CHAPTER XXXV. THE SCHWENKFELDIANS. KASPAR VON SCHWENKFELD, a nobleman of Germany, born in the fifteenth century, differed from other Reformers of the period on a number of points concerning the Lord's Supper, the efficacy of the external Word, and Christ's human nature. He did not form a separate sect, but his followers did so after his death, taking his name. Early in the eighteenth century they were scattered by persecution. Some fled to Denmark, whence they came to this country near the close of the first half of that century. They settled in Pennsylvania, where a remnant of them still exist. They celebrate the arrival from Denmark annually, making it a kind of festival. They hold in general to the doctrines of the German Reformation, with a few peculiarities. The words of Christ, "This is my body," they interpret as meaning, "My body is this," i.e., such as this bread, which is broken and consumed, and affords true and real food for the soul. The external Word, as they believe, has no power to renew; only the internal Word, which is Christ himself. The human nature of Christ was not a created substance. Being associated with the divine essence, it had a majestic dignity of its own. Among the customs peculiar to the Schwenkfeldians is a service of prayer and exhortation over newly born infants, |