Ubbonites

Ubbonites the followers of Ubbo Phillips, who constituted a moderate class among the fanatical Anabaptists of Germany in the 16th century, and originated about 1534. Ubbo was born at Leeuwarden and became a Romish priest, but with his brother, Dirk Phillips, renounced the papacy as corrupt, and joined the party of the Anabaptists, in which both became leaders. The Ubbonites agreed with the Anabaptists with respect to the sacraments, the incarnation of Christ, and the freedom of the human will, but they did not teach that Christ's kingdom is of the earth and that the ungodly should be extirpated. They held, instead, that his kingdom is spiritual and subject to persecutions, and that it must be constantly renewed by regularly called apostles. They rejected the doctrine of divorce, and regarded themselves as the true Church. They denominated their meetings for worship "admonitions" and their ministers "admonishers," and they taught the necessity to an effective discipline of the rigid use of excommunication. Both Ubbo and Dirk disapproved of the fanatical outbreak at Minster, and the former acknowledged in a public confession that he heartily regretted that he had permitted himself to be deceived and that he had performed consecrations. He eventually separated from the sect and the party he had folunded and entered the communion of the Reformed Church. He died in 1568. See Jehring, Gründl. Historie .der Taufgesinnten .o Mennoniten, etc. (Jena, 1720); Bergmann, De Ubbone Philippo et Ubbonitis (Rost. 1733). — Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s.v.