Philip Mutsemeker belonged to a group of Anabap­tists at Maastricht, Dutch province of Lim­burg about 1534. In early September 1534 he was baptized by Henric Rol. Arrested with many others in January 1535, he was tried and recanted his faith. Thereupon he was beheaded at Maastricht on 6 February 1535. Mutsemeker's trial is very interesting. He was a young man; Steven Mutsemeker, his father, formerly belonging to the Sacramentists, also joined the Anabaptists. Philip, who formerly had been a drunkard and a fighter, had turned to a better life after his conversion. He was apparently a poor man, who repeatedly received relief from the Anabaptists; Jan van Genck, the deacon, had even had the roof of his house thatched. It was his opinion that infant baptism was not in accord with the Scriptures and that it was not necessary to hold to the institutions of the Catholic Church, such as fasting. Like many of this Maastricht Anabaptist group Philip had a strong tendency to revolutionary practices.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 166. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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