Beliefs
He was the leading theologian of his time among Dutch Mennonites. He was known to be very systematic in his thinking, and very strict and unwavering in his beliefs. There were two key themes to his theology: The word of scripture, and the word incarnate in Jesus. Like other Anabaptists, he gave Christ pre-eminence. He was not as charming or friendly as Menno Simons.
He identifies seven ordinances of the church:
- Pure doctrine
- Scriptural use of the sacraments
- Washing the feet of the saints
- Separation (the ban and shunning)
- Command of love
- Obedience to the command of Christ
- Suffering and persecution
He believed in the strict adherence to the ban or shunning. This is when open sinners are expelled from the church until they repent. He felt this was necessary in order to maintain the purity of the church. His emphasis on the ban and the purity of the community makes Dirk Philips' writings more popular with the Old Order Amish. He believed in the absolute opposition between the church and the world, and therefore that believers should expect persecution.
Read more about this topic: Dirk Philips
Famous quotes containing the word beliefs:
“To begin to use cultural forces for the good of our daughters we must first shake ourselves awake from the cultural trance we all live in. This is no small matter, to untangle our true beliefs from what we have been taught to believe about who and what girls and women are.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)
“The methodological advice to interpret in a way that optimizes agreement should not be conceived as resting on a charitable assumption about human intelligence that might turn out to be false. If we cannot find a way to interpret the utterances and other behaviour of a creature as revealing a set of beliefs largely consistent and true by our standards, we have no reason to count that creature as rational, as having beliefs, or as saying anything.”
—Donald Davidson (b. 1917)
“Children demand that their heroes should be fleckless, and easily believe them so: perhaps a first discovery to the contrary is less revolutionary shock to a passionate child than the threatened downfall of habitual beliefs which makes the world seem to totter for us in maturer life.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)