Adler, Clemens (d. 1536)
Clemens Adler (d. 1536), was a Moravian Anabaptist of Austerlitz belonging to the Stabler party of Jakob Widemann, which later became the Hutterites. On 12 April 1529, he completed the writing of a very important extensive manuscript (apparently never published), which bears the title Das Urteil von dem Schwert mit unterschidlichem gewalt Dreier Fürstenthum der Welt, Juden, und Christen, mit Anderen Anliegenden sachen. It exists in only one manuscript copy made ca. 1729, which was found in 1951 by Samuel Geiser (Bragg bei Biel, Switzerland) in the possession of a Mennonite family near Langnau, canton of Bern, which has been transcribed and of which copies are now in Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas) and the Mennonite Historical Library (Goshen, Indiana).
In the preface the author indicates that his purpose is to distinguish the various ages of history and to delineate correctly the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Christ is the king of peace and the king of righteousness. The church has the power of the keys to discipline its members and to maintain the high standard of the "order of Christ." Adler's writing is a thoroughly nonresistant work, and of high quality. He also treats briefly community of goods and the oath. It is strange that Adler's name does not appear in the Hutterite Chronicle. It is known from other sources that he died in 1536.
Bibliography
Geiser, Samuel. "An Ancient Anabaptist Witness for Nonresistance." Mennonite Quarterly Review (1951): 66-69 and 72.
| Author(s) | Harold S Bender |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bender, Harold S. "Adler, Clemens (d. 1536)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Adler,_Clemens_(d._1536)&oldid=94021.
APA style
Bender, Harold S. (1959). Adler, Clemens (d. 1536). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Adler,_Clemens_(d._1536)&oldid=94021.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1056. All rights reserved.
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