Brill, Jacob

Brill, Jacob a Dutch mystic, was born January 21, 1639, and died at Leyden, January 28, 1700. He was deposed from his office as preacher of Phillipsburg in 1683 for attaching himself to the doctrines of Pontian van Hattem. He wrote about forty treatises, which. were published in 1705 at Amsterdam, and in a German translation at Leipsic in 1706. His teaching is unbiblical, and represents an unchristian mystical pantheism. Thus, according to Brill, the true sacrifice of Christ was not on the cross; but must take place in every Christian. Poiret, in the Bibliotheca Mysticorum Selecta, 1708, speaks very highly of Brill. His writings are given in Unschuldige Nachrichten, 1712, pages 876-882. See Gibel, in Herzog's Real-Encyklop. s.v.; Lichtenberger, Encyclopedie des Sciences Religienses, s.v., (B.P.)