Elizabeth was an uncommon person in sixteenth century Europe. She thought for herself. After leaning how to read The Bible in Latin, she began to question the order..
As a follower of Menno Simons (1496-1561), an Anabaptist and the founder of the Mennonite church, Elizabeth came to believe that faith in God was a matter of conscience and choice - and could not be rightly coerced. For her heretical views, she was tracked down in Holland and seized by Church officials. The following exchange between Elizabeth and her interrogators took place.
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Examiners: 'We understand that you are a teacher and have led many astray. We want you to know who your friends are.'
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Elizabeth: 'I am commanded to love the Lord my God and honor my parents. Therefore, I will not tell you who my parents are. That I suffer for Christ is damaging to my friends.'
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Examiners: 'We will let that rest for the present, but we want to know whom you have taught.'
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Elizabeth: 'No, my Lords, do not press me on this point. Ask me about my faith and I will answer you gladly.'
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Examiners: 'What do you mean by the house of the Lord? Don't you consider our church to be the house of the Lord?'
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Elizabeth: 'I do not, my Lords. For it is written, "You are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:16). As God said, "I will dwell with you" (Leviticus 26:11).'
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Examiners: 'What do you think of our Mass?'
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Elizabeth: 'My Lords, I have no faith in your Mass but only that which is in the Word of God.'
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Examiners: 'What do you believe about the baptism of children, seeing that you have had yourself baptized again?'
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Elizabeth: 'No my Lords. I have not had myself baptized again. I have been baptized once on my faith, because it is written, "Baptism belongs to the believers."
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Examiners: 'Do priests have the power to forgive sins?'
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Elizabeth: 'No, my Lords. How should I believe that? I say that Christ is the only priest through whom sins are forgiven.'
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After Elizabeth denied the sacraments and rejected the Church as a legitimate intermediary between God and man, the examiners turned their recalcitrant subject over to an executioner. Screws were pierced into her fingers and thumbs - and then into her legs - to force her to recant her views and reveal her followers. She calmly and politely refused.
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On 27 March 1549, Elizabeth was sentenced to death by the Church, placed in a sack, and drowned.
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Her name was Elizabeth Dirks, and she is alive today. She is alive in every person who has the courage to speak truth to power.
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In promoting fairness, decency and human rights around the world - with hope and a vision of a future without gender-oppression, poverty and ignorance, we resurrect the spirit of Elizabeth - and discover the beauty and meaning of life.
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(For a more complete transcript of the interrogation of Elizabeth Dirks, see Roland H. Bainton, Women of the Reformation of Germany and Italy (1971), p. 145-149.)
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J Roquen