| Alexander Mack | |
|---|---|
| Church | Schwarzenau Brethren |
| Ordination | Minister, elder |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 July 1679 Schriesheim, Palatinate, Germany |
| Died | 19 January 1735 (aged 55) Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Buried | Upper Burying Ground, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Nationality | German Palatine |
| Denomination | Protestant Christian, Pietist Anabaptist |
| Residence | Schriesheim, Palatinate; East Friesland; and Schwarzenau, Wittgenstein, Germany and Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Parents | Johann Phillip Mack (father) and Christina Fillbrun Mack (mother) |
| Spouse | Anna Margarethe Kling |
| Children | Johann Valentine, Johannes, and Alexander Mack, Jr. (sons) and Christina and unnamed infant (daughters) |
| Occupation | Composer, elder and minister, philanthropist, theologian |
| Profession | Miller |
| Signature |  |
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Schwarzenau Brethren (the German Baptists or Dunkers) |
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| Background | |
|---|---|
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Christianity · Protestantism · Anabaptism · Pietism · Radical Reformation |
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| Doctrinal Tenets | |
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Non-Creedalism · Triune Baptism · love feast · feet washing · Holy kiss · Anointing for healing · Non-Resistance and pacifism · The Brethren Card |
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| Persons | |
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Alexander Mack · Louis Bauman · Conrad Beissel · Donald F. Durnbaugh · Christoph Sauer · John C. Whitcomb |
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| Groups | |
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Brethren (Ashland) Church · Brethren Reformed Church · Church of the Brethren · Conservative Grace Brethren · Dunkard Brethren · Grace Brethren · Old German Baptist Brethren · Old Order German Baptist Brethren |
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| Related Movements | |
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Mennonites · Amish · Community of True Inspiration · River Brethren · Religious Society of Friends · Christian Peacemaker Teams |
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Alexander Mack (c. 27 July 1679[a] – 19 January 1735) was the leader and first minister of the Schwarzenau Brethren in the Schwarzenau, Wittgenstein community of modern-day Bad Berleburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Mack founded the Brethren along with seven other Radical Pietists in Schwarzenau in 1708.
Contents |
Early life and founding of the Brethren
Mack was born in Schriesheim, Palatinate in contemporary Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where he worked as a miller. He was born the third son to miller Johann Phillip Mack and his wife Christina Fillbrun Mack and baptized into the local Reformed church on 27 July 1679.[1] The Macks remained in Schriesheim throughout the Nine Years' War, intermittently seeking refuge in the hill country due to violence.[2] Upon finishing his studies, Mack took over the family mill and married socialite Anna Margarethe Kling on 18 January 1701.[3] By 1705, the Macks became moved by the Pietist movement locally led by Ernst Christoph Hochmann von Hochnau and started to host an illegal Bible study and prayer group at their home.[4]
In 1700, prince Heinrich Albrecht of Hesse-Kassel declared the community of Schwarzenau a place for religious refugees beset by the European wars of religion.[5] The town became a safe haven for a variety of religious minorities from France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland to settle, including followers of John Calvin, Huguenots evicted from France due to the Edict of Fontainebleau, and Pietists.[6]
The initial group that became known as the Schwarzenau Brethren were inaugurated by Mack as a Bible study with four other men and three women. In 1708—having become convinced of the necessity of Believer's baptism—the group decided to baptized themselves, using a lottery system to choose who would baptize one another in the Eder.[7]
Emigration to the United States
Mack and several other Brethren emigrated to East Friesland due to pressure within the interfaith community in Schwarzenau in 1720.[8] They stayed until 1729, when the impoverished community found it impossible to sustain itself. In 1719, a different Brethren group led by Peter Becker had already emigrated to Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States for religious freedom.[9] Mack and his followers sailed for Germantown to establish a community in the New World.
Teachings and writings
Prior to the formation of any strict doctrine, the Schwarzenau Brethren espoused several fundamental tents that would define the Brethren movement, including a rejection of any coercion in religion (such as infant baptism), viewing Christian rites and ordinances as a means of grace, and the New Testament as the only creed and Rule of Faith.[10] Mack was a Universalist and strict pacifism.
Footnotes
- ^ Some sources (e.g. Schulz) cite this as Mack's birthday, others (e.g. Eberly) refer to this as his date of baptism.
Works cited
- Mack, Alexander (1991) [1708–1720], William R. Eberly, ed. (in English, [translated from the German]) (Hardback), The Complete Writings of Alexander Mack (1st ed.), Winona Lake, Indiana, United States: BMH Books, ISBN 0-936693-12-6
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- "The Life of Alexander Mack" by William G. Willoughby, from The Complete Writings of Alexander Mack, pp. 1–6
- Schulz, Lawrence W. (1954) (Hardback), Schwarzenau Yesterday and Today (1st ed.), Winona Lake, Indiana, United States: Light and Life Press
- Stoffer, Dale R. (1989), William R. Eberly, ed. (Hardback), Background and Development of Brethren Doctrines 1650–1987, Brethren Encyclopedia Monograph Series, 2 (1st ed.), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States: Brethren Encyclopedia, Inc., ISBN 0-936693-22-3
References
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