Tieleman Jansz. van Braght et la construction anabaptiste du passé

in Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique (1999), 94

In his martyrology (published in 1660), the conservative Dutch Mennonite Tieleman Jansz. van Braght propose an original interpretation of the Christian past. In order to put together a succession of ... [more ▼]

In his martyrology (published in 1660), the conservative Dutch Mennonite Tieleman Jansz. van Braght propose an original interpretation of the Christian past. In order to put together a succession of witnesses, he examines one by one the ancient or medieval spiritual ancestors who, at the time, were claimed by both Catholics and Protestants. Those who seems to have been submitting to the divine principles - such as the practice of adult baptism - are considered as orthodox ; furthermore, if the orthodox suffered for their faith, they were given the title of martyr. Among the chosen ones, we thus have, besides the Anabaptists themselves: the early Christians, the Donatists, the Waldenses and the Hussites. These believers become the members of a dissenting and persecuted Church, which had held its own since the days of the Apostles. This notion conflict with the idea of Reformatio et, a fortiori, with that of Restitutio which is generally ascribed to the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century. [less ▲]

A propos du Vita Genovefea : quelques mots de réponse à M. Bruno Krusch

in Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique (1920), XV, 3