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Anabaptists (Greek ανα (again, twice) +βαπτιζω (baptize), thus "re-baptizers"^[1]) are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, although some consider Anabaptism to be a distinct movement from Protestantism.^[2][3] The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the movement.

The name Anabaptist is derived from the Latin term anabaptista, or "one who baptizes over again." This name was given them in reference to the practice of re-baptizing converts who already had been baptized as infants.^[4] Anabaptists required that baptismal candidates be able to make their own confessions of faith and so rejected baptism to infants. The early Anabaptists disliked the name Anabaptist, claiming that since infant baptism was null and void, re-baptism was in fact the first baptism for them. Balthasar Hübmaier wrote:

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 ...^[5]:p.204

As a result of re-baptism, Anabaptists were heavily persecuted during the 16th century and into the 17th by both Protestants and Roman Catholics.

While most Anabaptists adhered to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount which precluded taking oaths, participating in military actions, and participating in civil government, some who practiced re-baptism felt contrariwise.^[6] They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites and some historians tend to consider them as outside of true 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 ...^[7]:p.45

Origins[link]

Forerunners[link]

Although Anabaptists began with the Radical Reformers in the 16th century, certain people and groups may still legitimately be considered their forerunners due to a similar approach to the interpretation and application of the Bible. Petr Chelčický, a 15th century Bohemian reformer, taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology.^[8] Medieval antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life, the Hussites, Dutch Sacramentists,^[9][10] and some forms of monasticism. The Waldensians also represent a faith similar to the Anabaptists.^[11]:277

In the following points Anabaptists who held to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount resembled the medieval dissenters:

• They condemned oaths, and also the reference of disputes between believers to law-courts 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, who belongs to God's kingdom, must not fill any office, nor hold any rank under government, which is to be passively obeyed.John 18:36Romans 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.

Views[link]

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 supporters 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, 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 the work of Roman Catholic scholar Carl Adolf Cornelius' publication of Die Geschichte des Münsterischen Aufruhrs (The History of the Münster Riot) 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.

Though a number of theories exist concerning origins, the three main ideas are:

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

Monogenesis[link]

A number of scholars (e.g., Harold S. Bender, William Estep, Robert Friedmann^{[citation needed]}) have seen the Anabaptist movement as radiating out from the Swiss Brethren movement of Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, et al. They generally held 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.^[12] 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^[7]:p.49 and therefore remains the most popular date posited for the establishment of Anabaptism.

Polygenesis[link]

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," 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.^[13] 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."^[13]:p.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."^[14] 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 polygensis include Grete Mecenseffy 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 that Andreas Karlstadt influenced Swiss Anabaptism in various areas, including his view of Scripture, doctrine of the church, and views on baptism.

Apostolic succession[link]

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.^[15] This view is held by some Baptists, some Mennonites, and a number of "true church" movements.^[16]

The opponents of the Baptist successionism theory emphasize that these non-Catholic groups clearly differed from each other, that they held some heretical views,^[17] or that the groups had no connection with one another and had origins that were separate both in time and 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, H. C. 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.

Zwickau prophets and the Peasants' War[link]

On December 27, 1521, three "prophets", influenced by and in turn influencing Thomas Müntzer, appeared in Wittenberg from Zwickau: Thomas Dreschel, Nicholas Storch and Mark Thomas Stübner. The crisis came in the German Peasants War in southern Germany in 1525. In its origin, this was 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 and the community of goods. Although the Zwickau prophets were not Anabaptists, that is, they did not practice re-baptism, the prevalent social inequities and the preaching of men like this against such inequities have been seen as laying the foundation for the Anabaptist movement.

History[link]

Spread of the early anabaptists in Central Europe

Switzerland[link]

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 Classic 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 decisions. At this point, Simon Stumpf, a radical priest from Hongg, answered saying, "The decision has already been made by the Spirit of God."^[18]:p.79

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."^[7]:p.46 Zwingli broke off the meetings after two meetings, and Felix Mantz petitioned the Council to find a solution, since he felt Zwingli was too hard to work with. Council then called a meeting for January 17, 1525.

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 this way:

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.

After 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. ^{[7][18] [19]}

Tyrol[link]

Anabaptism appears to have come to Tyrol through the labors of George Blaurock. Similar to the German Peasants' War, the Gasmair uprising set the stage by producing a hope for social justice. Michael Gasmair had tried to bring religious, political, and economical reform through a violent peasant uprising, but the movement was squashed.^[20] Although little hard evidence exists of a direct connection between Gaspair'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.^{[21]:p.169-175}

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.^{[21]:p.181-185}

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 due to the fierce persecution unleashed by Ferdinand I. In November of 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, due largely to the emigration to Moravia of the converts because of incessant persecution.^[21]:p.280

The Low Countries[link]

Melchior Hoffman is credited with the introduction of Anabaptist ideas into the Low Countries. Hoffman had picked up Lutheran and Reformed ideas, but on 23 April 1530 he was re-baptized at Strasbourg and within two months had gone to Emden and baptized about 300 persons.^[19]:p.109 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."^[19]:p.111 Obbe and Dirk Philips had been baptized by disciples of Jan Matthijs, but were opposed to the violence that occurred at Münster.^[7]:105 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.^[7]:111 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."^[7]:111 Due to persecution and expansion, many of the Low Country Mennonites emigrated to Prussia, and from there to the Ukraine (which at the time was part of Russia). In the late 1800s, many of the Russian Mennonites emigrated to Canada, and then to Mexico, Belize, and South America (Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil) where thousands of them still live in colonies.

Moravia[link]

Although Moravian Anabaptism was a transplant from other areas of Europe, Moravia soon became a center for the growing movement, due largely to the greater religious tolerance found there.^{[19]:p.89[21]:p.54} 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.^[7]:p.67 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 10 slightly different versions.^[21]:p.55 Soon, one-eyed Jacob Wiedemann appeared at Nikolsburg, and began to teach the pacifistic ideas of the Swiss Brethren, a position that Hübmaier was not a strong on. This eventually led 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 Leichenstein to leave Nikolsburg, about 200 Stäbler withdrew to Moravia to form a community at Austerlitz.^[21]:p.61

Persecution in South Tyrol brought many refugees to Moravia, many of which formed into communities that practiced 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 eventually died out in Moravia, leaving only the Hutterites. Even the Hutterites were eventually dissipated by persecution, with a remnant fleeing to Transylvania, then to the Ukraine, and eventually to North America in 1874.^[21]

South Germany[link]

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 due to his reforming theology that rejected many Catholic practices, including the rejection of 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 (due in part to persecution) and those who stayed with Anabaptist ideas were absorbed into Swiss and Moravia Anabaptist congregations.^{[22]:p.35-117[23]} Pilgram Marpeck was another notable leader in early South German Anabaptism.

Persecutions and migrations[link]

The burning of a XVI-century Dutch Anabaptist Anneken Hendriks, who was charged by the Spanish Inquisition with heresy.

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 martyr in 1527. On May 20, 1527, Roman Catholic authorities executed Michael Sattler. King Ferdinand declared drowning (called the third baptism) "the best antidote to Anabaptism". The Tudor regime, even those that were Protestant (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 persecution of Anabaptists was condoned by ancient laws of Theodosius I and Justinian I that were passed against the Donatists, which decreed the death penalty for any who practiced 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 Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites.

Types[link]

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(The Ninety-Five Theses)
The Reformation
History
Pre-Reformation movements
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Reformation era movements
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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 1534–5, and the Batenburgers, who persisted in various guises as late as the 1570s.

Spirituality[link]

Memorial plate at Schipfe quarter in Zürich for the Anabaptists, executed in early 16th century by the Zürich city government

Charismatic manifestations[link]

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),^[24] and speaking in tongues.^[25] In Germany some Anabaptists, "excited by mass hysteria, experienced healings, glossolalia, contortions and other manifestations of a camp-meeting revival".^[26] 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".^[27][28] The Hutterite Chronicle and The Martyr's 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".^[29]

Holy Spirit leadership[link]

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.^[30] 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".^[31]

Today[link]

Anabaptists[link]

Several existing denominational bodies may be regarded as the successors of the continental Anabaptists: Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, Mennonites and to some extent the Bruderhof Communities. Some historical connections have been demonstrated for all of these spiritual descendants, though perhaps not as clearly as the noted institutionally lineal descendants. Although many see the more well-known Anabaptist groups (Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites) as ethnic groups, the Anabaptist bodies of today are no longer composed mostly of descendants of the continental Anabaptists. Total worldwide membership of the Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and related churches totals 1,616,126 (as of 2009) with about 60 percent in Africa, Asia and Latin America.^[32]

Similar Groups[link]

The Bruderhof Communities were founded in Germany by Eberhard Arnold in 1920, establishing and organisationally joining the Hutterites in 1930. The group moved to England after Gestapo confiscated their property in 1933, and subsequently to Paraguay to avoid military conscription, and by settlements moved to USA after the World War II. They are not recognized by more conservative Hutterites.

Groups deriving from the Schwarzenau Brethren, often called German Baptists, while not directly descended from the 16th-century Anabaptists, are usually considered Anabaptist because of an almost identical doctrine and practice. The modern-day Brethren movement is a combination of Anabaptism and Radical Pietism.

Puritans of England and their Baptist branch arose independently, but were influenced by the Anabaptist movement.^[33]

Anabaptist characters exist in popular culture, most notably Chaplain Tappman in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22, James 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".

Legacy[link]

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

Dirk Willems saves his pursuer.

• Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice – the authority of the Scriptures
• Freedom of religion – liberty of conscience
• Separation of church and state
• Pacifism or nonresistance
• Separation or nonconformity to the world
• Voluntary church membership and believer's baptism
• Evangelistic zeal
• Priesthood of all believers

The Anabaptists were early promoters of a free church and freedom of religion (sometimes associated with separation of church and state).^[34] When it was introduced by the Anabaptists in the 15th and 16th centuries, religious freedom independent of the state was unthinkable to both clerical and governmental leaders. Religious liberty was equated with anarchy; Kropotkin^[35] 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.^[36]

See also[link]

Anabaptism portal

• Abecedarians
• Amish
• Apostolic Christian Church
• Brethren in Christ
• Christian anarchism
• Hutterite
• Mennonite
• Peace churches
• Protestant Reformation
• Radical Reformation
• Schleitheim Confession
• Shunning
• Simple living
• The Upside-Down Kingdom
• Theology of Anabaptism

Footnotes and references[link]

Further reading[link]

• A History of Anti-Pedobaptism, From the Rise of Pedobaptism to A. D. 1609, by Albert H. Newman, (Google Books, ISBN 1-57978-536-0)
• An Introduction to Mennonite History, by Cornelius J. Dyck, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8361-3620-9)
• Anabaptist Bibliography 1520–1630, by Hans Hillerbrand, (Google Books, ISBN 0-910345-03-1)
• Anabaptists and the Sword, by James M. Stayer, (Google Books, ISBN 0-87291-081-4)
• Covenant and Community: The Life, Writings, and Hermeneutics of Pilgram Marpeck, by William Klassen, (Google Books)
• Hutterite Beginnings: Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation, by Werner O. Packull, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8018-5048-7)
• In Editha's Days. A Tale of Religious Liberty, by Mary E. Bamford LCCN 06006296 (republished as The Bible Makes Us Baptists, Larry Harrison, ed.), (Google Books)
• Mennonite Encyclopedia, Harold S. Bender, Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin, Henry C. Smith, et al., editors, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8361-1018-8)
• Revelation & Revolution: Basic Writings of Thomas Muntzer, by Michael G. Baylor, (Google Books, ISBN 0-934223-16-5)
• The Anabaptist Story, by William R. Estep, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8028-1594-4)
• The Anabaptist Vision, by Harold S. Bender, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8361-1305-5)
• The Anatomy of a Hybrid : a Study in Church-State Relationships by Leonard Verduin, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8028-1615-0)
• The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8361-1390-X)
• The Encyclopedia of American Religions, by J. Gordon Melton, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8103-6904-4)
• The German Peasants' War & Anabaptist Community of Goods, by James M. Stayer, (Google Books, ISBN 0-7735-0842-2)
• The Pursuit of the Millennium, by Norman Cohn, (Google Books, ISBN 0-19-500456-6)
• The Radical Reformation, by George Hunston Williams, Third Edition. 16 Century Journal Publishers, 1992.
• The Reformers and their Stepchildren, by Leonard Verduin, (Google Books, ISBN 0-8010-9284-1)
• The Secret of the Strength, by Peter Hoover, (Google Books)
• The Tailor King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster, by Anthony Arthur, (Google Books, ISBN 0-312-20515-5)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anabaptism

Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Anabaptists.

• "Anabaptism". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/A533ME.html. Retrieved December 15, 2005. 
• "The Story of the Church: The Protestant Reformation: The Anabaptists and Other Radical Reformers". Ritchie Family Page. http://www.ritchies.net/p4wk4.htm. Retrieved December 15, 2005. 
• "The Anabaptist Story". The Reformed Reader. http://www.reformedreader.org/history/anabaptiststory.htm. Retrieved December 15, 2005. 
• What is an Anabaptist Christian?, 2nd ed., Palmer Becker, Missio Dei no. 18, 2010.
• The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists, by E. Belfort Bax 1903
• Anabaptist Mennonites

Heidi Miller (born Santa Monica, California) is an American female bodybuilder who held the title Ms. Natural America in 1981. She is also a former National Gymnastics Champion.

Her other bodybuilding awards include Ms. Natural Universe - NBA, 2nd place 1982; Western America Championships - NPC, LightWeight, 5th place 1983; and Western America Championships - NPC, LightWeight, 1st place 1984.^[1] She retired from competitive bodybuilding in 1984.

Miller is currently on the board of the American Heart Association, the Children's Bureau Foundation, and Pat McCormick's Educational Foundation.^[2] She is a public speaker and entrepreneur. Her book and video are titled Bodysculpting. She currently resides in California.

Books and Videos[link]

• Heidi Miller's Body Sculpting: Sculpt Tone and Firm Your Body to Its Most Perfect Proportions, Miller, Heidi, Hdl Publishing 1988, ISBN 0-937359-32-7

References[link]

This biographical article related to American sports is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article relating to bodybuilding is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Melchior Hofmann

Melchior Hoffman (or Hofmann) (c. 1495–1543) was an Anabaptist prophet and a visionary leader in northern Germany and the Netherlands.

Life[link]

Hoffman was born at Schwäbisch Hall in Franconia before 1500. His biographers usually give his surname as Hofmann; in his printed works it sometimes appears as Hoffman, and in his manuscripts as Hoffmann.

He was without scholarly training, and first appeared as a furrier in Livonia. Attracted by Luther's teachings, he came forward as a lay preacher, combining business travels with a religious mission. He worked as a lay preacher in the cities of Wolmar (from 1523), Dorpat and Reval. In Dorpat he became involved in an iconoclastic revolt, and the magistrates obliged him to go to Wittenberg to obtain Luther's approval of his preaching. After his return to Dorpat he was involved in more controversy and forced to leave the city.

After the same thing happened in Reval, he decided to go to Stockholm, Sweden, where he arrived in the autumn of 1526. Here too he was involved religious disturbances and so left Sweden again.

After a short stay in Lübeck he made his way to Denmark, where he found favour with King Frederick I, and was appointed by royal ordinance to preach the Gospel at Kiel. He was probably the first printer in the city. He was extravagant in his denunciations, and developed a Zwinglian view of the Eucharist.

Luther himself was alarmed at this. At a colloquy of preachers in Flensburg on (April 8, 1529), Hoffman, John Campanus and others were put on their defence. Hoffman maintained (against the "magic" of the Lutheran interpretation) that the function of the Eucharist, like that of preaching, is nothing more than an appeal for spiritual union with Christ. Refusing to retract, he was banished.

Making his way to Strasbourg, he was well received, until his Anabaptist tendencies became apparent. He joined with the Anabaptists of the city, and, according to Estep, was rebaptized in April 1530.

Travels of Melchior Hoffman

In May he travelled to East Frisia, where he established churches and baptized about 300 people. He was in relations with Schwenkfeld and with Karlstadt, but assumed a prophetic role of his own. In 1532 he founded a community at Emden, securing a large following of artisans.

Because of the prophecy of an old man foretelling six months in prison for him, he returned in the spring of the following year to Strasbourg, where there is reference to his wife and child. He gained from his study of Apocalypse the belief that the Lord would return there in 1533 and received a vision of "resurrections" of apostolic Christianity, first under John Hus, and now under himself. The year 1533 was to inaugurate the new era; Strasbourg was to be the seat of the New Jerusalem.

When however he prophesied that the return of Christ would be preceded by a purging of the ungodly, Hoffman was seen as a revolutionary. Under examination, he denied that he had made common cause with the Anabaptists and claimed to be no prophet but a mere witness of the Most High, but nevertheless refused the articles of faith proposed to him by the provincial synod.

Hoffman's failed prophecy of the return of Christ contributed significantly to the Münster Rebellion (1533–1534), of which he is seen as one of the authors. Two of his followers, Jan van Matthijs and Jan van Leiden, proclaimed that Hoffman was wrong on the questions of the exact time and place, where Christ would return and reign, and named Münster as the correct location.

As a consequence of the terror inspired by the rebellion and its savage suppression, Hoffman, together with Claus Frey, another Anabaptist, was detained in prison. Although the synod made a further effort to reclaim him in 1539, he stayed there for the rest of his life, until his death in 1543.

Teachings and influence[link]

Hoffman was important in at least one aspect of the development of the Mennonites. He adopted the views of Kaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig concerning the incarnation of Jesus, and taught what has been called the "heavenly flesh of Christ". Menno Simons accepted this view, probably received from the peaceful Melchiorites Obbe and Dirk Philips, and it became the general belief of Dutch Anabaptists in the first century of their existence.

Hoffman wrote a commentary on the Book of Daniel in 1526. Two of his publications with similar titles from 1530 ("Weissagung aus heiliger gotlicher geschrift" (Prophecy from Holy and Divine Scripture) and "Prophecey oder Weissagung vsz warer heiliger gotlicher schrifft" (Prophecy from True, Holy and Divine Scripture) are noteworthy as having influenced Menno Simons and David Joris. Bock treats him as an antitrinitarian, on grounds which Robert Wallace deems inconclusive. Trechsel includes him among pioneers of some of the positions of Servetus.

His followers were known as Hoffmanites or Melchiorites.

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

• Snyder, Arnold C. Anabaptist History and Theology
• Deppermann, Klaus. Melchior Hoffman: Social Unrest & Apocalyptic Vision in the Age of Reformation. ISBN 0-567-08654-2
• Estep, W Roscoe. The Anabaptist Story
• Williams, G.H. The Radical Reformation
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hoffman, Melchior". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

• Melchior Hoffman in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

Conrad Grebel (c. 1498–1526), son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman, was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement and is often called the "Father of Anabaptists".

Early life[link]

Conrad Grebel was born, probably in Grüningen in the Canton of Zurich, about 1498 to Junker Jakob and Dorothea (Fries) Grebel, the second of six children. He spent his early life in Grüningen, and then came to Zurich with his family around 1513. He spent several years abroad in study, worked as a proofreader in Basel, married in 1522, and became a Christian minister around 1523.

Education[link]

Conrad Grebel is thought to have studied for six years at the Carolina, the Latin school of the Grossmünster Church in Zürich. He enrolled at the University of Basel in October 1514. While there he studied under Heinrich Loriti, a noted humanist scholar. His father acquired a stipend from Emperor Maximilian for Conrad to study at the University of Vienna. In 1515 he began attending there and remained until 1518. While there, Grebel became close friends with Joachim Vadian,^[1] an eminent Swiss humanist professor from St. Gall. After spending three years in Vienna he returned to Zürich for about three months. His father acquired a scholarship for Conrad from the King of France to attend the University in Paris. He spent two years in study there, and joined the boarding academy of his former teacher in Basel, Loriti. In Paris Grebel engaged in a loose lifestyle, and was involved in several brawls with other students. When Grebel's father received word of his son's demeanor, he cut off Conrad's funds and demanded that he return to Zurich. Conrad Grebel spent about six years in three universities, but without finishing his education or receiving a degree.

In 1521 Grebel joined a group gathered to study with Huldrych Zwingli. With him they studied the Greek classics, the Latin Bible, the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. It was in this study group that Grebel met and became close friends with Felix Manz.

Ministry[link]

Conrad Grebel probably experienced a conversion in the spring of 1522. His life showed a dramatic change, and he became an earnest supporter of the preaching and reforms of Zwingli. He rose to leadership among Zwingli's young and enthusiastic followers. This close following and enthusiastic support of Zwingli was challenged by the Second Disputation^[2] in Zurich in October 1523. Grebel and Zwingli broke over abolishing the Mass. Zwingli argued before the council for abolishing the Mass and removing images from the church. But when he saw that the city council was not ready for such radical changes, he chose not to break with the council, and even continued to officiate at the Mass until it was abolished in May 1525. Grebel saw this as an issue of obeying God rather than men, and, with others, could not conscientiously continue in that which they had condemned as unscriptural. These young radicals felt betrayed by Zwingli, while Zwingli looked on them as irresponsible.

About 15 men broke with Zwingli, and, while taking no specific action at that time, they regularly met together for prayer, fellowship and Bible study. During this time of waiting for direction from God, they sought religious connections outside of Zürich. Grebel wrote to both Andreas Karlstadt and Martin Luther in the summer of 1524, and to Thomas Müntzer in September. Karlstadt traveled to Zürich and met with them in October of that year. Despite apparent similarities, no connection between the Zürich radicals and Karlstadt ever came to fruition. In his letter to Müntzer, Grebel encouraged Müntzer in his opposition to Luther, but also reproached him for several errors he felt he was making. He urged Müntzer not to take up arms. The letter was returned to Grebel, having never reached Müntzer.

The final question to completely sever ties between the radicals and Zwingli was the question of infant baptism. A public debate was held on January 17, 1525. Zwingli argued against Grebel, Manz and George Blaurock. The city council decided in favor of Zwingli and infant baptism, ordered the Grebel group to cease their activities, and ordered that any unbaptized infants must be submitted for baptism within 8 days. Failure to comply with the council's order would result in exile from the canton. Grebel had an infant daughter,Issabella, who had not been baptized, and he resolutely stood his ground. He did not intend for her to be baptized.

The group met together for counsel on January 21 in the home of Felix Manz. This meeting was illegal according to the new decision of the council. George Blaurock asked Grebel to baptize him upon a confession of faith.^[3] Afterward, Blaurock baptized the others who were present. As a group they pledged to hold the faith of the New Testament and live as fellow disciples separated from the world. They left the little gathering full of zeal to encourage all men to follow their example.

Being well known in Zürich, Grebel left the work to others and set out on an evangelistic mission to the surrounding cities. In February, Grebel baptized Wolfgang Ulimann by immersion in the Rhine River. Ulimann was in St. Gall, and Grebel traveled there in the spring. Conrad Grebel and Wolfgang Ulimann spent several months preaching with much success in the area of St. Gall. In the summer he went to Grüningen and preached with great effect. In October 1525 he was arrested and imprisoned. While in prison, Grebel was able to prepare a defense of the Anabaptist position on baptism.^[4] Through the help of some friends, he escaped in March 1526. He continued his ministry and was at some point able to get his pamphlet printed. Grebel removed to the Maienfeld area in the Canton of Grisons (where his oldest sister lived). Shortly after arrival he died, probably around July or August.

Works and significance[link]

The extant works of Conrad Grebel consist of 69 letters written by him from September 1517 to July 1525, three poems, a petition to the Zürich council, and portions of a pamphlet written by him against infant baptism, as quoted by Zwingli in his counterarguments. Three letters written to Grebel (Benedikt Burgauer, 1523; Vadian, 1524; and Erhard Hegenwalt, 1525) have been preserved. The majority of the 69 letters written by Grebel are from his student years, however, and shed little light on his ministry as an Anabaptist.

Though his entire life was less than 30 years, his Christian ministry was compressed into less than four years, and his time as an Anabaptist was only about a year and a half, Conrad Grebel's impact earned him the title "the Father of Anabaptists".^[5] Grebel performed the first known adult baptism associated with the Reformation, and was referred to as the "ringleader" of the Anabaptists in Zürich. Zwingli complained of no major differences with Grebel on cardinal points of theology, and minimized Grebel's differences as "unimportant outward things, such as these, whether infants or adults should be baptized and whether a Christian may be a magistrate." Yet these differences reveal a deep division of thought on the nature of the church, and the relationship of the church and the Christian to the world. The beliefs of Conrad Grebel and the Swiss Brethren have left an impression on the life and thought of Amish, Baptist, Schwarzenau Brethren/German Baptist, and Mennonite churches, as well as numerous pietistic and free church movements. Where others only longed for restitution or shrank from too much reform, Grebel and his group acted decisively and at great personal risk. Freedom of conscience and separation of church and state are two great legacies of the Anabaptist movement initiated by these Swiss Brethren.

With Petr Chelčický (1390–1460) of Bohemia, Conrad Grebel is considered one of the first nonresistant Christians of the Reformation.

Family[link]

The Grebels had been a prominent Swiss family for over a century before Conrad's birth. His father Jakob was an iron merchant and served as a magistrate in Grüningen from 1499 to 1512. After that he served as a representative on the council of the Canton of Zürich, and was also frequently called upon as an ambassador for Zürich to meetings of the Swiss Confederation. Jakob Grebel disagreed with his son's religious sentiments, but he also thought Zwingli's measures against the Anabaptists were too harsh. Jakob Grebel was executed in Zürich on October 30, 1526, having been convicted of receiving illegal funds from foreign rulers. Some scholars consider his opposition to the measures of Zwingli as a likely reason behind the execution.

Against his family's wishes, Conrad Grebel married Barbara ?? on February 6, 1522. Children were born to this union, and relatives raised the children after the death of Conrad. Ironically, the children were raised in the Reformed faith, and the family name once again became prominent in Zürich. His grandson, also named Conrad, was the city's treasurer in 1624, and a later descendant also named Conrad Grebel was burgomaster in 1669. Even in recent times, Grebel descendants have served the courts and parishes of Zürich.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Conrad Grebel — the Founder of the Swiss Brethren, by Harold S. Bender; ISBN 1-57910-157-7
• Conrad Grebel, Son of Zurich, by John Landis Ruth; ISBN 1-57910-308-1
• Mennonite Encyclopedia (5 Vols.), Harold S. Bender, Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin, Henry C. Smith, et al., editors; ISBN 0-8361-1018-8
• The Anabaptist Story, by William R. Estep; ISBN 0-8028-1594-4
• The Anabaptist Vision, by Harold S. Bender; ISBN 0-8361-1305-5

External links[link]

• Conrad Grebel in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
• Conrad Grebel: The Father of Anabaptists

Michael Sattler (c.1490 – 20 May 1527) was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing the Schleitheim Confession.

Title page of the Schleitheimer Confession (1527), bearing Sattler's name.

Born in approximately 1490 in Staufen, Germany.^[1] Sattler became a Benedictine monk in the cloister of St. Peter and most likely became prior.^[2] He left St. Peter's probably in May 1525 when the monastery had been overcome by the troops from the Black Forest fighting in the Peasants' War^[3]. He later married a former Beguine named Margaretha.^[4] When Sattler arrived in Zurich is not known except that he was in town before being expelled from the city November 18, 1525 in a wave of expulsions of foreigners resulting from the November 6-8 disputation on baptism.^[5] Some believe that Sattler is to be identified as the "Brother Michael in the white coat," mentioned in a document dated March 25 of that year,^[6] thus placing Sattler in Zurich before Snyder's estimation of when he left St. Peter's.^[7] Snyder believed that Sattler possibly arrived in Zurich to attend that disputation.^[8] He became associated with the Anabaptists and was probably rebaptised in the summer of 1526. He was involved in missionary activity around Horb and Rottenburg, and eventually traveled to Strasbourg. In February 1527 he chaired a meeting of the Swiss Brethren at Schleitheim, at which time the Schleitheim Confession was adopted.

In May 1527, Sattler was arrested by Count Joachim von Zollern, regent of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, along with his wife and several other Anabaptists. He was tried and sentenced to be executed as a heretic. The sentence to execution read, "Michael Sattler shall be committed to the executioner. The latter shall take him to the square and there first cut out his tongue, and then forge him fast to a wagon and there with glowing iron tongs twice tear pieces from his body, then on the way to the site of execution five times more as above and then burn his body to powder as an arch-heretic."^[9] The other men in the group were executed by sword, and the women, including Margaretha, were executed by drowning.

A memorial plaque at the site of his execution reads: "The Baptist Michael Sattler was executed by burning after severe torture on the 20th of May, 1527 here on the "Gallows Hill". He died as a true witness of Jesus Christ. His wife Margaretha and other members of the congregation were drowned and burned. They acted for the baptism of those who want to follow Christ, for an independent congregation of the faithful, for the peaceful message of the Sermon on the Mount."

See also[link]

• Martyrs Mirror, which includes an account of his death.

Works cited[link]

• Gstohl, Mark (2004). "Michael Sattler". Retrieved May 25, 2006.
• Horsch, John. Mennonites In Europe. Rod and Staff Publishers, 1942, 1995, pp. 70-78. Cited at http://www.anabaptists.org/history/sattler.html
• Snyder, C. Arnold. The Life and Thought of Michael Sattler. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1984. ISBN 0-8361-1264-4
• Kauffmann, Karl-Hermann Michael Sattler - ein Märtyrer der Täuferbewegung. Brosamen-Verlag Albstadt 2010 ISBN 978-3-00-032755-1
• Yoder, John Howard. The Legacy of Michael Sattler. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald, 1973. ISBN 978-0-8361-1187-3

Reflist[link]

External links[link]

• Michael Sattler in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
• Memorial stone at location of Michael Sattler's execution in Rottenburg, Germany, Sites of Memory webpage
• Theological Biography of Michael Sattler at BaptistTheology.org
• Two Kinds of Obedience Modern English version of tract usually attributed to Sattler