Bekker, Balthasar (1634-1698)
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Balthasar Bekker (b. 20 March 1634 at Metslawier, d. 11 June 1698 at Jelsum) from 1657-1692 was a Dutch Reformed pastor and author of a number of theological writings, of which De Betooverde Weereld (Amsterdam, 1691) had a great influence and was also read by many Mennonites. This book dealt with the common opinion of that time concerning devils and ghosts; it attacked superstition in various forms. But the book was not well accepted in the Reformed Church, and a synod, observing some Carthesian philosophy in it, dismissed Bekker from the ministry in 1692. Bekker is also of interest in Mennonite history for his quarrel (1688) with Lieuwe Willems Graaf, the Mennonite minister of Harlingen (the subject of this quarrel was not at all theological, but merely geographical), and especially for his two books Beright van den kinderdoop (1689) and Nader beright over den kinderdoop (1690) in which he defended infant baptism. The last of these books was a refutation of a writing by Johannes de Bakker, Korte en noodige aanmerkingen over het bericht van den kinderdoop (1689).
Bibliography
Visscher, H. and L. A. van Langeraad. Het protestantsche vaderland: biographisch woordenboek van protestantsche godgeleerden in Nederland, 8 vols. Utrecht, 1903-1918: v. I, 389-412.
Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
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Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Bekker, Balthasar (1634-1698)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 16 Aug 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bekker,_Balthasar_(1634-1698)&oldid=110495.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1953). Bekker, Balthasar (1634-1698). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 August 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bekker,_Balthasar_(1634-1698)&oldid=110495.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 268. All rights reserved.
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