by Abraham Van Luik, abevanluik@thoughtsandplaces.org
History has provided an analog
to the Mormon experience with
polygamy, namely, the radical
Anabaptist community in Muenster,
Germany, in 1534-1535. To appreciate
the insights afforded by
the study of this analog, some
background is necessary, so the
historical setting and aims
and beliefs of Anabaptists in general will be
summarized and a sketch will
be given of the roots of the militant
Anabaptists in Holland and Germany
in particular. Then the
restoration of Old Testament
themes and practices among the militant
Anabaptists, including the restoration
of polygamy in Muenster in
1534 will be described, with
emphasis on the theology underlying this
turn of events. Finally, the
downfall of the militant Muensterite
Anabaptists in 1535 will be
presented to round out the discussion of
this historical analog. In the
discussions of Muensterite theological
assertions, parallels with Mormonism
will be highlighted and
discussed.
The Lutheran Reformation in Germany
and the Zwinglian
Reformation in Zwitzerland were
accompanied by much religious,
civil, and social upheaval in
the 1520's and 1530's. In addition, there
were violent revolts against
civil and religious authority structures and
recurring outbreaks of the dreaded
plague. It was a time of great
anxiety and uncertainty, a time
that led to introspection and a
search for fundamental moorings.
Among Zwingli's Swiss followers
were some who searched the scriptures
diligently to find the pattern of
the primitive church and restore
it: "Restitution" was their watchword.
Their enemies derisively called
them Anabaptists, rebaptizers,
because of their denial of the
efficacy of infant baptism and their
insistence on baptizing only
those who were capable of belief:
adults. Even the accounts of
their enemies note their strict morality,
abstinence from alcoholic beverages,
and dedication to achieving
excellency in their imitation
of Christ. But that was precisely why
Zwingli, among others, assented
to their death sentence: their call to
holiness and their insistence
that only the saintly can truly be the
church meant that the Reformed
and the Catholic churches were
of the world, and were impotent
in terms of administering salvation. It
is from the world that the saint
must withdraw, according to the
Anabaptists, to the point of
not having anything to do with the civil
government, carrying no weapons
in its behalf and taking no oath at its
request. Medieval society was
challenged at its core: the core of the
union of church and state.
The Catholics, Zwinglians, and
Lutherans were aghast at the
success of the Anabaptist lay
preachers coming into their communities
and converting their people.
And all who were converted became
missionaries themselves, it
was a spiritual epidemic. The Anabaptists
were savagely hunted and dispatched
to their eternal rewards in
imaginative ways, drowning seemed
a favorite since it closely
approximated the act for which
these people were the most infamous.
Yet they became numerous in
places such as Switzerland and the
Rhine valley. [1]
Some of the earliest writings
of Anabaptists show the nature of the
movement. The first documents
produced by congregations to state
their beliefs were the Schleitheim
Confession of 1527 and an
anonymous statement of the discipline
of the church issued by a
Tyrolean (Austria) congregation
in 1528. [2] The Schleitheim
Confession includes the following:
1) Baptism shall be given to
all who have learned repentence
and amendment of life, and who
believe truly that their sins
are taken away in Christ, ...
. This excludes all infant baptism,
the highest and chief abomination
of the pope. ...
2) The ban shall be employed
with all those who have given
themselves to the Lord, to walk
in his commandments, and
with all those who have been
baptized into the one body of
Christ and who are called brethren
and sisters, and yet who slip
sometimes and fall into error
and sin, being inadvertantly
overtaken. The same shall be
admonished twice in secret and
the third time openly disciplined
or banned according to the
command of Christ. But this
shall be done according to the
regulation of the Spirit, Mt.
5, before the breaking of bread, so
that we may break and eat one
bread, with one mind and one
love, and may drink of one cup.
3) All those who wish to break
one bread in remembrance of
the broken body of Christ, and
who wish to drink of one drink
as remembrance of the shed blood
of Christ, shall be united
beforehand by baptism into one
body of Christ which is the
Church of God and whose Head
is Christ.
4) A separation shall be made
from the evil and from the
wickedness the Devil planted
in the world in this manner,
simply, that we do not have
fellowship with them and not run
with them in the multitude of
their abominations. ... To us the
command of the Lord is clear
when he calls upon us to be
separate from the evil and thus
He will be our God and we
shall be His sons and daughters.
He further admonishes us to
withdraw from Babylon and the
earthly Egypt that we may not
be partakers of the pain and
suffering which the Lord will
bring upon them. ... Therefore
there will also unquestionably
fall from us the unchristian
devilish weapons of force - such as
sword, armor and the like, and
all their use for friends or
against one's enemies - ...
.
6) The sword is ordained of God
outside the perfection of
Christ. It punishes and puts
to death the wicked ... and ... is
ordained to be used by the worldly
magistrates. In the
perfection of Christ, however,
only the ban is used for a
warning and for the excommunication
of the one who has
sinned ... . [3]
Discussion around this last point
includes the idea that the believer
can not resist evil with the
sword even in defense of self, can not be a
magistrate, and can not swear
oaths of any kind, since the Lord taught
"'Let your communication be
Yea, yea Nay, nay, for whatsoever is
more than those cometh of evil.'"
The 1828 Discipline of Believers
contains very similar sentiments,
but with a few points not contained
in the Schleitheim Confession.
Points of interest are the emphasis
on reliance on the Spirit and the
idea of having goods in common
and providing for the common
welfare in the first and fourth
articles, the rule of observation of new
members prior to baptism and
confidentiality of membership
information in article nine,
and the admonishment to be prepared for
the Lord's coming in article
twelve. Large groups of scriptural
citations interspersed in the
text were left out in the following
citations:
FIRST ARTICLE ... when the brethren
are together they shall
sincerely ask God for grace
that He might reveal His divine
will and help us to note it.
FOURTH ARTICLE ... every brother
or sister shall yield
himself to God in the brotherhood
completely with body and
life, and hold in common all
gifts received of God and
contribute to the common need
so that brethren and sisters will
be helped needy members shall
receive from the brotherhood
as among the Christians at the
time of the apostles.
NINTH ARTICLE ... what is officially
done among the
brethren and sisters in the
brotherhood shall not be made
public before the world. The
good-hearted person, before he
comes to the brethren in the
brotherhood shall be taught.
When he has learned and bears
a sincere desire for it, and if he
agrees to the content of the
Gospel, he shall be received by the
Christian brotherhood as a brother
or a sister, that is, a fellow
member of Christ. But this shall
not be made public before the
world to spare the conscience
and for the sake of the spouse.
TWELFTH ARTICLE ... always watch
and wait for the Lord
that we may be worthy to enter
with Him when He comes, and
to escape or flee from the evil
that will come to the world. [4]
Still other aspects of the general
belief structure of the Anabaptists
are contained in the Confession
of Faith writen by an individual, one
Pilgram Marpeck, who was baptized
in 1528 in the Tyrol, and in 1532
wrote a confession mostly dealing
with the issue of adult or believer's
baptism. He describes the true,
baptized believer in the following
words:
24. This covenant of the good
conscience towards God is not
accepted by all men. To those,
however, who accept it, water
is an earthly witness ... .
25. Those then, who believe and
are baptized in the promise
and forgiveness of sin, are
... children by faith and accepted in
the Kingdom of Christ.
26. Such true believers are preserved,
ruled, and led by the
Spirit of God, without any human
help and aid. These are
those whom the Spirit of God
directs. They are children of
God, who are fellow companions
in Christ's sufferings, that is,
also fellow heirs in the Kingdom
of God.
27. Such children of God in the
Kingdom of Christ have the
power. What they loose on earth
that is loosed in heaven and,
what they bind on earth, is
bound in heaven. This plan is
controlled by the Holy Spirit,
according to the love of God,
outwardly by the Holy Supper
of Christ ... . He who repents,
and obeys love in the Holy Spirit,
eats and drinks worthily at
the table of the Lord ... .
28. There is no coercion, but
a free spirit, in Christ Jesus our
Lord. He who does not want,
may remain outside. He who is
willing, may come and drink
freely.
29. All outward power may not
rule in the Kingdom of Christ,
nor help, nor govern. [5]
From these citations one may
begin to appreciate the radical
differences between these people
and the churches already established
in the regions where they were
flourishing. Every statement of
faith in the citations here
given is in part directed at a contrary teaching
in the established churches.
Anabaptist leadership was especially
hard hit by the persecutions,
and in reaction to the brutality
of their persecutions some among them
began to feel the Spirit speak
of God's wrath and vengeance. These
studied and found solace in
the Old Testament, and began to dream
inspired dreams about the great
and terrible day of the Lord, when the
saints would be established
and their enemies would be vanquished.
Some began to feel the spirit
inside them stir them to boldness, and
they prophesied of the last
days, the Lord's return, and the New
Jerusalem where a people would
be prepared to meet the Lord.
Outstanding among this group
was Melchior Hoffman.
One of Luther's preachers, a
successful one at that, Melchior
Hoffman developed mystical feelings
that led him to radically
reexamine his Lutheran faith
and reject it as not going far enough in
its adherence to scripture and
rejection of tradition. He sought after
truth, taught his own brand
of reform doctrine for a while, and finally
embraced the tenets of the Anabaptists,
accepting baptism in 1530.
The Anabaptism he accepted and
championed in Strassburg was a
radical variety, however, molded
to fit his own vision. The year of his
baptism saw him publishing a
number of tracts interpreting the Old
and New Testament apocalyptic
and eschatological writings. One of
his booklets features visions
of Ursula Jost, whom he regarded a
prophetess. Hoffman was looking
forward to the imminent return of
Christ.
He became apostle to the northern
Netherlands, and met with great
success, establishing branches
in many cities. In 1531 he returned to
Strassburg, published more visions
by Ursula and her husband, also a
prophet, and was brought in
front of the city fathers a few times to
account for his crimes. He seems
to have done more missionary work
in 1532 and then returned to
Strassburg in 1533, when he was
imprisoned. According to his
interviewers he stated that "he was the
true Elijah, who is to come
before the judgment of Christ." Also, that
Strassburg was "the city that
God had chosen above all other cities."
[6]
While Hoffman was on his missionary
journeys and as he headed
for jail, a movement developed
among his followers that was to have
dire consequences for large
numbers of people. Hoffman disavowed
violence, telling the Strassburg
city fathers that prior to Christ's
glorious return the city would
be besieged, and the Anabaptists would
work to build fortifications
and trenches, but would not carry swords.
Among his Dutch followers were
some who, perhaps in reaction to
particularly cruel and bitter
persecutions, began to question the
Anabaptist teachings regarding
the sword, and began to take
inspiration from the militant
symbolism and language of apocalyptic
scripture.
Among the leadership in Holland,
for example, arose one John
Matthijsz. John Matthijsz asserted
that he had experienced the new
outpouring of the Holy Ghost
predicted by Hoffman, and that he had
received revelations from God
designating himself Enoch, the second
witness mentioned in the Book
of Revelation. He taught that God
desired to have his people be
the elect, sealed with the sign of
baptism to preserve them from
the evil that was to come. One who
listened and believed and was
baptized by Matthijsz later became
known as Jan van Leiden. Jan
van Leiden was sent out as an apostolic
messenger to the cities of Holland,
where, with his companion, he
seems to have established many
small branches of eight to ten people
each.
Matthijsz in the meantime married
his love, the beautiful brewer's
daughter later known to us as
Divara. This would not be noteworthy
except that Matthijsz already
had a wife, who is characterized as a
"sulky" older woman. Hoffman
was not pleased, but did not fail to be
supportive of Matthijsz continuing
attempts to carry out his mission to
establish the New Jerusalem
according to his visions. Although
Hoffman was supportive, his
support was passive: he remained in jail
until he died.
Matthijsz ran into another who
had been hailed as the new Enoch
by his followers in Amsterdam
and cursed him into the devil's eternal
care by the power of the Holy
Ghost, declaring his words with
sufficient authority that those
addressed reportedly became sick to their
stomachs. Then he became as
a little child and extended the hand of
fellowship and love to these
who had followed the devil's promptings,
and he came out of this ordeal
the unchallenged leader of the elect in
the Netherlands. His missionaries
were meeting with great success,
and those who were designated
apostolic messengers were convinced
they were filled with the same
Spirit and had the same authority as the
New Testament apostles. One
of them prophesied no more Christian
blood would be spilt, and the
Lord would shortly wipe all tyranny from
the earth. Many were baptized
at this good news, which is relatable to
a prediction by Hoffman that
the twelve messengers sent in these last
days would be protected. But
the prophecy turned out to be false.
In the spring of 1534, four apostolic
missionaries entered Muenster
and found themselves welcomed
by phenomenal successes, including
baptismal requests by leading
citizens such as Bernard Rothmann and
a number of Reformed preachers.
One of the apostle pairs, namely Jan
van Leiden and his companion,
taught in the name of the new Enoch
that it was allowable for a
Christian to use the sword against Godless
authorities. A two-edged sword
of a world mission by the apostolic
messengers and an overthrow
of Godless authority was now seen to be
unsheathed as the means for
changing the world in preparation for
Christ's return in glory. Muenster
was the New Jerusalem, in which all
would be restored as in ancient
times. All, including polygamy. [7]
In his history of Dutch Anabaptism,
Cornelius Krahn, professor of
church and Mennonite history
at Bethel College, North Newton,
Kansas, observed:
In appraising the appearance
of polygamy among the
Muensterite Anabaptists, one
must not lose sight of the Old
Testament orientation of its
leaders. The male member of the
community was not only expected
to give protection to the
weaker sex, but through him
the female member found access
to the spiritual blessings of
the Lord.
The leaders of the New Israel
found this confirmed by Paul
who said "the head of every
man is Christ and the head of
every woman is the man." Developing
this thought, the
Muensterites, and later the
Latter Day Saints, came to the
conclusion that every woman
must be attached to a man in
order to be saved, just as a
man is subject to Christ. [8]
Professor Krahn sees the motivations
behind the polygamies of these
two restorationist movements
as being essentially the same: a literal
reading of the Old and New Testament
and a desire to restore Old
and New Testament societal ideals
and practices in a new society of
true believers: "the New Zion."
[9]
There is more to the correspondence
between the Latter-day Saint
and Muensterite restoration
movements than meets the eye. The
Muensterite restorationist movement
flourished and died a violent
death in 1534-1535, 300 years
before the Latter-day Saint
restorationist movement, hence,
although it provides a historical
analog to the Latter-day Saint
experience, its short duration and
removal in time limits the potential
analog value. Nevertheless, extant
documents by the Muensterites
and their enemies have left a barrel full
of thoughts and facts that is
grist for the mills of historians, and the
challenge to grind finely is
theirs: only the surface will be scratched
here.
The prophet, Jan Matthijsz, was
killed in a military sortie against
besieging forces of Catholics
and Lutherans. Matthijsz had not openly
taught polygamy, as far as is
known, but had practised it, as mentioned
previously, by taking a younger,
and by all accounts beautiful woman
as a "spiritual sister-wife
(geistlichen Eheschwester)," [10] in addition
to his aging wife. Jan van Leiden
apparently left his wife in Leiden,
and when he came to the New
Jerusalem married another woman
without benefit of divorce.
Several significant things happened
after the prophet died. In an
assembly shortly after, a prophet
in the city declared it God's will that
Jan van Leiden be the new prophet
and "King of the New Zion" in
Muenster, Westphalia, Germany,
the "New Jerusalem." [11] He was
the "second David," and "King
over the whole world." [12]
It is an interesting aside at
this point to note that the Mormon
prophet Joseph Smith also was
made "King on earth," or "king to rule
over the house of Israel," according
to eyewitnesses reporting the
ceremony. [13] This was foreshadowed
by Joseph Smith when, in
attempting to prepare the saints
for the eventuality, he said:
Have we not learned the Priesthood
after the order of
Melchizedek, which includes
both Prophets, Priests and Kings:
see Rev. 1 Chap., 6th v., and
I will advance your Prophet to a
Priest, and then to a King -
not to the Kingdoms of this earth,
but of the Most High God. [14]
John Taylor, a later prophet
of the Kingdom, a close associate of
Joseph Smith who shared his
final hours with him and witnessed his
martyrdom, confirms this when
he records a revelation stating
concerning Joseph:
He was called by me, and empowered
by me, and sustained by
me to introduce and establish
my Church and Kingdom upon
the earth and to be a Prophet,
Seer and Revelator to my
Church and Kingdom and to be
a King and Ruler over Israel.
[15]
Returning to Muenster, it was
when the prophet John Matthijsz died
and his beautiful wife became
a widow that the new prophet declared it
God's will, by revelation, that
polygamy be not only practised but that
it be mandatory, and that all
women must marry. He married the
beautiful widow and others besides
for a total of fifteen. [16] Though
there are fascinating tales
to be told about this period in Muensterite
history, our aim is to examine
the theology and social structure behind
this particular facet of the
restorationist phenomenon.
The chief theologian and pamphleteer
for this restoration movement
was Bernard Rothmann. He treated
polygamy and man-woman
relations in a pamphlet entitled
"Restitution of the True and
Whole Christian Doctrine (Restitution
rechter und gesunder
christlicher Lehre)" published
in October 1534. [17] The pamphlet
first treats the great apostasy
theme: the Catholic church has destroyed
original Christianity, and God
has used the learned Erasmus (who
contributed to the Counter-Reformation
within Catholicism, inspired
the Reformers, but himself remained
Catholic), Luther and Zwingli to
begin the restoration. But the
restoration is being brought to its
wonderful conclusion, truth
is being restored, by the unlearned
Melchior Hoffman, Jan Matthijsz,
and "our brother Jan van Leiden."
[18]
Rothmann next treats the scriptures
and how they should be truly
understood, and then launches
into how the Old Testament underlies
the New, explaining that the
world has misinterpreted scripture in its
belief that Christ has taken
on the flesh through Mary. A literal yet
mystical belief in the scriptural
words: "The word is become flesh" is
asserted, which is a teaching
attributable to Melchior Hoffman. [19] It
is the theology of the Muensterites
that marks them as Hoffman's
followers, notwithstanding their
break with Hoffman's beliefs
regarding the use of the sword
and the practice of polygamy. Among
other teachings of Rothmann
that are attributable to Hoffman's vision
of the true Christianity are:
1) The universality of God's grace/mercy,
2) The freedom of the human
will after its enlightenment, 3) Two
judgments, one where the mercy
of God pardons, and the second, final
judgment in which persons are
tried on their own merits, 4)
Conceiving life as a process
that has three stages, and that the outcome
of a successful journey leads
one to become a partaker of the Divine
Nature, and 5) The unforgivable
sin being that which is committed in
the full awareness of the wrongfulness
of the act. [20]
Returning to Rothmann's "Restitution"
pamphlet, his next subject is
a powerfully compact description
of the "true Gospel," which leads to
becoming the brother of and
fellow-heir with Christ. The Gospel is to
repent and remorsefully ask
Christ for forgiveness, to be baptized and
wash one's sins away in Christ.
Then are you a member of the
community of Christ, and if
you will endure to the end in full
obedience, seeking after justice
and holiness, you shall be happy (eg.
saved in bliss). [21]
Believer's baptism for entry
into the Kingdom and the need for both
true faith and works, that one
walks in holiness in God's
commandments, is next explained.
This is followed by a description of
the true community of Christians,
emphasis being placed on the
motivation of the members of
the community being Godly love for one
another and not the seeking
after riches and worldly delights. The
Muensterites would rather die
than have to return to the world and its
ways. [22] An apostolic type
of communism was practised in this
community that brought it to
the attention of socialist historians such
as Karl Kautsky, who wrote one
of the few favorably disposed
scholarly works on the Muensterite
phenomenon. [23]
Rothmann describes the Anabaptist
common meal as a time at
which bread was broken and shared
and Christ's last supper was
recounted as a devotional. Then
the whole community prayed for
their needs and gave thanks.
It was a feast of love in which each
waited upon the other. [24]
After a discussion of true Christian
marriage, to which we will return
shortly, the Kingdom of God
physically located on earth
is announced, which restores the Kingdom
and Seat of David, and which
will be fully established and will spread
after it is cleansed by the
sword of truth and justice. [25]
True Christian marriage is described
by Rothmann in three parts: a
definition of true Christian
marriage, the magnificent place of the man
in a true Christian marriage,
and the subordinate place of woman in
the true Christian marriage.
[26] True Christian marriage consists of a
man and woman coming together
for the purpose of having children
who will praise God in eternity.
All uses of the marriage relation,
other than seeking to bring
forth children, is unlawful. This sentiment
may be fruitfully compared with
the Latter-day Saint revelation which
says regarding a man's (plural)
wives, in part, that they are given to a
man so he may have children
by them, and that by having children
women may be saved and God will
be glorified:
... for they are given unto him
to multiply and replenish the
earth, according to my commandment,
and to fulfill the
promise that was given by my
Father before the foundation of
the world, and for their exaltation
in the eternal worlds, that
they may bear the souls of men
for herein is the work of my
Father continued, that he may
be glorified. (Doctrine &
Covenants [D& C] 132:63)
Both Joseph Smith and Bernard
Rothmann are asserting that they
are speaking the doctrine of
Christ, and both connect the God-given
command to multiply to the practice
of polygamy. The place of man
in true Christian marriage,
according to Rothmann, is magnificent
(herrlich):
Therefore when a man is so plentifully
blessed of God to have
impregnated one wife, and he
therefore, in consideration of
God's commandments, dares not
misuse such a blessing, he is
thus free, yes even advised,
to take more fruitful women in
marriage
then outside marriage,
which is called something
else than being within God's
will and law, to know a woman, is
adultery and whoremongering
... . [27] (my translation)
Rothmann goes on to show from
the Old Testament that this is a
scriptural practice, naming
the patriarchs, and uses the New Testament
as well, asserting that the
statement saying a bishop should be the
husband of one wife suggests
a polygamous society. The argument
seems to be, else why specify
"one?" Next, the subordinate
(untertanigkeit) place of woman
in marriage is defined from
scriptural considerations:
Going on, the man is the head
of the woman, so as the woman
is to honor the man, and so
as now the man must in good order
be obedient and submissive to
Christ, so the woman her man,
and that without grumbling and
backtalking everything as if
they were the masters, but as
the man must have his eyes
centered on Christ, so the women
their masters. ... So has God
now restored the lofty freedom
of marriage by us, ... so has he
now by us placed all women in
obedience to the men, that all
of them, young or old, can let
themselves be ruled by God's
word through men. Not that she
can be used as married
without receiving the man's
name in marriage and so that she
can call in an orderly way upon
his leadership and protection,
so that all things spoken of
by the prophets may be restored in
their true form... . [28] (my
translation)
The parallels between these statements
by Rothmann and Joseph
Smith, both of whom feel they
are representing Christ's true doctrine,
may be cataloged as follows.
Materials not previously cited but
necessary to the comparisons
are reproduced:
1. Man marries woman so that
man may replenish the world,
produce offspring.
2. God is praised/glorified by that offspring in eternity.
3. In order to increase a man's
ability to produce offspring,
and thereby add to the praise/glory
of God, he is admonished
to take additional wives, the
Old Testament patriarchs set the
example, and the doctrine comes
from Christ. The revelation
commanding the practice among
the Mormons reads:
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto
you my servant
Joseph, that inasmuch as you
have inquired of my
hand to know and understand
wherein I, the Lord,
justified my servants Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, as
also Moses, David, and Solomon,
my servants, as
touching the principle and doctrine
of their having
many wives and concubines -
Behold, and lo, I am the
Lord thy God, and will answer
thee as touching this
matter. Therefore, prepare thy
heart to receive and
obey the instructions which
I am about to give unto
you
for all those who have
this law revealed unto
them must obey the same. For
behold, I reveal unto
you a new and an everlasting
covenant
and if ye abide
notthat covenant, then are ye
damned
for no one can
reject this covenant and be
permitted to enter into my
glory. (D& C 132:1-4)
The Muensterite law, part of
Twenty-Eight Articles
promulgated by Jan van Leiden,
is worded so as to hide its true
meaning to some extent, since
it seems to command women to
select men who will only be
their guardians and providers:
26. Every ummarried woman, or
those who have not
their regular husbands, shall
be authorised to choose a
guardian or protector from the
congregation of Christ.
(as cited and translated in
Kautsky [29])
Kautsky went so far as to suggest
that a conjugal relationship
is not the subject of this law,
but it should be noted that it was
leadership and protection that
were defined as essential marks
of the married state by Rothmann.
Kautsky goes on to cite the
closing paragraph of the paragraph
admonishing obedience to
this law:
The voice of the living God has
instructed me that this
is a command of the All-Highest:
The men shall
demand a confession of faith,
as well from their legal
wives as from those whom they
are charged to guard
and protect ... a confession
of faith of the
marriage-union in the New Kingdom
- why and to
what purpose they were baptised.
They shall show and
disclose all this to their husbands.
(as cited and
translated in Kautsky, [30])
That Joseph Smith also disregarded
the fact that his wives may
have been previously married
and not divorced is known. [31]
4. These revelations came from
the Lord to the hearts and
minds of their recipients. The
Lord gave to Joseph Smith a
description of the revelatory
process:
Yea, behold, I will tell you
in your mind and in your
heart, by the Holy Ghost, which
shall come upon you
and which shall dwell in your
heart. Now, behold, this
is the spirit of revelation
behold, this is the spirit by
which Moses brought the children
of Israel through
the Red Sea on dry ground. (D& C
8:2-3)
The importance of the recipient's
own thought process is
underscored by the following
also revealed to Joseph Smith:
Behold, you have not understood
you have supposed
that I would give it unto you,
when you took no
thought save it was to ask me.
But, behold, I say unto
you, that you must study it
out in your mind then you
must ask me if it be right,
and if it is right I will cause
that your bosom shall burn within
you
therefore you
shall feel that it is right.
But if it be not right you shall
have no such feelings, but you
shall have a stupor of
thought that shall cause you
to forget the thing which
is wrong ... (D& C 9:7-9)
There are, of course, also visions
and voices among Joseph
Smith's revelatory experiences:
Of whom we bear record and the
record which we
bear is the fulness of the gospel
of Jesus Christ, who is
the Son, whom we saw and with
whom we conversed
in the heavenly vision. (D& C
76:14)
This description of the revelatory
process seems compatible
with what little is described
of the revelatory experience by Jan
van Leiden, as it has been recorded
in his "confessions:"
(Jul. 25, 1535) Shortly thereafter
he sat in Jan
Knipperdollingks writing chamber
... and received
there a vision for himself,
and saw a lance thrust
through Jan Matthijsz, and as
he was very frightened
because of this, he heard a
voice saying: "Peace be
unto you. That which I would
have brought to pass
through Jan Matthijzs, that
shall you now accomplish
and Johan Thisen's (Matthijsz's)
wife shall you take in
marriage." Then he was even
more frightened and let
Knipperdollingk know about this,
and then said: "Now
let us see, if this vision shall
be true and if such shall
occur." And thereafter within
eight days was Johan
thrust through... . And so as
they would that one under
them would rise up who would
provide for and rule
over the common man, came to
Jan van Leiden with
great heaviness of heart the
testimony that he was king
over this people, and consequently
he should read
through the scriptures. And
so he found that the Lord
said: "I will raise up my servant
David in the last
days," etc., which burdened
him more, and he begged
the Lord to let it be so that
this would not come to pass
except it be prophesied through
another, for he dared
not say this of himself or seem
so boastful, and also
that he might know surely if
this vision were true or
untrue. This he then kept to
himself and told no one.
Shortly thereafter Johan Dusentschuir
stood up before
the community and said how one,
called Johan van
Leiden, shall be our king and
ruler over us. (my
translation) [32]
(Jan. 20, 1536, a note adds that
the following day the
same questions were put to Jan
under the duress of
pain, but he gave the same answers)
Asked, how he
obtained the prophecy and revelations
that he
prophesied the liberation of
the city, and in what form
he had obtained the revelations,
says, he has not really
prophesied but only said that
inasmuch as the
inhabitants of Muenster remained
in the word of God,
they would not have need, and
he is still of that
opinion. And that it has come
to this unfortunate state
is due to their sins. Again,
that he has heard the voice
of the Father or seen angelic
visions, he won't say.
Asked, if he wasn't secretly
made aware that he was to
become king, ... says no, it
came to him first in his
spirit, and he had no conference
with or secret
understanding with Dusentschuir.
[33]
In his previous confession his
explanation of the failed
prophecy concerning the pre-Easter
deliverance of the city was
somewhat different:
But so Easter came and the deliverance
did not, says
he, how he had not meant the
liberation outwardly, but
inwardly in the spirit. [34]
5. Both the Muensterites and
Mormons were taught that the
restoring of the practise of
polygamy was part of the
"restoration of all things,"
witness these words to Joseph
Smith: "For I have conferred
upon you the keys and power of
the priesthood, wherein I restore
all things, and make known
unto you all things in due time."
(D&
C 132:45)
6. Both the Muensterites and
Mormons taught this law with
strong language condemning man-woman
sexual relations
outside of wedlock. Rothmann
calls it adultery and
whoremongering. Joseph Smith's
revelation labels it adultery
for both men and women:
And as ye have asked concerning
adultery, verily,
verily, I say unto you, if a
man receiveth a wife in the
new and everlasting covenant,
and if she be with
another man, and I have not
appointed unto her by the
holy anointing, she hath committed
adultery and shall
be destroyed. If she be not
in the new and everlasting
covenant, and she be with another
man, she has
committed adultery. And if her
husband be with
another woman, and he was under
a vow, he hath
broken his vow and hath committed
adultery. (D& C
132:41-43)
Note the astonishing loophole:
a "holy anointing" may justify
some type of adultery on the
part of a woman married under
the new covenant, it appears.
Perhaps this strange phrase has
something to do with Joseph's
alleged relationships with ladies
who were already married. [35]
The Muensterite Anabaptists
enforced the death penalty for
adultery, for men as well as
women, and excommunication and
delivery to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh for
those who lust and commit adultery
in their hearts. [36]
7. Rothmann says nothing in his
"Restitution" tract to parallel
Joseph's threat of destruction
for women who don't cooperate
with their husbands in obtaining
more wives, but the extremely
prejudiced first-hand sources
available do describe coercive
practices among the Muensterites.
Kautsky's discussion of the two
eyewitness stories that are
extant contains the following
information: The one source,
Kerssenbroick, writes to glorify
the bishop who lays siege to
and conquers the Muensterites.
He lived in the city as a
teenager during the 1534/1535
period and wrote at least
twenty years later, citing,
however, important public
documents of the times.
The other witness, Gresbeck,
lived in the town during much of
the time period of interest,
but was instrumental in betraying
the town to the bishop's forces,
and, as Kautsky theorizes,
seems partly motivated by a
desire to paint the Muensterites as
black as possible to make his
act of betrayal seem as noble as
possible. Gresbeck wrote eight
or nine years after the fall of
Muenster, from memory, it appears.
[37] The public
documents, however, in particular
the invaluable "confessions"
of the prophet Jan van Leiden,
already cited, made after his
capture and under the influence
of past and the threat of
renewed torture, do shed some
light on practices. [38]
Joseph Smith's revelation declares:
And again, verily, I say unto
you, if any man have a
wife, who holds the keys of
this power, and he teaches
unto her the law of my priesthood,
as pertaining to
these things, then shall she
believe and administer unto
him, or she shall be destroyed,
saith the Lord your
God
for I will destroy her
for I will magnify my name
upon all those who receive and
abide in my law. ...
Therefore, it shall be lawful
in me, if she receive not
thislaw, for him to receive
all things whatsoever I, the
Lord his God, will give unto
him, because she did not
believe and administer unto
him according to my
word
and she then becomes the
transgressor
and he is
exempt from the law of Sarah,
who administered unto
Abraham according to the law
when I commanded
Abraham to take Hagar to wife.
(D&
C 132:64-65)
Jan van Leiden's confession of
25 July 1535 mentions that
those who broke the laws and
commandments were punished
with the sword, and this happened
to some housewives. [39]
This is not specific to the
question of polygamy, however, but
Gresbeck's account contains
the following:
So have they forced their first
wives that they must go
and get their man another wife.
... So the first wives
had to endure quietly and dared
not say anything, or
the man took her and hewed her
head off. [40]
As Kautsky notes, however, no
such incident was documented
by either eyewitness, and Gresbeck
bases the story on a woman
found dead face-down in a puddle
of water and suggests she
was killed for being unwilling
to go along with her husband's
wishes or she committed suicide
at the prospect of having her
husband take a younger wife.
[41] Kerssenbroick reports a
scene that hints at life or
death pressure on women to obey the
law, however, when he reports:
Those women that did not obey
their husband's hints,
were brought into the Rosental
cloister as prisoners
and spurred on until they repented.
Those, however,
that were hardened in their
obstinacy against their
men, were beheaded, which happened
to four wives at
one time. [42]
To the extent that these extremely
prejudiced sources, with the
statement from Jan van Leiden,
provide some corroboration of
the fact that women were among
those killed for disobedience,
it seems likely that the death
threat was indeed used to convert
women to polygamy in Muenster,
just as a death threat is used,
albeit in a somewhat veiled
or spiritual sense, in the verses
cited from D& C 132.
8. Finally, patriarchy and polygamy
are mentioned by
Rothmann in the context of the
restoration. Joseph Smith
likewise recognized that patriarchy
is the government
instituted by Adam, who shall
again reign at the last day.
Joseph Smith saw the restoration
of Adam's patriarchal
government as taking place in
the restoration of the patriarchal
priesthood:
I [Abraham] became a rightful
heir, a High Priest,
holding the right belonging
to the fathers. It was
conferred upon me from the fathers
it came down from
the fathers, from the beginning
of time, or before the
foundation of the earth, down
to the present time, even
the right of the firstborn,
or the first man, who is
Adam, or first father, through
the fathers unto me. I
sought for mine appointment
unto the Priesthood
according to the appointment
of God unto the fathers
concerning the seed. (Pearl
of Great Price, Abraham
1:2-4)
Pharaoh, being a righteous man,
... seeking earnestly to
imitate that order established
by the fathers in the first
generations, in the days of
the first patriarchal reign of
Adam, and also of Noah, his
father, ... . (Abraham
1:26)
Thus in terms of theology and
social underpinnings, there is little
difference between the polygamies
taught by these two, widely
separated, prophets of the restoration.
It will be left to the historians to
compare the personalities and
fates of these two men: their mutual love
of parading and pomp, their
personal polygamous practice seemingly
being out of harmony with the
revealed principles that set the standard,
their mutual disregard for marriages
contracted prior to entry into the
kingdom, and finally their both
being tried on the charge of treason.
Beyond these correspondences
between the persons Joseph Smith and
Jan van Leiden, there are also
correspondences between Muenster
during its siege and Utah during
their miltary confrontation with the
U.S. government and during the
following judicial siege. These
matters are fitting grist for
the mills of historians. For the
non-historian but curious, a
highly readable account of the history of
the Muensterites has recently
been published in French and German
[43], and for the English reader
the previously cited work by Krahn is
recommended as among the fairest
estimate of this singular
phenomenon within the Anabaptist
movement.
For the reader with a broad interest
in the roots of religious
movements, and for the Mormon
reader, I recommend the article
comparing Mormon and Anabaptist
radiacalism by D. Michael Quinn.
Quinn's paper was published
the same year I sent my second version of
this paper to a periodical (Dialogue:
A Journal of Mormon Thought),
only to have it rejected (again)
because they had already accepted
Quinn's for publication at some
future date. Quinn, a historian, briefly
discusses polygamy as one of
a dozen radical traits that Anabaptism in
its formative years had in common
with Mormonism in its formative
years. Quinn does not focus
on polygamy as is done here. [44]
The differences between Joseph
Smith and Jan van Leiden and their
respective followers are, perhaps,
great, but it seems to me that much
difference represents the respective
circumstance of the Mormons
versus the Muensterites. Their
alleged revelations regarding
man-woman relationships are
nearly identical in spirit. My personal
appraisal of both men is that
both were spurred on by scripture study
and when their minds were opened
to the subject of woman, they were
inspired from within, from deep
in the heart of the male of the species,
from that source of inspiration
where the ubiquitous patriarchal rules
concerning the ownership and
control and use of woman have
originated since the days of
Adam.
REFERENCES
1. For a short description of
the Anabaptist movement and its times
see Roland H. Bainton. "The
Reformation in the Sixteenth Century."
(Beacon Press, Boston, 1952),
pp. 95-109.
2. Estep, William R. Jr. "Anabaptist
Beginnings (1523-1533)." (B.
De Graaf, Nieuwkoop, 1976),
parts 11 and 13.
3. Ibid., pp. 102-104.
4. Ibid., pp. 128-129.
5. Ibid., pp. 167-168.
6. The entire discussion of
Melchior Hoffman is condensed from
Cornelius Krahn. "Dutch Anabaptism,
Origin, Spread, Life, and
Thought." (Herald Press, Scottdale,
Pennsylvania, 1981), pp. 80-111.
7. This condensed discussion
of the rise of the militants among the
followers of Melchior Hoffman
is based on the narrative in: Klaus
Depperman. "Melchior Hoffman,
Soziale Unruhen und
apokalyptische Visionen im Zeitalter
der Reformation."
(Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,
Gottingen, Germany, 1979), pp. 288-293.
8. Krahn, Op. Cit., p. 144.
9. Ibid., p. 145.
10. Depperman, Op. Cit., p.
290.
11. Krahn, Op. Cit., p. 145.
12. Depperman, Op. Cit., p.
301.
13. George Miller and Hyrum
Marks accounts as cited in: Hyrum L.
Andrus, "Doctrines of the Kingdom."
Foundations of the Millenial
Kingdom of Christ, Vol. III.
(Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, 1973), p.
559.
14. Smith, Joseph, manuscript
of discourse of July 23, 1843, as cited
in: Joseph Fielding Smith, "Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith."
(Deseret Book Company, Salt
Lake City, 1977), p. 318.
15. Taylor, John, revelation
of June 27, 1882, as cited in: Andrus, Op.
Cit., p. 558.
16. Dulmen, Richard van. "Das
Taufferreich zu Munster 1534-1535.
Berichte und Dokumente." (Deutcher
Teschenbuch Verlag, Munchen,
Germany, 1974), a source book
of first hand accounts, largely written
by enemies of the Muensterites,
however.) pp. 140-141.
17. Ibid., citing the pamphlet
by Rothmann, pp. 197-208.
18. Ibid., pp. 197-198.
19. Ibid., p.199.
20. Depperman, Op. Cit., p.
296-297.
21. Dulmen, Op. Cit., p. 199.
22. Ibid., pp. 200-202.
23. Kautsky, Karl. "Communism
in Central Europe in the Time of
the Reformation." (Augustus
M. Kelley Publishers, New York, 1966
reprint of 1897 edition), pp.
216-293.
24. Dulmen, Op. Cit., p. 200.
25. Ibid., pp. 203-204.
26. Ibid., pp. 202-203.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Kautsky, Op. Cit., p. 274.
30. Ibid.
31. Brodie, Fawn M. "No Man
Knows My History, The Life of
Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet."
2nd ed. (Alfred A. Knopf, New
York, 1982), Appendix C, pp.
457-488
Donna Hill. "Joseph Smith
the First Mormon." (Signature,
Midvale, Utah, 1977), p. 351.
32. Cornelius, Dr. C. A. "Berichte
der Augenzeugen Uber das
Munsterische Wiedertauferreich."
Volume Two (Zweiter Band) of:
"Die Geschichtsquellen des Bisthums
Munster." (Theissing'schen
Buchhandlung, Munster, 1853),
p. 371, 372.
33. Ibid., p. 399-400.
34. Ibid., p. 373.
35. Brodie, Op. Cit., pp. 301-302.
36. Kautsky, Op. Cit., pp. 264-267.
37. Ibid., pp. 241-245.
38. Cornelius, Op. Cit., 369-376
and 398-402.
39. Ibid., p. 373.
40. Gresbeck, Heinrich. "Master
Heinrich Gresbeck's Bericht von der
Wiedertaufe in Munster." pp.
As published in Dr. C. A. Cornelius,
Op. Cit., pp. 60, 65.
41. Kautsky, Op. Cit., p. 275n-276n,
observations on Gresbeck, Op.
Cit., pp.64-65.
42. Kerssenbroick as cited in
Dulmen, Op. Cit., p. 144.
43. Barret, Pierre and Jean-Noel
Gurgand. "Der Konig der Letzten
Tage - Le Roi des Derniers Jours
- ." (Ernst Kabel Verlag, Hamburg,
Germany, 1982 Hachette, Paris,
France, 1981).
44. Quinn, D. Michael, "Socioreligious
Radicalism of the Mormon
Church: A Parallel to the Anabaptists,"
in Davis Bitton and Maureen
U. Beecher (eds.): "New Views
of Mormon History," (University of
Utah Press, Salt Lake City,
Utah, 1987) pp. 363-386.