958, pp. 157–165, here: 158 f .; Clarence Bauman: Nonviolence in Anabaptism , Leiden 1968, pp. 135-137; Meinulf Barbers : Tolerance in Sebastian Franck , Bonn 1964, p. 108.
33. ↑ Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, p. 8 f., 36-38.
34. ^ Günter Goldbach: Hans Denck and Thomas Müntzer , Hamburg 1969, pp. 87-90; Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, p. 34 f .; Claude R. Foster: Hans Denck and Johannes Bünderlin: A Comparative Study. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 39, 1965, pp. 115-124, here: 119 f.
35. ^ Hans-Jürgen Goertz : Die Täufer , 2nd, improved edition, Munich 1988, p. 68 f .; Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, pp. 35, 39–42; Clarence Bauman: Non-violence in Anabaptism , Leiden 1968, p. 264; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 119.
36. ↑ See on these reports Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525–1531 , Scottdale 1977, pp. 40–44.
37. ↑ Morwenna Ludlow: Why Was Hans Denck Thought To Be a Universalist? In: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 55, 2004, pp. 257-274; William Klassen: What was Hans Denck a universalist? In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review, 39, 1965, pp. 152-154; Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, pp. 31–34; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 117, 120; Jan J. Kiwiet: The Life of Hans Denck. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 31, 1957, pp. 227-259, here: 242 f .; Werner O. Packull: Denck's Alleged Baptism by Hubmaier. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 47, 1973, pp. 327–338, here: 329. Cf. Adolf Laube (Ed.): Pamphlets from the Peasant War to the Anabaptist Empire (1526–1535) , Vol. 1, Berlin 1992, p. 805 f. Note 9.
38. ↑ Klaus Deppermann: Melchior Hoffman , Göttingen 1979, p. 163 f.
39. ^ Walter Fellmann (ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 2, Gütersloh 1956, pp. 111-113. See André Séguenny: Les spirituels , Baden-Baden 2000, p. 113 f .; Steven E. Ozment : Mysticism and Dissent , New Haven / London 1973, pp. 28-32.
40. ↑ Clarence Bauman: The Spiritual Legacy of Hans Denck , Leiden 1991, pp. 41-43.
41. ^ Wayne A. Allen: Hans Denck: A First Generation Radical Reformer , Ann Arbor 1985, pp. 251-255; Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, pp. 42–45.
42. ↑ Jan J. Kiwiet: The Life of Hans Denck. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 31, 1957, pp. 227-259, here: 254.
43. ^ Siegfried Wollgast : The German Pantheism in the 16th Century , Berlin 1972, pp. 118-120, 135; Patrick Hayden-Roy: The Inner Word and the Outer World , New York 1994, pp. 30-36.
44. ↑ See on Bünderlin Claude R. Foster: Hans Denck and Johannes Bünderlin: A Comparative Study. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 39, 1965, pp. 115-124, here: 116; Patrick Hayden-Roy: The Inner Word and the Outer World , New York 1994, p. 54 f.
45. ↑ See on Entfelder Patrick Hayden-Roy: The Inner Word and the Outer World , New York 1994, p. 60; Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525-1531 , Scottdale 1977, p. 164 f.
46. ^ Claude R. Foster: Hans Denck and Johannes Bünderlin: A Comparative Study. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 39, 1965, pp. 115-124, here: 117 f.
47. ↑ See Vasily Arslanov: "Seliger Unfried" , Leipzig 2017, pp. 261–265.
48. ↑ Ulrich Oelschläger: Die Wormser Propheten von 1527. In: Blätter für Palatinate Church History and Religious Folklore 75, 2008, pp. 331–362, here: 344, 348–350.
49. ↑ Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525-1531 , Scottdale 1977, p. 45.
50. ↑ See Jean Orcibal: Hans Denck et la conclusion apocryphe de la Théologie Germanique. In: Revue d'Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses 57, 1977, pp. 141–151, here: 142 f.
51. ^ Georg Baring (ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 1, Gütersloh 1955, pp. 14, 40-46.
52. ↑ Georg Baring (ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 1, Gütersloh 1955, pp. 46–51.
53. ↑ Werner O. Packull: Denck, Hans. In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Vol. 8, Berlin 1981, pp. 488-490, here: 490; Georg Baring (ed.): Hans Denck: Schriften , Teil 1, Gütersloh 1955, pp. 56–58; Christian Neff: Think, Hans. In: Mennonitisches Lexikon , Vol. 1, pp. 401-414, here: 413.
54. ↑ See Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525–1531 , Scottdale 1977, p. 35.
55. ^ Adolf Harnack: Textbook of the history of dogmas , Vol. 3, 3rd, improved edition, Freiburg 1897, p. 727.
56. ^ For example in Alfred Hegler: Denk, Hans. In: Realencyklopädie für Protestantische Theologie und Kirche , 3rd edition, Vol. 4, Leipzig 1898, pp. 576-580, here: 577 f. or Alfred Coutts: Hans Denck 1495–1527. Humanist and Heretic , Edinburgh 1927, pp. 7 f., 42 f.
57. ^ Wayne A. Allen: Hans Denck: A First Generation Radical Reformer , Ann Arbor 1985, p. 287: "lonely spiritualist", "essentially a loner".
58. ↑ Walter Fellmann describes the outcome of the Nuremberg trial against Denck as the "hour of birth of a free individual in the modern age", see Walter Fellmann: The theological content of Denck's writings. In: Otto Michel, Ulrich Mann (ed.): Die Leibhaftigkeit des Wort , Hamburg 1958, pp. 157–165, here: 157.
59. ↑ So already Otto Erich Vittali: Theology of the Anabaptist Hans Denck , Offenburg 1932, p. 26. See also Bernhard Lohse : Hans Denck and the "left wing" of the Reformation. In: Karlmann Beyschlag et al. (Ed.): Humanitas - Christianitas , Witten 1968, pp. 74–83, here: 74 f .; Gottfried Seebaß: Hans Denck. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer, Alfred Wendehorst (eds.): Fränkische Lebensbilder , Vol. 6, Würzburg 1975, pp. 107–129, here: 107–109; Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525-1531 , Scottdale 1977, p. 35 f.
60. ↑ A research overview is provided by James M. Stayer , Werner O. Packull and Klaus Deppermann: From Monogenesis to Polygenesis: The Historical Discussion of Anabaptist Origins. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 49, 1975, pp. 83-121, here: 100-110. See Gottfried Seebaß: Müntzers Erbe , Gütersloh 2002, pp. 178–180.
61. ↑ Clarence Bauman: The Spiritual Legacy of Hans Denck , Leiden 1991, p. 29 f.
62. ^ Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525-1531 , Scottdale 1977, p. 36.
63. ↑ Ludwig Keller: An Apostle of the Anabaptists , Leipzig 1882.
64. ↑ See also Theodor Kolde : Hans Denck and the godless painters of Nuremberg. In: Contributions to Bavarian Church History 8, 1902, pp. 1–31 and 49–72, here: p. 20 note 1, p. 50 note 2.
65. ^ Opinions from reviewers are compiled by Ludwig Keller: Newer judgments about Hans Denck. In: Monthly Issues of the Comenius Society 6, 1897, pp. 77–98, here: 86–97.
66. ^ Friedrich von Bezold: History of the German Reformation , Berlin 1890, p. 699.
67. ^ Alfred Hegler: Denk, Hans. In: Realencyklopädie für Protestantische Theologie und Kirche , 3rd edition, Vol. 4, Leipzig 1898, pp. 576-580, here: 579 f.
68. ^ Ernst Troeltsch: The Social Teachings of the Christian Churches and Groups , Tübingen 1912, p. 896 f.
69. ^ Christian Neff: Denk, Hans. In: Mennonitisches Lexikon , Vol. 1, pp. 401-414, here: 414.
70. ^ Rudolf Stadelmann: From the spirit of the ending Middle Ages , Halle / Saale 1929, pp. 93–95.
71. ^ Robert Stupperich: Den (c) k, Hans. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie , Vol. 3, Berlin 1957, pp. 599 f., Here: 600.
72. ^ Werner O. Packull: Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525-1531 , Scottdale 1977, pp. 56, 61.
73. ^ André Séguenny: Les spirituels , Baden-Baden 2000, p. 125 f. Cf. Georg Baring: Hans Denck and Thomas Müntzer in Nuremberg 1524. In: Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 50, 1959, pp. 145–181, here: 167–171; Thor Hall: Possibilities of Erasmian Influence on Denck and Hubmaier in Their Views on the Freedom of the Will. In: The Mennonite Quarterly Review 35, 1961, pp. 149-170, here: 153-156, 164-170.

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