View source for Stevensz, Jan (1634-1686?)

Jan Stevensz (also called J. S. van Nyeveen), born May 1634 at Nijeveen, Dutch province of Drente, died after 1686, a weaver of [[Kampen (Overijssel, Netherlands)|Kampen]]. In 1672 he moved to [[Amsterdam (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)|Amsterdam]], where he was the city lamplighter. He was always in need, and he was often generously aided by the deacons of the Amsterdam [[Lamist Mennonite Church (Amsterdam, Netherlands)|Lamist Mennonite ]]congregation, of which he was a member. Stevensz was a difficult and quarrelsome person. For some time he was an ardent follower of the Amsterdam Lamist preacher [[Galenus Abrahamsz de Haan (1622-1706)|Galenus Abrahamsz]], but still greater and more lasting was his veneration of the German theologian and mystic Jakob Böhme. About 1682 Stevensz left the Mennonite Church.

Stevensz wrote some books; for example, <em>Apocalypsis often Het geopende Boeck met seven segelen</em> (Amsterdam, 1675), <em>Fondament-boeck, of Grondigh bewijs van de Kennisse Godts en de Christelijke Godsdienst</em> (Amsterdam, 1683). In this book Stevensz published two letters of [[Menno Simons Kerkje (Witmarsum, Friesland, Netherlands)|Menno Simons]]—the one to the brethren in [[Franeker (Friesland, Netherlands)|Franeker]] and the one to the congregation of Emden. In one of the appendices to this book he accused Galenus Abrahamsz of false teachings and unchristian conduct. A third book by Stevensz is <em>Onderwys door Exempelen ofte Spiegel der lijdsame Heyligen</em> (Amsterdam, 1686), of which there is a second enlarged edition under the revised title <em>Aenhangsel ofte Vervolg van het Martelaers-boeck van </em>[[Bracht, Tieleman van|<em>Tieleman van Braght</em> ]](Amsterdam, 1686), in which he contributes a number of items on [[Luther, Martin (1483-1546)|Luther,]] Menno Simons, and some persons of his own time who met with revilement because of their religious convictions. This book, like its author, is not very important.
= Bibliography =
<em>Doopsgezinde Bijdragen</em> (1902): 87-102.

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: II, No. 902.

Hylkema, C. B. <em>Reformateurs I and II</em>. Haarlem, 1900, 1902): <em>passim.</em>

Meihuizen, H. W. <em>Galenus Abrahamsz</em>. Haarlem, 1954: 152 f., 163.
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