Wessel Harmensz Gansfort | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1419 |
| Died | 4 October 1489 (aged 69–70) Groningen, Habsburg Netherlands, Holy Roman Empire |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Other names | Johan Wessel |
| Occupation(s) | Theologian Humanist |
| Known for | Grace oriented salvation, Criticism of Indulgences[1] |
Wessel Harmensz Gansfort (1419 – 4 October 1489) was a theologian and early humanist of the northern Low Countries. Many variations of his last name are seen and he is sometimes incorrectly called Johan Wessel.
Gansfort has been called one of the reformers before the Reformation. He protested against a perceived paganizing of the papacy, superstitious and magical uses of the sacraments, the authority of ecclesiastical tradition, and the tendency in later scholastic theology to lay greater stress, in a doctrine of justification, upon the instrumentality of the human will than on the work of Christ for man's salvation.[2] Some of Gansfort's teachings foreshadowed the Protestant reformation.[3]
- ^ "The forms of communication employed by the Protestant Reformers and especially Luther and Calvin" (PDF). Pharos Journal of Theology. 98. 2016.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wessel, Johan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 533–534.
- ^ "The forms of communication employed by the Protestant Reformers and especially Luther and Calvin" (PDF). Pharos Journal of Theology. 98. 2016.
John of Wessel was one member in the group who attacked indulgences (Reddy 2004:115). The doctrine of justification by faith alone was the teaching of John of Wessel (Kuiper 1982:151). He rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation where it is believed when the priest pronounces the sacraments then the wine and bread in turned into the real body and blood of Christ
