Anna Jansz and the Sheep and Goats parable (part 2)

Ausbund, Hymn 6 (by Felix Manz)

Unfortunately, I could not find a photo of Hymn 18 in the Ausbund, so I included the above photo of Hymn 6. You can read about it here.

The song connected to Anna Jansz and her execution is the 18^th Hymn in the Ausbund, and it is sung to the tune of “Come Here to Me, says God’s Son.” The first two stanzas set the stage for Anna’s testament to her son just before her death by noting the joy that parents receive from instructing their children to follow God’s teaching. “Annelein” (i.e., Anna) however, now receives one final chance to instruct her young son Isaiah before she follows “on the path of the prophets” to martyrdom; they all follow the ultimate example of Jesus:

I am going on the path of the prophets,

The martyrs’ and apostles’ way;

There is none better.

They all have drunk from the cup.

Even as did Christ Himself,

As I have heard and read (stanza 3; all quotes are from Snyder and Hecht 1996: 345).

The hymn notes that Annelein now understands that all “the priests of the King” travel on this path alone and demonstrate that they indeed are “God’s true sons and children” (stanza 4). At this stage, the hymn domesticates the apocalyptic fervor evident in Anna’s own works; it still employs the imagery of Revelation 6:9-11, but now the perspective expands and softens. This persecution is felt by “all the priests of the King,” and the delight in vengeance, while still present, is moderated:

They cried out to God: O Lord!

Righteous and Truthful One,

How long until you bring order to the earth

Among people everywhere?

And take revenge on only those

Who with great insolence (stanza 6)

Have shed blood everywhere,

Murdering innocent people?

Are you willing to punish them

So they no longer cause dishonour,

Driving your own out of the land,

Continuing in their sin? (stanza 7)

Once again, the hymn expands this persecution to all believers (e.g., “God gives to all [His children] a white robe”), but it also assures its readers/singers/hearers that God’s wrath will be calmed “once the number is fulfilled” (stanza 11).

The hymn’s reflection on the implications of Revelation 6:9-11 ends with stanza 11, and it switches to portraying Anna’s advice to her son for how he should therefore live. He should join with those who are despised, rejected, and persecuted:

Therefore my dearly beloved son,

May you wish to do my will,

And follow my teaching.

If you know a people who spurn every luxury

And pleasure of this world,

May you wish to join them (stanza 12).

They are despised and rejected

By the wretched world.

They must carry Christ’s cross,

And have no secure place

Because they keep God’s word.

They are often hunted down (stanza 13).

God lives with such people,

Who are mocked by the world.

Keep company with them.

They will show you the true way,

Lead you away from the path of evil,

Guide you away from hell (stanza 14).

Anna urges her son to live up to the “dear price” paid by the death of Jesus to deliver him “from the eternal fire.” Here is where the hymn turns to the parable of the Sheep and Goats to illustrate what following this “pure teaching” actually means in one’s life:

Share your bread with the hungry,

Leave no one in need

Who professes Christ.

Also clothe the naked,

Have pity on the sick.

Do not distance yourself from them (stanza 17).

 Note that these actions of love seem to extend only to those in need who “profess Christ,” although that limitation is not explicitly stated in the other sections about the naked, sick, or imprisoned:

If you cannot always be with them,

Show your good will.

Comfort the imprisoned,

Welcome guests cheerfully into your home,

And don’t let anyone drive them out.

Then your reward will be greatest (stanza 18).

The hymn then connects this exhortation to identify with and help those in need with Jesus’ prophetic proclamation of liberation in Luke 4:16-21.

Both your hands should be ready

To do the works of mercy,

To give twofold offerings;

This is spiritual and worldly work:

To set the prisoners free, strengthen the weak;

Then you will truly live (stanza 19).

The hymn concludes Anna’s testament to Isaiah with the an exhortation “to give always to God’s people” (stanza 20) and with the assurance that God will reward him if he follows her counsel:

God also will reward you

In His Kingdom in the other world.

He will bestow it twofold;

There should be no doubt of this (stanza 21).

Stanza 22 provides a concluding exhortation that praises Anna as a “beautiful model” of what Christians should be:

On the one thousand five hundredth

And thirty-first year

Annelein paid with her life,

Which in virtue soft and mild

Was for Christians a beautiful model,

Given in death as well as in life.

That finishes the posts on Anna Jansz, and I'm not sure what I will discuss next. Next week I will give an update on the Honors Seminar, though, and then decide which direction to head next. Perhaps John Calvin's sermons on some parables.

Anna Jansz and the Sheep and Goats parable (part 1)

The Ausbund

As victims of persecution and ostracism themselves, Anabaptists could identify with the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matt 25:31-46). Like Jesus’ parable, Anna’s moving testament to her son focuses on where the kingdom is found—among the poor and those despised by the world—and how a person of faith should act in order to be a member of that kingdom:

See, my son, this way has no retreats; there are no roundabout or crooked little paths; whosoever departs to the right or to the left, inherits death: Behold, this is the way which is found by so few, and walked by a still far smaller number; for there are some who well perceive that this is the way to life; but it is too severe for them; it pains their flesh . . . . But where you hear of a poor, simple, cast-off little flock (Luke 12:32), which is despised and rejected, by the world, join them; for where you hear of the cross, there is Christ; from there do not depart. Flee the shadow of this world; become united with God; fear Him alone, keep His commandments, observe all His words, to do them; write them upon the table of your heart, bind them upon your forehead . . . . Whatever you do, do it all to the praise of His name. Honor the Lord in the works of your hands, and let the light of the Gospel shine through you. Love your neighbor. Deal with an open; warm heart thy bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and suffer not to have anything twofold; for there are always some who lack (Matt. 26:11). Whatever the Lord grants you from the sweat of your face, above what you need, communicate to those of whom you know that they love the Lord (Genesis 3:19; Ps. 112:9); and suffer nothing to remain in your possession until the morrow, and the Lord shall bless the work of your hands, and give you His blessing for an inheritance (Deut. 28:12) (http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/martyrs062.htm#453).

Another development in the tradition occurred in the 1670 edition of Het Offer des Heeren: the testament was reworked by an anonymous poet into a song of fourteen stanzas. Finally, an even more expanded version of the song—in German with twenty-two stanzas—was published in the 1583 German Ausbund, the oldest Anabaptist hymnal (first published in 1564). The hymn shows how the tradition developed—it even gives the incorrect year for her martyrdom—into a martyrology that domesticated the apocalyptic elements and helped edify the faithful and foster their “sense of history and identity” (Snyder and Hecht 1996: 342).   

The song is the 18^th Hymn in the Ausbund, and it is sung to the tune of “Come Here to Me, says God’s Son.” The next post will discuss the developments of that song and elements in it.

Anna Jansz's execution

Reprise:  Anna Jansz on her way to execution: Jan Luiken (1685)

During 1538-1539, followers of David Joris, including Anna Jansz, underwent a significant persecution. Over a hundred of them suffered martyrdom, including Joris’s own mother (Nyhof). Arent Jansz apparently died in England in 1538—perhaps suffering martyrdom in Thomas Cromwell’s persecution that year—and Anna Jansz returned home with Isaiah, her fifteen-month-old son, and a female companion (Snyder and Hecht 1996: 338-339, 341). The two women—after singing a hymn in public—were recognized as Anabaptists, reported to the authorities, and subsequently arrested. Anna and her travelling companion were put on trial in Rotterdam, convicted—Anna’s connections with Joris most likely contributed to the guilty verdict—and sentenced to death on January 23, 1539, a sentence that was carried out the very next day:

Anna’s last ordeal belongs to the most moving scenes in martyr literature. On her way to the execution with her son in her arms the distraught mother offered her fortune to any of the spectators willing to adopt her son. A local baker responded, promising to raise the child as his own. According to a postscript in the Martyrs’ Mirror the baker kept his pledge and was rewarded with divine favour. He was able to add two breweries to his possessions and his adopted son Isaiah rose to become mayor of Rotterdam. The man who had betrayed Anna met a very different fate. He drowned when a bridge collapsed as he crossed to witness Anna’s execution. His descendants lived in abject poverty (Snyder and Hecht 1996: 341). 

Although she was a follower of David Joris, the Mennonites not only preserved the traditions of Anna but also, it appears, enhanced the traditions to portray her as a model martyr. Anna’s inclusion in this tradition is somewhat surprising, because Menno Simons—who became the most influential Anabaptist leader in the Netherlands, and his followers became known as Mennonites—bitterly opposed Joris. This process began when Anna’s moving testament to her infant son—who never adopted her faith—was first published as a tract in 1539, the year of her death, and found in a number of other works, including the first edition of the Dutch martyr book, Het Offer des Heeren (The Sacrifice of the Lord; 1562). Most famously, it is found in the massive (1290 pages) Martyrs’ Mirror, by the Mennonite Tieleman Jansz van Braght, a book that compiles stories of martyrdom since the beginning of Christianity. The second edition of this work became even more famous, since it contained 104 etchings by the Dutch poet and artist, Jan Luiken, once of which immortalizes Anna as she hands her son over to the baker as she is taken to be executed (see above).

Photo repository

The Rich Man and Lazarus;
 The workshop of Domenico Fetti

I just stumbled across the URL where all 256 of the photos/images I have used on this blog are stored (a small number are repeated). 

If you want to browse through all the images quickly you can go here, and they are all on one page. 

Of course, it's much more fun to read the blog posts associated with each of those pictures!

Anna Jansz of Rotterdam (Anneken Jans; ca. 1509-1539)

Anna Jansz on her way to execution: Jan Luiken (1685)

The Honors Seminar is going extremely well, and I will write about it a little later this week. The demands of the semester are pretty significant right now, but, because of the class, I have been able to complete the section on Domenica Fetti (last weekend), and I am working now on both George Herbert and some Islamic receptions of the parables. I am especially enjoying seeing some of the receptions of the parables that my students have discovered.

I do also want to write about John Calvin's reception of the parables in his commentary on the Gospels, but first let me talk (for a couple weeks) about Anna Jansz of Rotterdam.

Anna Jansz was born in an upper-class family in Briel, a Dutch city located on the island of Putten (near Rotterdam and The Hague). She married a physician, Arent Jans, and they soon converted to Anabaptism. Anabaptists (literally “rebaptizer”) believed that infant baptism is not biblical; the only true baptism documented in the New Testament, they argued, is of an adult who has undergone a conversion, made a personal pledge of faith, and committed to a holy life of discipleship. Anabaptists based their community of faith on what they believed to be the beliefs and practices of the earliest Christian congregations as found in the New Testament. Anabaptists also committed other acts of civil disobedience, such as refusing to take oaths (cf. Matt 5:34; James 5:12) and believing in the separation of church and state. Anabaptists thus were considered enemies of the state and church and were often hunted down, fined, imprisoned, and/or executed, by both Catholics and Protestants (both of whom believed in a state church). Although most Anabaptists were pacifists, some early Anabaptists were militants whose apocalyptic expectations included working for the overthrow of the current corrupt world order. Such militant Anabaptists were elected to power in Münster in 1534 and transformed the city by expelling the “godless” and inviting other believers to join them to create a “New Jerusalem.” This transformation, and the war over the city that resulted in thousands of deaths, led to deep suspicion of Anabaptists, as well as polemical attacks and persecution (Bradstock and Rowland 2002: 84).

Anna and Arent Jansz became Anabaptists in early 1534. They were baptized by Meynaart van Emden an early leader in the Dutch Anabaptist movement, but soon (June 1534) fled to England, along with a number of other local Anabaptists, because of persecution. The fact that Meynaart belonged to a pro-Münster, more militant and apocalyptic faction of Anabaptists may have contributed to the tenuous situation of the Anabaptists in Briel and elsewhere.

Anna certainly shared in this apocalyptic fervor. Her hymn, “I can hear the Trumpet Sounding” (Ick hoorde die Basuyne blasen) is filled with apocalyptic fervor, and it apparently revels in the vengeance that God will soon deliver upon the godless. It uses Ezekiel 9 to urge the faithful to endure persecutions and to persevere, since the faithful will be vindicated and rewarded by God (cf. the eleventh and twelfth stanzas). This hymn first was published in 1539 along with a letter by David Joris of Delft—an Anabaptist leader with a significant number of followers—and it later appeared in a collection of hymns published by Joris (I will need to come back and document/footnote this detail). 

Anna admired and supported David Joris—rumors of a personal relationship between them prompted a confrontation between Joris and Arent Jansz, and Anna soon joined her husband in London (Nyhof). A letter she wrote to Joris in 1536 or 1538 also echoes apocalyptic themes of imminent judgment, cleansing, and purification and delights in the “revealing” of the cross and the beginning of the “conflict” that is imminent. She also seems to long for her own martyrdom: “I hope that the Lord will answer my prayer and deliver me from this earthly tabernacle of my dwelling so that I may put off the dress of mourning and that I may receive the glorious jewellery (sic) of triumph of my Lord . . .” (Snyder and Hecht 1996: 343-344).


The next post will discuss the persecution and martyrdom of Anna Jansz, which eventually led to the 18^th Hymn in the Ausbund. That hymn will be the major focus of the reception of the parables section of the book for Anna Jansz.