Zeising, Johannes (d. 1528)
Johannes Zeising (Zeisingk; Czech, Cizek). Hubmaier called him Jan Zeisinger. He was a monk; with two other monks, Michael Weisse and a certain Johannes of Breslau, he came to Leitomischel, having been expelled because of his Lutheran ideas. Zeising translated from Bohemian into German an epistle, which the Bohemian Brethren sent to King Ludwig of Bohemia and Hungary, dated 1525. In 1526 Zeising published Zwingli's book on the communion. Lukas, a well-known leader of the Brethren, thereupon published a reply to this book by Zwingli. It was his idea that the bread is the body of Christ and the wine His blood in a sacramental, spiritual, effective, and actual manner. Thereupon Zeising and Michael Weisse wrote a reply in Latin to Lukas, accusing him of backsliding. They said such doctrines are a denial of faith and a darkening of Christ's intention which He had when He instituted the communion. Zeising thereupon distributed a second book by Zwingli, Ueber die Schlüssel und die Beichte.
Zeising was repeatedly warned by leaders of the Bohemian Brethren and threatened by excommunication if he would not yield. With tears he thanked them for their kind and fatherly admonitions and promised to obey, but after only three days he declared that he could not act against his conscience and therefore requested that he be dealt with according to their regulations, that is, be excommunicated, whereby he solemnly promised not to oppose the Brethren all his life. And so he was excommunicated. Zeising soon afterward joined the Swiss Brethren.
Hubmaier dedicated his booklet Eine Form des Nachmahls Christi of 1527 to Burion Sobeck, of Kornitz, a former friend of Luther's, and sent it to Sobeck through "his dear brother Jan Zeisinger." As an Anabaptist Zeising suffered death at the stake at Brno on 10 April 1528, together with Thoman Waldhauser.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon. 4 v. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. IV.
Müller, J. T. Geschichte der Böhmischen Brüder I, Herrnhut. 1922: 426-28 f., 445.
Wolkan, Rudolf. Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer. Berlin, 1903. Reprinted Nieuwkoop, B. De Graaf, 1965: 45.
| Author(s) | Wilhelm Wiswedel |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Wiswedel, Wilhelm. "Zeising, Johannes (d. 1528)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Zeising,_Johannes_(d._1528)&oldid=106443.
APA style
Wiswedel, Wilhelm. (1959). Zeising, Johannes (d. 1528). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Zeising,_Johannes_(d._1528)&oldid=106443.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 1021-1022. All rights reserved.
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