Adam Boreel and Galenus Abrahamsz.: Dissenters in Favor of Religious Toleration

What is it about?

This paper explores the relationship between Adam Boreel, an early spokesperson among the Collegiants in Amsterdam, and the Doopsgezind (liberal Mennonite) preacher Galenus Abrahamsz. After giving historical information on the relationship between Boreel and Galenus, it reveales that Galenus’s first published work relied heavily on Boreel’s writings and that they both aimed to establish religious toleration among Christians. Despite this, it also shows that Galenus did not share Boreel’s highest goal – to reform and unite Christianity – as Galenus intended to use Collegiant ideas only to improve his own Doopsgezind congregation. Because of this, the conclusion questions the idea that Galenus was a Collegiant and suggests that he could have been just a sympathizer of their ideas.

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Why is it important?

This is an important contribution for scholars interested in the history of the Collegiants and Doopsgezinden, and in the broader history of toleration. Many scholars claimed that Boreel's ideas exerted great influence on Galenus, but a comparison between their writings was lacking. This paper offers a thorough comparison between Boreel's ideas and Galenus's first published writing, revealing how much Boreel's view impacted on Galenus. More broadly, this paper contributes to the history of religious toleration, revealing how religious dissenters, both the non-confessional Collegiants and the liberal Mennonites, were advocates of religious toleration in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic.