“The Word of God in the Hearts of All Men”: Hans Denck and Anabaptist Universalism
Abstract
Throughout the sixteenth century, magisterial Protestants condemned Anabaptists for
various of their
tenets, from pacifism to proto-communism, facets that have attracted much scholarly
commentary. Yet,
another cause for Anabaptists’ sixteenth-century condemnation—their alleged universalism,
the belief
that hell is temporary and all souls will reach heaven in time—has received little
attention. Official
magisterial condemnations do not specify which Anabaptists held to this view. And
the universalism of
the man most often associated with the doctrine by sixteenth-century commentators,
Hans Denck, has
been called into question recently. Utilizing letters, treatises, and volumes of the
period, this thesis
examines the life and thought of Hans Denck as a representative of Anabaptist universalism.
The
conclusions reached are that he was in fact universalist, his universalism could have
been inspired by
several different influences, and that his teaching—though few in disciples—had a
far-reaching impact.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/24947Citation
Raines, Andrew Loran (2021). “The Word of God in the Hearts of All Men”: Hans Denck and Anabaptist Universalism.
Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/24947.Collections
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