Hoffmann, Daniel, a Lutheran theologian, was born at HaUe 1540, and educated at the University of Jena. In 1576 he was made professor of theology at the University of Helmstadt. In the theological con- troversies of iiis day he took an active part, contend-
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ins against the Calvinistic theory of the sacraments, pre- destination, and also against the doctrine of Ubiquity (([.v.) as liold hy his own Church. He decried philoso- pliy as hurtful both to religion and to the community, attempting to sustain his position by extracts from the Pauline epistles and the writings of Luther himself, who, as is well known, did in his earlier years hold that there is a contradiction between the truths of theology and those of philosophy. In his later years Luther radically changed his views. Hoifmann was attacked by the two great Aristotelian philosophers, Caselius and IMartini, who also complained of him at the university. The duke of Brunswick, after consulting the Universit}' of Kostock, obliged Hoffmann to retract, and vacate his chair at the university. He died at Wolfenbiittel in IGll. His followers, on account of their adherence to a twofold doctrine, were called chiplicisfs, and their oppo- nents siiiqylicists. His controversial ■writings are nu- merous, as £>e duplici rerilate LuIIk li <i jihUosophis im- piirpuita (Magdeb. IGOO): — St(pi r <jii(i .</i'iiir^ nnm syllu- ffisinus 7-ationis locum habeai in nyiiu Ju'ui (ihiA. 1600). An account of his disputes may be found in Thomasius, De Controversiu Hoffmanniana (Erlangen, 1844, 8vo) ; ^falleus Impietatis Hojf'manniance (Frankf. 1604). See Herzog, Reul-Enci/klop. vi, 185 sq. ; IMosheim, Ch. Hist. cent, xvii, pt. ii, chap, i, § 10 ; Entield, Hist, oj Philos. ii, 506 ; Gass, Gesch. d. Dogmat. ii, 73 sq. ; Bayle, Hist. Diet. iii,478 sq.; Krug, P/jzYos. iex. v, 531 sq.; Schrdckh, A"/?- chenrjc'sch. s. d. Reform, iv, 159-Gl. See Hunnius.
Hoffmann, Gottfried, born atPlagwitz, in Silesia, in ItiTS, studied at Leijizig. and was rector of the gym- nasia at Laulian and Zittau. He died in 1712. His name is mentioned here on account of his contributions to hymnology, as Leichengesdw/e (Laub. 1704) : — Busz- lieder (ib. 1705). — Pierer, Univ. Lex. viii, 442.
Hoffmann, Heinrich, a Gernian preacher of the 17th century at Masko, in Finland, was associated with other divines in translating the Bible into the Finnish language, published at Stockliolm (1642, fol. and 1658). — Pierer, Univ. Lex. viii, 447.
Hoffmann, Immanuel, born at Tubingen April 16, 171(t. was appointed archdeacon of Tubingen in 1741, and in 1756 professor of Greek in the university of the same place. He died in 1772. Hoffmann published a number of dissertations ; of these, the following are con- sidered the best : Diss, in Orandum Rom. x, 5-8 (Tub. 1752, 4to) -.—Diss, de stilo Apostoli Pauli (1757) -.—Diss. in loca paraUela, 2 Pet. ii, 4-17 ; Jude 5-13 (1762, 4to) : —Commentatio in 1 Cor. i, 19-21 (1766. 4to). He wrote also, but left unpublished, Demonstrcitio l-j-antiilii-it per ipsum scripturarum consensum in oraciili.< < ■>■ 1 '< /- /' Tes- tamento in Novo allegatis declaratci,]->ixnii^ iii (Tubuigen, 1773-82, 4to). T. G. Hegelmaier, who edited this work after the decease of the author, prefixed to it a life of Hoffmann, and an excursus on the right method of in- terpreting the quotations made from the 0. T. in the New. drme speaks of this work as " full of learning, and in general verv judicious."— Kitto, Bib. Cyclop, ii, 318.
Hoffmann, Johann, a distinguished German the- ologian, was born at Schweidnitz. The date of his birth is not known. He was for a time jjrofessor of theology at the University of Prague. In 1409 he and Otto of Miinsterberg went to Leipzig, and induced many stu- dents to accompany them. They thus contributed to the founding of the Leipzig University. At first he was one of its professors, but in 1414 he was made bishop of Meissen. He died there in 1451.— Pierer, Univ. Lex. viii, 441.
Hoffmann (or Hofmann), Melchior, one of the most celebrated Anabaptist (q. v.) prophets, bom at Hall,
Suabia, originally a furrier, went to Livonia about the time of the Eefbmiation, and became a Protestant. His enthusiasm for the cause of the Protestants led him to preach at Wolmar. On account of the great opposit ion which he there encountered, he went to Dorpat, where
the opposition against him was no less great, and he be. came so embittered against the Poman Catlidlic priests that he sought to infinence the pcojile in favor of de- stroying all paintings in churches, and all monasteries. This course estranged from him even his own friends, and he left in 1525 for Wittenberg to considt with Lu- ther and Bugenhagen, who encouraged him to return to Dorpat, admonishing his friends, at the same time, to harmonious action. But his success was no better than before, and he soon after left for Keval. Later we find him at Stockholm. In 1527 the king of Denmark ap- pointed him preacher at Kiel, but his determination to explain the Bible apocalyptically, and his deviation from the Lutheran doctrine of tlie sacraments, made Luther and his followers opponents of Hoffmann, and, after a stay of only two years, a conference to examine his doctrines was appointed. He was condemned for her- esy, deposed from liis position, and ordered to leave the countn,'. He now went to Strasburg, and next to Emden, where he allied himself with the Anabaptists, and soon became one of their prmcipal leaders. At the latter place he so infatuated his followers that they took him for the prophet Elias, and announced tlie Day of Judgment as coming in 1536. From Emden he retiu-ned to Stras- burg, but the disturbances which he provoked occasioned the calling of a synod (June, 1533), which condemned him.and caused his imprisonment. He died in prison in 1542. On the person of Christ, Hoffmann, with many other Anabaptists, and like the Valeutiniaus of the ear- ly ages, held that our Lord's birth was a more phantom, laying great stress upon tyiviTO (John i, 14); that the Logos did not merely assume our nature, but he became flesh — hence his lilasplicmous expression, "Maledicta sit care Mariie" (Smith's Hagenbach, ///.s/or?/ oJ' Doctrines, ii, 349; comp. also Tuchsel, p. 34,35). On the Eucha- rist he differed, as we have already stated, from Luther in his doctrine of the real (spiritual) presence, holding that the bodily bread is a seal, sign, and token in memo- ry of the body ; the body, however, is received in the word by an unwavering faith in our heart ; the u-ord is . spirit and life ; the tvord is Christ, and is partaken of by faith. Thus he thought it possible, while considering the bread only as a symbol, to adhere to the sjTnbol of the real spiritual presence of Christ. The followers of Hoffmann, who took the name of their leader, flourished for a short time after his death near Strasburg and Lower Germany, but finally joined the other Anabaptist sects, from which Hoffmann, while alive, had kept distinct. Fuhrmann (Hdworterb. d. christl. Religions- v. Kirchen- gesch. ii, 325) says that a number of this sect went to England in 1535, and that there also they suffered great- ly from persecutions ; twenty-two of them were even im- prisoned. Under Edward YI.( 1548) they fared some- what better, but after IVIary's accession to the throne they were obliged to flee the country. Under the reign of Elizabeth they again ventured to reside in England, but in 1560 they were finally banished the country. A fidl account of Hoffmann and his sects is given by Krohn, Gesch. d.fanat. u. enthus. Wiederlanfer in Niederdeutsch- land (Lpz. 1758, 8vo, containing, also, a complete list of the writings of Hoffmann, which were mainly apoc- alyptical) ; Herrmann, Sur In vie et les ecrits de M. //. (Strasburg, 1858). See also Schrcickh, Kirchengesch. s. d. Reformat^ iv, 442 sq. ; Cunitz, in Ucrzog's Real-Enci/lhp. vi, 191 sq.; Be^yle, Histor. Diet, n, 4><0; Niedner. /,./;r/*. d. Kirchengesch. \). 6i; Moller, Cimhriii lilferdfd, ii. 347 sq.; Rohrich, in Zeitschr.f. histor. Theol. {WW. p. 3 sq.) ; Gass, Gesch. d. Dogmat. ii. 73 ; Baumgartcu-Crusius, Dvg- mengesch. p. 628. (J. H. W.")