Brill, Jakob

BRILL, JAKOB: Mystic; b. at Leyden Jan. 21, 1639; d. there Jan. 28, 1700. He was a follower of Pontiaan van Hattem; between 1685 and 1699 he published about forty works of a mystical-devotional character, which were much read; but spiritualizing Christ to such a degree that the historical Christ almost disappeared, and the sacrifice on the cross became a mere symbol of the sacrifice which shall take place in us, he at last got lost in a mystical pantheism, far away from Christianity.

Bibliography: A eulogy of Brill is found in Poiret's Catalogue des écrivains mystiques (Lat. transl., Amsterdam, 1708). Consult also Ypey en Dermont, De hervormde Kerk in Nederland, vol. iii., Breda, 1824.