Schwenkfeld, Caspar (1489-1561)
Place of Birth: Born in Silesia of noble parents
Influences: Friend of Luther, enthusiastically embraced Lutheran Reformation
Beliefs and Teachings: Opposed war, secret societies, oath-taking; denied State right to command against conscience; his emphasis on inward, subjective experience caused split with Luther, Zwingli, and Bucer; his Great Confession (1540) stated that regeneration is by grace through inward work of Spirit, and believers feed on Christ (His celestial flesh) spiritually; rejected infant baptism and outward church forms; observed sacraments spiritually; followers called “confessors of the glory of Christ”; believed church members must give evidence of regeneration experience; opposed sects, denominations; never formed followers into an organization; Schwenkfelders organized themselves in Philadelphia (1734)
Writings: Great Confession (1540)
Biographies: Rufus M. Jones, Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston: Beacon Press, 1914; Christopher Schultz, A Vindication of Caspar Schwenckfeld Von Ossig (1769), translated by Elmer Schultz Gerhard, Allentown, PA: Edward Schlechter, 1942
