Schaffhausen, city and canton in the north of Switzerland almost entirely surrounded by Baden, Germany. Dr. Sebastian Hofmeister is found very early in Schaffhausen working for the Reformation. He was a close friend of Z
Schaffhausen, city and canton in the north of Switzerland almost entirely surrounded by Baden, Germany. Dr. Sebastian Hofmeister is found very early in Schaffhausen working for the Reformation. He was a close friend of Zwingli's and was one of the presidents of the religious disputation held in Zürich in October 1523. Hofmeister must have been a very ready debater. The favorable outcome of this disputation encouraged Hofmeister to take further steps in introducing the Reformation into his home town. At the third Anabaptist disputation held in Zürich (6-8 November 1525) he was one of the four presidents; and in the Anabaptist disputation held at Zofingen, 1-9 July 1532, he was one of the leading preachers who debated with the Anabaptists.
In September 1524 Balthasar Hubmaier of Waldshut, who later became an Anabaptist leader, came to Schaffhausen. His influence here was not very great, however, for he left the city after a few weeks and returned to Waldshut on October 19.
Anabaptist refugees who had been expelled from the canton of Zürich came to Schaffhausen in 1525 hoping to win Hofmeister for their cause. Johannes Brötli, who baptized many in Hallau in the canton of Schaffhausen, as well as Wilhelm Reublin, came to Schaffhausen. Obviously their work here was not without success. Brötli even wrote that Dr. Sebastian agreed with them in the matter of baptism. The rumor was spread that Schaffhausen would arrange a disputation on the question of baptism. In Zürich there was much concern about it since there were some doubts whether the matter of baptism would be solved in agreement with their ideas in Schaffhausen. But the council of Schaffhausen assured the people of Zürich in reply to a question that had been raised by Zürich: "We are also of the mind to baptize our young children and not to desist from this practice at this time."
Also Conrad Grebel had come to Hofmeister in February 1525 in the hope of influencing his opinion in the matter of baptism. But although Hofmeister at the beginning doubted the genuineness of infant baptism, he finally accepted it, certainly under some influence of Zwingli. As already mentioned, Hubmaier was also in Schaffhausen though without any great results. After he had been baptized by Reublin in April 1525, he worked with full conviction for baptism upon confession of faith and in this matter of baptism he also corresponded with Hofmeister. In his book published in 1526, Der uralten und gar neuen Lehrer Urteil, dass man die Kinder nicht taufen solle, Hubmaier reports that Hofmeister had written to him how they (the Anabaptists) publicly rejected infant baptism before the council; if Zwingli confirmed it he would not be walking according to the truth of the Gospel (ML II, 335). In this matter, Hubmaier writes, he has Hofmeister's own handwriting. This is proof for the assertion that Sebastian Hofmeister not only doubted the Scripturalness of infant baptism but even repudiated it.
On 8 February 1525, the Zürich council wrote to the authorities of Schaffhausen that there had been "error and dispute about infant baptism," wherefore a public religious debate had been arranged in which it was recognized, "that infant baptism is not anything wrong." Thereupon a mandate was issued ordering young children to be baptized. At the same time it was stated that the theologians of Zürich had recognized the Anabaptist teaching as false and that Zwingli would very soon publish a writing clarifying the matter of baptism, Vom Touf, Wiedertouf und Kindertouf. This was the occasion for a definite reversal in Hofmeister's doctrinal opinions. The entire course of the development shows a strong dependence of the city of Schaffhausen on Zürich in religious matters. On 11 February 1525, the Schaffhausen council issued a mandate "that young children shall be baptized."
Whereas in the city an impasse was reached, in the country, at least in Hallau, under the work of Brötli, Anabaptism made some progress. Most of the inhabitants were baptized. Brötli mentions in a letter that he and his companion Wilhelm Reublin had come to Hallau and then had gone "toward Schaffhausen and found our dear brother Conrad Grebel there." When the authorities of Zürich heard of Brötli's successful work, they at once wrote to Schaffhausen to warn them against this deceptive dangerous mission. The letter dated 4 April 1525 is new evidence of the concern felt in Zürich in behalf of Schaffhausen; it had a decisive influence there. In consequence, the council of Schaffhausen ordered Brötli's expulsion from Hallau; the Hallau people, however, refused to 