Peter Rideman

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Peter Rideman (n) , also known as Peter Riedemann or Peter Ryedemann , (* 1506 in Silesia , † 1556 in Slovakia ) is one of the most important figures of the Reformation Anabaptist movement . As the leading man of the Hutterite community, he gave it its denominational shape. Its effect here extends to the present day.

Beginnings

Rideman learned the shoemaker's trade and came into contact with the Lutheran Reformation while still at home . He read the Reformation pamphlets and then took up the Bible , the content of which, according to his statements, grabbed him as “daz zeuknuss of the living God”. Between 1527 and 1529 he was in Upper Austria , where he was in contact with the Anabaptists and soon - probably by the action of the Baptist preacher Hans Hut - baptized left and Baptists joined community.

meaning

Rideman was a contemporary witness of the Reformation movement, the Peasant War , the beginnings of Anabaptism and the so-called Anabaptist Empire of Münster . He was not only an observer, but was one of the designers of this era as the author of the Great Account and as the leading head of the Hutterites.

His early theology exemplifies how Luther's views, which were disseminated through Reformation pamphlets, were understood by ordinary people, in this case by a journeyman cobbler, and how they developed further under the influence of the early Anabaptist movements, especially those of southern German-Austrian provenance. As a traveling Anabaptist preacher, Rideman was repeatedly arrested and taken to prison ( Gmunden , Nuremberg , Marburg ). His imprisonment earned him a reputation for being an extremely steadfast witness of Jesus Christ . Rideman also used his prison stays to deal with criticism of the Anabaptist faith. During his imprisonment in Marburg and Wolkersdorf , he also made acquaintance with the commitment of Philip of Hesse to reorganize the religious and social conditions in his domain.

Because of his imprisonment, he was not involved in the conflicts that broke out in Moravia between the Anabaptist groups of the Philippians , Gabriele and Hutterites . This fact set him free to act as a mediator between the rival Anabaptist groups. His goal was to bring the various groups together under the roof of a Hutterite church. These efforts failed. The beliefs and views of life were too different. Nevertheless, Rideman was called to head the Hutterite community together with Leonhard Lanzenstil .

The great account

While he was still in prison in Hesse , Rideman began to write down his Great Account in 1541 . The Anabaptist researcher Hans-Jürgen Goertz described this work with the term Conforming Nonconformity . After the end of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster, Rideman made every effort to present the Hutterites as peaceful Christian subjects and as models of Christian faith and life. With the Great Account , he also helped display and shape the faith and life of the Hutterite community . His historic achievement was above all to give the Hutterite a firm hold through the times of persecution. With his Great Accountability began the process of Hutterite denomination. This script became the creed of the Hutterite brothers .

Works

  • An account of our faith written at Gmunden in the land above the Enns in the Gefencknus . 1529-1532
  • The arithmetic of our religion, emptiness and faith, from the brothers, as the Hutterites are called, came out through Peter Ryedeman . 1540-1541

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Gustav Hammann: Peter Riedemann in Wolkersdorf: In 1541 he wrote the great "account" of the Anabaptists and their faith here. Evangelical Luth. Parish office, Bottendorf, 1975
personal data
SURNAME Rideman, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peter Riedemann; Peter Ryedemann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Reformer, Baptist
DATE OF BIRTH 1506
PLACE OF BIRTH Silesia
DATE OF DEATH 1556
Place of death Slovakia