Love is Like Fire: The Confession of an Anabaptist Prisoner

Peter Riedemann ( 1505-1556) was born in Hirschberg, Silesia, and was a cobbler by trade. The earliest we hear about him is that he was imprisoned from 1529 to 1532 at Gmunden, Upper Austria, on account of his faith. This strongly suggests that he had joined the Anabaptist movement there between 1527 and 1529. Because we know that the movement owed its existence in particular to the missionary activity of the well-known Anabaptist apostle Hans Hut, we may assume that Riedemann was either converted or baptized by Hut or by one of his co-workers.The fact that he was able at - the age of 23 or 24 - to write such a comprehensive work during his imprisonment shows that he must have been one of the strongest and most active leaders among the Anabaptists of his period.