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Anabaptist
Anabaptists ("re-baptizers", from Greek ana and baptizo; in German: Wiedertäufer)
are Christians of the so-called "radical wing" of the Protestant Reformation.
The term was coined by critics, who objected to the practice of performing
baptism for adults (whose baptism, as infants, the Anabaptists claimed was not
valid). Various groups at various times have been called Anabaptist, but this
article focuses primarily on the Anabaptists of 16th century Europe.
Designation and definition
The present concept and idea of Anabaptism or rebaptism has been regarded at
least since the 2nd century. Some Anabaptists would even point to the 1st
century example of the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 19. Montanus, the
Montanists, and Tertullian (2nd and 3rd centuries) denied infant baptism,
practiced believer's baptism, and rebaptized those baptized by heretics. The
Donatists (4th century) re-baptized those who had been baptized by bishops who
were traditors, or who were from churches stained by fellowship with traditors.
Anabaptists (rebpatizers) were made criminals under the code of Justinian (A.D.
529). With anti-trinitarianism, it was one of two heresies punishable by death.
Their enemies and opposers gave Anabaptists their name; it is a term that means
"rebaptizers." Nevertheless, the Anabaptists did not think of believer's baptism
as "rebaptism". They did not recognize infant baptism as properly administered
the first time. Though the main Anabaptist groups disagreed with few important
Protestant doctrines, even the Protestants called them heretics. Zwingli called
them Wiedertäufer (Dutch, Wederdooper; Latin, Anabaptistarum), Täufer (Dutch,
Dooper or Doopsgezinden), and Catabaptistarum (drowners). Luther called them
Schwärmer (fanatics, enthusiasts). They have also been known as Bolsheveki and
"Stepchildren of the Reformation". The most common names the Anabaptists used
for themselves were brethren, believers and Christians.
The word Anabaptism may be used to describe a "Protestant" group baptizing
Christians who were baptized in infancy and/or who come to them from other
bodies, any of the 16th century "radical" dissenters, or the denominations
descending from the followers of Menno Simons. The use of the term Anabaptism
does not necessarily imply claims to uniformity between the groups thus
denominated. Today the descendants of the 16th century European movement
(particularly the Amish, Hutterites, & Mennonites) are the most common bodies
referred to as Anabaptist. Yet other bodies (such as the early English Baptists)
were also referred to by their enemies as Anabaptists, and are clearly
Anabaptists in the generally accepted sense of the term. The majority of
Baptists further engage in a practice others consider "rebaptizing" in that they
usually rebaptize even adult believers who were baptized by some mode other than
immersion.
Anabaptist Origins
Forerunners
Though the majority opinion is that Anabaptists began with the Radical Reformers
in the 16th century, certain people and groups may still legitimately be
considered their forerunners. Peter Chelcicky, 15th century Bohemian Reformer,
taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology. Medieval
antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life, the Hussites, and some
forms of monasticism. The Waldensians also represent a faith similar to the
Anabaptists.
In the following points Anabaptists resembled the medieval dissenters:
They taught that Jesus did not take the flesh from his mother, but either
brought his body from heaven or had one made for him by the Word. Some even said
that he passed through his mother, as water through a pipe, into the world. In
pictures and sculptures of the 15th century and earlier, we often find
represented this idea, originated by Marcion in the 2nd century. The Anabaptists
were accused of denying the Incarnation of Christ: they did, but not in the
sense that he was not divine; they rather denied him to be human.
They condemned oaths, and also the reference of disputes between believers to
law-courts.
The believer must not bear arms or offer forcible resistance to wrongdoers, nor
wield the sword. No Christian has the jus gladii.
Civil government belongs to the world, is Caesar. The believer who belongs to
God's kingdom must not fill any office, nor hold any rank under government,
which is to be passively obeyed.
Sinners or unfaithful ones are to be excommunicated, and excluded from the
sacraments and from intercourse with believers unless they repent, according to
Matt.18:15 seq. But no force is to be used towards them.
Some sects calling themselves Spirituales or Perfecti also held that the
baptized cannot sin, a very ancient tenet.
They seem to have preserved among them the primitive manual called the Teaching
of the Apostles, for Bishop Longland in England condemned an Anabaptist for
repeating one of its maxims "that alms should not be given before they did sweat
in a man's hand." This was between 1518 and 1521.
Views of Origins
Research on the origins of the Anabaptists has been tainted both by the attempts
of their enemies to slander them, and the attempts of their friends to vindicate
them. It was long popular to simply lump all Anabaptists as Munsterites and
radicals associated with the Zwickau Prophets, Jan Matthys, John of Leiden (also
Jan Bockelson van Leiden, Jan of Leyden), and Thomas Muentzer. Those desiring to
correct this error tended to over-correct and deny all connections between the
larger Anabaptist movement and this most radical element.
The modern era of Anabaptist historiography arose with the work of Roman
Catholic scholar C. A. Cornelius' publication of Die Geschichte des
Münsterischen Aufruhrs in 1855. Baptist historian Albert Henry Newman
(1852-1933), whom Bender said occupied "first position in the field of American
Anabaptist Historiography", made a major contribution with his A History of
Anti-Pedobaptism. Though a number of theories exist concerning origins, the
three main ideas are that (1) Anabaptists began in a single expression in Zürich
and spread from there (Monogenesis), (2) Anabaptists began through several
independent movements (polygenesis), and (3) Anabaptists are a continuation of
New Testament Christianity (apostolic succession or church perpetuity).
Monogenesis
A number of scholars (e.g. Bender, Estep, Friedmann) have seen all the
Anabaptists as rising out of the Swiss Brethren movement of Conrad Grebel, Felix
Manz, George Blaurock, et al. The older view among Mennonite historians
generally held that Anabaptism had its origins in Zürich, and that the
Anabaptism of the Swiss Brethren was transmitted to South Germany, Austria, the
Netherlands, and North Germany, where it developed into its various branches.
The monogenesis theory usually rejects the Münsterites and other radicals from
the catergory of true Anabaptists. In this view the time of origin is January
21, 1525, when Grebel baptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock baptized other
followers. This remains the most popular single time posited for the
establishment of Anabaptism. But in the last quarter of the 20th century,
Deppermann, Packull, and others suggested that February 24, 1527 at Schleitheim
is the proper date of the origin of Anabaptism. This correlates with the
following polygenesis theory.
Polygenesis
James M. Stayer, Werner O. Packull, and Klaus Deppermann, disputed the idea of a
single origin of Anabaptists in a 1975 essay entitled "From Monogenesis to
Polygenesis". That article, emphasizing distinctive characteristics and distinct
sources, has become a widely accepted treatment of the plural origins of
Anabaptism. According to these authors, 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". Pilgram Marpeck's Vermanung of 1542
was deeply influenced by the Bekenntnisse of 1533 by Münster theologian Bernhard
Rothmann. The Hutterites used Melchior Hoffman's commentary on the Apocalypse
shortly after he wrote it. David Joris, a disciple of Hoffman, was the most
important Anabaptist leader in the Netherlands before 1540. Grete Mecenseffy and
Walter Klaassen established links between Thomas Muentzer and Hans Hut, and the
work of Gottfried Seebaß and Werner Packull clearly showed the influence of
Thomas Muentzer on the formation of South German Anabaptism. Steven Ozment's
work linked Hans Denck and Hans Hut with Thomas Muentzer, Sebastian Franck, and
others. Calvin Pater has shown that Andreas Karlstadt influenced Swiss
Anabaptism in areas including his view of Scripture, doctrine of the church, and
views on baptism.
Apostolic succession
Another popular theory is that the 16th century Anabaptists were part of an
apostolic succession of churches (or church perpetuity) from the time of Christ.
According to this idea there had been a continuity of small groups outside the
Catholic Church from A.D. 30 to 1525 (which continues also to the present).
Proponents of this view point out many common expressions of belief in these
Catholic dissenters. The opponents of this theory emphasize that these
non-Catholic groups differed from each other, that they held some heretical
views, and/or that they had no connection with one another. This view is held by
some Baptists, some Mennonites, and a number of "true church" movements. The
writings of John T. Christian, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
professor, contain perhaps the best scholarly presentation of this successionist
view. Somewhat related to this is that the Anabaptists are of Waldensian origin.
Some hold the idea that the Waldenses are part of the apostolic succession,
while others simply believe they were an independent group out of whom the
Anabaptists arose. Estep asserts "the Waldenses disappeared in Switzerland a
century before the rise of the Anabaptist movement." Ludwig Keller, Thomas M.
Lindsay, H. C. Vedder, Delbert Grätz, and Thieleman van Braght all held, in
varying degrees, the position that the Anabaptists were of Waldensian origin.
Theology
Within historical Anabaptism numerous variations occurred, but a comparison of
Anabaptism with Protestantism highlights a consistent core of faith and practice
among the Anabaptists. The leading elements of 16th century Anabaptist theology
were that baptism was to be administered to believers only (believer's baptism);
that mass was not a sacrifice, but a memorial of the death of Christ
(symbolism); that the bread and wine should be broken with baptized believers
only (restricted communion); and that Christians should be separated from the
world (religious separation).
see Theology of Anabaptism
Types of Anabaptists
It is beneficial to recognize differents types among the Anabaptists, although
these 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, Hübmaier, Manz, Marpeck, and Simons as Anabaptists.
He groups Muentzer, Storch, et al. as inspirationists, and anti-trinitarians
such as 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 thusly 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 Anabaptism (Menno, Philips), and South German
Anabaptism (Hübmaier, Marpeck).
Zwickau prophets and the Peasants' War
On December 27, 1521, three "prophets", influenced by and in turn influencing
Thomas Muentzer, appeared in Wittenberg from Zwickau: Thomas Dreschel, Nicolas
Storch and Mark Thomas Stübner. The crisis came in the so-called Peasants' War
in South Germany in 1525. In its origin a revolt against feudal oppression, it
became, under the leadership of Muetzer, a war against all constituted
authorities, and an attempt to establish by force his ideal Christian
commonwealth, with absolute equality and the community of goods.
see Thomas Muentzer, Peasants' War
The Münster Rebellion
A second and more determined attempt to establish a theocracy was made at
Münster in Westphalia (1532-1535).
see Münster Rebellion, Münster, Bernhard Rothmann
Miscellany
The first leaders of the movement in Zürich -- Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George
Blaurock, Balthasar Hübmaier -- were men learned in Greek, Latin and Hebrew.
In English history frequent reference is made to the Anabaptists during the 16th
and 17th centuries, but there is no evidence that any considerable number of
native Englishmen ever adopted the principles of the Münster sect. Many of the
followers of Muentzer and Bockelson seem to have fled from persecution in
Germany and the Netherlands to be subjected to a persecution scarcely less
severe in England. The mildest measure adopted towards these refugees was
banishment from the kingdom, and a large number suffered at the stake. It was
easier to burn Anabaptists than to refute their arguments, and contemporary
writers were struck with the intrepidity and number of their martyrs. Thus
Stanislaus Hosius (1504-1579), a Polish cardinal and bishop of Warmie, wrote
(Opera, Venice, 1573, p. 202):
"They are far readier than followers of Luther and Zwingli to meet death, and
bear the harshest tortures for their faith. For they run to suffer punishments,
no matter how horrible, as if to a banquet; so that if you take that as a test
either of the truth of doctrine or of their certitude of grace, you would easily
conclude that in no other sect is to be found a faith so true or grace so
certain. But as Paul wrote: "Even if I give my body to be burned and have not
charity, it avails me naught. But he has not charity who divides the unity...He
cannot be a martyr who is not in the Church".
Their Christology and negative attitude towards the state rather indicate, as in
the case of John Wyclif, Jan Hus and the Fraticelli (Brethren), an affinity to
the Cathars and other medieval sects. But this affiliation is hard to establish.
The earliest Anabaptists of Zürich allowed that the Picardi or Waldensians had,
in contrast with Rome and the Reformers, truth on their side, yet did not claim
to be in their succession; nor can it be shown that their adult baptism derived
from any of the older Baptist sects, which undoubtedly lingered in parts of
Europe. Later on Hermann Schyn claimed descent for the peaceful Baptists from
the Waldensians, who certainly, as the records of the Flemish inquisition,
collected by P. Fredericq, prove, were widespread during the 15th century over
north France and Flanders. It would appear from the way in which Anabaptism
sprang up everywhere independently, as if more than one ancient sect took in and
through it a new lease of life. Ritschl discerned in it the leaven of the
Fraticelli or Franciscan Tertiaries.
In Moravia, if what Alexander Rost related be true, namely that they called
themselves Apostolici, and went barefooted healing the sick, they must have at
least absorbed into themselves a sect of whom we hear in the 12th century in the
north of Europe as deferring baptism to the age of 30, and rejecting oaths,
prayers for the dead, relics and invocation of saints. The Moravian Anabaptists,
says Rost, went bare-footed, washed each other's feet (like the Fraticelli), had
all goods in common, worked everyone at a handicraft, had a spiritual father who
prayed with them every morning and taught them, dressed in black and had long
graces before and after meals. Zeiler also in his German Itinerary (1618)
describes their way of life. The Lord's Supper, or bread-breaking, was a
commemoration of the Passion, held once a year. They sat at long tables, the
elders read the words of institution and prayed, and passed a loaf round from
which each broke off a bit and ate, the wine being handed round in flagons.
Children in their colonies were separated from the parents, and lived in the
school, each having his bed and blanket. They were taught reading, writing and
summing, cleanliness, truthfulness and industry, and the girls married the men
chosen for them.
On April 12, 1549, certain London Anabaptists brought before a commission of
bishops asserted:
"That a man regenerate could not sin; that though the outward man sinned, the
inward man sinned not; that there was no Trinity of Persons; that Christ was
only a holy prophet and not at all God; that all we had by Christ was that he
taught us the way to heaven; that he took no flesh of the Virgin, and that the
baptism of infants was not profitable."
One of the most notable features of the early Anabaptists is that they regarded
any true religious reform as involving social amelioration. The socialism of the
16th century was necessarily Christian and Anabaptist. Lutheranism was more
attractive to grand-ducal patriots and well-to-do burghers than to the poor and
oppressed and disinherited. The Lutherans and Zwinglians never converted the
Anabaptists. In Austrian-controlled territories, the Jesuits had somewhat better
success in persuading or coercing many Hutterites to rejoin the Catholic Church.
Persecutions and migrations
Much historic Catholic and Protestant literature has represented the Anabaptists
as groups who preached false doctrine and led people into apostasy. That
negative historiography remained popular for about four centuries. The Catholics
and Protestants alike persecuted the Anabaptists, resorted to torture and other
types of physical abuse, in attempts both to curb the growth of the movement and
bring about the salvation of the heretics (through recantation). The Protestants
under Zwingli were the first to persecute the Reformation Anabaptists. Felix
Manz became the first martyr in 1527. On May 20, 1527, Catholic authorities
executed Michael Sattler. King Ferdinand declared drowning (called the third
baptism) "the best antidote to Anabaptism". It has been said that a "16th
century man who did not drink to excess, curse, or abuse his workmen or family
could be suspected of being an Anabaptist and thus persecuted." Estep estimates
that thousands died in Europe in the sixteenth century.
Thieleman J. van Braght's Martyrs Mirror describes the persecution and execution
of thousands of Anabaptists in Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, and other parts of Europe between 1525 and 1660. Continuing
persecution in Europe was largely responsible for the mass immigrations to North
America by Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites.
Anabaptists Today
Several existing denominational bodies may be legitimately regarded as the
successors of the Continental Anabaptists - Amish, Baptists, Brethren,
Hutterites, Mennonites, and Quakers. Some writers prefer to distinguish lineal
descendants (Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites) and spiritual descendants (Baptists,
Brethren, Quakers). Nevertheless, some historical connections have been
demonstrated for all three of these spiritual descendants, though perhaps not as
clearly as the notable lineal or direct descendants. According to the Mennonite
World Conference, "Direct descendants of Anabaptists today number 730,000 in 57
countries, with the largest numbers in North America, Zaire, Indonesia."
The Anabaptist doctrine - that men must personally, volitionally, and
consciously relate to God - is the doctrine of Evangelical Protestantism, even
though these churches may not be historically linked to the Anabaptists.
According to Anabaptist opponent F. N. Lee, "...all of the various stepchildren
of the Anabaptists" include "justified Baptists; heretical Seventh-day
Adventists; apostate 'Jehovah witnesses'; polytheistic Mormons; and atheistic
Communists".
The Anabaptist Heritage
Freedom of religion
Priesthood of the believer
Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice
Ordinances, not sacraments
All those who hold the idea of a free church and freedom of religion (sometimes
called separation of church and state) are greatly indebted to the Anabaptists.
When it was introduced by the Anabaptists in the 15th and 16th centuries,
religious freedom independent of the state was a radical idea, and unthinkable
to both clerical and governmental leaders. Religious liberty was equated with
anarchy.
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."
Genealogists are also indebted to the Anabaptists, because Anabaptism was part
of the cause for Protestant churches adopting the confirmation service, and
baptismal registers came into being. This has been a great benefit for
genealogists.
References
A History of Anti-Pedobaptism, From the Rise of Pedobaptism to A. D. 1609, by
Albert H. Newman ISBN 1579785360
Anabaptists and the Sword, by James M. Stayer ISBN 0872910814
An Introduction to Mennonite History, by Cornelius J. Dyck ISBN 0836136209
Covenant and Community: the Life and Writing of Pilgram Marpeck, by William
Klassen
German Peasants' War & Anabaptist Community of Goods, by James M. Stayer ISBN
0773508422
Hutterite Beginnings: Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation, by
Werner O. Packull ISBN 0801850487
Mennonite Encyclopedia, Harold S. Bender, Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin,
Henry C. Smith, et al., editors ISBN 0836110188
Revelation & Revolution: Basic Writings of Thomas Muntzer, by Michael G. Baylor
ISBN 0934223165
The Anabaptist Story, by William R. Estep; ISBN 0802815944
The Anabaptist Vision, by Harold S. Bender; ISBN 0836113055
The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght; ISBN
083611390X
The Reformers and their Stepchildren, by Leonard Verduin; ISBN 0801092841
The Tailor King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster, by
Anthony Arthur ISBN 0312205155
Footnotes
1. Traditors were those who, under persecution, handed over the Scriptures to
pagan authorities or recanted their faith.
2. Catabaptist is defined as "drowners" or "immersers", but also as "opponents
of baptism" (infant baptism).
3. A "true church" movement is one in which the participants of a movement
believes their movement represents 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
(Charleston, Tennessee), the Stone-Campbell restoration movement, and others
represent a variation in which the "true church" apostasized and was restored,
in distinction to this idea of apostolic or church succession.
4. Lee's work is a response to Verduin's The Reformers and their Stepchildren,
and is representative of a Reformed view against Anabaptism. But its polemical
nature leaves some question as to its objectivity. Quotes are often shortened
for effect rather than concision (e.g., writing of the London Confession: "it
was subtitled: Confession of Faith of those churches which are commonly...called
'Anabaptist'." instead of, "Confession of Faith of those churches which are
commonly, though falsely, called 'Anabaptist'."), he renders highly suspect
interpretations as connecting single immersion with unitarianism ("Such
Anabaptists as were trinitarian, generally did so by pouring. Unitarian
Anabaptists, however, did so largely by a novel single submersion."), and
resorts to the old method of using the excesses of a minority to denigrate the
entire movement (e.g., polygamy).
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