Menno Simons

136
Menno Simons bigraphy, stories - Dutch theologian

Menno Simons : biography

1496 – 31 January 1561

Menno Simons (1496 – 31 January 1561) was an Anabaptist religious leader from the Friesland region of the Low Countries. Simons was a contemporary of the Protestant Reformers and his followers became known as Mennonites. "Menno Simons" () is a Dutchification; his actual, Frisian name was Minne Simens (), which is a patronym meaning "Minne, son of Simen".

Theology

Menno Simons (1854) Menno Simons’ influence on Anabaptism in the Low Countries was so great that Baptist historian William Estep suggested that their history be divided into three periods: "before Menno, under Menno, and after Menno". Menno is especially significant because of his coming to the Anabaptist movement in the north in its most troublesome days, and helping not only to sustain it, but also to establish it as a viable Radical Reformation movement.

Excommunication

Girolimon (1995) compares the teachings of Menno Simons with those of Protestant reformer John Calvin (1509–64), focusing on the issue of excommunication. This theological analysis stresses sharp contrasts between the two leaders on four basic principles: on procedures leading to excommunication, on the severity of sanctions on the excommunicant, on the restoration of a repentant individual, and on civil punishment. Calvin and Menno, each a leader of distinct wings of the Reformation, both believed this extreme form of discipline to be essential to the function of the church in society, agreeing on the basic grounds for excommunication as expressed in the New Testament. Menno, however, envisioned the application of reprimand as a process administered by the entire church body against any sin; Calvin reserved excommunication for especially severe transgressions as identified by the Company of Pastors and the Consistory. Among other disagreements, Calvin approved civil punishment for certain forms of unorthodoxy while Menno advocated strict church/state separation. They differed most profoundly in their views on why church discipline was necessary. Simons saw human perfectibility as attainable after conversion, while Calvin stressed an Augustinian theology of human depravity.Michael Thomas Girolimon, "John Calvin and Menno Simons on Religious Discipline: A Difference in Degree and Kind," Fides et Historia 1995 27(1): 5-29Charles Wiley, "’Hand this Man over to Satan’: A Comparison of John Calvin and Menno Simons on Excommunication," Fides et Historia 1993 25(3): 16-32

Bride of Christ

Menno Simons drew heavily from Biblical images of the bride of Christ when envisioning a new church. He found in the Biblical Song of Solomon a description of the relationship between a purified church and Christ that not only applied to a reformed church but also to the earthly marriage between man and woman. Like the bride in the songs, the woman must come in total love and devotion and will be cleansed of her natural evil by contact with her husband. He did not alter the conventional view of relations between men and women but idealized the woman’s subordinate and asexual status.Beth Kreitzer, "Menno Simons and the Bride of Christ," Mennonite Quarterly Review 1996 70(3): 299-318

Infant baptism

The Anabaptists insisted on adult baptism. By contrast Martin Luther defended infant baptism; it stemmed from his view of the church as ideally an inclusive reality in a Christian society. Menno Simons based his rejection of infant baptism on the concept of the church as a disciplined group of individuals who have voluntarily committed their lives to Christ. He viewed sanctification as a lifelong process that does not completely rid the presence of sin from life.Egil Grislis, "Martin Luther and Menno Simons on Infant Baptism," Journal of Mennonite Studies 1994 12: 7-25

Peace

Although some Anabaptists in Amsterdam and Münster in the 16th century engaged in excesses, Dutch Mennonites generally became pious and peaceful. An explanation of this transformation is needed, and the answer may lie in Menno’s transformation from Catholic priest and apologist to pacifist Anabaptist reformer—a transformation linked to his relationships to the radical Münsterites and peaceful Melchiorites. In his 1539 Christian Baptism Menno Simons stated his reluctance to engage in disputes, which may have stemmed from his reluctance for years to announce his true convictions.Abraham Friesen, "Present at the Inception: Menno Simons and the Beginnings of Dutch Anabaptism," Mennonite Quarterly Review 1998 72(3): 351-388