View source for Hoffman, Melchior (ca. 1495-1544?)

=== Teaching ===

It is now recognized that Hoffman's pre-Anabaptist views were not simply derived from [[Luther, Martin (1483-1546)|Luther]] or Karlstadt. It appears that his visionary apocalyptic spiritualism had roots reaching back to the Spiritual Franciscan tradition. His insistence on the superiority of the spirit over the letter was supported by a medieval allegorical hermeneutic, while the visions of Johns's Revelation served as the keyhole through which he scanned the rest of Scripture. In his "mature" phase, Hoffman combined these elements with a form of Anabaptism stamped by [[Denck, Hans (ca. 1500-1527)|Denck]] and Hut. Although the resulting synthesis was Hoffman's own, it would be anachronistic to accuse him of "arbitrary interpretation of Scripture' and of "unbridled fantasy" as [[Neff, Christian (1863-1946)|Neff]], following others, had done. To be sure, Hoffman's ministry remained unique. Perhaps the strong anticlericalism of his message provides a partial explanation for his popularity. Even as an Anabaptist leader he attempted consistently to win the authorities for his reform program. His suspension of baptism for two years was equally unique. Unusual for an uneducated artisan were Hoffman's lengthy biblical commentaries as well as the many other publications.