Anabaptism is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation. The movement is generally seen as an offshoot of Protestantism, although this view has been challenged by some Anabaptists.
Hutterites, also called Hutterian Brethren, are an ethnoreligious group that is a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century.
Menno Simons was a former Catholic priest from the Friesland region of the Low Countries who became an influential Anabaptist religious leader. Simons was a contemporary of the Protestant Reformers and it is from his name that his followers became known as Mennonites.
Theology of Anabaptism is not existent in the traditional sense of the word regarding to the Amish according to John S. Oyer, who argues in that direction in his article "Is there an Amish Theology". Oyer states that the Amish have an implicit theology that can be found in their biblical hermeneutics, but no explicit, formal and systematic theology. The Amish are not interested in the classical subjects of systematic theology, according to Oyer. It is easier to find out about their implicit theology in talking with them than reading written documents. According to Oyer, their implicit theology is practical, not theoretical. The most important written source of Amish theology, according to Oyer, is "1001 Questions and Answers on the Christian Life". Other important written sources for Anabaptist theology are the Schleitheim and Dordrecht Confessions of Faith
Balthasar Hubmaier was an influential German Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Reformation.
Pilgram Marpeck, also Pilgram Marbeck or Pilgrim Marpeck, was an important Anabaptist leader in southern Germany in the 16th century.
Jörg vom Haus Jacob, commonly known as George Blaurock, was an Anabaptist leader and evangelist. Along with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz, he was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren in Zürich, and thereby one of the founders of Anabaptism.
In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Christian Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its destiny, and its leadership.
Ludwig Haetzer was an Anabaptist.
The Radical Reformation was the response to what was believed to be the corruption in both the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, the Radical Reformation gave birth to many radical Protestant groups throughout Europe. The term covers both radical reformers like Thomas Müntzer, Andreas Karlstadt, groups like the Zwickau prophets and Anabaptist groups like the Hutterites and Mennonites.
The Ausbund is the oldest Anabaptist hymnal and one of the oldest Christian song books in continuous use. It is used today by North American Amish congregations.
Leonhard Schiemer was an early pacifist Anabaptist writer and martyr whose work survives in the Ausbund.
The Martyrs' Synod took place in Augsburg, Germany, from 20 to 24 August 1527. The purpose of this meeting, attended by about sixty representatives from different Anabaptist groups, was to come to agreement over the differences related to the central Anabaptist teachings among the Swiss and south German Anabaptists.
The Swiss Brethren are a branch of Anabaptism that started in Zürich, spread to nearby cities and towns, and then was exported to neighboring countries. Today's Swiss Mennonite Conference can be traced to the Swiss Brethren.
Ambrosius Pelargus was a German Dominican theologian. He was skilled in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. His polemical efforts were directed principally against the Anabaptists, the Iconoclasts, and those who rejected the Mass.
Protestantism is the second largest form of Christianity with collectively between 800 million and more than 900 million adherents worldwide or nearly 40% of all Christians. It originated with the 16th century Reformation, a movement against what its followers perceived to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. Protestants reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and sacraments, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They emphasize the priesthood of all believers, justification by faith alone rather than by good works, and the highest authority of the Bible alone in faith and morals. The "five solae" summarise basic theological differences in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.
Oswald Glait was a German Anabaptist and Sabbatarian. Originally a follower of Balthasar Hubmaier, in 1527 in the Nikolsburg dispute he sided with the pacifist position of Hans Hut. He then appears in Silesia, along with Andreas Fischer, as a leader of an Anabaptist group there. He penned a booklet, Vom Sabbat, advocating the (re)institution of Saturday/Sabbath keeping as a Christian practice, thus restoring what Glaidt argued had been the original practice of the Apostolic church of the New Testament. There is also good evidence in this writing that Glaidt strongly believed that Christ's Second Coming was to occur in the very near future. Glaidt appears later in the sources attached to the nascent Hutterite group in Moravia. He was arreste and imprisoned in Vienna in 1545, then taken out at night and drowned in autumn 1546.
Johannes Bünderlin was an Austrian Anabaptist. Bünderlin was a humanist Catholic priest who had been attracted to the Reformation in Moravia and was baptised by Johannes Denck. Bünderlin returned to Linz and preached there until forced to leave for Konstanz in 1529 at the invitation of Johannes Zwick, though Zwick soon considered that Bünderlin was too radical in his ideas and Bünderlin set out for Prussia.
John Horsch was a Mennonite historian and writer.
