DAVIDISTS, a name borne by two distinct sects in the history of the Christian church. 1. It is sometimes applied to the followers of David of Dinant, whose work entitled Quaternarii was condemned at the Synod of Paris in 1209. The works of Amalric of Bena were condemned at the same synod, but this is scarcely a sufficient ground for classing David of Dinant among his followers. Our information as to the views of the latter is derived from the Summa of Albertus Magnus and the Summa of Thomas Aquinas. He founded upon the Platonists and the Arabian philosophers his fundamental doctrine that the Deity alone has any real existence, being the materia prima of all things. 2. The name Davidists, or David-Georgians, is more commonly applied to the followers of David George, or Joris, who was born at Delft in 1501. In 1530 he was punished by whipping, the boring of his tongue, and imprisonment for obstructing a Catholic procession in his native town. In 1534 he joined the Anabaptists, but soon afterwards he founded a sect of his own. In 1542 he published his Book of Wonders, containing an account of visions and revelations he professed to have had. Two years later he settled down as a merchant at Basel, where he lived in prosperity for twelve years under the assumed name of Johann von Briigge. After his death his son-in-law, offended probably at the disposition he made of his property, instituted a process of heresy against him ; and his body was exhumed and burnt by order of the senate of Basel. The Davidists, under the leadership of Henry Nicolas, afterwards became known in Holland and England as the Familists. They interpreted the whole of Scripture allegorically, and maintained that as Moses had taught hope, and Christ had taught faith, it was their mission to teach love. The service of love was the highest and best of the dispensations. The result was an extreme Antinomianism in practice, which attracted the notice of the civil authorities in both countries. The sect was suppressed or absorbed in other sects early in the 17th century.