Hans de Ries: A Study in Second Generation Dutch Anabaptism (Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies (New Series))

In 1962, Cornelius J. Dyck (1921-2014) defended and submitted his dissertation, “Hans de Ries: Theologian and Churchman. A Study in Second Generation Dutch Anabaptism” with the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. While C. J. Dyck is a well-known name in certain North American Mennonite circles, Hans de Ries is not. De Ries helped to shape Mennonite doctrine, practice, polity and memory in northern Europe in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, thereby influencing second-generation Anabaptism. As it was meant to do, the dissertation earned Dyck a PhD and secured his professorship with the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries (now Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, or AMBS). Dyck, already an emerging “churchman” himself, went on to have a long and impressive career as, among other things, teacher, author, editor and director of the AMBS Institute for Mennonite Studies. Despite spawning several articles and chapters on De Ries and early Dutch Mennonite history, this book-length dissertation remained unpublished—until now. — Dr. Mary S. Sprunger, Eastern Mennonite University (from the Introduction)

“The life and writings of Hans de Ries (1553-1638) have received scant attention over the past few centuries. Yet, he was one of the most creative theologians and church leaders in the second-generation of Dutch Anabaptism. From his base in Alkmaar, The Netherlands, de Ries organized ecumenical conferences, developed a benevolent society, and advocated for discipleship, nonviolence, and congregational life. C. J. Dyck’s 1962 dissertation at the University of Chicago brings these issues and the life of de Ries to the forefront of today’s theological reflection, and that work is now available in print for the first time. The reader will discover that de Ries addressed concerns that churches still face today, and in that sense, his theological perspectives and ministerial initiatives are a model for our age.”
— Dr. Lauren Friesen, University of Michigan

“In an age when Anabaptist scholarship was focused on rehabilitating early Anabaptism from mischaracterizations, Cornelius J. Dyck was ahead of his time in defending a dissertation on a leading second generation Anabaptist, Hans de Ries. Dyck’s work will be especially significant for those students and scholars interested in the mystical and spiritual impulses in Anabaptism, and for those interested in understanding possible linkages between Anabaptism and the early Dutch enlightenment.”
— Dr. Karl Koop, Professor of History and Theology, Canadian Mennonite University