Hans Denck

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A 1685 illustration by Jan Luyken, published in Martyrs Mirror, of Dirk Willems saving his pursuer, an act of mercy that led to his recapture, after which he was burned at the stake near Asperen in the present-day Netherlands
A 1685 illustration by Jan Luyken, published in Martyrs Mirror, of Dirk Willems saving his pursuer, an act of mercy that led to his recapture, after which he was burned at the stake near Asperen in the present-day Netherlands
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Hans Denck (c. 1495 – November 27, 1527) was a German

Reformation
.

Biography

Denck was born in 1495 in the

Sebald and Barthel Beham, who were expelled from the city in 1524 at the instigation of Andreas Osiander. In Nuremberg, he met Thomas Müntzer, and so first came in contact with radical theology, which he accepted with modifications. In consequence of his convictions, he was banished from Nuremberg in January 1524, and forced upon a wandering life, which he henceforth led until his death.[2]

In 1525 he went to

Johannes Oekolampad in Basel. After attending the Martyrs' Synod in Augsburg, he returned to Basel where he died in 1527 of bubonic plague.[3] In his writings he fiercely attacked the reformers; together with Haetzer he translated the Biblical books of the Prophets
into German (Worms 1527).

Theology

Denck was influenced by the German theologian Johannes Tauler's mysticism. For Denck the living, inner word of God was more important than the letters of the Scripture. This belief was contrary to the Lutheran belief of giving scripture primacy.[3] Denck thought of the Bible as a human product, the individual books being different witnesses of one truth. He did not value the scripture as the source of all true religious knowledge, but instead the spirit that speaks from within each person. For Denck the sacraments were only symbols: baptism a sign of commitment, communion a ceremony of remembrance.

Denck held that

Christ serve as model. Luther taught the doctrine of justification by faith whereas Denck's whole emphasis was put instead on discipleship to Jesus. Indeed, his motto was: "No one may truly know Christ except one who follows Him in life".[4]

It is not clear if Denck was

Anti-Trinitarian. His enemies as well as modern Unitarian scholars have presented him as Anti-Trinitarian, despite the lack of evidence of this in Denck's own writings. Clearly though, he was a non-dogmatic Christian.[5]

Joachim Vadian and Johann Kessler accused Denck of Universalism,[6] but this is unlikely.[7]

Selected works

Alle Propheten, 1528 edition title page.
  • Von der wahren Liebe. Reprint of the edition Worms 1527. Nördlingen: Uhl 1983.
  • Alle Prophetenn Nach Hebräischer Sprache verdeutscht. Translation: Ludwig Hätzer u. Hans Dengk. Augspurg 1530.
    • Microfiche
      -edition: The radical Reformation microfiche project [Mikroform]. Section 1, Mennonite and related sources up to 1600. Zug: InterDocumentation Comp., 19XX.
  • Micha der Prophet auss rechter Hebraischen sprach verteutsch und wie den H. D. auf diese letste Zeit verglichen hat. Strassburg, c. 1535.

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 1294375260.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  2. New International Encyclopedia
    (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
  3. ^ a b "Hans Denck | German religious leader | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  4. ^ Denck, Hans (1526) "Was geredet sei, das die Schrift sagt"; Schriften II: 22 ss.
  5. ^ Neff, Christian and Walter Fellmann. "Denck, Hans (ca. 1500-1527)". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 3 Mar 2017
  6. ^ Reformers in the wings: from Geiler von Kaysersberg to Theodore Beza By David Curtis Steinmetz p151
  7. ^ Ludlow M. 2004

Further reading

Anabapist history

  • Georg Baring, ed., Schriften Hans Denck Teil 1. Bibliographie. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann 1955.
  • Walter Fellmann, ed., Schriften Hans Denck Teil 2. Religiöse Schriften. Gütersloh: Bertelsman 1956.
  • Walter Fellmann, ed., Schriften Hans Denck Teil 3. Exegetische Schriften, Gedichte und Briefe. Gütersloh: Mohn 1960.

Denck material

  • Ludwig Keller: Ein Apostel der Wiedertaeufer. Leipzig: Hirzel 1882.
  • Gerhard Haake: Hans Denk, ein Vorläufer der neueren Theologie: 1495 - 1527. Soltau: Norden 1897.
  • Hans Pöhlmann: Die Reformation, das Volk und die Schwarmgeister in Nürnberg: (Hans Sachs, Hans Denk, Sebastian Franck). Nürnberg: Selbstverlag der Vereinigung ev. Akademiker in Nürnberg, Kommissionsverlag der „Fränkischen Wacht“, (1925). Serie Die Reformation in Nürnberg. Vier Vorträge gehalten in der Vereinigung evangelischer Akademiker in Nürnberg. (S. 50 - 64.).
  • Otto Erich Vittali: Die Theologie des Wiedertäufers Hans Denck. Offenburg, 1932 (Dissertation Freiburg 1930).
  • Georg Baring: Bibliographie der Ausgaben der „Theologia Deutsch“ (1516 - 1961); Ein Beitrag zur Lutherbibliographie mit Faksimileabdruck der Erstausgabe. Baden-Baden: Heitz 1963.
  • Clarence Baumann: The spiritual legacy of Hans Denck : interpretation and translation of key texts. Leiden [u.a.]: Brill, 1991.
    ISBN 90-04-09291-9
  • E. J. Furcha: Selected Writings of Hans Denck, 1500-1527 (Texts and Studies in Religion)
    ISBN 0-88946-833-8
  • Rufus M. Jones: Hans Denck and the Inward Word
    ISBN 1-4253-3586-1
  • Selected Writings of Hans Denck
    ISBN 0-915138-15-8

External links

  • Denck, Hans (ca. 1500-1527) in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  • Why Was Hans Denck Thought To Be a Universalist? [1] in The Journal of Ecclesiastical History / Volume 55 / Issue 02 / April 2004, pp 257–274
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