| |
|
Hoffman was connected with the Lutherans, but got into trouble in northern Germany because of his radical eschatological views. Luther recalled him to Wittenberg in 1525. Hoffman soon broke with Luther over the views on the eucharist, and journeyed to Strassburg in 1529 to meet with Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito. Though Bucer and Capito also opposed Luther's views on the eucharist, they could not tolerate Hoffman. He joined with the Anabaptists of Strassburg, and, according to Estep, was rebaptized in April of 1530. In May he traveled to Emden, where he baptized about 300 people and established churches there.
Hoffman soon returned to Strassburg, believing that the Lord would return there in 1533. When he prophesied that the return of Christ would be preceded by a purging of the ungodly, Hoffman was seen as a revolutionary. He was placed in prison, where he stayed from 1533 until his death in 1543.
Hoffman's failed prophecy of the return of Christ set the stage for the events often called the Münster Rebellion. Two of his followers, Jan Matthys and John of Leiden, proclaimed that Hoffman was wrong not only on the time, but also on the place, where Christ would return. They named Münster as the location that Christ would return and reign.
Hoffman was important in at least one aspect of the development of the Mennonites. He adopted the views of Kaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig concerning the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and taught what has been called the "heavenly flesh of Christ". Menno Simons accepted this view, probably from the peaceful Melchiorites Obbe and Dirk Philips, and it became the general belief of Dutch Anabaptists in the first century of their existence.
Hoffman wrote a commentary on the Book of Daniel in 1526.