Faber de Bouma, Gellius (d. 1564)

Gellius Faber de Bouma (Jelle Smit), was a Catholic priest at Jelsum near Leeuwarden, Friesland, who left his home community at the same time as Menno Simons in 1536, but joined the Reformed Church and became a minister at Norden and in 1538 at Emden. In 1544 he took part in the disputation between Menno Simons and a Lasco (21-31 January). He died on 2 June 1564.

In 1552 Gellius Faber published a booklet of 78 pages presumably in reply to an Anabaptist writing of 1550. The Faber book (no longer in existence) had the title, Eine Antwert Gellij Fabri dener des hilligen wordes binnen Emden op einen bitter hönischen breeff der Wedderdöper . . . (Magdeburg). Menno Simons, who felt that not only his co-workers but he himself had been unjustly attacked, wrote a response in which he closely followed the outline of Faber's booklet. Menno defends the calling of the Anabaptist ministers, their baptism, the Lord's Supper, the ban, their view regarding the church, and the Incarnation. The book was entitled Een Klare beantwoordinge, over een Schrift Gellii Fabri . . . and appeared in 1554 very likely in an Anabaptist print shop in Lübeck. In this, the longest book that Menno produced, can be found his "Conversion" or the "Renunciation of the Church of Rome," which he presented in connection with his defense of the calling of the Anabaptist ministers. This account is both very important biographical information and a jewel of Menno's writings and has been reprinted many times.

Bibliography

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 623.

Hoop Scheffer, J. G. de. Geschiedenis der Kerkhervorming in Nederland. Amsterdam, 1873: 59, 60, 488.

Krahn, Cornelius. Menno Simons. Karlsruhe, 1936: 77 ff.

Menno Simons. Complete Works. Elkhart, Ind.: Mennonite Publishing Co., 1871: II, 1-105.

Visscher, H. and L. A. van Langeraad. Het protestantsche vaderland: biographisch woordenboek van protestantsche godgeleerden in Nederland, 8 vols. Utrecht, 1903-1918: I, 542-544.

Vos, Karel. Menno Simons, 1496-1561, zijn leven en werken en zijne reformatorische denkbeelden. Lieden: E.J. Brill, 1914. 108 ff.

Author(s)	Cornelius Krahn
Date Published	1956

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MLA style

Krahn, Cornelius. "Faber de Bouma, Gellius (d. 1564)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Faber_de_Bouma,_Gellius_(d._1564)&oldid=144114.

APA style

Krahn, Cornelius. (1956). Faber de Bouma, Gellius (d. 1564). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Faber_de_Bouma,_Gellius_(d._1564)&oldid=144114.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 285. All rights reserved.

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