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Anabaptism

January 26, 2023

Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin anabaptista,[1] from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά- 're-' and βαπτισμός 'baptism',[1] German: Täufer, earlier also Wiedertäufer)[a] is a Protestant Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation.

The early Anabaptists formulated their beliefs in a confession of faith called the Schleitheim Confession. In 1527, Michael Sattler presided over a meeting at Schleitheim (in the Canton of Schaffhausen, on the Swiss-German border), where Anabaptist leaders drew up the Schleitheim Confession of Faith (doc. 29). Sattler was arrested and executed soon afterwards. Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs, but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can.[2][3]

Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized. This believer's baptism is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized. Anabaptists trace their heritage to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Other Christian groups with different roots also practice believer's baptism, such as Baptists, but these groups are not Anabaptist. The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the early Anabaptist movement. Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are Anabaptist denominations that developed well after the Radical Reformation.[4][5][6] Though all Anabaptists share the same core theological beliefs, there are differences in the way of life between them; Old Order Anabaptist groups include the Old Order Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, Old Order River Brethren, the Hutterites and the Old German Baptist Brethren.[4] In between the mainline denominations and Old Order groups are Conservative Anabaptist groups such as the Dunkard Brethren, Conservative Mennonites and Beachy Amish, who have retained traditional religious practices and theology, while allowing for modern conveniences.[7][8]

Emphasizing an adherence to the beliefs of early Christianity, as a whole, Anabaptists are distinguished by their keeping of practices that often include nonconformity to the world, "the love feast with feet washing, laying on of hands, anointing with oil, and the holy kiss, as well as turning the other cheek, no oaths, going the second mile, giving a cup of cold water, reconciliation, repeated forgiveness, humility, non-violence, and sharing possessions."[9][10][11][12]

The name Anabaptist means "one who baptizes again". Their persecutors named them this, referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ even if they had been baptized as infants, and many call themselves "Radical Reformers".[13] Anabaptists require that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen and so rejected baptism of infants. The New Testament teaches to repent and then be baptized, and infants are not able to repent and turn away from sin to a life of following Jesus. The early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism:

I have never taught Anabaptism. …But the right baptism of Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ.

— Hubmaier, Balthasar (1526), Short apology.[14]: 204 

Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by state churches, both Magisterial Protestants and Roman Catholics, beginning in the 16th century and continuing thereafter, largely because of their interpretation of scripture, which put them at odds with official state church interpretations and local government control. Anabaptism was never established by any state and therefore never enjoyed any associated privileges. Most Anabaptists adhere to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, which teaches against hate, killing, violence, taking oaths, participating in use of force or any military actions, and against participation in civil government. Anabaptists view themselves as primarily citizens of the kingdom of God, not of earthly governments. As committed followers of Jesus, they seek to pattern their life after his.[15]

Some former groups who practiced rebaptism, now extinct, believed otherwise and complied with these requirements of civil society.[b] They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, and many historians consider them outside true biblical Anabaptism. Conrad Grebel wrote in a letter to Thomas Müntzer in 1524: "True Christian believers are sheep among wolves, sheep for the slaughter ... Neither do they use worldly sword or war, since all killing has ceased with them."[16]

Lineage

 
Major denominational families in Christianity:
This box:
Schism (1552)
(16th century)
(11th century)
(Not shown are non-Nicene, nontrinitarian, and some restorationist denominations.)

Medieval forerunners

Main article: Proto-Protestantism

Anabaptists are considered to have begun with the Radical Reformation in the 16th century, but historians classify certain people and groups as their forerunners because of a similar approach to the interpretation and application of the Bible. For instance, Petr Chelčický, a 15th-century Bohemian reformer, taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology.[17] Medieval antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life, the Hussites, Dutch Sacramentists,[18][19] and some forms of monasticism. The Waldensians also represent a faith similar to the Anabaptists.[20]

Medieval dissenters and Anabaptists who held to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount share in common the following affirmations:

  • The believer must not swear oaths or refer disputes between believers to law-courts for resolution, in accordance with 1 Corinthians 6:1–11.
  • The believer must not bear arms or offer forcible resistance to wrongdoers, nor wield the sword. No Christian has the jus gladii (the right of the sword). Matthew 5:39
  • Civil government (i.e. "Caesar") belongs to the world. The believer belongs to God's kingdom, so must not fill any office nor hold any rank under government, which is to be passively obeyed. John 18:36 Romans 13:1–7
  • Sinners or unfaithful ones are to be excommunicated, and excluded from the sacraments and from intercourse with believers unless they repent, according to 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 and Matthew 18:15 seq., but no force is to be used towards them.

Zwickau prophets and the German Peasants' War

Main articles: Thomas Müntzer, Zwickau prophets, and German Peasants' War
 
Twelve Articles of the Peasants pamphlet of 1525

On December 27, 1521, three "prophets" appeared in Wittenberg from Zwickau who were influenced by (and, in turn, influencing) Thomas Müntzer—Thomas Dreschel, Nicholas Storch, and Mark Thomas Stübner. They preached an apocalyptic, radical alternative to Lutheranism. Their preaching helped to stir the feelings concerning the social crisis which erupted in the German Peasants' War in southern Germany in 1525 as a revolt against feudal oppression. Under the leadership of Müntzer, it became a war against all constituted authorities and an attempt to establish by revolution an ideal Christian commonwealth, with absolute equality among persons and the community of goods. The Zwickau prophets were not Anabaptists (that is, they did not practise "rebaptism"); nevertheless, the prevalent social inequities and the preaching of men such as these have been seen as laying the foundation for the Anabaptist movement. The social ideals of the Anabaptist movement coincided closely with those of leaders in the German Peasants' War. Studies have found a very low percentage of subsequent sectarians to have taken part in the peasant uprising.[21]

Views on origins

Research on the origins of the Anabaptists has been tainted both by the attempts of their enemies to slander them and by the attempts of their supporters to vindicate them. It was long popular to classify all Anabaptists as Munsterites and radicals associated with the Zwickau prophets, Jan Matthys, John of Leiden, and Thomas Müntzer. Those desiring to correct this error tended to over-correct and deny all connections between the larger Anabaptist movement and the most radical elements.

The modern era of Anabaptist historiography arose with Roman Catholic scholar Carl Adolf Cornelius' publication of Die Geschichte des Münsterischen Aufruhrs (The History of the Münster Uprising) in 1855. Baptist historian Albert Henry Newman (1852–1933), who Harold S. Bender said occupied "first position in the field of American Anabaptist historiography", made a major contribution with his A History of Anti-Pedobaptism (1897).

Three main theories on origins of the Anabaptists are the following:

  • The movement began in a single expression in Zürich and spread from there (monogenesis);
  • It developed through several independent movements (polygenesis); and
  • It was a continuation of true New Testament Christianity (apostolic succession or church perpetuity).

Monogenesis

A number of scholars (e.g. Harold S. Bender, William Estep, Robert Friedmann)[22][23] consider the Anabaptist movement to have developed from the Swiss Brethren movement of Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, et al. They generally argue that Anabaptism had its origins in Zürich, and that the Anabaptism of the Swiss Brethren was transmitted to southern Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and northern Germany, where it developed into its various branches. The monogenesis theory usually rejects the Münsterites and other radicals from the category of true Anabaptists.[24] In the monogenesis view the time of origin is January 21, 1525, when Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock in turn baptized several others immediately. These baptisms were the first "re-baptisms" known in the movement.[25] This continues to be the most widely accepted date posited for the establishment of Anabaptism.

Polygenesis

James M. Stayer, Werner O. Packull [de], and Klaus Deppermann disputed the idea of a single origin of Anabaptists in a 1975 essay entitled "From Monogenesis to Polygenesis", suggesting that February 24, 1527, at Schleitheim is the proper date of the origin of Anabaptism. On this date the Swiss Brethren wrote a declaration of belief called the Schleitheim Confession.[26][page needed] The authors of the essay noted the agreement among previous Anabaptist historians on polygenesis, even when disputing the date for a single starting point: "Hillerbrand and Bender (like Holl and Troeltsch) were in agreement that there was a single dispersion of Anabaptism …, which certainly ran through Zurich. The only question was whether or not it went back further to Saxony."[26]: 83  After criticizing the standard polygenetic history, the authors found six groups in early Anabaptism which could be collapsed into three originating "points of departure": "South German Anabaptism, the Swiss Brethren, and the Melchiorites".[27] According to their polygenesis theory, South German–Austrian Anabaptism "was a diluted form of Rhineland mysticism", Swiss Anabaptism "arose out of Reformed congregationalism", and Dutch Anabaptism was formed by "Social unrest and the apocalyptic visions of Melchior Hoffman". As examples of how the Anabaptist movement was influenced from sources other than the Swiss Brethren movement, mention has been made of how Pilgram Marpeck's Vermanung of 1542 was deeply influenced by the Bekenntnisse of 1533 by Münster theologian Bernhard Rothmann. Melchior Hoffman influenced the Hutterites when they used his commentary on the Apocalypse shortly after he wrote it.

Others who have written in support of polygenesis include Grete Mecenseffy [de] and Walter Klaassen, who established links between Thomas Müntzer and Hans Hut. In another work, Gottfried Seebaß and Werner Packull showed the influence of Thomas Müntzer on the formation of South German Anabaptism. Similarly, author Steven Ozment linked Hans Denck and Hans Hut with Thomas Müntzer, Sebastian Franck, and others. Author Calvin Pater showed how Andreas Karlstadt influenced Swiss Anabaptism in various areas, including his view of Scripture, doctrine of the church, and views on baptism.

Several historians, including Thor Hall,[28] Kenneth Davis,[29] and Robert Kreider,[30] have also noted the influence of Humanism on Radical Reformers in the three originating points of departure to account for how this brand of reform could develop independently from each other. Relatively recent research, begun in a more advanced and deliberate manner by Andrew P. Klager, also explores how the influence and a particular reading of the Church Fathers contributed to the development of distinctly Anabaptist beliefs and practices in separate regions of Europe in the early 16th century, including by Menno Simons in the Netherlands, Conrad Grebel in Switzerland, Thomas Müntzer in central Germany, Pilgram Marpeck in the Tyrol, Peter Walpot in Moravia, and especially Balthasar Hubmaier in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Moravia.[31][32]

Apostolic succession

Baptist successionists have, at times, pointed to 16th-century Anabaptists as part of an apostolic succession of churches ("church perpetuity") from the time of Christ.[33] This view is held by some Baptists, some Mennonites, and a number of "true church" movements.[c]

The opponents of the Baptist successionism theory emphasize that these non-Catholic groups clearly differed from each other, that they held some heretical views,[d] or that the groups had no connection with one another and had origins that were separate both in time and in place.

A different strain of successionism is the theory that the Anabaptists are of Waldensian origin. Some hold the idea that the Waldensians are part of the apostolic succession, while others simply believe they were an independent group out of whom the Anabaptists arose. Ludwig Keller, Thomas M. Lindsay, Henry Clay Vedder, Delbert Grätz, John T. Christian and Thieleman J. van Braght (author of Martyrs Mirror) all held, in varying degrees, the position that the Anabaptists were of Waldensian origin.

History

 
Spread of the early anabaptists in Central Europe
  Dutch Mennonites
(spread from Emden)
  South and Central German Anabaptists
(spread from Königsberg in Franken)
  Swiss Brethren
(spread from Zürich)
  Moravian Anabaptists
(spread from Nikolsburg)

Switzerland

Anabaptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli. As early as 1522, it became evident that Zwingli was on a path of reform preaching when he began to question or criticize such Catholic practices as tithes, the mass, and even infant baptism. Zwingli had gathered a group of reform-minded men around him, with whom he studied classical literature and the scriptures. However, some of these young men began to feel that Zwingli was not moving fast enough in his reform. The division between Zwingli and his more radical disciples became apparent in an October 1523 disputation held in Zurich. When the discussion of the mass was about to be ended without making any actual change in practice, Conrad Grebel stood up and asked "what should be done about the mass?" Zwingli responded by saying the council would make that decision. At this point, Simon Stumpf, a radical priest from Höngg, answered saying, "The decision has already been made by the Spirit of God."[34]

This incident illustrated clearly that Zwingli and his more radical disciples had different expectations. To Zwingli, the reforms would only go as fast as the city Council allowed them. To the radicals, the council had no right to make that decision, but rather the Bible was the final authority of church reform. Feeling frustrated, some of them began to meet on their own for Bible study. As early as 1523, William Reublin began to preach against infant baptism in villages surrounding Zurich, encouraging parents to not baptize their children.

Seeking fellowship with other reform-minded people, the radical group wrote letters to Martin Luther, Andreas Karlstadt, and Thomas Müntzer. Felix Manz began to publish some of Karlstadt's writings in Zurich in late 1524. By this time the question of infant baptism had become agitated and the Zurich council had instructed Zwingli to meet weekly with those who rejected infant baptism "until the matter could be resolved".[35] Zwingli broke off the meetings after two sessions, and Felix Manz petitioned the council to find a solution, since he felt Zwingli was too hard to work with. The council then called a meeting for January 17, 1525.

 
Dissatisfaction with the outcome of a disputation in 1525 prompted Swiss Brethren to part ways with Huldrych Zwingli.

The Council ruled in this meeting that all who continued to refuse to baptize their infants should be expelled from Zurich if they did not have them baptized within one week. Since Conrad Grebel had refused to baptize his daughter Rachel, born on January 5, 1525, the Council decision was extremely personal to him and others who had not baptized their children. Thus, when sixteen of the radicals met on Saturday evening, January 21, 1525, the situation seemed particularly dark. The Hutterian Chronicle records the event:

After prayer, George of the House of Jacob (George Blaurock) stood up and besought Conrad Grebel for God's sake to baptize him with the true Christian baptism upon his faith and knowledge. And when he knelt down with such a request and desire, Conrad baptized him, since at that time there was no ordained minister to perform such work.[36]

Afterwards Blaurock was baptized, he in turn baptized others at the meeting. Even though some had rejected infant baptism before this date, these baptisms marked the first re-baptisms of those who had been baptized as infants and thus, technically, Swiss Anabaptism was born on that day.[37][38]

Tyrol

Anabaptism appears to have come to Tyrol through the labors of George Blaurock. Similar to the German Peasants' War, the Gaismair uprising set the stage by producing a hope for social justice. Michael Gaismair had tried to bring religious, political, and economical reform through a violent peasant uprising, but the movement was squashed.[39] Although little hard evidence exists of a direct connection between Gaismair's uprising and Tyrolian Anabaptism, at least a few of the peasants involved in the uprising later became Anabaptists. While a connection between a violent social revolution and non-resistant Anabaptism may be hard to imagine, the common link was the desire for a radical change in the prevailing social injustices. Disappointed with the failure of armed revolt, Anabaptist ideals of an alternative peaceful, just society probably resonated on the ears of the disappointed peasants.[40]

Before Anabaptism proper was introduced to South Tyrol, Protestant ideas had been propagated in the region by men such as Hans Vischer, a former Dominican. Some of those who participated in conventicles where Protestant ideas were presented later became Anabaptists. As well, the population in general seemed to have a favorable attitude towards reform, be it Protestant or Anabaptist. George Blaurock appears to have preached itinerantly in the Puster Valley region in 1527, which most likely was the first introduction of Anabaptist ideas in the area. Another visit through the area in 1529 reinforced these ideas, but he was captured and burned at the stake in Klausen on September 6, 1529.[41]

Jacob Hutter was one of the early converts in South Tyrol, and later became a leader among the Hutterites, who received their name from him. Hutter made several trips between Moravia and Tyrol, and most of the Anabaptists in South Tyrol ended up emigrating to Moravia because of the fierce persecution unleashed by Ferdinand I. In November 1535, Hutter was captured near Klausen and taken to Innsbruck where he was burned at the stake on February 25, 1536. By 1540 Anabaptism in South Tyrol was beginning to die out, largely because of the emigration to Moravia of the converts because of incessant persecution.[42]

Low Countries and northern Germany

 
Menno Simons

Melchior Hoffman is credited with the introduction of Anabaptist ideas into the Low Countries. Hoffman had picked up Lutheran and Reformed ideas, but on April 23, 1530 he was "re-baptized" at Strasbourg and within two months had gone to Emden and baptized about 300 persons.[43] For several years Hoffman preached in the Low Countries until he was arrested and imprisoned at Strasbourg, where he died about 10 years later. Hoffman's apocalyptic ideas were indirectly related to the Münster Rebellion, even though he was "of a different spirit".[44] Obbe and Dirk Philips had been baptized by disciples of Jan Matthijs, but were opposed to the violence that occurred at Münster.[45] Obbe later became disillusioned with Anabaptism and withdrew from the movement in about 1540, but not before ordaining David Joris, his brother Dirk, and Menno Simons, the latter from whom the Mennonites received their name.[46] David Joris and Menno Simons parted ways, with Joris placing more emphasis on "spirit and prophecy", while Menno emphasized the authority of the Bible. For the Mennonite side, the emphasis on the "inner" and "spiritual" permitted compromise to "escape persecution", while to the Joris side, the Mennonites were under the "dead letter of the Scripture".[46]

Because of persecution and expansion, some of the Low Country Mennonites emigrated to Vistula delta, a region settled by Germans but under Polish rule until it became part of Prussia in 1772. There they formed the Vistula delta Mennonites integrating some other Mennonites mainly from Northern Germany. In the late 18th century, several thousand of them migrated from there to Ukraine (which at the time was part of Russia) forming the so-called Russian Mennonites. Beginning in 1874, many of them emigrated to the prairie states and provinces of the United States and Canada. In the 1920s, the conservative faction of the Canadian settlers went to Mexico and Paraguay. Beginning in the 1950s, the most conservative of them started to migrate to Bolivia. In 1958, Mexican Mennonites migrated to Belize. Since the 1980s, traditional Russian Mennonites migrated to Argentina. Smaller groups went to Brazil and Uruguay. In 2015, some Mennonites from Bolivia settled in Peru. In 2018, there are more than 200,000 of them living in colonies in Central and South America.

Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia

Although Moravian Anabaptism was a transplant from other areas of Europe, Moravia soon became a center for the growing movement, largely because of the greater religious tolerance found there.[47][48] Hans Hut was an early evangelist in the area, with one historian crediting him with baptizing more converts in two years than all the other Anabaptist evangelists put together.[49] The coming of Balthasar Hübmaier to Nikolsburg was a definite boost for Anabaptist ideas to the area. With the great influx of religious refugees from all over Europe, many variations of Anabaptism appeared in Moravia, with Jarold Zeman documenting at least ten slightly different versions.[50] Soon, one-eyed Jacob Wiedemann appeared at Nikolsburg, and began to teach the pacifistic convictions of the Swiss Brethren, on which Hübmaier had been less authoritative. This would lead to a division between the Schwertler (sword-bearing) and the Stäbler (staff-bearing). Wiedemann and those with him also promoted the practice of community of goods. With orders from the lords of Liechtenstein to leave Nikolsburg, about 200 Stäbler withdrew to Moravia to form a community at Austerlitz.[51]

Persecution in South Tyrol brought many refugees to Moravia, many of whom formed into communities that practised community of goods. Jacob Hutter was instrumental in organizing these into what became known as the Hutterites. But others came from Silesia, Switzerland, German lands, and the Low Countries. With the passing of time and persecution, all the other versions of Anabaptism would die out in Moravia leaving only the Hutterites. Even the Hutterites would be dissipated by persecution, with a remnant fleeing to Transylvania, then to the Ukraine, and finally to North America in 1874.[52][page needed][53]

South and central Germany, Austria and Alsace

 
Thomas Müntzer led the German peasants against the landowners

South German Anabaptism had its roots in German mysticism. Andreas Karlstadt, who first worked alongside Martin Luther, is seen as a forerunner of South German Anabaptism because of his reforming theology that rejected many Catholic practices, including infant baptism. However, Karlstadt is not known to have been "rebaptized", nor to have taught it. Hans Denck and Hans Hut, both with German Mystical background (in connection with Thomas Müntzer) both accepted "rebaptism", but Denck eventually backed off from the idea under pressure. Hans Hut is said to have brought more people into early Anabaptism than all the other Anabaptist evangelists of his time put together. However, there may have been confusion about what his baptism (at least some of the times it was done by making the sign of the Tau on the forehead) may have meant to the recipient. Some seem to have taken it as a sign by which they would escape the apocalyptical revenge of the Turks that Hut predicted. Hut even went so far as to predict a 1528 coming of the kingdom of God. When the prediction failed, some of his converts became discouraged and left the Anabaptist movement. The large congregation of Anabaptists at Augsburg fell apart (partly because of persecution) and those who stayed with Anabaptist ideas were absorbed into Swiss and Moravia Anabaptist congregations.[54][21] Pilgram Marpeck was another notable leader in early South German Anabaptism who attempted to steer between the two extremes of Denck's inner Holiness and the legalistic standards of the other Anabaptists.[55]

Persecutions and migrations

 
Felix Manz was executed by drowning within two years of his rebaptism
 
Birching of Anabaptist martyr Ursula, Maastricht, 1570; engraving by Jan Luyken from Martyrs Mirror[56]

Roman Catholics and Protestants alike persecuted the Anabaptists, resorting to torture and execution in attempts to curb the growth of the movement. The Protestants under Zwingli were the first to persecute the Anabaptists, with Felix Manz becoming the first Anabaptist martyr in 1527. On May 20 or 21, 1527, Roman Catholic authorities executed Michael Sattler.[57] King Ferdinand declared drowning (called the third baptism) "the best antidote to Anabaptism". The Tudor regime, even the Protestant monarchs (Edward VI of England and Elizabeth I of England), persecuted Anabaptists as they were deemed too radical and therefore a danger to religious stability.

 
The burning of a 16th-century Dutch Anabaptist, Anneken Hendriks, who was charged with heresy.

The persecution of Anabaptists was condoned by the ancient laws of Theodosius I and Justinian I which were passed against the Donatists, and decreed the death penalty for anyone who practised rebaptism. Martyrs Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght, describes the persecution and execution of thousands of Anabaptists in various parts of Europe between 1525 and 1660. Continuing persecution in Europe was largely responsible for the mass emigrations to North America by the Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Unlike Calvinists, Anabaptists failed to gain recognition in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and as a result, they continued to be persecuted in Europe long after that treaty was signed.

Anabaptism stands out among other groups of martyrs, in that Anabaptist martyrologies, women feature more prominently, "making up thirty per cent of the martyr stories, compared to five to ten per cent in the other accounts."[58]

Beliefs and practices

Main article: Theology of Anabaptism

Anabaptist beliefs were codified in the Schleitheim Confession in 1527, which best represents the beliefs of the various denominations of Anabaptism (inclusive of Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christians).[2][3]

Anabaptist denominations, such as the Mennonites, teach that "True faith entails a new birth, a spiritual regeneration by God's grace and power; 'believers' are those who have become the spiritual children of God."[59] In Anabaptist theology, the pathway to salvation is "marked not by a forensic understanding of salvation by 'faith alone', but by the entire process of repentance, self-denial, faith rebirth and obedience."[59] Those who wish to tarry this path receive baptism after the New Birth.[59] Anabaptists heavily emphasize the importance of obedience in the salvation journey of a believer.[60]

As a whole, Anabaptists emphasize an adherence to the beliefs of early Christianity and are thus distinguished by their keeping of practices that often include the observance of feetwashing, the holy kiss, and communion (with these three ordinances being practiced collectively in the lovefeast in the Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren traditions), Christian headcovering, nonconformity to the world, nonresistance, forgiveness, and sharing possessions, which in certain communities (as with the Bruderhof) takes on the form of communal living.[9][12][10][11]

Anabaptists view themselves as a separate branch of Christianity, not being a part of Catholicism, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodoxy.[61][62][63][e]

Types

Different types exist among the Anabaptists, although the categorizations tend to vary with the scholar's viewpoint on origins. Estep claims that in order to understand Anabaptism, one must "distinguish between the Anabaptists, inspirationists, and rationalists". He classes the likes of Blaurock, Grebel, Balthasar Hubmaier, Manz, Marpeck, and Simons as Anabaptists. He groups Müntzer, Storch, et al. as inspirationists, and anti-trinitarians such as Michael Servetus, Juan de Valdés, Sebastian Castellio, and Faustus Socinus as rationalists. Mark S. Ritchie follows this line of thought, saying, "The Anabaptists were one of several branches of 'Radical' reformers (i.e. reformers that went further than the mainstream Reformers) to arise out of the Renaissance and Reformation. Two other branches were Spirituals or Inspirationists, who believed that they had received direct revelation from the Spirit, and rationalists or anti-Trinitarians, who rebelled against traditional Christian doctrine, like Michael Servetus."

Those of the polygenesis viewpoint use Anabaptist to define the larger movement, and include the inspirationists and rationalists as true Anabaptists. James M. Stayer used the term Anabaptist for those who rebaptized persons already "baptized" in infancy. Walter Klaassen was perhaps the first Mennonite scholar to define Anabaptists that way in his 1960 Oxford dissertation. This represents a rejection of the previous standard held by Mennonite scholars such as Bender and Friedmann.

Another method of categorization acknowledges regional variations, such as Swiss Brethren (Grebel, Manz), Dutch and Frisian Anabaptism (Menno Simons, Dirk Philips), and South German Anabaptism (Hübmaier, Marpeck).

Historians and sociologists have made further distinctions between radical Anabaptists, who were prepared to use violence in their attempts to build a New Jerusalem, and their pacifist brethren, later broadly known as Mennonites. Radical Anabaptist groups included the Münsterites, who occupied and held the German city of Münster in 1534–1535, and the Batenburgers, who persisted in various guises as late as the 1570s.

Spirituality

Further information: Hymnody of continental Europe § Anabaptists
 
Memorial plate at Schipfe quarter in Zürich for the Anabaptists executed in the early 16th century by the Zürich city government

Charismatic manifestations

Within the inspirationist wing of the Anabaptist movement, it was not unusual for charismatic manifestations to appear, such as dancing, falling under the power of the Holy Spirit, "prophetic processions" (at Zurich in 1525, at Munster in 1534 and at Amsterdam in 1535),[64] and speaking in tongues.[65] In Germany some Anabaptists, "excited by mass hypnosis, experienced healings, glossolalia, contortions and other manifestations of a camp-meeting revival".[66] The Anabaptist congregations that later developed into the Mennonite and Hutterite churches tended not to promote these manifestations, but did not totally reject the miraculous. Pilgram Marpeck, for example, wrote against the exclusion of miracles: "Nor does Scripture assert this exclusion ... God has a free hand even in these last days." Referring to some who had been raised from the dead, he wrote: "Many of them have remained constant, enduring tortures inflicted by sword, rope, fire and water and suffering terrible, tyrannical, unheard-of deaths and martyrdoms, all of which they could easily have avoided by recantation. Moreover one also marvels when he sees how the faithful God (Who, after all, overflows with goodness) raises from the dead several such brothers and sisters of Christ after they were hanged, drowned, or killed in other ways. Even today, they are found alive and we can hear their own testimony ... Cannot everyone who sees, even the blind, say with a good conscience that such things are a powerful, unusual, and miraculous act of God? Those who would deny it must be hardened men."[67] The Hutterite Chronicle and the Martyrs Mirror record several accounts of miraculous events, such as when a man named Martin prophesied while being led across a bridge to his execution in 1531: "this once yet the pious are led over this bridge, but no more hereafter". Just "a short time afterwards such a violent storm and flood came that the bridge was demolished".[68]

Holy Spirit leadership

The Anabaptists insisted upon the "free course" of the Holy Spirit in worship, yet still maintained it all must be judged according to the Scriptures.[69] The Swiss Anabaptist document titled "Answer of Some Who Are Called (Ana-)Baptists – Why They Do Not Attend the Churches". One reason given for not attending the state churches was that these institutions forbade the congregation to exercise spiritual gifts according to "the Christian order as taught in the gospel or the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 14". "When such believers come together, 'Everyone of you (note every one) hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation', and so on. When someone comes to church and constantly hears only one person speaking, and all the listeners are silent, neither speaking nor prophesying, who can or will regard or confess the same to be a spiritual congregation, or confess according to 1 Corinthians 14 that God is dwelling and operating in them through His Holy Spirit with His gifts, impelling them one after another in the above-mentioned order of speaking and prophesying."[70]

Today

Anabaptists

 
Evangelical Mennonite Church in Altkirch, Association of Evangelical Mennonite Churches of France.
 
Praise team at The Meeting Place in Winnipeg, Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
 
Amish children on their way to school

The major branches of Anabaptist Christianity today include the Amish, Shwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Hutterites, Mennonites, Apostolic Christian Church, and Bruderhof.[71][72] Within many of these traditions (Amish, Mennonite, Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren) are three subsets—(1) Old Order Anabaptists (2) Conservative Anabaptists and (3) Mainline Anabaptists; for example, among Schwarzenau Brethren are the Old Order German Baptist Brethren (who use horse and buggy for transportation and do not use electricity), the Dunkard Brethren (who adhere to traditional theological beliefs and wear plain dress, but use modern conveniences), and the Church of the Brethren (who are largely a mainline group where members are indistinguishable in dress from the general population).[73]

Although many see the more well-known Anabaptist groups (Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites) as ethnic groups, only the Amish and the Hutterites today are composed mainly of descendants of the European Anabaptists, while Mennonites come from diverse backgrounds, with only a minority being classed as ethnic Mennonites. Brethren groups have mostly lost their ethnic distinctiveness.[citation needed]

In 2018, there were 2.13 million baptized Anabaptists in 86 countries.[74]

The Bruderhof Communities were founded in Germany by Eberhard Arnold in 1920,[75] establishing and organisationally joining the Hutterites in 1930. The group moved to England after the Gestapo confiscated their property in 1933, and they subsequently moved to Paraguay in order to avoid military conscription, and after World War II, they moved to the United States.[76]

Groups which are derived from the Schwarzenau Brethren, often called German Baptists, while not directly descended from the 16th-century Radical Reformation, are considered Anabaptist due to their adherence to Anabaptist doctrine. The modern-day Brethren movement is a combination of Anabaptism and Radical Pietism.[77]

Neo-Anabaptists

Main article: Neo-Anabaptism

Neo-Anabaptism is a late twentieth and early twenty-first century theological movement within American evangelical Christianity which draws inspiration from theologians who are located within the Anabaptist tradition but are ecclesiastically outside it. Neo-Anabaptists have been noted for their "low church, counter-cultural, prophetic-stance-against-empire ethos" as well as for their focus on pacifism, social justice and poverty.[78][79] The works of Mennonite theologians Ron Sider and John Howard Yoder are frequently cited as having a strong influence on the movement.[80]

Relationship with Baptists

Some similarities exist between Baptists and the Anabaptists, which is why some historians have argued that the Baptists were influenced by the Anabaptists. These connections, however, are highly debated by historians. The similarities between Baptists and Anabaptists include baptism of believers only, religious freedom, and congregationalism. Despite these similarities, the relationship between Baptists and Anabaptists was strained in 1624 when five existing Baptist churches of London issued a condemnation of the Anabaptists.[81][82][83] Puritans of England and their Baptist branch arose independently, and although they may have been informed by Anabaptist theology, they clearly differentiate themselves from Anabaptists as seen in the London Baptist Confession of Faith A.D. 1644, "Of those Churches which are commonly (though falsely) called Anabaptists".[84] Moreover, Baptist historian Chris Traffanstedt maintains that Anabaptists share "some similarities with the early General Baptists, but overall these similarities are slight and not always relational. In the end, we must come to say that this group of Christians does not reflect the historical teaching of the Baptists".[85]

In practice, Anabaptists have maintained a more literal obedience to the Sermon on the Mount, while Baptists generally do not require nonresistance, non-swearing of oaths, and no remarriage if the first legitimate spouse is living. Traditional Anabaptists also require a head covering for women, modest apparel, practical separation from the world, and Plain dress, which most Baptists no longer require. However, some Anabaptists and General Baptists have improved their relations and sometimes have worked together.[86]

Influence on society

Common Anabaptist beliefs and practices of the 16th century continue to influence modern Christianity and Western society.

The Anabaptists were early promoters of a free church and freedom of religion.[f] When it was introduced by the Anabaptists in the 15th and 16th centuries, religious freedom which was independent from the state was unthinkable to both clerical and governmental leaders. Religious liberty was equated with anarchy; Kropotkin[88] traces the birth of anarchist thought in Europe to these early Anabaptist communities.

According to Estep:

Where men believe in the freedom of religion, supported by a guarantee of separation of church and state, they have entered into that heritage. Where men have caught the Anabaptist vision of discipleship, they have become worthy of that heritage. Where corporate discipleship submits itself to the New Testament pattern of the church, the heir has then entered full possession of his legacy.[89]

Anabaptist characters exist in popular culture, most notably Chaplain Tappman in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22, James (Jacques) in Voltaire's novella Candide, Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Le prophète (1849), and the central character in the novel Q, by the collective known as "Luther Blissett".

See also

References

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term Wiedertäufer (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. The term Täufer (translation: "Baptizers") is now used, which is considered more impartial. From the perspective of their persecutors, the "Baptizers" baptized for the second time those "who as infants had already been baptized". The denigrative term Anabaptist, given to them by others, signifies rebaptizing and is considered a polemical term, so it has been dropped from use in modern German. However, in the English-speaking world, it is still used to distinguish the Baptizers more clearly from the Baptists, a Protestant sect that developed later in England. Compare their self-designation as "Brethren in Christ" or "Church of God": Stayer, James M. (2001). "Täufer". Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE) (in German). Vol. 32. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 597–617. ISBN 3-11-016712-3. Brüder in Christo", "Gemeinde Gottes.
  2. ^ For example, those of the Münster Rebellion or Balthasar Hubmaier.
  3. ^ A "true church" movement is a part of the Protestant or Reformed group of Christianity that claims to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity. Most only assert this in relation to their church doctrines, polity, and practice (e.g., the ordinances), while a few hold they are the only true Christians. Some examples of Anabaptistic true church movements are the Landmark Baptists and the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. The Church of God, the Stone-Campbell restoration movement, and others represent a variation in which the "true church" apostatized and was restored, in distinction to this idea of apostolic or church succession. These groups trace their "true church" status through means other than those generally accepted by Roman Catholicism or Orthodox Christianity, both of which likewise claim to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity.
  4. ^ Such as the Adoptionism of the Paulicianists; some of the other groups often cited were in fact little different from the Catholics and bore little similarity to modern Baptists.
  5. ^ According to the Martyrs Mirror, the Anabaptist movement has existed since the times of the apostles. It is not Protestant, according to this vital publication.
  6. ^ The origins of religious freedom in the United States are traced back to the Anabaptists.[87]

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Anabaptist, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, December 2012, retrieved January 21, 2013
  2. ^ a b Bruening, Michael W. (April 5, 2017). A Reformation Sourcebook: Documents from an Age of Debate. University of Toronto Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-44263570-8. In 1527, Michael Sattler presided over a meeting at Schleitheim (in canton Schaffhausen, on the Swiss-German border), where Anabaptist leaders drew up the Schleitheim Confession of Faith (doc. 29). Sattler was arrested and executed soon afterwards. Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs, but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can.
  3. ^ a b Hershberger, Guy F. (March 6, 2001). The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-57910600-3. The Schleitheim articles are Anabaptism's oldest confessional document.
  4. ^ a b Gertz, Steven (2004). "Outsider's Guide to America's Anabaptists". Christianity Today. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  5. ^ "What about Old Orders, Hutterites, Conservatives, River Brethren and Others?". Third Way café. 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  6. ^ Huffman, Jasper Abraham (1920). History of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church. Bethel Publishing Co. p. 59.
  7. ^ Guengerich, Galen (May 28, 2013). God Revised: How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-137-35611-6.
  8. ^ Scott, Stephen (January 1, 1996). Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups. People's Place Book. Good Books. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-56148-101-9. Many writings have been made among conservative Mennonites supporting the Christian woman's veiling.
  9. ^ a b Redekop, Calvin; Beitzel, Terry (June 14, 2019). Service, The Path To Justice. FriesenPress. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-5255-3584-0.
  10. ^ a b Kraybill, Donald B. (November 1, 2010). Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. JHU Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-8018-9911-9.
  11. ^ a b Hostetler, John A. (April 1993). Amish Society. JHU Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-8018-4442-3.
  12. ^ a b Almila, Anna-Mari; Almila, David (July 6, 2017). The Routledge International Handbook to Veils and Veiling. Taylor & Francis. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-317-04114-6.
  13. ^ Harper, Douglas (2010) [2001]. "Anabaptist". Online Etymological Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
  14. ^ Vedder, Henry Clay (1905), Balthasar Hübmaier: the Leader of the Anabaptists , New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, p. 204.
  15. ^ Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics. Baker Books. November 1, 2011. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-4412-3998-3.
  16. ^ Dyck 1967, p. 45
  17. ^ Wagner, Murray L (1983). Petr Chelčický: A Radical Separatist in Hussite Bohemia. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-8361-1257-1.
  18. ^ van der Zijpp, Nanne. "Sacramentists". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
  19. ^ Fontaine, Piet FM (2006). . The Light and the Dark: A Cultural History of Dualism. Vol. XXIII. Postlutheran Reformation. Utrecht: Gopher Publishers. Archived from the original on May 9, 2007.
  20. ^ van Braght 1950, p. 277.
  21. ^ a b Stayer 1994.
  22. ^ Moss, Christina (November 16, 2017). "On the Theological Uses of Anabaptist History: A Conversation". Anabaptist Historians. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  23. ^ Estep 1963.
  24. ^ Estep 1963, p. 5: 'Too much has been said of Münster. It belongs on the fringe of Anabaptist life which was completely divorced from the evangelical, biblical heart of the movement'
  25. ^ Dyck 1967, p. 49.
  26. ^ a b Stayer, James M; Packull, Werner O; Deppermann, Klaus (April 1975), "From Monogenesis to Polygenesis: the historical discussion of Anabaptist origins", Mennonite Quarterly Review, 49 (2)
  27. ^ Stayer 1994, p. 86.
  28. ^ Hall, Thor. "Possibilities of Erasmian Influence on Denck and Hubmaier in Their Views of Freedom of the Will." Mennonite Quarterly Review 35 (1961): 149-70.
  29. ^ Davis, Kenneth R. "Erasmus as a Progenitor of Anabaptist Theology and Piety." Mennonite Quarterly Review 47 (1973): 163-78.
  30. ^ Kreider, Robert. "Anabaptism and Humanism: an Inquiry Into the Relationship of Humanism to the Evangelical Anabaptists." Mennonite Quarterly Review 26 (1952): 123–41.
  31. ^ Klager 2011, pp. 28–31.
  32. ^ Klager 2010, pp. 5–65.
  33. ^ Carrol, JM (1931). . Lexington, KY: Ashland Avenue Baptist Church. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
  34. ^ Ruth, John L. (1975). Conrad Grebel, Son of Zurich. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-8361-1767-0.
  35. ^ Dyck 1967, p. 46.
  36. ^ The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren, Known as Das grosse Geschichtbuch der Hutterischen Brüder. Rifton, New York: Plough Pub. House. 1987. p. 45.
  37. ^ "1525, The Anabaptist Movement Begins". Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  38. ^ Klaassen, Walter (1985). "A Fire That Spread Anabaptist Beginnings". Waterloo, ON, Canada: Christian History Institute. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  39. ^ Hoover 2008, pp. 14–66.
  40. ^ Packull 1995, pp. 169–75.
  41. ^ Packull 1995, pp. 181–5.
  42. ^ Packull 1995, p. 280.
  43. ^ Estep 1963, p. 109.
  44. ^ Estep 1963, p. 111.
  45. ^ Dyck 1967, p. 105.
  46. ^ a b Dyck 1967, p. 111.
  47. ^ Estep 1963, p. 89.
  48. ^ Packull 1995, p. 54.
  49. ^ Dyck 1967, p. 67.
  50. ^ Packull 1995, p. 55.
  51. ^ Packull 1995, p. 61.
  52. ^ Packull 1995.
  53. ^ Sreenivasan, Jyotsna (2008). Utopias in American History. ABC-CLIO. pp. 175–6.
  54. ^ Packull 1977, pp. 35–117.
  55. ^ Loewen, Harry; Nolt, Steven (1996). Through Fire & Water. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press. pp. 136–137.
  56. ^ "Ursel (d. 1570)". GAMEO. January 10, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  57. ^ Bossert, Gustav Jr.; Bender, Harold S.; Snyder, C. Arnold (2017). "Sattler, Michael (d. 1527)". In Roth, John D. (ed.). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, reprinted from Bossert, Gustav Jr.; Bender, Harold S.; Snyder, C. Arnold (1989). Bender, Harold S. (ed.). Mennonite Encyclopedia. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press. Vol. 4, pp. 427–434, 1148; vol. 5, pp. 794–795.
  58. ^ Shantz, Douglas H. (2009). "Anabaptist Women as Martyrs, Models of Courage, and Tools of the Devil". Historical Papers 2009: Canadian Society of Church History: 23 – via York University (Canada).
  59. ^ a b c Sheldrake, Philip (January 1, 2005). The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-664-23003-6.
  60. ^ Paulsen, David Lamont; Musser, Donald W. (2007). Mormonism in Dialogue with Contemporary Christian Theologies. Mercer University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-88146-083-4.
  61. ^ Klaassen 1973.
  62. ^ McGrath, William, (PDF), Hartville, OH: The Fellowship Messenger, archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016
  63. ^ Gilbert, William (1998), "The Radicals of the Reformation", Renaissance and Reformation, Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas
  64. ^ Klaassen 1973, p. 63.
  65. ^ Little, Franklin H (1964), The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism, New York: Beacons, p. 19
  66. ^ Williams 2000, p. 667.
  67. ^ Marpeck 1978, p. 50.
  68. ^ van Braght 1950, p. 440.
  69. ^ Oyer, John S (1964), Lutheran Reformers Against Anabaptists, The Hague: M Nijhoff, p. 86
  70. ^ Peachey, Paul; Peachey, Shem, eds. (1971), "Answer of Some Who Are Called (Ana-)Baptists – Why They Do Not Attend the Churches", Mennonite Quarterly Review, 45 (1): 10, 11
  71. ^ Donald B. Kraybill, Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites, JHU Press, USA, 2010, p. XIV
  72. ^ Ross, Melanie C.; Lamport, Mark A. (April 12, 2022). Historical Foundations of Worship: Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Perspectives. Worship Foundations. Baker Academic. ISBN 978-1-4934-3498-5. Later groups such as the Brethren in Christ (Be in Christ [Canada]), German Baptist Brethren, the Bruderhof Communities, and the Apostolic Christian Church are also included in the umbrella term "Anabaptist."
  73. ^ Bronner, Simon J. (March 4, 2015). Encyclopedia of American Folklife. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-47194-3. Only a tiny minority within the Church of the Brethren continues some vestigates of plain dress, such as the prayer covering for women. The Old German Baptist Brethren and the Dunkard Brethren, however, have maintained standards of traditional plain dress.
  74. ^ Mennonite World Conference, Map and statistics, MWC-CMM, Canada, retrieved December 5, 2020 0
  75. ^ "About Us". Plough. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  76. ^ "Church Community is a Gift of the Holy Spirit – The Spirituality of the Bruderhof". Scribd. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  77. ^ Kurian, George Thomas; Lamport, Mark A. (November 10, 2016). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 322. ISBN 978-1-4422-4432-0.
  78. ^ DeYoung, Kevin. "The Neo-Anabaptists". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  79. ^ Hiebert, Jared; Hiebert, Terry G. (Fall 2013). "New Calvinists and Neo-Anabaptists: A Tale of Two Tribes". Direction: A Mennonite Brethren Forum. 42 (2): 1 78–94. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  80. ^ Tooley, Mark. . The American Spectator. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
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  82. ^ Melton, JG (1994), "Baptists", Encyclopedia of American Religions
  83. ^ "Do Baptists spring from Anabaptist seed? | Baptist Press". www.baptistpress.com. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  84. ^ . Spurgeon.org. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Of those Churches which are commonly (though falsely) called Anabaptists
  85. ^ Traffanstedt, Chris (1994), "Baptists", , archived from the original on September 11, 2013
  86. ^ "What's the Difference Between Anabaptists and Baptists?". History of Christianity. July 13, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  87. ^ Verduin, Leonard (1998), That First Amendment and The Remnant, The Christian Hymnary, ISBN 1-890050-17-2
  88. ^ Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch (1911). "Anarchism" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 914–19.
  89. ^ Estep 1963, p. 232.

General and cited sources

  • Carroll, J. M. (1931). The Trail of Blood: Following the Christians Down Through the Ages, or, the History of Baptist Churches from the Time of Christ, Their Founder, to the Present Day. Lexington, KY: Ashland Avenue Baptist Church. 56 p. + fold. chart. Without ISBN
  • Dyck, Cornelius J (1967), An Introduction to Mennonite History, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, ISBN 0-8361-1955-X.
  • Estep, William R (1963), The Anabaptist Story, Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-1594-4.
  • Hoover, Peter (2008). The Mystery of the Mark: Anabaptist Mission Work Under the Fire of God. Mountain Lake, MN: Elmendorf Books. ISBN 978-1-5172-5504-6.
  • Klaassen, Walter (1973), Anabaptism: Neither Catholic Nor Protestant, Waterloo, ON: Conrad Press.
  • Klager, Andrew P. (2010). "Balthasar Hubmaier's Use of the Church Fathers: Availability, Access and Interaction". Mennonite Quarterly Review. 84 (1): 5–65. Gale A220412887.
  • Klager, Andrew P. (2011). Truth is immortal: Balthasar Hubmaier (c. 1480–1528) and the Church Fathers (PhD). University of Glasgow.
  • Knox, Ronald. Enthusiasm: a Chapter in the History of Religion, with Special Reference to the XVII and XVIII Centuries. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1950. viii, 622 p.
  • Marpeck, Pilgram (1978), Klassen, William; Klassen, Walter (eds.), Covenant and Community: The Life, Writings, and Hermeneutics, Scottdale, PA: Herald.
  • Packull, Werner O. (1977). Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement, 1525–1531. Herald Press. ISBN 978-0-8361-1130-9.
  • Packull, Werner O (1995), Hutterite Beginnings: Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation, Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-6256-6.
  • Stayer, James M (1994) [1991], The German Peasants' War and Anabaptist Community of Goods, Montréal: McGill-Queen's Press, MQUP, ISBN 0-7735-0842-2.
  • van Braght, Thieleman J (1950) [1938], Martyrs Mirror, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, ISBN 978-0-8361-1390-7.
  • Williams, George Hunston (2000) [1962], The Radical Reformation (3rd ed.), Truman State University Press, ISBN 0-664-20372-8.

Further reading

  • Arthur, Anthony (1999). The Tailor King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster. ISBN 0-312-20515-5.)
  • Bamford, Mary E. (1894). Harrison, Larry (ed.). "In Editha's Days. A Tale of Religious Liberty". The Bible Makes Us Baptists. LCCN 06006296.
  • Baylor, Michael G. (1993). Revelation & Revolution: Basic Writings of Thomas Muntzer. ISBN 0-934223-16-5.
  • Bender, Harold S. (1944). The Anabaptist Vision. ISBN 0-8361-1305-5.)
  • Bender, Harold S.; Dyck, Cornelius J.; Martin, Dennis D.; Smith, Henry C. (eds.). Mennonite Encyclopedia. ISBN 0-8361-1018-8.
  • Cohn, Norman (1970). The Pursuit of the Millennium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-500456-6.
  • Conybeare, Frederick Cornwallis (1911). "Anabaptists" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 903–5.
  • Dipple, Geoffrey, Confessional Migration: Anabaptists – Mennonites, Hutterites, Baptists etc., EGO - European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2015, retrieved: March 11, 2021 (pdf).
  • Fast, Heinhold (1999). "Anabaptists". In Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 45–48. ISBN 0802824137.
  • Ham, Paul (2018). New Jerusalem: The short life and terrible death of Christendom's most defiant sect. Sydney: Random House Australia. ISBN 978-0-14378133-2.
  • Hillerbrand, Hans (1991), Anabaptist Bibliography 1520–1630, ISBN 0-910345-03-1.
  • Hoover, Peter. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2017. Alt URL
  • Melton, J. Gordon, ed. (1978). The Encyclopedia of American Religions. ISBN 0-8103-6904-4.
  • Newman, Albert H (1896), A History of Anti-Pedobaptism, From the Rise of Pedobaptism to AD 1609, ISBN 1-57978-536-0.
  • Pearse, Meic (1998), The Great Restoration: The Religious Radicals of the 16th and 17th Centuries, ISBN 978-0-85364800-0.
  • Stayer, James M. (1976). Anabaptists and the Sword. ISBN 0-87291-081-4.
  • van Braght, Thieleman J. The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror. ISBN 0-8361-1390-X.
  • Verduin, Leonard. The Anatomy of a Hybrid: A Study in Church-State Relationships. ISBN 0-8028-1615-0.
  • Verduin, Leonard (May 2001). The Reformers and their Stepchildren. ISBN 0-8010-9284-1.

External links

  • Anabaptism at Curlie
  • "Anabaptism". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  • Global Anabaptist Wiki
  • Pilgrim Ministry: Anabaptist church directory
  • Anabaptist History Complete Playlist (Parts 1–20) history of the movement from the Bible to present. (YouTube videos, 27 hours)
  • "The Story of the Church: The Protestant Reformation: The Anabaptists and Other Radical Reformers". Ritchie Family Page. from the original on December 17, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2005.
  • "The Anabaptist Story". The Reformed Reader. from the original on December 15, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2005.
  • The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists, by E. Belfort Bax 1903

January 26, 2023
anabaptism, from, latin, anabaptista, from, greek, ἀναβαπτισμός, ἀνά, βαπτισμός, baptism, german, täufer, earlier, also, wiedertäufer, protestant, christian, movement, which, traces, origins, radical, reformation, early, anabaptists, formulated, their, beliefs. Anabaptism from Neo Latin anabaptista 1 from the Greek ἀnabaptismos ἀna re and baptismos baptism 1 German Taufer earlier also Wiedertaufer a is a Protestant Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation The early Anabaptists formulated their beliefs in a confession of faith called the Schleitheim Confession In 1527 Michael Sattler presided over a meeting at Schleitheim in the Canton of Schaffhausen on the Swiss German border where Anabaptist leaders drew up the Schleitheim Confession of Faith doc 29 Sattler was arrested and executed soon afterwards Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can 2 3 Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized This believer s baptism is opposed to baptism of infants who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized Anabaptists trace their heritage to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century Other Christian groups with different roots also practice believer s baptism such as Baptists but these groups are not Anabaptist The Amish Hutterites and Mennonites are direct descendants of the early Anabaptist movement Schwarzenau Brethren River Brethren Bruderhof and the Apostolic Christian Church are Anabaptist denominations that developed well after the Radical Reformation 4 5 6 Though all Anabaptists share the same core theological beliefs there are differences in the way of life between them Old Order Anabaptist groups include the Old Order Amish the Old Order Mennonites Old Order River Brethren the Hutterites and the Old German Baptist Brethren 4 In between the mainline denominations and Old Order groups are Conservative Anabaptist groups such as the Dunkard Brethren Conservative Mennonites and Beachy Amish who have retained traditional religious practices and theology while allowing for modern conveniences 7 8 Emphasizing an adherence to the beliefs of early Christianity as a whole Anabaptists are distinguished by their keeping of practices that often include nonconformity to the world the love feast with feet washing laying on of hands anointing with oil and the holy kiss as well as turning the other cheek no oaths going the second mile giving a cup of cold water reconciliation repeated forgiveness humility non violence and sharing possessions 9 10 11 12 The name Anabaptist means one who baptizes again Their persecutors named them this referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ even if they had been baptized as infants and many call themselves Radical Reformers 13 Anabaptists require that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen and so rejected baptism of infants The New Testament teaches to repent and then be baptized and infants are not able to repent and turn away from sin to a life of following Jesus The early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void They said that baptizing self confessed believers was their first true baptism I have never taught Anabaptism But the right baptism of Christ which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith I teach and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ Hubmaier Balthasar 1526 Short apology 14 204 Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by state churches both Magisterial Protestants and Roman Catholics beginning in the 16th century and continuing thereafter largely because of their interpretation of scripture which put them at odds with official state church interpretations and local government control Anabaptism was never established by any state and therefore never enjoyed any associated privileges Most Anabaptists adhere to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 7 which teaches against hate killing violence taking oaths participating in use of force or any military actions and against participation in civil government Anabaptists view themselves as primarily citizens of the kingdom of God not of earthly governments As committed followers of Jesus they seek to pattern their life after his 15 Some former groups who practiced rebaptism now extinct believed otherwise and complied with these requirements of civil society b They were thus technically Anabaptists even though conservative Amish Mennonites Hutterites and many historians consider them outside true biblical Anabaptism Conrad Grebel wrote in a letter to Thomas Muntzer in 1524 True Christian believers are sheep among wolves sheep for the slaughter Neither do they use worldly sword or war since all killing has ceased with them 16 Contents 1 Lineage 1 1 Medieval forerunners 1 2 Zwickau prophets and the German Peasants War 1 3 Views on origins 1 3 1 Monogenesis 1 3 2 Polygenesis 1 3 3 Apostolic succession 2 History 2 1 Switzerland 2 2 Tyrol 2 3 Low Countries and northern Germany 2 4 Moravia Bohemia and Silesia 2 5 South and central Germany Austria and Alsace 2 6 Persecutions and migrations 3 Beliefs and practices 4 Types 5 Spirituality 5 1 Charismatic manifestations 5 2 Holy Spirit leadership 6 Today 6 1 Anabaptists 6 2 Neo Anabaptists 6 3 Relationship with Baptists 7 Influence on society 8 See also 9 References 9 1 Explanatory notes 9 2 Citations 9 3 General and cited sources 10 Further reading 11 External linksLineage Edit Major denominational families in Christianity This box viewtalkedit Western Christianity Eastern Christianity Protestantism Anabaptism Anglicanism Calvinism Lutheranism Latin Church Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Churches Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Churches Church of the East Schism 1552 Assyrian Church of the East Ancient Church of the East Protestant Reformation 16th century Great Schism 11th century Council of Ephesus 431 Council of Chalcedon 451 Early Christianity Great Church Full communion Not shown are non Nicene nontrinitarian and some restorationist denominations Medieval forerunners Edit Main article Proto Protestantism Anabaptists are considered to have begun with the Radical Reformation in the 16th century but historians classify certain people and groups as their forerunners because of a similar approach to the interpretation and application of the Bible For instance Petr Chelcicky a 15th century Bohemian reformer taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology 17 Medieval antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life the Hussites Dutch Sacramentists 18 19 and some forms of monasticism The Waldensians also represent a faith similar to the Anabaptists 20 Medieval dissenters and Anabaptists who held to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount share in common the following affirmations The believer must not swear oaths or refer disputes between believers to law courts for resolution in accordance with 1 Corinthians 6 1 11 The believer must not bear arms or offer forcible resistance to wrongdoers nor wield the sword No Christian has the jus gladii the right of the sword Matthew 5 39 Civil government i e Caesar belongs to the world The believer belongs to God s kingdom so must not fill any office nor hold any rank under government which is to be passively obeyed John 18 36 Romans 13 1 7 Sinners or unfaithful ones are to be excommunicated and excluded from the sacraments and from intercourse with believers unless they repent according to 1 Corinthians 5 9 13 and Matthew 18 15 seq but no force is to be used towards them Zwickau prophets and the German Peasants War Edit Main articles Thomas Muntzer Zwickau prophets and German Peasants War Twelve Articles of the Peasants pamphlet of 1525 On December 27 1521 three prophets appeared in Wittenberg from Zwickau who were influenced by and in turn influencing Thomas Muntzer Thomas Dreschel Nicholas Storch and Mark Thomas Stubner They preached an apocalyptic radical alternative to Lutheranism Their preaching helped to stir the feelings concerning the social crisis which erupted in the German Peasants War in southern Germany in 1525 as a revolt against feudal oppression Under the leadership of Muntzer it became a war against all constituted authorities and an attempt to establish by revolution an ideal Christian commonwealth with absolute equality among persons and the community of goods The Zwickau prophets were not Anabaptists that is they did not practise rebaptism nevertheless the prevalent social inequities and the preaching of men such as these have been seen as laying the foundation for the Anabaptist movement The social ideals of the Anabaptist movement coincided closely with those of leaders in the German Peasants War Studies have found a very low percentage of subsequent sectarians to have taken part in the peasant uprising 21 Views on origins Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Research on the origins of the Anabaptists has been tainted both by the attempts of their enemies to slander them and by the attempts of their supporters to vindicate them It was long popular to classify all Anabaptists as Munsterites and radicals associated with the Zwickau prophets Jan Matthys John of Leiden and Thomas Muntzer Those desiring to correct this error tended to over correct and deny all connections between the larger Anabaptist movement and the most radical elements The modern era of Anabaptist historiography arose with Roman Catholic scholar Carl Adolf Cornelius publication of Die Geschichte des Munsterischen Aufruhrs The History of the Munster Uprising in 1855 Baptist historian Albert Henry Newman 1852 1933 who Harold S Bender said occupied first position in the field of American Anabaptist historiography made a major contribution with his A History of Anti Pedobaptism 1897 Three main theories on origins of the Anabaptists are the following The movement began in a single expression in Zurich and spread from there monogenesis It developed through several independent movements polygenesis and It was a continuation of true New Testament Christianity apostolic succession or church perpetuity Monogenesis Edit A number of scholars e g Harold S Bender William Estep Robert Friedmann 22 23 consider the Anabaptist movement to have developed from the Swiss Brethren movement of Conrad Grebel Felix Manz George Blaurock et al They generally argue that Anabaptism had its origins in Zurich and that the Anabaptism of the Swiss Brethren was transmitted to southern Germany Austria the Netherlands and northern Germany where it developed into its various branches The monogenesis theory usually rejects the Munsterites and other radicals from the category of true Anabaptists 24 In the monogenesis view the time of origin is January 21 1525 when Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock and Blaurock in turn baptized several others immediately These baptisms were the first re baptisms known in the movement 25 This continues to be the most widely accepted date posited for the establishment of Anabaptism Polygenesis Edit James M Stayer Werner O Packull de and Klaus Deppermann disputed the idea of a single origin of Anabaptists in a 1975 essay entitled From Monogenesis to Polygenesis suggesting that February 24 1527 at Schleitheim is the proper date of the origin of Anabaptism On this date the Swiss Brethren wrote a declaration of belief called the Schleitheim Confession 26 page needed The authors of the essay noted the agreement among previous Anabaptist historians on polygenesis even when disputing the date for a single starting point Hillerbrand and Bender like Holl and Troeltsch were in agreement that there was a single dispersion of Anabaptism which certainly ran through Zurich The only question was whether or not it went back further to Saxony 26 83 After criticizing the standard polygenetic history the authors found six groups in early Anabaptism which could be collapsed into three originating points of departure South German Anabaptism the Swiss Brethren and the Melchiorites 27 According to their polygenesis theory South German Austrian Anabaptism was a diluted form of Rhineland mysticism Swiss Anabaptism arose out of Reformed congregationalism and Dutch Anabaptism was formed by Social unrest and the apocalyptic visions of Melchior Hoffman As examples of how the Anabaptist movement was influenced from sources other than the Swiss Brethren movement mention has been made of how Pilgram Marpeck s Vermanung of 1542 was deeply influenced by the Bekenntnisse of 1533 by Munster theologian Bernhard Rothmann Melchior Hoffman influenced the Hutterites when they used his commentary on the Apocalypse shortly after he wrote it Others who have written in support of polygenesis include Grete Mecenseffy de and Walter Klaassen who established links between Thomas Muntzer and Hans Hut In another work Gottfried Seebass and Werner Packull showed the influence of Thomas Muntzer on the formation of South German Anabaptism Similarly author Steven Ozment linked Hans Denck and Hans Hut with Thomas Muntzer Sebastian Franck and others Author Calvin Pater showed how Andreas Karlstadt influenced Swiss Anabaptism in various areas including his view of Scripture doctrine of the church and views on baptism Several historians including Thor Hall 28 Kenneth Davis 29 and Robert Kreider 30 have also noted the influence of Humanism on Radical Reformers in the three originating points of departure to account for how this brand of reform could develop independently from each other Relatively recent research begun in a more advanced and deliberate manner by Andrew P Klager also explores how the influence and a particular reading of the Church Fathers contributed to the development of distinctly Anabaptist beliefs and practices in separate regions of Europe in the early 16th century including by Menno Simons in the Netherlands Conrad Grebel in Switzerland Thomas Muntzer in central Germany Pilgram Marpeck in the Tyrol Peter Walpot in Moravia and especially Balthasar Hubmaier in southern Germany Switzerland and Moravia 31 32 Apostolic succession Edit Baptist successionists have at times pointed to 16th century Anabaptists as part of an apostolic succession of churches church perpetuity from the time of Christ 33 This view is held by some Baptists some Mennonites and a number of true church movements c The opponents of the Baptist successionism theory emphasize that these non Catholic groups clearly differed from each other that they held some heretical views d or that the groups had no connection with one another and had origins that were separate both in time and in place A different strain of successionism is the theory that the Anabaptists are of Waldensian origin Some hold the idea that the Waldensians are part of the apostolic succession while others simply believe they were an independent group out of whom the Anabaptists arose Ludwig Keller Thomas M Lindsay Henry Clay Vedder Delbert Gratz John T Christian and Thieleman J van Braght author of Martyrs Mirror all held in varying degrees the position that the Anabaptists were of Waldensian origin History Edit Spread of the early anabaptists in Central Europe Dutch Mennonites spread from Emden South and Central German Anabaptists spread from Konigsberg in Franken Swiss Brethren spread from Zurich Moravian Anabaptists spread from Nikolsburg Switzerland Edit Anabaptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli As early as 1522 it became evident that Zwingli was on a path of reform preaching when he began to question or criticize such Catholic practices as tithes the mass and even infant baptism Zwingli had gathered a group of reform minded men around him with whom he studied classical literature and the scriptures However some of these young men began to feel that Zwingli was not moving fast enough in his reform The division between Zwingli and his more radical disciples became apparent in an October 1523 disputation held in Zurich When the discussion of the mass was about to be ended without making any actual change in practice Conrad Grebel stood up and asked what should be done about the mass Zwingli responded by saying the council would make that decision At this point Simon Stumpf a radical priest from Hongg answered saying The decision has already been made by the Spirit of God 34 This incident illustrated clearly that Zwingli and his more radical disciples had different expectations To Zwingli the reforms would only go as fast as the city Council allowed them To the radicals the council had no right to make that decision but rather the Bible was the final authority of church reform Feeling frustrated some of them began to meet on their own for Bible study As early as 1523 William Reublin began to preach against infant baptism in villages surrounding Zurich encouraging parents to not baptize their children Seeking fellowship with other reform minded people the radical group wrote letters to Martin Luther Andreas Karlstadt and Thomas Muntzer Felix Manz began to publish some of Karlstadt s writings in Zurich in late 1524 By this time the question of infant baptism had become agitated and the Zurich council had instructed Zwingli to meet weekly with those who rejected infant baptism until the matter could be resolved 35 Zwingli broke off the meetings after two sessions and Felix Manz petitioned the council to find a solution since he felt Zwingli was too hard to work with The council then called a meeting for January 17 1525 Dissatisfaction with the outcome of a disputation in 1525 prompted Swiss Brethren to part ways with Huldrych Zwingli The Council ruled in this meeting that all who continued to refuse to baptize their infants should be expelled from Zurich if they did not have them baptized within one week Since Conrad Grebel had refused to baptize his daughter Rachel born on January 5 1525 the Council decision was extremely personal to him and others who had not baptized their children Thus when sixteen of the radicals met on Saturday evening January 21 1525 the situation seemed particularly dark The Hutterian Chronicle records the event After prayer George of the House of Jacob George Blaurock stood up and besought Conrad Grebel for God s sake to baptize him with the true Christian baptism upon his faith and knowledge And when he knelt down with such a request and desire Conrad baptized him since at that time there was no ordained minister to perform such work 36 Afterwards Blaurock was baptized he in turn baptized others at the meeting Even though some had rejected infant baptism before this date these baptisms marked the first re baptisms of those who had been baptized as infants and thus technically Swiss Anabaptism was born on that day 37 38 Tyrol Edit Anabaptism appears to have come to Tyrol through the labors of George Blaurock Similar to the German Peasants War the Gaismair uprising set the stage by producing a hope for social justice Michael Gaismair had tried to bring religious political and economical reform through a violent peasant uprising but the movement was squashed 39 Although little hard evidence exists of a direct connection between Gaismair s uprising and Tyrolian Anabaptism at least a few of the peasants involved in the uprising later became Anabaptists While a connection between a violent social revolution and non resistant Anabaptism may be hard to imagine the common link was the desire for a radical change in the prevailing social injustices Disappointed with the failure of armed revolt Anabaptist ideals of an alternative peaceful just society probably resonated on the ears of the disappointed peasants 40 Before Anabaptism proper was introduced to South Tyrol Protestant ideas had been propagated in the region by men such as Hans Vischer a former Dominican Some of those who participated in conventicles where Protestant ideas were presented later became Anabaptists As well the population in general seemed to have a favorable attitude towards reform be it Protestant or Anabaptist George Blaurock appears to have preached itinerantly in the Puster Valley region in 1527 which most likely was the first introduction of Anabaptist ideas in the area Another visit through the area in 1529 reinforced these ideas but he was captured and burned at the stake in Klausen on September 6 1529 41 Jacob Hutter was one of the early converts in South Tyrol and later became a leader among the Hutterites who received their name from him Hutter made several trips between Moravia and Tyrol and most of the Anabaptists in South Tyrol ended up emigrating to Moravia because of the fierce persecution unleashed by Ferdinand I In November 1535 Hutter was captured near Klausen and taken to Innsbruck where he was burned at the stake on February 25 1536 By 1540 Anabaptism in South Tyrol was beginning to die out largely because of the emigration to Moravia of the converts because of incessant persecution 42 Low Countries and northern Germany Edit Menno Simons Melchior Hoffman is credited with the introduction of Anabaptist ideas into the Low Countries Hoffman had picked up Lutheran and Reformed ideas but on April 23 1530 he was re baptized at Strasbourg and within two months had gone to Emden and baptized about 300 persons 43 For several years Hoffman preached in the Low Countries until he was arrested and imprisoned at Strasbourg where he died about 10 years later Hoffman s apocalyptic ideas were indirectly related to the Munster Rebellion even though he was of a different spirit 44 Obbe and Dirk Philips had been baptized by disciples of Jan Matthijs but were opposed to the violence that occurred at Munster 45 Obbe later became disillusioned with Anabaptism and withdrew from the movement in about 1540 but not before ordaining David Joris his brother Dirk and Menno Simons the latter from whom the Mennonites received their name 46 David Joris and Menno Simons parted ways with Joris placing more emphasis on spirit and prophecy while Menno emphasized the authority of the Bible For the Mennonite side the emphasis on the inner and spiritual permitted compromise to escape persecution while to the Joris side the Mennonites were under the dead letter of the Scripture 46 Because of persecution and expansion some of the Low Country Mennonites emigrated to Vistula delta a region settled by Germans but under Polish rule until it became part of Prussia in 1772 There they formed the Vistula delta Mennonites integrating some other Mennonites mainly from Northern Germany In the late 18th century several thousand of them migrated from there to Ukraine which at the time was part of Russia forming the so called Russian Mennonites Beginning in 1874 many of them emigrated to the prairie states and provinces of the United States and Canada In the 1920s the conservative faction of the Canadian settlers went to Mexico and Paraguay Beginning in the 1950s the most conservative of them started to migrate to Bolivia In 1958 Mexican Mennonites migrated to Belize Since the 1980s traditional Russian Mennonites migrated to Argentina Smaller groups went to Brazil and Uruguay In 2015 some Mennonites from Bolivia settled in Peru In 2018 there are more than 200 000 of them living in colonies in Central and South America Moravia Bohemia and Silesia Edit Although Moravian Anabaptism was a transplant from other areas of Europe Moravia soon became a center for the growing movement largely because of the greater religious tolerance found there 47 48 Hans Hut was an early evangelist in the area with one historian crediting him with baptizing more converts in two years than all the other Anabaptist evangelists put together 49 The coming of Balthasar Hubmaier to Nikolsburg was a definite boost for Anabaptist ideas to the area With the great influx of religious refugees from all over Europe many variations of Anabaptism appeared in Moravia with Jarold Zeman documenting at least ten slightly different versions 50 Soon one eyed Jacob Wiedemann appeared at Nikolsburg and began to teach the pacifistic convictions of the Swiss Brethren on which Hubmaier had been less authoritative This would lead to a division between the Schwertler sword bearing and the Stabler staff bearing Wiedemann and those with him also promoted the practice of community of goods With orders from the lords of Liechtenstein to leave Nikolsburg about 200 Stabler withdrew to Moravia to form a community at Austerlitz 51 Persecution in South Tyrol brought many refugees to Moravia many of whom formed into communities that practised community of goods Jacob Hutter was instrumental in organizing these into what became known as the Hutterites But others came from Silesia Switzerland German lands and the Low Countries With the passing of time and persecution all the other versions of Anabaptism would die out in Moravia leaving only the Hutterites Even the Hutterites would be dissipated by persecution with a remnant fleeing to Transylvania then to the Ukraine and finally to North America in 1874 52 page needed 53 South and central Germany Austria and Alsace Edit Thomas Muntzer led the German peasants against the landowners South German Anabaptism had its roots in German mysticism Andreas Karlstadt who first worked alongside Martin Luther is seen as a forerunner of South German Anabaptism because of his reforming theology that rejected many Catholic practices including infant baptism However Karlstadt is not known to have been rebaptized nor to have taught it Hans Denck and Hans Hut both with German Mystical background in connection with Thomas Muntzer both accepted rebaptism but Denck eventually backed off from the idea under pressure Hans Hut is said to have brought more people into early Anabaptism than all the other Anabaptist evangelists of his time put together However there may have been confusion about what his baptism at least some of the times it was done by making the sign of the Tau on the forehead may have meant to the recipient Some seem to have taken it as a sign by which they would escape the apocalyptical revenge of the Turks that Hut predicted Hut even went so far as to predict a 1528 coming of the kingdom of God When the prediction failed some of his converts became discouraged and left the Anabaptist movement The large congregation of Anabaptists at Augsburg fell apart partly because of persecution and those who stayed with Anabaptist ideas were absorbed into Swiss and Moravia Anabaptist congregations 54 21 Pilgram Marpeck was another notable leader in early South German Anabaptism who attempted to steer between the two extremes of Denck s inner Holiness and the legalistic standards of the other Anabaptists 55 Persecutions and migrations Edit Felix Manz was executed by drowning within two years of his rebaptism Birching of Anabaptist martyr Ursula Maastricht 1570 engraving by Jan Luyken from Martyrs Mirror 56 Roman Catholics and Protestants alike persecuted the Anabaptists resorting to torture and execution in attempts to curb the growth of the movement The Protestants under Zwingli were the first to persecute the Anabaptists with Felix Manz becoming the first Anabaptist martyr in 1527 On May 20 or 21 1527 Roman Catholic authorities executed Michael Sattler 57 King Ferdinand declared drowning called the third baptism the best antidote to Anabaptism The Tudor regime even the Protestant monarchs Edward VI of England and Elizabeth I of England persecuted Anabaptists as they were deemed too radical and therefore a danger to religious stability The burning of a 16th century Dutch Anabaptist Anneken Hendriks who was charged with heresy The persecution of Anabaptists was condoned by the ancient laws of Theodosius I and Justinian I which were passed against the Donatists and decreed the death penalty for anyone who practised rebaptism Martyrs Mirror by Thieleman J van Braght describes the persecution and execution of thousands of Anabaptists in various parts of Europe between 1525 and 1660 Continuing persecution in Europe was largely responsible for the mass emigrations to North America by the Amish Hutterites and Mennonites Unlike Calvinists Anabaptists failed to gain recognition in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and as a result they continued to be persecuted in Europe long after that treaty was signed Anabaptism stands out among other groups of martyrs in that Anabaptist martyrologies women feature more prominently making up thirty per cent of the martyr stories compared to five to ten per cent in the other accounts 58 Beliefs and practices EditMain article Theology of Anabaptism Anabaptist beliefs were codified in the Schleitheim Confession in 1527 which best represents the beliefs of the various denominations of Anabaptism inclusive of Mennonites Amish Hutterites Bruderhof Schwarzenau Brethren River Brethren and Apostolic Christians 2 3 Anabaptist denominations such as the Mennonites teach that True faith entails a new birth a spiritual regeneration by God s grace and power believers are those who have become the spiritual children of God 59 In Anabaptist theology the pathway to salvation is marked not by a forensic understanding of salvation by faith alone but by the entire process of repentance self denial faith rebirth and obedience 59 Those who wish to tarry this path receive baptism after the New Birth 59 Anabaptists heavily emphasize the importance of obedience in the salvation journey of a believer 60 As a whole Anabaptists emphasize an adherence to the beliefs of early Christianity and are thus distinguished by their keeping of practices that often include the observance of feetwashing the holy kiss and communion with these three ordinances being practiced collectively in the lovefeast in the Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren traditions Christian headcovering nonconformity to the world nonresistance forgiveness and sharing possessions which in certain communities as with the Bruderhof takes on the form of communal living 9 12 10 11 Anabaptists view themselves as a separate branch of Christianity not being a part of Catholicism Protestantism Oriental Orthodoxy or Eastern Orthodoxy 61 62 63 e Types EditDifferent types exist among the Anabaptists although the categorizations tend to vary with the scholar s viewpoint on origins Estep claims that in order to understand Anabaptism one must distinguish between the Anabaptists inspirationists and rationalists He classes the likes of Blaurock Grebel Balthasar Hubmaier Manz Marpeck and Simons as Anabaptists He groups Muntzer Storch et al as inspirationists and anti trinitarians such as Michael Servetus Juan de Valdes Sebastian Castellio and Faustus Socinus as rationalists Mark S Ritchie follows this line of thought saying The Anabaptists were one of several branches of Radical reformers i e reformers that went further than the mainstream Reformers to arise out of the Renaissance and Reformation Two other branches were Spirituals or Inspirationists who believed that they had received direct revelation from the Spirit and rationalists or anti Trinitarians who rebelled against traditional Christian doctrine like Michael Servetus Those of the polygenesis viewpoint use Anabaptist to define the larger movement and include the inspirationists and rationalists as true Anabaptists James M Stayer used the term Anabaptist for those who rebaptized persons already baptized in infancy Walter Klaassen was perhaps the first Mennonite scholar to define Anabaptists that way in his 1960 Oxford dissertation This represents a rejection of the previous standard held by Mennonite scholars such as Bender and Friedmann Another method of categorization acknowledges regional variations such as Swiss Brethren Grebel Manz Dutch and Frisian Anabaptism Menno Simons Dirk Philips and South German Anabaptism Hubmaier Marpeck Historians and sociologists have made further distinctions between radical Anabaptists who were prepared to use violence in their attempts to build a New Jerusalem and their pacifist brethren later broadly known as Mennonites Radical Anabaptist groups included the Munsterites who occupied and held the German city of Munster in 1534 1535 and the Batenburgers who persisted in various guises as late as the 1570s Spirituality EditFurther information Hymnody of continental Europe Anabaptists Memorial plate at Schipfe quarter in Zurich for the Anabaptists executed in the early 16th century by the Zurich city government Charismatic manifestations Edit Within the inspirationist wing of the Anabaptist movement it was not unusual for charismatic manifestations to appear such as dancing falling under the power of the Holy Spirit prophetic processions at Zurich in 1525 at Munster in 1534 and at Amsterdam in 1535 64 and speaking in tongues 65 In Germany some Anabaptists excited by mass hypnosis experienced healings glossolalia contortions and other manifestations of a camp meeting revival 66 The Anabaptist congregations that later developed into the Mennonite and Hutterite churches tended not to promote these manifestations but did not totally reject the miraculous Pilgram Marpeck for example wrote against the exclusion of miracles Nor does Scripture assert this exclusion God has a free hand even in these last days Referring to some who had been raised from the dead he wrote Many of them have remained constant enduring tortures inflicted by sword rope fire and water and suffering terrible tyrannical unheard of deaths and martyrdoms all of which they could easily have avoided by recantation Moreover one also marvels when he sees how the faithful God Who after all overflows with goodness raises from the dead several such brothers and sisters of Christ after they were hanged drowned or killed in other ways Even today they are found alive and we can hear their own testimony Cannot everyone who sees even the blind say with a good conscience that such things are a powerful unusual and miraculous act of God Those who would deny it must be hardened men 67 The Hutterite Chronicle and the Martyrs Mirror record several accounts of miraculous events such as when a man named Martin prophesied while being led across a bridge to his execution in 1531 this once yet the pious are led over this bridge but no more hereafter Just a short time afterwards such a violent storm and flood came that the bridge was demolished 68 Holy Spirit leadership Edit The Anabaptists insisted upon the free course of the Holy Spirit in worship yet still maintained it all must be judged according to the Scriptures 69 The Swiss Anabaptist document titled Answer of Some Who Are Called Ana Baptists Why They Do Not Attend the Churches One reason given for not attending the state churches was that these institutions forbade the congregation to exercise spiritual gifts according to the Christian order as taught in the gospel or the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 14 When such believers come together Everyone of you note every one hath a psalm hath a doctrine hath a revelation hath an interpretation and so on When someone comes to church and constantly hears only one person speaking and all the listeners are silent neither speaking nor prophesying who can or will regard or confess the same to be a spiritual congregation or confess according to 1 Corinthians 14 that God is dwelling and operating in them through His Holy Spirit with His gifts impelling them one after another in the above mentioned order of speaking and prophesying 70 Today EditAnabaptists Edit Evangelical Mennonite Church in Altkirch Association of Evangelical Mennonite Churches of France Praise team at The Meeting Place in Winnipeg Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches Amish children on their way to school The major branches of Anabaptist Christianity today include the Amish Shwarzenau Brethren River Brethren Hutterites Mennonites Apostolic Christian Church and Bruderhof 71 72 Within many of these traditions Amish Mennonite Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren are three subsets 1 Old Order Anabaptists 2 Conservative Anabaptists and 3 Mainline Anabaptists for example among Schwarzenau Brethren are the Old Order German Baptist Brethren who use horse and buggy for transportation and do not use electricity the Dunkard Brethren who adhere to traditional theological beliefs and wear plain dress but use modern conveniences and the Church of the Brethren who are largely a mainline group where members are indistinguishable in dress from the general population 73 Although many see the more well known Anabaptist groups Amish Hutterites and Mennonites as ethnic groups only the Amish and the Hutterites today are composed mainly of descendants of the European Anabaptists while Mennonites come from diverse backgrounds with only a minority being classed as ethnic Mennonites Brethren groups have mostly lost their ethnic distinctiveness citation needed In 2018 there were 2 13 million baptized Anabaptists in 86 countries 74 The Bruderhof Communities were founded in Germany by Eberhard Arnold in 1920 75 establishing and organisationally joining the Hutterites in 1930 The group moved to England after the Gestapo confiscated their property in 1933 and they subsequently moved to Paraguay in order to avoid military conscription and after World War II they moved to the United States 76 The Goshen College Music Center in Goshen Indiana Mennonite Church USA Groups which are derived from the Schwarzenau Brethren often called German Baptists while not directly descended from the 16th century Radical Reformation are considered Anabaptist due to their adherence to Anabaptist doctrine The modern day Brethren movement is a combination of Anabaptism and Radical Pietism 77 Neo Anabaptists Edit Main article Neo Anabaptism Neo Anabaptism is a late twentieth and early twenty first century theological movement within American evangelical Christianity which draws inspiration from theologians who are located within the Anabaptist tradition but are ecclesiastically outside it Neo Anabaptists have been noted for their low church counter cultural prophetic stance against empire ethos as well as for their focus on pacifism social justice and poverty 78 79 The works of Mennonite theologians Ron Sider and John Howard Yoder are frequently cited as having a strong influence on the movement 80 Relationship with Baptists Edit Some similarities exist between Baptists and the Anabaptists which is why some historians have argued that the Baptists were influenced by the Anabaptists These connections however are highly debated by historians The similarities between Baptists and Anabaptists include baptism of believers only religious freedom and congregationalism Despite these similarities the relationship between Baptists and Anabaptists was strained in 1624 when five existing Baptist churches of London issued a condemnation of the Anabaptists 81 82 83 Puritans of England and their Baptist branch arose independently and although they may have been informed by Anabaptist theology they clearly differentiate themselves from Anabaptists as seen in the London Baptist Confession of Faith A D 1644 Of those Churches which are commonly though falsely called Anabaptists 84 Moreover Baptist historian Chris Traffanstedt maintains that Anabaptists share some similarities with the early General Baptists but overall these similarities are slight and not always relational In the end we must come to say that this group of Christians does not reflect the historical teaching of the Baptists 85 In practice Anabaptists have maintained a more literal obedience to the Sermon on the Mount while Baptists generally do not require nonresistance non swearing of oaths and no remarriage if the first legitimate spouse is living Traditional Anabaptists also require a head covering for women modest apparel practical separation from the world and Plain dress which most Baptists no longer require However some Anabaptists and General Baptists have improved their relations and sometimes have worked together 86 Influence on society EditCommon Anabaptist beliefs and practices of the 16th century continue to influence modern Christianity and Western society Voluntary church membership and believer s baptism Freedom of religion liberty of conscience Separation or nonconformity to the world Nonresistance interpreted as pacifism by modernized groups Priesthood of all believersThe Anabaptists were early promoters of a free church and freedom of religion f When it was introduced by the Anabaptists in the 15th and 16th centuries religious freedom which was independent from the state was unthinkable to both clerical and governmental leaders Religious liberty was equated with anarchy Kropotkin 88 traces the birth of anarchist thought in Europe to these early Anabaptist communities According to Estep Where men believe in the freedom of religion supported by a guarantee of separation of church and state they have entered into that heritage Where men have caught the Anabaptist vision of discipleship they have become worthy of that heritage Where corporate discipleship submits itself to the New Testament pattern of the church the heir has then entered full possession of his legacy 89 Anabaptist characters exist in popular culture most notably Chaplain Tappman in Joseph Heller s novel Catch 22 James Jacques in Voltaire s novella Candide Giacomo Meyerbeer s opera Le prophete 1849 and the central character in the novel Q by the collective known as Luther Blissett See also EditAdrianists Amish Mennonite Christian anarchism Christian communism Christian socialism Clancularii Conservative Mennonites Donatists first historical occurrence of re baptism Funkite List of Anabaptist churches Martyrs Mirror Melchior Rink a central German Anabaptist leader during the sixteenth century Old Order Mennonite Peace churches Plain people Restorationism Shtundists Tabor College Kansas References EditExplanatory notes Edit Since the middle of the 20th century the German speaking world no longer uses the term Wiedertaufer translation Re baptizers considering it biased The term Taufer translation Baptizers is now used which is considered more impartial From the perspective of their persecutors the Baptizers baptized for the second time those who as infants had already been baptized The denigrative term Anabaptist given to them by others signifies rebaptizing and is considered a polemical term so it has been dropped from use in modern German However in the English speaking world it is still used to distinguish the Baptizers more clearly from the Baptists a Protestant sect that developed later in England Compare their self designation as Brethren in Christ or Church of God Stayer James M 2001 Taufer Theologische Realenzyklopadie TRE in German Vol 32 Berlin New York Walter de Gruyter pp 597 617 ISBN 3 11 016712 3 Bruder in Christo Gemeinde Gottes For example those of the Munster Rebellion or Balthasar Hubmaier A true church movement is a part of the Protestant or Reformed group of Christianity that claims to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity Most only assert this in relation to their church doctrines polity and practice e g the ordinances while a few hold they are the only true Christians Some examples of Anabaptistic true church movements are the Landmark Baptists and the Church of God in Christ Mennonite The Church of God the Stone Campbell restoration movement and others represent a variation in which the true church apostatized and was restored in distinction to this idea of apostolic or church succession These groups trace their true church status through means other than those generally accepted by Roman Catholicism or Orthodox Christianity both of which likewise claim to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity Such as the Adoptionism of the Paulicianists some of the other groups often cited were in fact little different from the Catholics and bore little similarity to modern Baptists According to the Martyrs Mirror the Anabaptist movement has existed since the times of the apostles It is not Protestant according to this vital publication The origins of religious freedom in the United States are traced back to the Anabaptists 87 Citations Edit a b Anabaptist n Oxford English Dictionary Oxford University Press December 2012 retrieved January 21 2013 a b Bruening Michael W April 5 2017 A Reformation Sourcebook Documents from an Age of Debate University of Toronto Press p 134 ISBN 978 1 44263570 8 In 1527 Michael Sattler presided over a meeting at Schleitheim in canton Schaffhausen on the Swiss German border where Anabaptist leaders drew up the Schleitheim Confession of Faith doc 29 Sattler was arrested and executed soon afterwards Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can a b Hershberger Guy F March 6 2001 The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision Wipf amp Stock Publishers p 65 ISBN 978 1 57910600 3 The Schleitheim articles are Anabaptism s oldest confessional document a b Gertz Steven 2004 Outsider s Guide to America s Anabaptists Christianity Today Retrieved May 20 2021 What about Old Orders Hutterites Conservatives River Brethren and Others Third Way cafe 2021 Retrieved May 20 2021 Huffman Jasper Abraham 1920 History of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church Bethel Publishing Co p 59 Guengerich Galen May 28 2013 God Revised How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age St Martin s Publishing Group p 3 ISBN 978 1 137 35611 6 Scott Stephen January 1 1996 Introduction to Old Order and Conservative Mennonite Groups People s Place Book Good Books p 228 ISBN 978 1 56148 101 9 Many writings have been made among conservative Mennonites supporting the Christian woman s veiling a b Redekop Calvin Beitzel Terry June 14 2019 Service The Path To Justice FriesenPress p 165 ISBN 978 1 5255 3584 0 a b Kraybill Donald B November 1 2010 Concise Encyclopedia of Amish Brethren Hutterites and Mennonites JHU Press p 107 ISBN 978 0 8018 9911 9 a b Hostetler John A April 1993 Amish Society JHU Press p 227 ISBN 978 0 8018 4442 3 a b Almila Anna Mari Almila David July 6 2017 The Routledge International Handbook to Veils and Veiling Taylor amp Francis p 296 ISBN 978 1 317 04114 6 Harper Douglas 2010 2001 Anabaptist Online Etymological Dictionary Retrieved April 25 2011 Vedder Henry Clay 1905 Balthasar Hubmaier the Leader of the Anabaptists New York G P Putnam s Sons p 204 Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics Baker Books November 1 2011 p 64 ISBN 978 1 4412 3998 3 Dyck 1967 p 45 Wagner Murray L 1983 Petr Chelcicky A Radical Separatist in Hussite Bohemia Scottdale PA Herald Press p 20 ISBN 0 8361 1257 1 van der Zijpp Nanne Sacramentists Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online Archived from the original on February 27 2007 Retrieved April 12 2007 Fontaine Piet FM 2006 I part 1 Radical Reformation Dutch Sacramentists The Light and the Dark A Cultural History of Dualism Vol XXIII Postlutheran Reformation Utrecht Gopher Publishers Archived from the original on May 9 2007 van Braght 1950 p 277 a b Stayer 1994 Moss Christina November 16 2017 On the Theological Uses of Anabaptist History A Conversation Anabaptist Historians Retrieved December 19 2020 Estep 1963 Estep 1963 p 5 Too much has been said of Munster It belongs on the fringe of Anabaptist life which was completely divorced from the evangelical biblical heart of the movement Dyck 1967 p 49 a b Stayer James M Packull Werner O Deppermann Klaus April 1975 From Monogenesis to Polygenesis the historical discussion of Anabaptist origins Mennonite Quarterly Review 49 2 Stayer 1994 p 86 Hall Thor Possibilities of Erasmian Influence on Denck and Hubmaier in Their Views of Freedom of the Will Mennonite Quarterly Review 35 1961 149 70 Davis Kenneth R Erasmus as a Progenitor of Anabaptist Theology and Piety Mennonite Quarterly Review 47 1973 163 78 Kreider Robert Anabaptism and Humanism an Inquiry Into the Relationship of Humanism to the Evangelical Anabaptists Mennonite Quarterly Review 26 1952 123 41 Klager 2011 pp 28 31 Klager 2010 pp 5 65 Carrol JM 1931 The Trail of Blood Lexington KY Ashland Avenue Baptist Church Archived from the original on February 21 2009 Ruth John L 1975 Conrad Grebel Son of Zurich Scottdale PA Herald Press p 79 ISBN 0 8361 1767 0 Dyck 1967 p 46 The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren Known as Das grosse Geschichtbuch der Hutterischen Bruder Rifton New York Plough Pub House 1987 p 45 1525 The Anabaptist Movement Begins Retrieved December 27 2017 Klaassen Walter 1985 A Fire That Spread Anabaptist Beginnings Waterloo ON Canada Christian History Institute Retrieved December 27 2017 Hoover 2008 pp 14 66 Packull 1995 pp 169 75 Packull 1995 pp 181 5 Packull 1995 p 280 Estep 1963 p 109 Estep 1963 p 111 Dyck 1967 p 105 a b Dyck 1967 p 111 Estep 1963 p 89 Packull 1995 p 54 Dyck 1967 p 67 Packull 1995 p 55 Packull 1995 p 61 Packull 1995 Sreenivasan Jyotsna 2008 Utopias in American History ABC CLIO pp 175 6 Packull 1977 pp 35 117 Loewen Harry Nolt Steven 1996 Through Fire amp Water Scottdale PA Herald Press pp 136 137 Ursel d 1570 GAMEO January 10 2018 Retrieved June 16 2019 Bossert Gustav Jr Bender Harold S Snyder C Arnold 2017 Sattler Michael d 1527 In Roth John D ed Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online reprinted from Bossert Gustav Jr Bender Harold S Snyder C Arnold 1989 Bender Harold S ed Mennonite Encyclopedia Harrisonburg VA Herald Press Vol 4 pp 427 434 1148 vol 5 pp 794 795 Shantz Douglas H 2009 Anabaptist Women as Martyrs Models of Courage and Tools of the Devil Historical Papers 2009 Canadian Society of Church History 23 via York University Canada a b c Sheldrake Philip January 1 2005 The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality Westminster John Knox Press p 104 ISBN 978 0 664 23003 6 Paulsen David Lamont Musser Donald W 2007 Mormonism in Dialogue with Contemporary Christian Theologies Mercer University Press p 106 ISBN 978 0 88146 083 4 Klaassen 1973 McGrath William The Anabaptists Neither Catholic nor Protestant PDF Hartville OH The Fellowship Messenger archived from the original PDF on December 27 2016 Gilbert William 1998 The Radicals of the Reformation Renaissance and Reformation Lawrence KS University of Kansas Klaassen 1973 p 63 Little Franklin H 1964 The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism New York Beacons p 19 Williams 2000 p 667 Marpeck 1978 p 50 van Braght 1950 p 440 Oyer John S 1964 Lutheran Reformers Against Anabaptists The Hague M Nijhoff p 86 Peachey Paul Peachey Shem eds 1971 Answer of Some Who Are Called Ana Baptists Why They Do Not Attend the Churches Mennonite Quarterly Review 45 1 10 11 Donald B Kraybill Concise Encyclopedia of Amish Brethren Hutterites and Mennonites JHU Press USA 2010 p XIV Ross Melanie C Lamport Mark A April 12 2022 Historical Foundations of Worship Catholic Orthodox and Protestant Perspectives Worship Foundations Baker Academic ISBN 978 1 4934 3498 5 Later groups such as the Brethren in Christ Be in Christ Canada German Baptist Brethren the Bruderhof Communities and the Apostolic Christian Church are also included in the umbrella term Anabaptist Bronner Simon J March 4 2015 Encyclopedia of American Folklife Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 47194 3 Only a tiny minority within the Church of the Brethren continues some vestigates of plain dress such as the prayer covering for women The Old German Baptist Brethren and the Dunkard Brethren however have maintained standards of traditional plain dress Mennonite World Conference Map and statistics MWC CMM Canada retrieved December 5 2020 0 About Us Plough Retrieved May 23 2017 Church Community is a Gift of the Holy Spirit The Spirituality of the Bruderhof Scribd Retrieved September 27 2017 Kurian George Thomas Lamport Mark A November 10 2016 Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States Rowman amp Littlefield p 322 ISBN 978 1 4422 4432 0 DeYoung Kevin The Neo Anabaptists The Gospel Coalition Retrieved March 25 2017 Hiebert Jared Hiebert Terry G Fall 2013 New Calvinists and Neo Anabaptists A Tale of Two Tribes Direction A Mennonite Brethren Forum 42 2 1 78 94 Retrieved March 25 2017 Tooley Mark Mennonite Takeover The American Spectator Archived from the original on March 26 2017 Retrieved March 25 2017 Kartman Alina April 4 2022 The Baptist Church and its contributions to religion Retrieved January 9 2023 Melton JG 1994 Baptists Encyclopedia of American Religions Do Baptists spring from Anabaptist seed Baptist Press www baptistpress com Retrieved January 9 2023 London Baptist Confession of 1644 Spurgeon org Archived from the original on June 17 2010 Of those Churches which are commonly though falsely called Anabaptists Traffanstedt Chris 1994 Baptists A Primer on Baptist History The True Baptist Trail archived from the original on September 11 2013 What s the Difference Between Anabaptists and Baptists History of Christianity July 13 2019 Retrieved January 9 2023 Verduin Leonard 1998 That First Amendment and The Remnant The Christian Hymnary ISBN 1 890050 17 2 Kropotkin Peter Alexeivitch 1911 Anarchism In Chisholm Hugh ed Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 1 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 914 19 Estep 1963 p 232 General and cited sources Edit Carroll J M 1931 The Trail of Blood Following the Christians Down Through the Ages or the History of Baptist Churches from the Time of Christ Their Founder to the Present Day Lexington KY Ashland Avenue Baptist Church 56 p fold chart Without ISBN Dyck Cornelius J 1967 An Introduction to Mennonite History Scottdale PA Herald Press ISBN 0 8361 1955 X Estep William R 1963 The Anabaptist Story Grand Rapids MI William B Eerdmans ISBN 0 8028 1594 4 Hoover Peter 2008 The Mystery of the Mark Anabaptist Mission Work Under the Fire of God Mountain Lake MN Elmendorf Books ISBN 978 1 5172 5504 6 Klaassen Walter 1973 Anabaptism Neither Catholic Nor Protestant Waterloo ON Conrad Press Klager Andrew P 2010 Balthasar Hubmaier s Use of the Church Fathers Availability Access and Interaction Mennonite Quarterly Review 84 1 5 65 Gale A220412887 Klager Andrew P 2011 Truth is immortal Balthasar Hubmaier c 1480 1528 and the Church Fathers PhD University of Glasgow Knox Ronald Enthusiasm a Chapter in the History of Religion with Special Reference to the XVII and XVIII Centuries Oxford Eng Oxford University Press 1950 viii 622 p Marpeck Pilgram 1978 Klassen William Klassen Walter eds Covenant and Community The Life Writings and Hermeneutics Scottdale PA Herald Packull Werner O 1977 Mysticism and the Early South German Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525 1531 Herald Press ISBN 978 0 8361 1130 9 Packull Werner O 1995 Hutterite Beginnings Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation Baltimore Maryland The Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 0 8018 6256 6 Stayer James M 1994 1991 The German Peasants War and Anabaptist Community of Goods Montreal McGill Queen s Press MQUP ISBN 0 7735 0842 2 van Braght Thieleman J 1950 1938 Martyrs Mirror Scottdale PA Herald Press ISBN 978 0 8361 1390 7 Williams George Hunston 2000 1962 The Radical Reformation 3rd ed Truman State University Press ISBN 0 664 20372 8 Further reading EditArthur Anthony 1999 The Tailor King The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster ISBN 0 312 20515 5 Bamford Mary E 1894 Harrison Larry ed In Editha s Days A Tale of Religious Liberty The Bible Makes Us Baptists LCCN 06006296 Baylor Michael G 1993 Revelation amp Revolution Basic Writings of Thomas Muntzer ISBN 0 934223 16 5 Bender Harold S 1944 The Anabaptist Vision ISBN 0 8361 1305 5 Bender Harold S Dyck Cornelius J Martin Dennis D Smith Henry C eds Mennonite Encyclopedia ISBN 0 8361 1018 8 Cohn Norman 1970 The Pursuit of the Millennium Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 500456 6 Conybeare Frederick Cornwallis 1911 Anabaptists In Chisholm Hugh ed Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 1 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 903 5 Dipple Geoffrey Confessional Migration Anabaptists Mennonites Hutterites Baptists etc EGO European History Online Mainz Institute of European History 2015 retrieved March 11 2021 pdf Fast Heinhold 1999 Anabaptists In Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley ed The Encyclopedia of Christianity Vol 1 Grand Rapids MI Wm B Eerdmans pp 45 48 ISBN 0802824137 Ham Paul 2018 New Jerusalem The short life and terrible death of Christendom s most defiant sect Sydney Random House Australia ISBN 978 0 14378133 2 Hillerbrand Hans 1991 Anabaptist Bibliography 1520 1630 ISBN 0 910345 03 1 Hoover Peter The Secret of the Strength PDF Archived from the original PDF on April 12 2019 Retrieved December 27 2017 Alt URL Melton J Gordon ed 1978 The Encyclopedia of American Religions ISBN 0 8103 6904 4 Newman Albert H 1896 A History of Anti Pedobaptism From the Rise of Pedobaptism to AD 1609 ISBN 1 57978 536 0 Pearse Meic 1998 The Great Restoration The Religious Radicals of the 16th and 17th Centuries ISBN 978 0 85364800 0 Stayer James M 1976 Anabaptists and the Sword ISBN 0 87291 081 4 van Braght Thieleman J The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror ISBN 0 8361 1390 X Verduin Leonard The Anatomy of a Hybrid A Study in Church State Relationships ISBN 0 8028 1615 0 Verduin Leonard May 2001 The Reformers and their Stepchildren ISBN 0 8010 9284 1 External links EditAnabaptism at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons Texts from Wikisource Data from Wikidata Anabaptism at Curlie Anabaptism Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online Retrieved September 11 2013 Global Anabaptist Wiki Pilgrim Ministry Anabaptist church directory Anabaptist History Complete Playlist Parts 1 20 history of the movement from the Bible to present YouTube videos 27 hours The Story of the Church The Protestant Reformation The Anabaptists and Other Radical Reformers Ritchie Family Page Archived from the original on December 17 2005 Retrieved December 15 2005 The Anabaptist Story The Reformed Reader Archived from the original on December 15 2005 Retrieved December 15 2005 The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists by E Belfort Bax 1903 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Anabaptism amp oldid 1133495286, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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