Dale, Anton van (1638-1708)

Anton van Dale was born 8 November 1638 at Haarlem (Holland), and died 18 or 28 November 1708. Up to the age of 30 he was a merchant; then he studied medicine, received his doctor's degree, and became a physician. At the same time he studied classical languages, becoming a Latin scholar of importance. As physician in the civic charity hospital in Haarlem he won high recognition for his unselfish service. He was always cheerful and jovial, and liked to tell anecdotes combating superstition. For a time he was a Mennonite preacher, but because he wove too much Greek and Latin into his sermons, they found little acclaim; he therefore resigned his office. It is not quite clear in which congregation van Dale served, but presumably it was that of the Waterlanders. An anonymous letter written to Marten Schagen (found in DB 1863) indicates that van Dale was at first a member of the Flemish congregation of den Blok, but left this congregation about 1665 to join the Waterlanders. He wrote Boere-praetje tusschen vijf Persoonen. . . . Handelende of Galenus te recht voor een Hypocrijt is beschuldight. . . (1664); Aanmerkingen over het Tractaatje van de heer J. Verryn (Remonstrant preacher) omtrent den waterdoop (1685), Verhandeling van de Oorspronk en Duuring van de Waterdoop (1704); Historie van 't Predik-ampt en het wapenvoeren (1674 and 1704); De Oudheid van 't Alleen spreken . . . verdedigd (1670), written against the Collegiants, which P. Langedult answered with Het apostolisch oude gebruik, vrij te spreken (1672); Dissertatio super Aristea de LXX Interpretibus. Additur historia Baptismorum (1705); De oraculis ethnicorum (1683), and a translation, Verhandeling van de Oude Orakelen der Heydenen (1687), in which he explains that the oracles were merely priestly deception. This work was used by the wise Fontenelle and opposed by the German Möbius. An attack by two Jesuits caused him to publish the booklet anew with the title, De Oraculis Veterum Ethnicorum (1704). In addition to these he wrote Dissertationes de Origine et Progressu Idololatriae et superstitione (1691); Dissertationibus ex antiquitatibus (1702).

Bibliography

Catalogus der werken over de Doopsgezinden en hunne geschiedenis aanwezig in de bibliotheek der Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam. Amsterdam: J.H. de Bussy, 1919: 128, 161, 174, 177, 178.

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

Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1863): 142.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 387.

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: II, No. 1189.

Visscher, H. and L. A. van Langeraad. Biographisch Woordenboek von Protestantsche Godgeleerden in Nederland, A-L (I, Utrecht), later by J. P. de Bie and J. Loosjes (II, III, IV, V, and installment #29, The Hague, 1903- : II, 345-351.

Author(s)	Karel Vos
Date Published	1955

Cite This Article

MLA style

Vos, Karel. "Dale, Anton van (1638-1708)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1955. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dale,_Anton_van_(1638-1708)&oldid=144066.

APA style

Vos, Karel. (1955). Dale, Anton van (1638-1708). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dale,_Anton_van_(1638-1708)&oldid=144066.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 3. All rights reserved.

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