View source for Benrath, Karl (1845-1924)

Karl Benrath was church historian, author of <em>Geschichte der Reformation in Venedig</em> (1886) V and special studies entitled "Wiedertäufer im Venetianischen" (<em>Theol. Studien u. Kritiken</em>, 1885) which were made use of in the [[Mennonitisches Lexikon|&lt;em&gt;Mennonitisches Lexicon&lt;/em&gt;]] for articles on the supposed Italian "Anabaptists." He was born 10 August 1845, at Düren, educated at Bonn, [[Berlin (Germany)|Berlin]], and Heidelberg, in 1871 went on a scientific tour of several years to [[Italy|Italy]] and [[England|England]]. From 1879 he was professor at Bonn, and from 1890 professor of church history at Königsberg.

Benrath's 1885 report on the [[Anabaptism|Anabaptists]] in the Venice region of North Italy has been authoritatively accepted. However, a 1951 doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago by Henry A. Dewind, "Relations between Italian Reformers and Anabaptists in the Mid-Sixteenth Century," has proved conclusively that Benrath was wrong in his identification of Italian anti-Trinitarian Protestants as "Anabaptists." This [[Mennonite Encyclopedia, The|&lt;em&gt;Encyclopedia&lt;/em&gt;]] will therefore revise or omit all articles found in the <em>[[Mennonitisches Lexikon|Mennonitisches Lexicon]]</em> on the Italian "Anabaptists," such as Benedetto, Camillo Renato, [[Manelfi, Pietro (ca. 1519-after 1552)|Don Pietro Manelfi]], etc. The article Italy will review the entire matter and give the evidence against Benrath's construction. Dewind's basic conclusion is stated in the following words:

<blockquote> We have learned that an Italian reform movement, which gained a reputation for its rejection of the traditional Christian teachings in the Trinity and in the nature of Christ, and for its open propagation of a variety of other related heretical doctrines, although it was nearly universally denominated "Anabaptist" both by its members and by its contemporary opponents, shared with the other groups which have also been called "Anabaptist" only its belief that [[Infant Baptism|infant baptism]] should be supplanted by the performance of that ceremony on willing adults.

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= Bibliography =
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em>Mennonitisches Lexikon,</em> 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 163.


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