Hans Denck and the Debate of the Freedom of the Will

Abstract

This work is particularly concerned with Hans Denck as one of the first leaders of South German Anabaptism, in his relation to the debate on free will between 1524 and 1526. In addition to the examination of Erasmus' and Luther's treatises and of the positions of Carlstadt and the Peasant of Woehrd (Diepold Peringer), Denck's tract, Was geredt sey, is studied in detail against the background of his biblical, mystical, and humanistic-philosophical orientation.