RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Schwen ckfeld
durance even after his exaltation. In his formal expression of this, he more nearly approximated Eutychianism (q.v.) and brought to view a number of paradoxical phrases rather than a clear representation of a state of reality. The work of Christ is considered as the winning of salvation through the historic Christ, and the dispensation of salvation through the glorified Christ. According to G. L. Hahn both propositions comprise: (1) redemption from the power of the devil; (2) purification of human nature from sin, or justification; and (3) emancipation from the state of the creature and adoption into the state of sonship, or regeneration; the entire emphasis falling upon the distributive activity of the exalted Christ, and the acceptance of the same by faith. And here, again, Schwenckfeld lays greater stress on moral and religious transformation, than on justification; though the latter is not altogether eliminated. This appears most evidently in the sentence: " God regards no one righteous in whom there is none of his essential righteousness" (Epistolar, i. 812). These conceptions, however, are not original with Schwenckfeld. Likewise in his mystical conception of faith and resignation, he no more than reflects medieval heritage.
IV. The Schwenckf eldians : Personally Schwenckfeld occupied a neutral position (" the middle way ") between the great ecclesiastical and religious parties of his time; and he was desirous of gaining this neutral status for his adherents as well. These, therefore, withdrew quietly from the organized Church; adopting, at first, the designation " Confessors of the Glory of Christ," and after 1539 that of " Schwenckf eldians." They grouped themselves in individual congregations, and soon acquired the more or less distinct character of a sect. Congregations grew up most numerously in the two regions where Schwenckfeld had carried on his personal propaganda, Silesia and Swabia, and in the towns where he had sojourned. Beside these, Gorlitz, Glatz, Goldberg, Lowenberg, Jauer, and Wohlau became permanent sites of considerable congregations. At a comparatively early date, the movement also took root in Prussia. Schwenckfeld had become personally acquainted with Duke Albrecht (see Albrecht of Prussia), and sought to win both him and the foremost theologians in Prussia; Paul Speratus (q.v.), for instance. Especially in southern Prussia, there was a strong favorable movement between 1530 and 1535; but it declined after a colloquy at Rastenburg in 1531, and after the leading theologians and the duke declared themselves more and more adversely. At the present stage of research, a prolonged, in main outline intelligible history of the Schwenckfeldians appears only, beside at Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, in Wurttemberg and specially in Silesia. Duke Christopher of Wiirttemberg issued a stern restriction against them in 1554, though some traces of them were still evident in the seventeenth century. In Silesia the congregations increased, toward the close of the sixteenth century, by receiving Anabaptists, and in the seventeenth century, through the accession of the adherents of Jakob Boehme (q.v.). But they retained the Schwenckfeldian type, as shown by
confessions published at the beginning of the eighteenth century. During the entire seventeenth century, they flourished principally in the vicinity of Goldberg; but at the beginning of the eighteenth attention was drawn to them by means of an adverse tract. As a result a confession of faith was demanded of them, and in 1720 the Emperor Charles VI. despatched a Jesuit coercive mission against them, which, however, did not effect their extermination. A part of them emigrating into Saxony were denied tolerance and proceeded successively to Holland, England, and to eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. When Frederick the Great had taken possession of Silesia, he not only granted them tolerance, by an edict of 1742, but also restoration of their confiscated properties. Their congregations are famed for their earnest piety and sound morality. R. H. Grutzmacher.
The Schwenckfeldians, or Schwenckfelders, are found in this country only in Pennsylvania. In 1734 some 200 of Schwenckf eld's followers emigrated to America and settled in Bucks, Berks, and contiguous counties in Pennsylvania. They have always been opposed to war, secret societies, and the judicial oath. Their doctrines are drawn from the Bible in the light of the indwelling Word. They hold that the higher nature of Christ was progressive, rising steadily from the human into the divine, and that faith, justification, and regeneration mean a positive change and that the constant aim in Christian life should be Christ-likeness. Discipline is strictly maintained. There are district conferences and a general conference in which all members without distinction of sex are entitled to sit. The Schwenckfeldians support missions at home and also, through other societies, in China, India, and Japan. There are 6 ministers, 8 churches, and 827 communicants. The number of churches has doubled, and the number of communicants more than doubled, since 1800. H. K. Carroll.
Bibliography: The full edition of the Works of Schwenckfeld has never been published, but one is projected under the editorship of C. D. Hartranft and others, see below, Corpus Schwenckf eldianorum. The Schrifften as published, to which reference is made in the text, is the 4 folio-volumes edition, i. Der erste Theil der chrisllichen orthodoxischen Biicher, 1564; ii. Epistolar, 1st part, 1566; iii. Epistolar, 2d part, vol. i., 1570; iv. Epistolar, 2d part, vol. ii., 1520. Consult: J. Wigand, De Schwenckfeldismo, Leipsic, 1587; G. Arnold, Kirchen- und Ketzerhistorie, ii. 241 sqq., 4 vols., Frankfort, 1700-15; C. A. Salig, Vollstandige Historic der augspurgischen Konfession, book XI., Halle, 1730; G. L. Hahn, Schwenckf eldii sententia de Christi persona et opere, Wratislaw, 1847; H. W. Erbkam, Geschichte der protestantischen Sekten im Zeitalter der Reformation, Gotha, 1848; O. Kadelbach, Ausfiihrliche Geschichte Sch"ienkfeldts und der Schwenkfeldtianer, Lauban, 1861; Hampe, Zur Biographie Kaspar von Schwenckfeld, Jauer, 1882; F. Hoffmann, Kaspar Schwenckfelds Leben und Lehren, Berlin, 1897; R. H. Grutzmacher, Wort und Geist, § 16, Leipsic, 1902; H. W. Kriebel, The Schwenkfelders in Pennsylvania, Lancaster, 1904; Corpus Schwenckfeldianorum. Published under the Auspices of the Schwenckfelder Church, and the Hartford Theological Seminary, vol. 1., A Study of the earliest Letters of Caspar Schwenckfeld v. Ossig, ed. C. D. Hartranft, O. B. Schlutter, and E. E. Schultz Johnson, Leipsic, 1907; F. W. Loetscher, Schwenckfeld' s Participation in the Eucharistic Controversy of the 16th Century, Philadelphia, 1907; A. A. Seipt, Schwenckfelder Hymnology and the Sources of the First Schwenckfelder Hymn-book printed in America, Philadelphia, 1909; ADB, xxxiii. 403-412.
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