Dirk Willems (picture) saves his pursuer. This act of mercy led to his recapture, after which he was burned at the stake near Asperen (etching from Jan Luyken in the 1685 edition of Martyrs Mirror).
Theology of Anabaptism is the beliefs of the Anabaptist movement. While the adherence to doctrine is important in Anabaptist Christianity, living righteously is stressed to a greater degree. The various branches of Anabaptist Christianity (inclusive of Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christians) take slightly different approaches to theology.
John S. Oyer argues in his article "Is there an Amish Theology" that no systematic theology exists among the Amish.[1] Oyer states that the Amish have an implicit theology that can be found in their biblical hermeneutics, but take little interest in explicit, formal, and systematic theology. 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.[2] The most important written source of Amish theology, according to Oyer, is "1001 Questions and Answers on the Christian Life".[3][4] Other important written sources for Anabaptist theology are the Schleitheim Confession and Dordrecht Confession of Faith.[5][6]
Old Order Mennonites have even fewer documents about their theology than the Amish.
The Hutterites possess an account of their belief written by Peter Riedemann (Rechenschafft unserer Religion, Leer und Glaubens) and theological tracts and letters by Hans Schlaffer, Leonhard Schiemer and Ambrosius Spittelmaier are extant.[7]
Overview
The leading elements of implicit Anabaptist theology are:
Believer's Baptism
Baptism is to be administered to believers only.
Symbolism of Holy Communion
Communion is a memorial of the death of Christ, and transubstantiation does not occur.
Restricted Communion
The bread and "fruit of the vine" should be broken with baptized believers only.
Religious Separation
Christians should be separated from the world.
Separation of church and state
Christians should not make an oath or hold the office of magistrate.
Nonresistance
Christians should not exercise coercion, whether political, physical or otherwise, most prominently illustrated by refusal to vote, engage in self-defense, or go to war.
(Note: Schwertler Anabaptists, such as Balthasar Hubmaier, were not nonresistant and supported the government; they even encouraged involvement in government.)[8]
Seven ordinances have been taught in many traditional Mennonite Anabaptist churches, which include "baptism, communion, footwashing, marriage, anointing with oil, the holy kiss, and the prayer covering."[6]
Anabaptists also regard true religious reform as involving social improvement. The socialism of the 16th century was Christian and Anabaptist, though most Anabaptists never adopted a strict communal lifestyle.
The Anabaptists practiced church discipline before any of the Reformers adopted it. Reformer Martin Bucer was influenced by them to introduce discipline into the church in Strassburg, though the attempt was not successful. Bucer convinced John Calvin of the idea, and he established church discipline in Geneva. Calvin read the Schleitheim Confession in 1544 and concluded, "these unfortunate and ungrateful people have learned this teaching and some other correct views from us." Calvin was only 18 years old and still a Catholic when the Schleitheim Confession was formed in 1527.[9][failed verification] According to Harold S. Bender and several of his colleagues, the Anabaptists were "voluntaristic in religious choice, advocates of a church completely free from state influence, biblical literalists, non-participants in any government activity to avoid moral compromise, suffering servant disciples of Jesus who emphasized moral living and who were persecuted and martyred as Jesus had been, and restitutionists who tried to restore pre-Constantinian Christian primitivism". (Note: Schwertler Anabaptists, such as Balthasar Hubmaier, were not against participation in any government activity, but even encouraged involvement in government.)[8] While within historical Anabaptism numerous variations occurred, the comparison of Anabaptism with Protestantism highlights a consistent core of faith and practice among the Anabaptists.
After Martin Luther's rejected reformation of Roman Catholicism, these groups denied the validity of infant baptism. In addition, Anabaptists rejected all Roman Catholic baptism as invalid. They therefore re-baptized those whom they regarded as not having received any Christian initiation at all, and claimed that their baptism after profession of faith was the recipient's first legitimate baptism. Reportedly, one of the first adult baptisms of the Reformation was publicly performed in Zürich, Switzerland, in January 1525.[10]
The Anabaptist view of baptism is one of its outstanding features. In their view, baptism was reserved for repentant believers who were aware that their sins had been forgiven, not unknowing infants. In this view they defied both the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformers. According to the Schleitheim Confession (1527):
"Baptism shall be given to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ, and to all those who walk in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and wish to be buried with Him in death, so that they may be resurrected with Him and to all those who with this significance request it (baptism) of us and demand it for themselves. This excludes all infant baptism, the highest and chief abomination of the Pope. In this you have the foundation and testimony of the apostles. Matt. 28, Mark 16, Acts 2, 8, 16, 19."
"Concerning baptism we confess that all penitent believers, who, through faith, regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, are made one with God, and are written in heaven, must, upon such Scriptural confession of faith, and renewing of life, be baptized with water, in the most worthy name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, according to the command of Christ, and the teaching, example, and practice of the apostles, to the burying of their sins, and thus be incorporated into the communion of the saints; henceforth to learn to observe all things which the Son of God has taught, left, and commanded His disciples."
The concept of believers' baptism drew the main attention of 16th-century Continental Anabaptists, but the mode was also an issue. The majority appear to have taught and practiced baptism by pouring, while a minority practiced baptism by immersion. The writings of Menno Simons seem at times to promote immersion as the proper mode, but his practice was by pouring. Bernhard Rothmann argued for immersion in his Bekentnisse, and Pilgram Marpeck copied this idea into his Vermanung, but weakened the position by accepting pouring or sprinkling as an alternate mode. The mode of baptism was debated by the Hutterites and the Polish Brethren around the turn of the 17th century, and the arguments for immersion by Polish leader Christoph Ostorodt were incorporated into the Racovian Confession of Faith in 1604. Servetus made a strong case for immersion. The Mennonites, Swiss Brethren, South German Anabaptists, and Hutterites were not as concerned about mode, and, while not rejecting immersion, found pouring much more practical and believed it to be the Scriptural mode.
Christology
Christology addresses the person and work of JesusChrist, relative to his divinity, humanity, and work of salvation. The 16th-century Anabaptists were orthodox Trinitarians accepting both the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ and salvation through his death on the cross. In the area of his humanity certain Anabaptists adopted somewhat different views, which left them open to charges of heresy. Melchior Hoffman, Menno Simons, Dirk Philips and others held and taught an idea which has been dubbed "celestial flesh". Hans Denck (1500–1527) held a view often called "Logos Christology", but his view was much less influential on the movement as a whole.
In attempting to explain how Jesus Christ's two natures came to be, Menno Simons and Dirk Philips concluded and taught that Jesus did not derive his humanity from Mary. This view has also been called the doctrine of "heavenly flesh" and "Incarnational Christology". In this view they were dependent on Melchior Hoffman, who probably was influenced in this view by Kaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig. Hoffman wrote, "We have now heard enough that the whole seed of Adam, be it of man, woman, or virgin, is cursed and delivered to eternal death. Now if the body of Jesus Christ was also such flesh and of this seed ... it follows that the redemption has not yet happened. For the seed of Adam belongs to Satan and is the property of the devil." Similarly Menno concluded: "In the same manner the heavenly Seed, namely, the Word of God, was sown in Mary, and by her faith, being conceived in her by the Holy Ghost, became flesh, and was nurtured in her body; and thus it is called the fruit of her womb, that same as a natural fruit or offspring is called the fruit of its natural mother." In 1632, 71 years after the death of Menno Simons, and near the end of the first century of Dutch Anabaptism, mention of Menno's Christology was left out of the Dordrecht Confession of Faith. Not only was the "celestial flesh" doctrine a point of controversy between Mennonites and Protestants in the 16th and early 17th centuries, it was also a source of controversy between Anabaptist groups.
In Poland and the Netherlands, certain Anabaptists denied the Trinity, hence the saying that a Socinian was a learned Baptist (see Socinus.) With these Menno and his followers refused to hold communion. Italian Anabaptism had an anti-trinitarian core but was a part of Anabaptism in general. In his work, Stella showed that movement's connections to Neapolitan spiritualism, (especially Juan de Valdés), but also made the connection to the Marranos as well.
Lord's Supper
In the early Anabaptist Schleitheim Confession, breaking of bread is the term used for the Lord's supper or communion. The Anabaptist view of the Lord's supper is similar to the Zwinglian or symbolism view. The corporate nature (fellowship, unity) of participation is emphasized to a greater degree than in many communions. Pilgram Marpeck wrote, "As members of one body, we proclaim the death of Christ and bodily union attained by untainted brotherly love." The terminology sacrament is generally rejected. Marpeck further wrote, "The true meaning of communion is mystified and obscured by the word sacrament." In connection with the Lord's supper, many Anabaptists stress the rite of feet washing. Anabaptists locate the presence of Jesus not in the eucharistic elements themselves, but teach that the "mystery of communion with the living Christ in his Supper comes into being by the power of the Spirit, dwelling in and working through the collected members of Christ’s Body".[11] As such, in celebrations of Holy Communion, "Anabaptist congregations looked to the living Christ in their hearts and in their midst, who transformed members and elements together into a mysterious communion, creating his Body in many members, ground like grains and crushed like grapes, into one bread and one drink."[11]
Old Testament
Most Anabaptists held that both the Old and New Testaments were the word of God, while insisting that the New Testament was the rule of faith and practice for the church. Some emphasized this latter position so strongly that the Anabaptists were at times accused of rejecting the Old Testament (Marcionism). This charge of their enemies remains unsubstantiated. Anabaptists Hans Denck and Ludwig Hätzer were responsible for the first translation of the Old Testament Prophets from Hebrew into the German language. On the other hand, the Münsterites accepted Old Testament practices such as theocracy and polygamy as normative for the church.
Non-Resistance
Most Anabaptist hold that violence is wrong, as is supporting violence though personal actions such as joining the military. This would also include opposition to abortion and capital punishment. In 1918, three Hutterite brothers, David, Joseph, and Michael Hofer, and Joseph's brother-in-law Jacob Wipf were imprisoned on Alcatraz for refusal to join the US military. Two of them, Joseph and Michael Hofer, died in late 1918 shortly after their transfer to a prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.[12] The Bruderhof is another Anabaptist church that is strongly pacifist, believing that personal property is a form of injustice.[13]
Woman's veiling
Anabaptist Christianity traditionally calls for the wearing of a headcovering by women in obedience to 1 Corinthians 11:1–16. A conservative Anabaptist publication titled The Significance of the Christian Woman's Veiling, authored by Merle Ruth, teaches with regard to the continual wearing of the headcovering by believing women, that it is:[14]
…worn to show that the wearer is in God's order. A sister should wear the veiling primarily because she is a woman, not because she periodically prays of teaches. It is true that verses 4 and 5 speak of the practice in relation to times of praying and prophesying. But very likely it was for such occasions that the Corinthians had begun to feel they might omit the practice in the name of Christian liberty. The correction would naturally be applied first to the point of violation. Greek scholars have pointed out that the clause "Let her be covered" is the present, active, imperative form, which gives the meaning, "Let her continue to be veiled."[14]
...salvation by faith through grace, but such faith must bear “visible fruit in repentance, conversion, regeneration, obedience, and a new life dedicated to the love of God and the neighbor, by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[15]
For Anabaptists, "ordinances brought one into conformity with the truth of Jesus Christ, whose life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection had so fundamentally altered all of humanity and creation that human beings were now capable of works of loving obedience that revealed the indwelling presence of God in Christ in all people."[16] Obedience to Jesus and a careful keeping of the Ten Commandments, in addition to loving one another and being at peace with others, are seen as "earmarks of the saved".[17] Good works thus have an important role in the life of an Anabaptist believer,[18] with the teaching "that faith without works is a dead faith" (cf. James 2:26) occupying a cornerstone in Anabaptist Christianity.[19]
Anabaptism seems to have influenced Jacobus Arminius.[20] At least, he was “sympathetic to the Anabaptist point of view, and Anabaptists were commonly in attendance on his preaching.”[21] While Anabaptism has a unique conceptualization of soteriology,[22] the soteriological doctrines of Arminianism and Anabaptism are similar in some ways.[20][21] Anabaptists "dismissed the Lutheran doctrine of justification, a dead faith as they called it, which was unable to produce Christian love and good works."[23]
↑ John S. Oyer: Is there an Amish Theology in Lydie Hege et Christoph Wiebe: Les Amish: origine et particularismes 1693-1993, The Amish: origin and characteristics 1693-1993, Ingersheim, 1996, pages 278-302.
↑ John S. Oyer: Is there an Amish Theology in Lydie Hege et Christoph Wiebe: Les Amish: origine et particularismes 1693-1993, The Amish: origin and characteristics 1693-1993, Ingersheim, 1996, page 300.
↑ 1001 Questions and Answers on the Christian Life, written by 20 members of the Amish ministry and lay people in various communities, published by Pathway Publishers, Aylmer, Ontario and Lagrange, Indiana, 1992.
↑ Hershberger, Guy F. (March 6, 2001). The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p.65. ISBN9781579106003. The Schleitheim articles are Anabaptism's oldest confessional document.
1 2 Hartzler, Rachel Nafziger (30 April 2013). No Strings Attached: Boundary Lines in Pleasant Places: A History of Warren Street / Pleasant Oaks Mennonite Church. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN978-1-62189-635-7.
↑ Volf, Miroslav; Volf, Dorothy C. (26 October 2001). Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p.139. ISBN978-0-8028-4931-1.
↑ Hauerwas, Stanley (2015). The Work of Theology. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p.63. ISBN978-0-8028-7190-9.
↑ Janzen, Rod (4 May 2009). Paul Tschetter: The Story of a Hutterite Immigrant Leader, Pioneer, and Pastor. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p.9. ISBN978-1-7252-4463-4.
John S. Oyer: Is there an Amish Theology, in Lydie Hege et Christoph Wiebe: Les Amish: origine et particularismes 1693–1993, The Amish: origin and characteristics 1693–1993, Ingersheim, 1996, pages 278–302.
1001 Questions and Answers on the Christian Life, written by 20 members of the Amish ministry and lay people in various communities, published by Pathway Publishers, Aylmer, Ontario and Lagrange, Indiana, 1992.
John D. Rempel: Lords Supper In Anabaptism; A Study In The Christology Of Balthasar Hubmaier, Pilgram Marpeck, And Dirk Philips, Toronto, 1986.
Robert J. Friedmann: The Theology of Anabaptism: An Interpretation, (Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History), Harrisonburg, Virginia, 1973.
William Klassen: Covenant and Community: the Life and Writing of Pilgram Marpeck, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1968.
Rollin S. Armour: Anabaptist Baptism: A Representative Study, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, 1966.
Franklin H. Littell: The Anabaptist View of the Church, Philadelphia], 1952.
Anabaptism is a Protestant Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation.
Mennonites are members of certain Protestant Christian groups belonging to the church communities of Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings, Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders, with the early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus, which the original Anabaptist followers held with great conviction, despite persecution by various Roman Catholic and Protestant states. Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632, which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church, strict nonresistace, and in general, more emphasis on true Christianity involving being Christian and obeying Christ".
Hutterites, also called Hutterian Brethren, are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century and have formed intentional communities.
Jakob Ammann was an Anabaptist leader and namesake of the Amish religious movement.
The Schleitheim Confession was the most representative statement of Anabaptist principles, by a group of Swiss Anabaptists in 1527 in Schleitheim, Switzerland.
Menno Simons was a Roman 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.
A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, peculiar history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worship style and sometimes a founder. It is a secular and neutral term, generally used to denote any established Christian church. Unlike a cult or sect, a denomination is usually seen as part of the Christian religious mainstream. Most Christian denominations self-describe as Churches, whereas some newer ones tend to use the terms churches, assemblies, fellowships, etc., interchangeably. Divisions between one group and another are defined by authority and doctrine; issues such as the nature of Jesus, the authority of apostolic succession, biblical hermeneutics, theology, ecclesiology, eschatology, and papal primacy may separate one denomination from another. Groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as "branches of Christianity". These branches differ in many ways, especially through differences in practices and belief.
The Missionary Church is an evangelical Christian denomination of Anabaptist origins with Wesleyan and Pietist influences.
The Conservative Mennonite Conference (CMC) is a Christian body of Conservative Mennonite churches in the Anabaptist tradition. Its members are mostly of Amish descent.
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.
BernhardRothmann was a 16th-century reformer and an Anabaptist leader in the city of Münster. He was born in Stadtlohn, Westphalia, around 1495.
The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in 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 radical reformers like Thomas Müntzer and Andreas Karlstadt, the Zwickau prophets, and Anabaptist groups like the Hutterites and the Mennonites.
Memorialism is the belief held by some Christian denominations that the elements of bread and wine in the Eucharist are purely symbolic representations of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the feast being established only or primarily as a commemorative ceremony. The term comes from the Gospel of Luke 22:19: "Do this in remembrance of me", and the attendant interpretation that the Lord's Supper's chief purpose is to help the participant remember Jesus and his sacrifice on the Cross.
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.
An ordinance is a religious ritual whose intent is to demonstrate an adherent's faith. Examples include baptism and the Lord's Supper, as practiced in Evangelical churches adhering to the doctrine of the believers' Church, such as Anabaptists, all Baptist churches, Churches of Christ groups, and Pentecostal churches.
Conservative Mennonites include numerous groups that identify with the more conservative or traditional element among Mennonite Anabaptist Christian groups, but who are not Old Order groups. The majority of Conservative Mennonite churches historically have an Amish Mennonite background, in addition to a number of congregations with a formerly mainstream Mennonite background, who then left to form or join Conservative Mennonite fellowships.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Protestantism:
The believers' Church is a theological doctrine of Evangelical Christianity that teaches that one becomes a member of the Church by new birth and profession of faith. Adherence to this doctrine is a common feature of defining an Evangelical Christianity church.
Neo-Anabaptism is a Christian theological movement in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century inspired by classical Anabaptism. According to Stuart Murray, neo-Anabaptists "identify with the Anabaptist tradition and are happy to be known as Anabaptists, but have no historic or cultural links with any Anabaptist-related denomination".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Christianityportal 
