The Reformation and Friends: Hans Denck
Stuart Masters writes about Hans Denck and the influence of Anabaptist ideas on Quakerism
We tend to assume that Quakerism is a unique faith tradition. George Fox gives the impression that his insights were formed entirely by divine revelation. However, the evidence suggests that Quaker peculiarities existed in other Christian groups. In particular, the spiritualist wing of the Anabaptist movement that emerged during the Radical Reformation adopted a faith that was very similar to that of early Friends.
The writing of Hans Denck, who predates the Quaker movement by some 120 years, offers a good example. Denck (1495-1527) was a German theologian and Anabaptist leader. He first came into contact with Anabaptist ideas when he met the spiritual revolutionary Thomas Müntzer. Due to his Anabaptist convictions, he was forced to live an itinerant life, but eventually found refuge in Basel, Switzerland, where he died of bubonic plague in 1527. Denck’s vision has remained influential among religious reformers. I have identified eight areas of connection between his ideas and those of the early Quakers, illustrated by passages from his writing.
The new covenant
Christ has established a new covenant which is inward and spiritual, and in which the Holy Spirit writes God’s law within people’s hearts:
Whoever has received God’s new covenant, that is, whoever has had the law written into his heart by the Holy Spirit, is truly righteous. Whoever thinks that he can observe the law by means of the Book, ascribes to the dead letter what belongs to the living Spirit. Whoever does not have the Spirit, and imagines that he will find him in scripture, looks for light and finds darkness, looks for life and finds only death, not only in the Old Testament but also in the New… Whoever has really laid hold of truth, can assess it without Scripture.
- Concerning the Law of God, 1526
Following in the footsteps of Christ
Christ’s work within people is transformational, enabling them to follow in his footsteps in their lives:
But the medium is Christ, whom no one can truly know, unless he follows him in his life, and no one may follow him, unless he has first known him. Whoever does not know him does not have him, and without him he cannot come to the Father. But whoever knows him, and does not witness to him by his life, will be judged by him… Woes to him who looks elsewhere than to this goal. For whoever thinks he belongs to Christ, must walk the way that Christ walked.
- The Contention that Scripture Says, 1526
The Spirit and the letter
Christ is the Word of God. The scriptures do not have the power to bring people to salvation, only the power of the living Spirit of Christ can do this:
I value the Holy Scriptures above all human treasures, but not as high as the Word of God, which is living, powerful and eternal, and which is free and unencumbered by all of the elements of this world. For, insofar as it is God himself, it is spirit and not letter, written without pen and paper, that it may never be expunged. Therefore, also salvation cannot be tied to the scriptures, however important and good they may be with respect to it.
- Recantation, 1527
A spiritual understanding of the Sacraments
The Lord’s Supper is not an outward ceremony, but rather a spiritual feeding on Christ, who is the true vine, and the bread of life:
The Lord Christ took the bread in the supper, blessed it and broke it. This was as if he meant to say: “I have told you before, that you should eat my flesh, and drink my blood if you wish to be saved, and indicated that this was to be done in a spiritual sense and not as flesh and blood understand it.”
- Recantation, 1527
Real transformation in this life
The idea that people are saved without real regeneration is a denial of the presence of Christ, whose Spirit has the power to free us from sin:
…whoever depends on the merits of Christ, and nevertheless continues in a carnal, beastly way of life, he thinks of Christ as, in ancient times, the pagans thought of their gods. It is as though he did not esteem the merits of Christ… For whoever believes that Christ has liberated him from sin can no longer be a slave to sin. But if we continue in the old life we do not truly believe.
- Recantation, 1527
A peaceable people
True followers of Christ do what he commands. They do not use outward violence or coercion because their weapons are inward and spiritual:
No Christian who wishes to boast in his Lord may use power to coerce and rule. For the realm of our king consists alone in the teaching and power of the Spirit. Whoever truly acknowledges Christ as Lord ought to do nothing but what he commands him. Now he commands all his disciples to teach evildoers, and to admonish them for their improvement. If they will not listen, we should allow them to be heathens, and avoid them…
- Concerning True Love, 1527
Christians and the state
In the fallen world, the state has the power to control evil by force. However, through the work of the Spirit, Christians know a better way, and so cannot cooperate with the violent and coercive actions of government. Our first loyalty is to Christ, rather than the state:
For it is the nature of love not to will or desire the hurt of anyone, but as much as is possible, to serve for the betterment of everyone… And insofar as it were possible for a government to act in this way, it could well be Christian in its office. Since, however, the world will not tolerate it, a friend of God should not be in government, but out of it, that is, if he desires to keep Christ as Lord and master… But he should not forget what characterises a true lover [of God], namely that, for the Lord’s sake, he renounces all power, and to be subject to no one but the Lord.
- Concerning True Love, 1527
Religious toleration
As followers of the way of Christ, we believe that there should be no coercion in matters of faith. We should practice toleration of different beliefs, and freedom of conscience:
Such a security will exist also in outward things, with the practice of the true gospel, that each will let the other move and dwell in peace – be he Turk, or heathen, believing what he will – through and in his land, not submitting to a magistrate in matters of faith… That is to say, no one shall deprive another – whether heathen, or Jew, or Christian – but rather, allow everyone to move in all territories in the name of his God. So, may we benefit in the peace which God gives.
- Commentary on Micah, 1527
In a variety of ways, the early Quaker movement developed a faith and practice that reflected Radical Reformation positions. Like Hans Denck, Friends seem to have adopted a spiritualist understanding of religious authority, the sacraments and salvation. They combined this with a gathered church ecclesiology, and a strong commitment to public witness, that reflects the approach of surviving Anabaptist groups such as the Mennonites and the Hutterites.
