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“Let us test our faith in the fire. This fire will harm my soul as little as the fiery furnace harmed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” – Jakob Hutter Justine Maendel, Jakob Hutter, oil on board, 2023. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/anabaptists/jakob-hutter-radical-reformer] |
“Let us test our faith in the fire. This fire will harm my soul as little as the fiery furnace harmed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” – Jakob Hutter
On this date, February 25, 1536, Anabaptist leader and founder of the Hutterites, Jakob Hutter was burned at the stake in Innsbruck in front of the Golden Roof. I will post information about him from Wikipedia and also other links before giving my thoughts.
UPDATE: Information is as of January 29, 2026
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Jakob Hutter, founder of the Hutterer |
Jakob Hutter (/ˈhʌtər/; Austrian German: [ˈhʊtɐ]; also spelled Huter or Hueter; c. 1500 – 25 February 1536) was a Tyrolean Anabaptist leader and founder of the Hutterites.
Biography
Hutter was born in the small hamlet of Moos near St. Lorenzen in the Puster Valley, in the County of Tyrol (present-day South Tyrol, Italy). He learned hat making in nearby Prags and became an itinerant craftsman. Later he settled in Spittal, Carinthia.
He probably first encountered Anabaptists in Klagenfurt and soon thereafter was converted to their belief. He began preaching in the Puster Valley region, forming several small congregations. As soon as the Habsburg authorities in Tyrol learned of these activities in early 1529, they (Catholic Church) began to persecute the Anabaptists. In 1527, the Habsburg archduke Ferdinand I of Austria declared that seductive doctrines and heretical sects "will not be tolerated". In turn, Hutter and a few others went to investigate Moravia, because they heard the persecution was not as severe there. They visited Auspitz, where they found the situation was indeed more tolerant and the Tyrolean Anabaptists decided to emigrate. As small groups moved to Moravia, Hutter first remained in Tyrol to pastor to those who remained. He escaped capture by the authorities because other captured Anabaptists would not reveal his whereabouts, even under severe torture.
Hutter arrived in Moravia in 1533, when the persecution of the Anabaptists in Tyrol was at its peak. Many Anabaptists from the Palatinate, Swabia and Silesia also went to Moravia. Hutter united the local Anabaptist congregations, enabling Anabaptism in Moravia to flourish. Under Hutter's leadership, several of the congregations adopted the early Christian practice of communal ownership of goods, in addition to their Anabaptist beliefs of nonviolence, and adult baptism.
In 1535, however, the Moravian Landtag diet had all Anabaptists expelled from Moravia and they scattered to surrounding countries. Hutter returned to Tyrol, where he and his wife were arrested on 30 November 1535 in Klausen and brought to the fortress of Branzoll (Bronzolo). On 9 December, Hutter was deported to the Tyrolean capital Innsbruck, where he was interrogated and pressured to recant. Even under severe torture he would not recant or reveal the names of other Anabaptists. Hutter was sentenced to death by fire and burned at the stake on 25 February 1536 in Innsbruck in front of the Golden Roof. According to the Hutterian Chronicle, a total of 360 Anabaptists were executed in Tyrol.
Hutter's words are recorded in eight letters, written under severe persecution.
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Plaque at the Golden Roof: "Jakob Huter, one of the most important leaders of the Tyrolean Anabaptists, died here on 25 February 1536 as a martyr of his Christian faith at the stake." |
Commemoration
In Innsbruck, Hutter is remembered by a plaque at the Golden Roof. In 2006–2007, a working group with representatives from Protestant and Catholic churches, the peace movement Pax Christi and the Association of Evangelical churches in Tyrol worked toward reconciliation with the Hutterites. On 25 February 2007, the group, along with three couples invited to represent the Hutterites, held a memorial ceremony at the Golden Roof and a joint prayer service in the old city hall in Innsbruck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Hutter
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At the Goldene Dachl in Innsbruck, where Jakob Hutter was burned at the stake https://hutt-writevoice.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-on-huttererpark-opening-in.html |
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Stein Bruderhof youth group at the “Übrige Brocken” memorial at Huttererpark. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://derhuttererweg.com/blog/f/memories-of-innsbruck] |
MY THOUGHTS:
Jakob Hutter was one of the most celebrated martyrs among Anabaptists, which includes Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites. As a reformed Christian myself, I also have great admiration for him together with my Anabaptist brothers and sisters in Christ. I admired the fact that he rather die
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24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. – Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) Bruderhof members in
outdoor gathering. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bruderhof_Communities] https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/02/sermons-on-hebrews-10-verse-24-to-25.html |
Eberhard Arnold was known as the second Jakob Hutter. Those people who live in the Bruderhof (founded by Eberhard Arnold), are known as Neo-Hutterites. They are the ‘daughter’ group of the Hutterites.
Just like the Amish and Mennonites, the Hutterites also follow the Anabaptist four core values: Faith, Family, Community and Simple Living.
Last of all, I see him as a faithful Christian who rather die than give in to the tyranny of the papists. As he must have obeyed Acts 5:29 - Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. He quoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego before he was burnt at the stake.
“Let us test our faith in the fire. This fire will harm my soul as little as the fiery furnace harmed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” – Jakob Hutter
I will post two videos from Bruderhof member, Emmy Maendel in memory of Hutter.
Jakob Hutter’s Life & Letters: Emmy Maendel gives the history of Anabaptist leader & wife Katharina
Mar 10, 2025
Buy the book here (Canada): https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/jakob-hutter-his-life-and-letters/9781636080901.html
Buy here: https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/anabaptists/jakob-hutter
About the book: This comprehensive, annotated collection of Jakob Hutter’s letters and related documents begins with an extensive biography of Hutter and his wife, Katharina, based on recent archival research. This introduction serves to contextualize the Hutterite movement, a communal and pacifist Anabaptist group that emerged as part of the Radical Reformation in sixteenth-century Tyrol and Moravia.
The main text of the book opens with Hutter’s eight surviving letters, newly translated directly from the seventeenth-century codices where they have been preserved. As the leader of a scattered, persecuted movement, Hutter wrote pastoral letters of encouragement and admonition to various congregations in Tyrol and Moravia. The second chapter consists of material from Hutterite chronicles that describe Hutter’s life and context. Some of these are previously unpublished; in all cases, new translations have been made from the original codices. The third chapter is a collection of reports on government interrogations of Anabaptists who describe Hutter’s missionary activity, typically written by a state official during an interrogation process that often involved torture. Chapter Four is a compilation of writings by fellow Hutterites written during Hutter’s life and in the decade after his death, which show the importance of Hutter’s life and teachings. The fifth chapter includes internal correspondence between government authorities trying to suppress the Anabaptist movement. The accounts offer insight into the government’s perspective on the significance of Hutter and the Anabaptist communities in his spheres of activity. Additional documents relating to Hutter’s death and legacy from both within and outside of the Hutterite tradition are included in a final chapter.
This meticulously researched volume, peer-reviewed for inclusion in the Classics of the Radical Reformation series, is a valuable contribution to the scholarship of a volatile and fruitful chapter of church history.
VIDEO SOURCE: https://youtu.be/OZnNhlqI2pw?si=H7rPNIUGJcEfniaI
Täufer Symposion | Emmy Maendel Frauenleben in der hutterischen Gemeinschaft
Dec 6, 2025 WIEN
Ein Vortrag von Emmy Maendel, Bruderhof, beim Symposium "Gegen den Strom - 500 Jahre reformatorische Täuferbewegungen" am 24. Oktober 2025 in Wien.
Weitere Vorträge des
Symposiums in dieser Playlist: 
• 500 Jahre Täuferbewegung
Anabaptist Symposium | Emmy Maendel: Women's Lives in the Hutterite Community
A lecture by Emmy Maendel, Bruderhof, at the symposium "Against the Current - 500 Years of Reformation Anabaptist Movements" on October 24, 2025, in Vienna.
Further lectures from the symposium can be found in this playlist: • 500 Years of the Anabaptist Movement
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIbpArOXzyM
PHOTOS OF HUTTERITES AND THE BRUDERHOF:
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24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. – Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) Bruderhof members in outdoor gathering. https://www.eberhardarnold.com/about https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2023/07/140th-birthday-for-eberhard-arnold-july.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/11/plain-people-and-mutual-aid-why-we-live.html https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/07/eberhard-arnold-on-simple-living.html |
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Education at the Bruderhof [PHOTO SOURCE: https://images.app.goo.gl/v2v9FF4SBbu4YBPu7] [VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE_Eq8Wq-uQ] |
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Colony Highlight: Platte Colony, Platte, South Dakota [PHOTO SOURCE: https://info.newstandard-group.com/blog/hutterite-colony-highlight-platte-colony-platte-south-dakota] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutterites https://hutterites.org/beliefs/nine-misrepresentation/ https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-common-purse-in-bruderhof-hutterites.html |
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Community Was the
Original Safety Net [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1197844182494773&set=pb.100068076085045.-2207520000&type=3] https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/11/plain-people-and-mutual-aid-why-we-live.html
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RELATED LINKS:
https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hutter,_Jakob_(d._1536)
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/anabaptists/jakob-hutter-radical-reformer
https://derhuttererweg.com/blog/f/pustertal-the-birthplace-of-jacob-hutter
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/anabaptists/wake-up-your-king-is-coming
https://www.plough.com/en/authors/h/jakob-hutter
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/witness/jakob-and-katharina-hutter
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/anabaptists/the-church-writes-to-the-state
https://anabaptistworld.org/hutterite-founder-met-a-martyrs-death/
https://hutt-writevoice.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-on-huttererpark-opening-in.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/05/martyrs-mirror-dirk-willems-died-may-16.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-common-purse-in-bruderhof-hutterites.html
EBERHARD ARNOLD WEBSITE:
We live in an age where it seems Jesus has become almost unknown or his words distorted and disfigured, his work weakened. All the more, we must rediscover this Jesus and hold him up before all the world. We must place the Jesus of the four Gospels in the center of our faith and our life.
Remembering Eberhard Arnold 90 years later - The Jesus of the Four Gospels By Eberhard Arnold
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/11/remembering-eberhard-arnold-90-years.html
Love Is Work Working together with others is the best way to test our faith, to find out whether or not we are ready to live a life of Christian fellowship. Work is the crucial test of faith because such a life can come into being only where people work for love. Love demands action, and the only really valid action is work. Christian fellowship means fellowship in work...Talk, May 1934 By Eberhard Arnold
EBERHARD ARNOLD ON SIMPLE LIVING
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2025/07/eberhard-arnold-on-simple-living.html
“We must live in community because we are stimulated by the same creative Spirit of unity who calls nature to unity and through whom work and culture shall become community in God.” — Eberhard Arnold
PLAIN PEOPLE AND MUTUAL AID - WHY WE LIVE IN COMMUNITY BY EBERHARD ARNOLD
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2024/11/plain-people-and-mutual-aid-why-we-live.html
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2023/07/140th-birthday-for-eberhard-arnold-july.html
https://www.eberhardarnold.com/
https://www.eberhardarnold.com/biography
https://www.facebook.com/EberhardArnold
https://twitter.com/eberhard_arnold
https://www.anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Eberhard_Arnold
https://www.bookey.app/quote-author/eberhard-arnold
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/reading-romans-13-under-fascism
OTHER EBERHARD ARNOLD LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberhard_Arnold
https://www.anotherlifeispossible.com/themes/what-money-cant-buy/eberhard-arnold
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/from-mutual-aid-to-global-action
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/our-garden-must-be-gods-garden
ARTICLE BY EBERHARD ARNOLD LINKS:
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/church-community/from-property-to-community
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/reading-romans-13-under-fascism
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/justice/politics/becoming-flesh-and-blood
https://www.eberhardarnold.com/archive/2020/02/25/2012598714s
https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/our-garden-must-be-gods-garden
THE HUTTERITES LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/TheBruderhof
https://www.anotherlifeispossible.com/
https://koorong.com/search?q=plain%20spoken
https://blackforestproject421.blogspot.com/2023/11/community-living-quotes.html
MENNONITE HISTORICAL SITES LINKS:
https://inoldcities.com/how-to-visit-mennonite-history-sites-in-europe/
https://hutt-writevoice.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-on-huttererpark-opening-in.html
http://www.religionen.at/151016_uebrige_brocken_englisch.pdf
https://anabaptistworld.org/history-stones-of-remembrance/
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10 Ways Horses Are Similar To Dogs [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.cowgirlmagazine.com/horses-similar-dogs/] |
TEMPORARY LINKS:
https://bible.org/article/what-theology-dave-hunt-s-misrepresentation-god-and-calvinism
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-beauty-of-reformed-theology
https://conciliarpost.com/theology-spirituality/im-not-reformed-admire-anyway/
https://theparticularbaptist.net/2020/05/29/leightons-ministry-of-selfishness/
https://puritanboard.com/threads/countering-provisionism.106713/
"He's not human" - The Most Isolated Man in the World
9.84M subscribers
3,156,008 views Dec 1, 2025
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1WUlOXCiEE
Leighton Flowers and the Dark Side of Calvinism (refuted)
Jul 27, 2025
In this video, we tackle the controversial views of Leighton Flowers, and critically examine the dark side of Calvinism. Flowers' ideology has sparked intense debates within the Christian community, particularly among Reformed theologians like James White. We delve into the philosophy and theology behind Calvinism, exploring the complexities of predestination, election, and the relationship between grace and works. By applying critical thinking and a nuanced understanding of soteriology, we refute Flowers' arguments and provide a more balanced perspective on this contentious issue. Join us as we navigate the intricacies of Christian theology and philosophy, and engage in a respectful yet rigorous critique of Leighton Flowers' Calvinist views.
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz08UrLrUtM
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