View source for Engelen, Cornelis van (ca. 1722-1793)

Cornelis van Engelen, born about 1722 at [[Utrecht (Netherlands)|Utrecht]], died 1793 at [[Leiden (Zuid-Holland, Netherlands)|Leiden]], a Dutch Mennonite pastor. He studied philosophy at the University of Utrecht, where he obtained his doctor’s degree in 1745. Then he studied theology at the [[Amsterdam Mennonite Theological Seminary (Kweekschool)|Amsterdam Mennonite Seminary]] 1747-1749. In 1749-1758 he served the congregation of Harlingen, Dutch province of [[Friesland (Netherlands)|Friesland]], as a pastor. In 1758 he resigned because of bad health, but in 1764 he again became an active minister, serving the small congregation of [[Huizen (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)|Huizen]], Dutch province of [[North Holland (Netherlands)|North Holland]] until 1769. Then he retired again and lived at Leiden until his death, devoting himself to the study of philosophy and literature. He was editor of several scholarly and popular philosophical reviews like <em>De Philosooph</em>, <em>De Denker</em>, and <em>De Rhapsodist</em>, and contributed to the many cultural periodicals (<em>Spectatoriale Geschrijten</em>) of his age.

In 1767 he founded the <em>Maatschappij tot behoudenis der verdronkenen</em>, now <em>Maatschappij tot redding van drenkelingen</em> (Society for Rescuing of Drowning Persons), through which thousands of lives have been saved. Van Engelen, who indisputably was more interested in cultural matters than theological problems, was a typical and influential representative of 18th-century Dutch Mennonitism.
= Bibliography =
<em>Doopsgezinde Bijdragen</em> (1867): 106; (1868): 70, 100, 106; (1912): 106.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. <em>Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam</em>, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: v. II, Nos. 1902, 1997.

Sepp, Chr. <em>Johannes Stinstra en zijn tijd</em>. Amsterdam, 1865: II 150 ff., 278 f.

Visscher, H. and L. A. van Langeraad. <em>Het protestantsche vaderland: biographisch woordenboek van protestantsche godgeleerden in Nederland, </em>8 vols. Utrecht, 1903-1918: v. II, 735.
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