Balthasar Hubmaier

Balthasar Hubmaier (c. 1480 – March 10 1528), was an influential German/Moravian Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation.

Early life and education

He was born in Friedberg, Bavaria (about 5 miles east of Augsburg) circa 1480-1481. Information on his parentage is lacking. In 1524, he married Elizabeth Hügline of Reichenau.

He attended Latin School at Augsburg, and entered the University of Freiburg on May 1, 1503. Insufficient funds caused him to leave the university and teach for a time at Schaffhausen. He returned to Freiburg in 1507 and received both a bachelor's and a master's degree in 1511. In 1512, he received a doctor's degree from the University of Ingolstadt, and became the university's vice-rector by 1515. Hubmaier's fame as a pulpiteer was widespread, and his success as an administrator was not exceptional. He left the University of Ingolstadt for a pastorate of the Catholic church at Regensburg in 1516. In 1521 he went to Waldshut.

Reformer and Anabaptist

In 1522 he became acquainted with Heinrich Glarean, (Conrad Grebel's teacher) and Erasmus at Basel. In March, 1523 in Zürich, Hubmaier met with Huldrych Zwingli, and even participated in a disputation there in October of that same year. In the disputation, he set forth the principle of obedience to the Scriptures. It was evidently here that Hubmaier committed to abandoning infant baptism, a practice he could not support with Scripture.

Anabaptist Wilhelm Reublin arrived in Waldshut in 1525, having been driven out of Zürich. In April Reublin baptized Hubmaier and 60 others.

In December 1525, Hubmaier fled to Zürich to escape the Austrian army. Hoping to find refuge, Zwingli rather had him arrested. While a prisoner, Hubmaier requested a disputation on baptism, which was granted. The disputation yielded some unusual events. Ten men, four of whom Hubmaier requested, were present for the disputation. Within the discussion, Hubmaier proceeded to quote statements by Zwingli in which he asserted that children should not be baptized until they had been instructed. Zwingli responded that he had been misunderstood. The bewildered Hubmaier agreed to recant. But before the congregation the next day, he attested the mental and spiritual anguish brought on by his actions and stated "I can and I will not recant." Back in prison and under the torture of the rack, he did offer the required recantation. With this, he was allowed to leave Switzerland and journeyed to Nikolsburg in Moravia. This weakness troubled him deeply and brought forth his "Short Apology" in 1526, which includes the statements: "I may err - I am a man - but a heretic I cannot be...O God, pardon me my weakness".

Prision and death

In 1527 he returned to Waldshut, where Hubmaier and his wife were seized by Austrian authorities and taken to Vienna. He was held in the castle Gratzenstain until March 1528. He suffered torture on the rack, and was tried for heresy and convicted. On March 10, 1528, he was taken to the public square and executed by burning. His wife exhorted him to remain steadfast. Three days after his execution, his wife, with a stone tied around her neck, was drowned in the River Danube.

Corpus

*"Eighteen Articles" (1524)
*"Heretics and Those Who Burn Them" (1524)
*"The Open Appeal of Balthasar of Friedberg to all Christian Believers" (1525)
*"The Christian Baptism of Believers" (1525)
*"Twelve Articles of Christian Belief" (1526)
*"On the Sword" (1527).

All of his publications contained the motto "Die warheit ist untödlich" (Truth is Immortal).

References

*"Balthasar Hubmaier: Theologian of Anabaptism", H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder, editors ISBN 0-8361-3103-7

External links

* [http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/H8358.html Balthasar Hubmaier] in "Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online"