David Joris
David Joris (c. 1501 – 25 August 1556, sometimes Jan Jorisz or Joriszoon; formerly anglicised David Gorge) was an important
Life
Joris was probably born in Flanders, the son of Marietje Jan de Gortersdochter and Georgius Joris de Koman, an amateur actor and shopkeeper. He was a disciple of Melchior Hoffman.
By trade David Joris was a glass painter or tinsel painter, having learned the art in
In 1533 he accepted the ideas of the Anabaptists, and was baptized in Delft by
For a time he was a theological combatant with emerging leader Menno Simons. Menno considered Joris a compromiser; Joris thought Menno excessively literal. Joris moved to Basel in 1544 and protected himself by living under the assumed name Johann van Brugge. He joined the Reformed Church, but he continued his theological writings on Anabaptism. This reflects both his opinion that "to the pure all things are pure", and his developing view that external symbols were less important than inner faith.
His wife Dirckgen died 22 August 1556. David died three days later and was buried in the church of St Leonard, Basel. Anabaptist leader Nicolas van Blesdijk, the husband of his eldest daughter, became an opponent of Joris' teachings. In 1559 he revealed Joris' theology to the authorities of Basel. David Joris was posthumously convicted of heresy, and his body exhumed and burned on 13 May 1559. A portrait of Joris, by the Dutch painter Jan van Scorel, is now displayed in the Oeffentliche Kunstsammlung at Basel.
The Mennonite Encyclopedia divides Joris' religious career into "four overlapping phases: Sacramentarian (1524–1530); Melchiorite sympathizer (1531–1534) Anabaptist leader (1534–c. 1543); and Spiritualist (c. 1540–1556)." In addition to his spiritualism, Joris developed nicodemite practices from 1534 on.[5]
Works
His writings, all in Dutch, flowed in a continuous stream from 1524 (though none is extant before 1529) and amounted to over 200 in number. His magnum opus was 'T Wonder Boeck (n.d. 1542, divided into two parts; 1551, handsomely reprinted, divided into four parts; both editions anonymous). Its chief claim to recognition is its use, in the latter part, of the phrase Restitutio Christi, which apparently suggested to Servetus his title Christianismi Restitutio (1553). In the first edition is a figure of the "new man," signed with the author's monogram, and probably drawn as a likeness of himself; it fairly corresponds with the alleged portrait, engraved in 1607, reproduced in the appendix to Alexander Ross's Pansebeia (1655), and idealized by P. Burckhardt in 1900. Another work, Verklaringe der Scheppenissen (1553) treats mystically the Book of Genesis, a favourite theme with Böhme, Swedenborg and others.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joris, David". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 512–513. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ David Joris and Dutch Anabaptism, 1524–1543
- ^ Stuart Clark Thinking with demons: the idea of witchcraft in early modern Europe 1999 Page 543
- ^ Gary K. Waite, "Man is a Devil to Himself": David Joris and the Rise of a Sceptical Tradition towards the Devil in the Early Modern Netherlands
- ^ Waite, Gary K. (1990). "From Anabaptist to Nicodemite, 1534–39". David Joris and Dutch Anabaptism, 1524–1543. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Further reading
- The Anabaptist Writings of David Joris, 1535–1543, "Classics of the Radical Reformation, Vol. 7", edited by Gary K. Waite, Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press 1993; ISBN 0-8361-3113-4
- Becoming Anabaptist: The Origin and Significance of Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism, J. Denny Weaver, Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press 1987 ISBN 0-8361-3434-6
- David Joris and Dutch Anabaptism, 1524–1543, Gary K. Waite, Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 1990
External links
- David Joris in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
- [1] German written biography of David Joris on altbasel.ch