He endeavoured to persuade all
men that the words he wrote were verily and indeed the words of God. The
world was not disposed to interfere with the poor barber who imagined
himself inspired, but in an evil hour he published a book against the
priests, entitled _Worte Gottes, oder Tractaetlein an den so genannten
geistlichen Stand_, which caused its author great calamities. He was cast
into prison by order of the senate of the Nuremberg State. On his release
he again published his former work, with others which he also believed to
be inspired, and again in 1714 was imprisoned at Nuremberg. His
incarceration did not, however, last long, and Tennhart died while he was
journeying from the city which so little appreciated his ravings to find
in Cassel a more secure resting-place.
Amongst the fanatics of the seventeenth century may be classed Jeremiah
Felbinger, a native of Brega, a town in the Prussian State of Silesia, who
was an early advocate of the heresy of the Unitarians. For some years he
was a soldier, and then became a schoolmaster. He wrote _Prodromus
demonstrationis_, published in 1654, in which he attempted to prove his
Unitarian ideas. Shortly before this, in 1653, he wrote _Demonstrationes
Christianae_, and finally his _Epistola ad Christianos_, published at
Amsterdam in 1672. His strange views and perverted opinions first caused
his dismissal from the army, and his works upon the Unitarian doctrines
necessitated his removal from the office of teacher.
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