Stevensz, Jan (1634-1686?)
Jan Stevensz (also called J. S. van Nyeveen), born May 1634 at Nijeveen, Dutch province of Drente, died after 1686, a weaver of Kampen. In 1672 he moved to Amsterdam, where he was the city lamplighter. He was always in need, and he was often generously aided by the deacons of the Amsterdam Lamist Mennonitecongregation, of which he was a member. Stevensz was a difficult and quarrelsome person. For some time he was an ardent follower of the Amsterdam Lamist preacher Galenus Abrahamsz, but still greater and more lasting was his veneration of the German theologian and mystic Jakob Böhme. About 1682 Stevensz left the Mennonite Church.
Stevensz wrote some books; for example, Apocalypsis often Het geopende Boeck met seven segelen (Amsterdam, 1675), Fondament-boeck, of Grondigh bewijs van de Kennisse Godts en de Christelijke Godsdienst (Amsterdam, 1683). In this book Stevensz published two letters of Menno Simons—the one to the brethren in Franeker and the one to the congregation of Emden. In one of the appendices to this book he accused Galenus Abrahamsz of false teachings and unchristian conduct. A third book by Stevensz is Onderwys door Exempelen ofte Spiegel der lijdsame Heyligen (Amsterdam, 1686), of which there is a second enlarged edition under the revised title Aenhangsel ofte Vervolg van het Martelaers-boeck van <em>Tieleman van Braght</em> (Amsterdam, 1686), in which he contributes a number of items on Luther, Menno Simons, and some persons of his own time who met with revilement because of their religious convictions. This book, like its author, is not very important.
Bibliography
Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1902): 87-102.
Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam. 2 v. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: II, No. 902.
Hylkema, C. B. Reformateurs I and II. Haarlem, 1900, 1902): passim.
Meihuizen, H. W. Galenus Abrahamsz. Haarlem, 1954: 152 f., 163.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
van der Zijpp, Nanne. "Stevensz, Jan (1634-1686?)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Stevensz,_Jan_(1634-1686%3F)&oldid=68477.
APA style
van der Zijpp, Nanne. (1959). Stevensz, Jan (1634-1686?). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Stevensz,_Jan_(1634-1686%3F)&oldid=68477.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 630-631. All rights reserved.
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