Johannes Deknatel

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Johannes Deknatel (born November 1, 1698 in Norden , † January 22, 1759 in Amsterdam ) was a Mennonite theologian of the 18th century.

life and work

Johannes Deknatel (copper engraving by Cornelis van Noorde)

Johannes Deknatel was born in 1698 as the son of the northern merchant Abraham Tönnis Deknatel and his wife Heilke Swart. He first attended high school in his hometown and then studied from 1717 to 1720 at the Theological Seminary of the Remonstrants in Amsterdam, where Mennonite pastors were also trained at that time. After his father lost a large part of his property in December 1717 after a severe storm surge , the Amsterdam Mennonite Congregation supported Deknatels further studies, so that he could continue his studies and then be employed as an assistant pastor in the Amsterdam Mennonite Congregation. In 1726 he finally became a full pastor of the Amsterdam church. In 1729 he married Jacoba van der Heyden. After she died in 1731, Deknatel married a second time with Elisabeth van Almonde on April 26, 1735. In the same year Deknatel was involved in the founding of the still existing Mennonite theological seminar in Amsterdam, appointed the first university professor and acted as secretary of the seminary himself.

Johannes Deknatel was already influenced by Pietism in those years . In 1736 he finally came into contact with Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf , who was in Amsterdam from February to May 1736. Both became friends and Deknatel began to turn to the Moravians without, however, leaving the Mennonite community. He translated songs from the Moravian Hymn book into Dutch and published them himself in print. This collection of songs was reprinted five times between 1738 and 1749. His catechism , published in 1746 and translated into German in 1756 , was reprinted several times and was used in German Mennonite congregations until the 19th century. He also edited various collections of sermons. He led small Bible study groups in his own home. In 1737 Deknatel celebrated the Lord's Supper with Zinzendorf in his Amsterdam apartment and was consecrated personally by Zinzendorf in 1745 as a witness of Jesus among the Mennonites. Deknatel's Pietism, however, was strongly colored by spiritualism and was not undisputed even within the Mennonite communities. Around 1755 there was also a certain estrangement between himself and Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Despite his pietistic point of view and his turn to the Moravians, Deknatel remained formally and theologically true to his Anabaptist-Mennonite heritage. He continued to defend non-violence and confessional baptism and refused to swear oaths and to accept political offices.

Deknatel was in correspondence with a number of Reformed and Lutheran theologians in Europe. In 1738 the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, was his guest, which Wesley later reported in his travelogues.

In the later years of his life, Deknatel studied Menno Simons more closely and published several papers on him. In addition, he translated individual writings by Menno Simons into German. Joannes Deknatel finally died on January 22nd, 1759 in Amsterdam. Pictures of him can still be found in the Mennonite churches of Norden and Friedrichstadt .

Selected works

  • Excerpt from the strangest treatises in Menno Simon's works , 1765
  • Eight sermons on important matters concerning the way to be saved through faith in Jesus, in order to walk in the holy life (together with Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Witschel), 1835
  • Instructions for the Christian faith with the words of God, primarily set up for children and growing youth , 1839

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Deknatel, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Deknatel, Jeme; Deknatel, Jimme
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mennonite theologian
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1698
PLACE OF BIRTH north
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1759
Place of death Amsterdam