Jean de Labadie

Jean de Labadie (1610–1674) was a 17th century French pietist. Originally a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, he became a member of the Reformed Church in 1650, before founding the community which became known as the Labadists in 1669. At its height the movement numbered around 600 with thousands of adherents further afield. It attracted some notable female converts such as the famed poet and scholar, Anna Maria van Schurman, and the entomological artist
Maria Merian. Labedie combined the influences of Jansenism and Reformed Pietism, developing a form of radical Christianity with an emphasis upon holiness and Christian communal living. Labadie's teachings gained hold in the Netherlands.

Labadie died in 1674. The movement continued both in Europe and America, but had dissipated by 1732.

Labadie's most influential writing was "The Reform of the Church Through the Pastorate" (1667).

ee also

*Labadists

External links

* [http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc06/htm/labadie.htm Article from the 1914 Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge]