Thomas Muentzer
Thomas Muentzer (or Müntzer, Münzer) (1489 or 1490 - 1525) was an early Reformation-era pastor.
He was born in the small village of Stolberg in the Hartz Mountains. Thomas Muentzer initially studied for the priesthood, earning the MA degree and completing the Bacculareus biblicus. He was versed in the Greek, Hebrew and Latin languages. He was ordained in 1513 and became a priest at St. Michael's in Braunschweig in May of 1514.
As early as 1519, Muentzer had accepted the need for reforms. He joined Martin Luther's Reformation, becoming a pastor in Zwickau in 1520 on Luther's recommendation. Luther, however, did not go far enough for Muentzer, who broke with him in 1521 over infant baptism, among other issues, and founded his own sect. For this reason, Muentzer is considered one of the founders of the Anabaptist movement. Yet, it is questionable whether he ever received adult "rebaptism".
Muentzer was expelled by Zwickau authorities in 1521. In 1522 he engaged in a disputation with Luther In 1523, he married a former nun, and became pastor at Allstadt, where he preached until 1524. In 1524, Muentzer became one of the leaders of the uprising that became known as the Peasants' War. In 1525, he led a group of about 8000 peasants in the battle of Frankenhausen, convinced that God would intervene on their side. Muentzer was captured and imprisoned. Under torture he recanted and accepted the Catholic mass. Thomas Muentzer was beheaded on may 27, 1525.
It is widely believed that Muentzer encouraged the peasants to revolt against the wealthy landowners based on his interpretations of apocalyptic literature, especially the struggle of good against evil as found in the Book of Revelation. Applying the victory of Revelation to his own situation, he led a group of singing peasants to their slaughter. Muentzer's struggle of "good against evil" later made him a symbolic hero for the East German state (German Democratic Republic, GDR) in the 20th century. It may seem odd for the atheist state GDR to have a theologican as a hero, but one of the reasons for this, according to Torkel Brekke, is that Muentzer's movement and the peasants revolt was an important topic in Friedrich Engels' book "The Peasant War in Germany", which is a classic defense for historical materialism. Engels describes Muentzer as a revolutionary leader who chose to use a biblical language because this was the only language the peasants would understand. This is probably naïve. Thomas Muentzer was a theologian, and his thoughts were built around biblical ideas, on God's true servants and the battle against evil. He was a prophet with little interest in revolution and class struggle.
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