Balthasar Bekker by J. Hilarides (1691). Source: Wikipedia Commons

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).

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 268. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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