Samuel Heinrich Froehlich

Samuel Heinrich Froehlich (1803–1857) was an evangelist responsible for organizing the Evangelical Baptist Church in Western Europe, which eventually spread to become known as the Nazarenes of Eastern Europe and the Apostolic Christian Church in the United States of America, Mexico,Argentina & Canada. Froehlich, a young seminary student in Switzerland, experienced a dramatic conversion, causing him to come into conflict with the state-church. He was excommunicated in the aftermath of his refusal to submit to an order that required the Heidelberg Catechism to be replaced by a new rationalistic catechism. He had sympathies with the Mennonite faith, but soon became convinced they were in a lukewarm state. Some of the Reformed and Mennonite persuasions followed Froehlich and were soon known as "Neu-Taufer". They later adopted the official name of Evangelical Baptist Church.

During this time he became affiliated with Baptist, Mennonite and Anabaptist workers. He was re-baptized in February, 1832, as an adult. Through preaching in private meetings, new churches were planted. The work continued and in thirty-five years an estimated 110 congregations were established.

Froehlich was deeply influenced by the Anabaptists (who were known as the radical reformers in sixteenth century Europe). He embraced the following Anabaptist teachings:

Froehlich sent Benedict Weyeneth (1819–1887) to America at the request of Joseph Virkler, thus encouraging the foundation of the denomination in the United States. The church spread as Nazarénusok (Nazarener-Gemeinde) in Hungary through the work of a young locksmith Lajos Hencsey (1814–1844) and 1,000 members survive today in Romania.

Beginning in 1821, Froehlich studied theology at the Carolinum in Zürich, and then in 1823 transferred to the University of Basel. At this time German and Swiss universities were on the leading edge of historical Biblical criticism and Froehlich’s instructors were among the most well known of their day. In his studies Froehlich excelled beyond many of his peers under the direction of Johannes Schulthess and Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette. In particular, De Wette was known as a leader in the field of Biblical critique and spent nine years (1810-1819) working with Friedrich Schleiermacher, the father of modern Liberal Christianity, at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin.

...
Wikipedia