תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

CENT. cessary; and thus the community was, all of a XVI. sudden, divided into two sects; of which the one PART II. treated transgressors with lenity and moderation,

SECT. III.

while the other proceeded against them with the utmost rigour. Nor was this the only difference. that was observable in the conduct and manners of these two parties; since the latter was remarkable for the sordid austerity that reigned in their rules of life and practice; while the former considering more wisely the present state of human nature, were less severe in their injunctions, and were not altogether regardless of what is called decent, agreeable, and ornamental in life and manners. Menno employed his most vigorous efforts to heal these divisions, and to restore peace and concord in the community; but when he perceived that his attempts were vain, he conducted himself in such a manner as he thought the most proper to maintain his credit and influence among both parties. For this purpose he declared himself for neither side, but was constantly trimming between the two, as long as he lived; at one time, discovering an inclination towards the austere Anabaptists; and, at another, seeming to prefer the milder discipline and manners of the more moderate brethren. But in this he acted in opposition to the plainest dictates of prudence; and accordingly the high degree of authority he enjoyed, rendered his inconstancy and irresolution not only disagreeable to both parties, but also the means of inflaming, instead of healing, their divisions [w]. The rigid XI. These two sects are, to this very day, disand mode- tinguished by the denominations of fine and

rate Ana

baptists.

gross,

[w] See the Historia Bellorum et Certaminum quæ, ab A. 1615, inter Mennonitas contigerunt which was published by an anonymous Mennonite.-See also a German work, entitled, Sim Fred. Rues, Narchichten von dem Zustande der Menoniten, published in Svo at Jena, in the year 1743.

XVI. SECT. III.

gross[x], or, to express the distinction in more in- CENT. telligible terms, into rigid and moderate Anabaptists. The former observe, with the most religi- PART II. ous accuracy, veneration, and precision, the ancient doctrine, discipline, and precepts of the purer sort of Anabaptists; the latter depart much more from the primitive sentiments, manners, and institutions of their sect, and approach nearer to those of the protestant churches. The gross or moderate Anabaptists consisted at first, of the inhabitants of a district in North-Holland, called Waterland, and hence their whole sect was distinguished by the denomination of Waterlandians[y]. The fine or rigid part of that community were, for the most part, natives of Flanders; and hence their sect acquired the denomination of Flemingians, or Flandrians. But new dissensions and contests arose among these rigid Anabaptists, not indeed,

[x] The terms fine and gross are a literal translation of groben and feinen, which are the German denominations used to distinguish these two sects. The same terms have been introduced among the Protestants in Holland; the fine denoting a set of people, whose extraordinary, and sometimes fanatical devotion, resembles that of the English Methodists; while the gross is applied to the generality of Christians, who make no extraordinary pretensions to uncommon degrees of sanctity and devotion.

[y] See Frid. Spanhemii Elenchus Controvers. Theol. Opp. tom. ii. p. 772. The Waterlandians were also called Johannites, from John de Ries, who was of great use to them in many respects, and who, assisted by Lubert Gerard, composed their confession of faith in the year 1580. This confession (which far surpasses both in point of simplicity and wisdom all the other confessions of the Mennonites) has passed through several editions, and has been lately republished by Herman Schyn, in his Histor. Mennon. cap. vii. P. 172. It was also illustrated in an ample Commentary, in the year 1686, by Peter Joannis, a native of Holland, and pastor among the Waterlandians. It has, however, been alleged, that this famous production is by no means the general confession of the Waterlandians, but the private one only of that particular congre gation, of which its author was the pastor. See Rues, Nuchrichten, p. 93, 94.

1

PART II.

CENT. concerning any point of doctrine, but about the XVI. manner of treating persons that were to be excomSECT. III. municated, and other matters of inferior moment. Hence a new schism arose, and they were subdivided into new sects, distinguished by the appellations of Flandrians and Frieslanders, who differed from each other in their manners and discipline. To these were added a third, who took the name of their country, like the two former, and were called Germans; for the Anabaptists of Germany passed in shoals into Holland and the Netherlands. But, in process of time, the greatest part of these three sects came over, by degrees, to the moderate community of the Waterlandians, with whom they lived in the strictest bonds of peace and union. Those among the rigid Anabaptists, who refused to follow this example of moderation, are still known by the denomination of the Old Flemingians, or Flandrians, but are few in number, when compared with the united congregations of the milder sects now mentioned.

The source

the Men

XII. No sooner had the ferment of enthusiasm from which subsided among the Mennonites, than all the difnonites ferent sects, into which they had been divided, drew their unanimously agreed to draw the whole system of

doctrine,

their religious doctrine from the Holy Scriptures alone. To give a satisfactory proof of the sincerity of their resolution in this respect, they took care to have Confessions drawn up, in which their sentiments concerning the Deity, and the manner of serving him, were expressed in the terms and phrases of Holy Writ. The most ancient, and also the most respectable of these Confessions is that which we find among the Waterlandians. Several others, of later date, were also composed, some for the use of large communities, for the people of a whole district, and which were consequently submitted to the inspection of the magistrate; others designed only for the benefit of private so

cieties,

cieties [*]. It might not, perhaps, be amiss to enquire, whether all the tenets received among the Mennonites are faithfully exhibited and plainly expressed in these Confessions, or whether several points be not there omitted which relate to the internal constitution of this sect, and would give us a complete idea of its nature and tendency. One thing is certain, that whoever peruses these Confessions with an ordinary degree of attention, will easily perceive, that those tenets which appear detrimental to the interefts of civil society, particularly those that relate to the prerogatives of magistracy, and the administration of oaths, are expressed with the utmost caution, and embellished with the greatest art, to prevent their bearing an alarming aspect. At the same time, the more discerning observer will see, that these embellishments are intended to disguise the truth, and that the doctrine of the Anabaptists, concerning the critical points above mentioned, are not represented, in their public Confessions, in their real colours.

CENT.

XVI. SECT. III.

PART II.

XIII. The ancient Anabaptists, who trufted in Their rean extraordinary direction of the Holy Spirit, late redu ligion was were (under the pretended influence of so infalli- ced into a

VOL. IV.

Hh

go

ble

[z] See an account of thefe Confessions in Schyn's Plenior Deduct. Hist. Mennon, cap. iv. p. 78. 115. where he maintains, that these Confessions prove as great a uniformity among the Mennonites, in relation to the great and fundamental doctrines of religion, as can be pretended to by any other Christian community." But should the good man even succeed in persuading us of this boasted uniformity, he will yet never be able to make his assertion down with many of his own brethren, who are, to this day, quarrelling about several points of religion, and who look upon matters, which appear to him of little consequence, as of high moment and importance to the cause of true piety. And, indeed, how could any of the Mennonites, before this present century, believe what Schyn here affirms, since it is well known, that they disputed about matters which he treats with contempt, as if they had been immediately connected with their eternal interests ?

system.

CENT. ble a guide) little solicitous about composing a XVI. system of religion, and never once thought of inPART II. Stilling into the minds of the people just senti

SECT. III.

ments of the Deity. Hence the warm dissensions
that arose among them, concerning matters of
the highest consequence, such as the Divinity of
Christ, Polygamy, and Divorce. Menno and his
disciples made some attempts to supply this de-
fect. But nevertheless we find, after his time,
that the Mennonites, more especially those of
the rigid class, carried the freedom of theirre-
ligious speculations to such an excessive height,
as bordered upon extravagance.
This circum-
stance alone, were there no other, proves that
the heads of this sect employed the smallest part
of their zeal to prevent the introduction and pro-
pagation of error; and that they looked upon
sanctity of life and manners alone as the essence
of true religion. The Waterlandians, indeed, and
after them the other Anabaptists, were obliged, at
length, to draw up a summary of their doctrine,
and to lay it before the public, in order to remove
the odium that was cast upon them, on account
of their bold tenets, and their extravagant disputes,
which were likely to involve them in the greatest
calamities. But these Confessions of the Mennonites
were, in reality, little more than a method of de-
fence, to which they were reduced by the oppo-
sition they met with, and muft therefore be ra-
ther considered as an expedient to avert the indig-
nation of their enemies, than as articles of doctrine,
which all of them, without exception, were oblig-
ed to believe. For we do not find among the Men-
nonites (a part of the modern Waterlandians ex-
cepted) any injunction which expressly prohibits
individuals from entertaining or propagating re-
ligious opinions different from the public creed of
the community. And, indeed, when we look at-
tentively into the nature and constitution of this

sect,

« הקודםהמשך »