 | This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(December 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Johann Sylvan (died 23 December 1572) was aReformedGermantheologian who was executed for hishereticalAntitrinitarian beliefs.
Johann Sylvan probably came from theEtsch valley in theCounty of Tyrol. By 1555 he was employed as a preacher by the bishop ofWürzburg. In 1559 he fled Würzburg and joined theLutheran church inTübingen. In 1560 he became a minister inCalw.
In 1563 he entered the service of theReformedElectorFrederick III of theElectorate of the Palatinate. During the same year he became pastor and church superintendent ofKaiserslautern. In 1566 Sylvan took part in a diplomatic mission to theNetherlands. In 1567 Sylvan became pastor inLadenburg. The Palatinate would be rocked by controversy in 1568 on the question ofchurch discipline, and Sylvan, along with his friendsThomas Erastus andAdam Neuser, emerged as leaders of the anti-disciplinist faction against Calvinists such asCaspar Olevianus.
Sylvan was asked byJan Łasicki to refute a work by the ItalianAntitrinitarianGiorgio Biandrata. The attempt to refute Biandrata’s treatise only convinced him of the veracity of Biandrata’s arguments, especially when the famed Hebrew scholarImmanuel Tremellius could offer him no support of the doctrine of theTrinity from theOld Testament.
Sylvan became part of an Antitrinitarian cell that includedAdam Neuser,Matthias Vehe-Glirius, Jakob Suter andJohann Hasler. In 1570 John Sylvan wrote anAntitrinitarian manifesto entitledTrue Christian Confession of the Ancient Faith of the One True God and of Messiah Jesus of the True Christ, against the Three-Person Idol and the Two-Natured False Deity of the Antichrist.
Sylvan and Neuser attempted to migrate toTransylvania. Their letter to the Transylvanian prince was discovered and Sylvan – who unlike Adam Neuser was unable to flee – was arrested. Although Johann Sylvan later recanted his Unitarian faith, he was condemned and beheaded on theHeidelberg marketplace.
Elector Frederick’s own compromised confessional position, as an advocate of the theoretically illegal Reformed faith, created the context in which the Palatine court felt it had no other choice than to execute Sylvan and thus demonstrate the state’s theological orthodoxy.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
