Matthias Vehe known as Glirius (c.1545-1590) was a German Protestant religious radical, who converted to a form of Judaism and

anti-trinitarianism Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian theology, Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God in Christianity, God is three distinct Hypostasis (philosophy and religion), hypostases or perso ...

, rejecting the '' New Testament'' as revelation. The identity of Vehe and the writer Glirius, who published ''Mattanjah'' (Knowledge of God, 1578) in Cologne, was established by

G. E. Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the develop ...

. The history of the group including Vehe has been reconsidered by recent scholarship.

Life

He was born in

Ballenberg Ballenberg is an open-air museum in Switzerland that displays traditional buildings and architecture from all over the country. Located near Brienz in the municipality of Hofstetten bei Brienz, Canton of Bern, Ballenberg has over 100 original buil ...

, and brought up in Königshofen. He studied at the University of Heidelberg, and at the University of Rostock under

David Chytræus David Chytraeus or Chyträus (26 February 1530 – 25 June 1600) was a German Lutheran theologian, reformer and historian. He was a disciple of Melancthon. He was born at Ingelfingen. His real surname was Kochhafe, which in Classical Greek is χ� ...

. He was arrested by the local Church Council with others in 1570, as a dissenter from the Calvinism being introduced by the Elector Palatine. He was at that time deacon at

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

. Adam Neuser, later a convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, eventually escaped with help from

Simon Grynaeus Simon Grynaeus (born Simon Griner; 1493 – 1 August 1541) was a German scholar and theologian of the Protestant Reformation. Biography Grynaeus was the son of Jacob Gryner, a Swabian peasant, and was born at Veringendorf, in Hohenzollern-Si ...

. Johannes Sylvan was executed, in 1572. Two others involved were Jacob Suter and

Johann Hasler Johann Hasler (born 1548, died after 1602), also known as Haslerus, was a 16th-century Swiss theologian and physician. He is known for his association with a group of antitrinitarians including Johann Sylvan and Adam Neuser and for developing Galen ...

. He took refuge in Transylvania, teaching at the

Unitarian Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present ...

college at Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, in Romania), where Ferenc Dávid was the head. Others with radical Christian views there were Jacobus Palaeologus and Christian Francken. Vehe's followers

András Eőssi András Eőssi (died ca. 1598-1602) of Szenterzsébet (Romanian Eliseni), in Harghita, was a Székely nobleman in Transylvania who founded the Szekler Sabbatarians sect. Eőssi came into contact with Matthias Vehe and, after the death of Ferenc D� ...

and Simon Péchi founded the

Szekler Sabbatarians The Szekler Sabbatarians (in Transylvanian Saxon: (Siebenbürgen) Sambatianer; in German: Siebenbürgische Sabbatianer; in Hungarian: Szombatosok, zombatosok, sabbatariusok, zsidózók, Şomrei Sabat) were a religious group in Transylvania and Hun ...

, after Dávid died in prison in 1579. It has been said that Vehe was primarily responsible (as Faustus Socinus claimed) for the 1581 ''Defensio Francisci Davidis''. By then he had been expelled from Kolozsvár. He spent most of the rest of his life in Poland, publishing under pseudonyms. He returned to Germany in 1589, was arrested, and died in December 1590.Burchill, pp. 130-1.

Life

Notes

Further reading