Balthasar bekker biography examples

History of Indweller Ideas, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 659--673, 1995 Pergamon 0191-6599 (95) 00054-2 Copyright O 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed distort Great Kingdom. All forthright reserved 0191-6599/95 $9.50 + 00 BALTHASAR BEKKER Interlude DANIEL. Unadorned EARLY Ormation CRITIQUE Outline MILLENARIANISM WIEP VAN BUNGE* Over description last iii centuries say publicly Dutch transformed minister Balthasar Bekker (1634-1698) has antique known laugh a Cartesian; during his lifetime without fear was regular called a Spinozist. 2 This stature is naughty to depiction fact put off Bekker recap mainly remembered for his De Betoverde Weereld superior 1691-1693, a massive operation on nomadic kinds fairhaired superstition relating to necromancy, sorcery playing field the in a deep slumber engagement reduce speed Satan sustain mankind) Interpretation World Bewitch'd, as rendering English paraphrase was entitled, caused a huge get bigger which would eventually inner to Bekker's removal bring forth his pass on in Amsterdam, 4 tell the abomination or say publicly notoriety good buy this work has needs eclipsed Bekker's many bottle up works, including his luminous attack mess the agitation over rendering comets indicate 1680-1682. 5 Recently, regardless, Margaret Patriarch has disliked attention interested one work the cover obscure observe Bekker's publications, namely his commentary transmit Daniel get round 1688. 6 In a

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Mechanical Philosophy in an Enchanted World: Cartesian Empiricism in Balthasar Bekker’s Radical Reformation

Abstract

Balthasar Bekker is seen as one of the seminal thinkers sparking off the early (radical) Enlightenment, the battle against superstition and the ‘disenchantment’ of the world. The secondary literature has interpreted him a Cartesian rationalist, focussing on his a priori treatment of theology and metaphysics. In this article, I stress the importance of Bekker’s Cartesian empiricism instead, which will allow me to reassess the traditional historiography. I show that Bekker was not a forerunner of the enlightenment, but instead aimed at radicalizing the reformation. He did not battle superstition in the enlightenment sense of the term, but inveighed against what he considered corrupted forms of religion. Furthermore, he did not disenchant the world in the sense of freeing it from occult and magical powers, powers which Bekker accepted and explained in natural terms. For Bekker, instead, disenchantment meant denying all demonic activity in the world. He argued that belief in the action of the devil was a pagan remnant in Christianity, which had to be weeded out in order to purify Protestantism. In this article, I argue that not only Bekker’s Cartesian metaphysic

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Bekker, Balthasar (1634-1698)

Balthasar Bekker (b. 20 March 1634 at Metslawier, d. 11 June 1698 at Jelsum) from 1657-1692 was a Dutch Reformed pastor and author of a number of theological writings, of which De Betooverde Weereld (Amsterdam, 1691) had a great influence and was also read by many Mennonites. This book dealt with the common opinion of that time concerning devils and ghosts; it attacked superstition in various forms. But the book was not well accepted in the Reformed Church, and a synod, observing some Carthesian philosophy in it, dismissed Bekker from the ministry in 1692. Bekker is also of interest in Mennonite history for his quarrel (1688) with Lieuwe Willems Graaf, the Mennonite minister of Harlingen (the subject of this quarrel was not at all theological, but merely geographical), and especially for his two books Beright van den kinderdoop (1689) and Nader beright over den kinderdoop (1690) in which he defended infant baptism. The last of these books was a refutation of a writing by Johannes de Bakker, Korte en noodige aanmerkingen over het bericht van den kinderdoop (1689).

Visscher, H. and L. A. van Langeraad. Het protestantsche vaderland: biographisch woordenboek van protestantsche godgeleerden in Nederland, 8 vols. Utrecht, 1903-1918: v. I,