Os, Antony van der (1722-1807)

Antony van der Os, b. 1722 at Zierikzee, d. 12 April 1807, at Zwolle, was a clergyman in the Reformed churches of 's Gravenland in 1746, and Zwolle in 1748, where he soon came into difficulties because he questioned the Reformed doctrine of predestination and in general wanted to accept only the Holy Scriptures and not also the doctrines of the Dordrecht Synod. When he refused to refute Remonstrant views he was suspended on 21 December 1750. Unrest overtook the whole congregation in Zwolle so that the government had to intervene. The passion with which van der Os carried on this matter caused much offense. In 1755 he was deposed from his office. In 1758 he received a call to the Mennonite congregation of Beverwijk in North Holland, was baptized by Cornelis Loosjes, the minister of the Zaandam Oostzijde congregation, and became its minister. He served Beverwijk until 1764 and then Zaandam-Oost. He was the cause of much disturbance in the Mennonite brotherhood. More than thirty polemics appeared, mostly anonymous, for and against van der Os. Among the opponents were the ministers G. ten Cate Thz of West Zaandam, Jan Beets of Hoorn, and Michiel de Bleyker of Twisk. The stricter Mennonites, especially Cornelis Ris, the elder at Hoorn, feared the influence of van der Os, who had in his confession said that he wished to adhere only to the "Twelve Articles" (the Apostles' Creed) and concerned himself little about the Mennonite confessions. Not until 1767 was he accepted as a member of the Rijper Sociëteit (the Waterlander conference in North Holland). In 1795 he resigned his services among the Mennonites and returned to Zwolle, where he lived until an advanced old age and usually attended the Reformed Church.

Bibliography

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Cate, Steven Blaupot ten. Geschiedenis der Doopsgezinden in Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht en Gelderland, 2 vols. Amsterdam: P.N. van Kampen, 1847: v. II, 58-60.

Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1872): 69 f.; (1897): 167; (1909): 100.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 311 f.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: v. I, Nos. 684, 937.

Naamlijst der tegenwoordig in dienst zijnde predikanten der Mennoniten in de vereenigde Nederlanden. Amsterdam (1808): 83-85.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1959

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MLA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Os, Antony van der (1722-1807)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Os,_Antony_van_der_(1722-1807)&oldid=111894.

APA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Os, Antony van der (1722-1807). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Os,_Antony_van_der_(1722-1807)&oldid=111894.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 88-89. All rights reserved.

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