Christian Cyclopedia

(Schwenckfeld; Schwenkfeldt; Kaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig; Casper; Caspar; ca. 1489/90–1561). Prot. mystic; b. Ossig (Ossigk; Ossing), near Liegnitz, Silesia; educ. Cologne and Frankfurt an der Oder; not ordained; Hofrat Liegnitz 1518–23; supported the Reformation from probably 1517/18, helped introd. it in Silesia, but was soon estranged from it; rejected justification, Scripture as the only source and norm of faith, efficacy of sacraments as means of grace, pedobaptism, and the AC; fled persecution from place to place; followers called Schwenkfelders* or Schwenkfeldians. See also Flacius Illyricus, Matthias; Frecht, Martin.