Melchior Hoffman

Melchior Hoffman was very important for the growth of the Anabaptists. He had also rejected the doctrine of Luther and travelled around as a wandering preacher. He said the prophet Elijah would come to Earth before the Second Coming of Christ. He preached in the Netherlands around 1530. He had many followers, especially in Amsterdam. He went to Strasburg in 1533. He announced that the ‘New Jerusalem’ from Revelation 21 would come there. It was ‘revealed’ to him that he would be imprisoned there, but also that the Anabaptists, as the allies of Christ, would finally have full victory. The first prediction came true, but the second one didn’t. Melchior was still in prison when Calvin worked in Strasburg between 1538 until 1541!