Protestant Reformers & Pastors Codexery

Menno Simons

Former Catholic priest who became a leading Anabaptist reformer.

Last updated

Menno Simons

via Wikipedia: Menno Simons · see source

Menno Simons was a Roman Catholic priest from Friesland who renounced his priesthood and became an influential Anabaptist leader.[1] A letter dating from 1544 employed the designation "Mennonite" or "Mennist" to describe the Dutch Anabaptists.[2]

Life and work

Menno Simons grew up in a poor peasant environment, and his father was named Simon.[3] He learned Latin and some Greek during his training to become a priest, but he had never read the Bible out of fear of being adversely influenced.[3] Around 1526 or 1527, questions about transubstantiation caused him to begin a serious search of the Scriptures.[4] He rejected the Catholic Church and the priesthood on 12 January 1536, casting his lot with the Anabaptists.[4]

In either 1515 or 1516, Simons received ordination as a Roman Catholic priest in the city of Utrecht.[4] Obbe Philips performed the ordination of Simons around the year 1537.[5] Simons entered into marriage with a woman called Gertrude, and the couple had a minimum of three offspring.[2] Simons passed away on 31 January 1561 at Wüstenfelde in Holstein, and his final resting place was a grave in his own garden.[2]

What the cited sources add

The Menno Simons.net biography states that historians agreed in the early twentieth century that Menno must have been born in January 1496.[6] Karel Vos, Menno's first real biographer, cited Menno's reply to Gellius Faber to establish the year of birth as 1496.[6] Menno was consecrated a priest at Utrecht in 1524, according to the same source.[6] The biography notes that Menno began to doubt transubstantiation in 1525, probably influenced by sacramentarian ideas.[6]

Menno wrote his first tract in reaction to the aborted attempt to take over the Olde Klooster.[6] The biography reports that Menno had a price of two thousand guilders on his head.[6] Kaufman's 2014 article states that Menno excommunicated the entire Swiss Anabaptist church for refusing to agree with his approach to shunning.[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Menno Simons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hendrik Twerda, Fan Fryslâns Forline, Bolsward, 1968 (Utjowerij A.J. Osinga), p. 128. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Menno Simons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Friesen, "Mennonites in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union: Through Much Tribulation", University of Toronto Press, 2022-10-27, p. 46; Menno Simons (1496–1561). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved on 20 April 2009.; Geertruydt (16th century). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved on 26 October 2012.; Dosker, "The Dutch Anabaptists", University of Michigan Library, 1921-01-01, p. 170 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Menno Simons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Menno Simons (1496–1561). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved on 20 April 2009. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Menno Simons" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Menno Simons" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gonzalez, J., "A History of Christian Thought", Abingdon Press, 1975, p. 96; Gonzalez, J., "A History of Christian Thought", Abingdon Press, 1975, p. 96 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Menno's life. Menno Simons.net. Retrieved on 15 April 2009.. facts only, no text reused. mennosimons.net
  7. Kaufman, "What Menno got wrong and the difference it makes", The Mennonite, 1 August 2014. facts only, no text reused. anabaptistworld.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Menno Simons (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Baptism

More in Protestant Reformers & Pastors

Henry Ward BeecherJacobus ArminiusJerry FalwellJim JonesJoel OsteenJohn CalvinJohn KnoxJohn Smyth (English theologian)John StottJohn WesleyJonathan Edwards (theologian)Martin Bucer

Related in Protestant Reformers & Pastors

John CalvinMartin Bucer

Links follow this subject's own source article.

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was Menno Simons born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1496.

From the source: “Menno Simons was born in 1496 in Witmarsum, Friesland, Holy Roman Empire.”

2. In what year did Menno Simons die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1561.

From the source: “Twenty-five years after his renunciation of Catholicism, Menno died on 31 January 1561 at Wüstenfelde, Holstein, and was buried in his garden.”

3. In which place was Menno Simons born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Witmarsum, Friesland, Holy Roman Empire.

From the source: “Menno Simons was born in 1496 in Witmarsum, Friesland, Holy Roman Empire.”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →