John Howard Yoder - Wikipedia

John Howard Yoder - Wikipedia



John Howard Yoder
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John Howard Yoder

Born December 29, 1927

Near Smithville, Ohio, US
Died December 30, 1997 (aged 70)

South Bend, Indiana, US
Residence Elkhart, Indiana, US
Spouse(s)
Anne Marie Guth (m. 1952)[1]


John Howard Yoder (1927–1997) was an American theologian and ethicist best known for his defense of Christian pacifism. His most influential book was The Politics of Jesus, which was first published in 1972. Yoder was Mennonite and wrote from an Anabaptist perspective. He spent the latter part of his career teaching at the University of Notre Dame.

In 1992, media reports emerged that Yoder had sexually abused women in preceding decades, with as many as over 50 complainants. The Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary acknowledged in a statement from 2014 that sexual abuse had taken place.[undue weight? – discuss]


Contents
1Life
2Thought
3The Politics of Jesus
4Sexual abuse

5Selected works
5.1Articles and book chapters

6See also
7References
7.1Footnotes
7.2Bibliography
8External links

Life[edit]

Yoder was born on December 29, 1927, near Smithville, Ohio.[1] He earned his undergraduate degree from Goshen College where he studied under the Mennonitetheologian Harold S. Bender.[15] He completed his Doctor of Theology degree at the University of Basel, Switzerland, studying under Karl Barth, Oscar Cullmann, Walther Eichrodt, and Karl Jaspers.

After the Second World War, Yoder traveled to Europe to direct relief efforts for the Mennonite Central Committee. Yoder was instrumental in reviving European Mennonites following the war. Upon returning to the United States, he spent a year working at his father's greenhouse business in Wooster, Ohio.

Yoder began his teaching career at Goshen Biblical Seminary. He was Professor of Theology at Goshen Biblical Seminary and Mennonite Biblical Seminary (the two seminaries that formed what is now called Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) from 1958 to 1961 and from 1965 to 1984. While still teaching at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, he also began teaching at the University of Notre Dame, where he became a Professor of Theology and eventually a Fellow of the Institute for International Peace Studies.

Yoder sexually abused over 100 women during the 1970s and 1980s while at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. The abuse was widely rumored, but not acted upon even when board members became aware of the numerous accusations. The Elkhart Truth first reported on the allegations June 29, 1992.[16] The seminary has acknowledged Yoder's crimes against women and has apologized for not acting on them at the time.[17]

Yoder died on December 30, 1997. His personal papers are housed at the Mennonite Church USA Archives.

Thought[edit]


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Yoder is best remembered for his work related to Christian ethics. Rejecting the assumption that human history is driven by coercive power, Yoder argued that it was rather God – working in, with, and through the nonviolent, nonresistant community of disciples of Jesus – who has been the ultimate force in human affairs. If the Christian church in the past made alliances with political rulers, it was because it had lost confidence in this truth.

He called the arrangement whereby the state and the church each supported the goals of the other Constantinianism, and he regarded this arrangement as a dangerous and constant temptation. He argued that the early Church was a subversive community, but later after the rise of Constantine the Great the Church came to desire power and political influence. Yoder called this the Constantinian shift. He further argued that Jesus himself rejected this temptation, even to the point of dying a horrible and cruel death. Resurrecting Jesus from the dead was, in this view, God's way of vindicating Christ's unwavering obedience. Constantine Revisited: Leithart, Yoder, and the Constantinian Debate (2013), edited by John D. Roth, is a collection of essays by Christian pacifists addressing the scholarly debate between Yoder and Peter Leithart about the nature of the Emperor Constantine's impact on Christianity. In his book Constanttine Revisited,' Leithart opposed Yoder's argument that God preferred Christians to remain a powerless, defenseless minority.[18]

Likewise, Yoder argued, the primary responsibility of Christians is not to take over society and impose their convictions and values on people who don't share their faith, but to "be the church." By refusing to return evil for evil, by living in peace, sharing goods, and doing deeds of charity as opportunities arise, the church witnesses, says Yoder, to the fact that an alternative to a society based on violence or the threat of violence has been made possible by the life, death, resurrection and teachings of Jesus. Yoder claims that the church thus lives in the conviction that God calls Christians to imitate the way of Christ in his absolute obedience, even if it leads to their deaths, for they, too, will finally be vindicated in resurrection.

In bringing traditional Mennonite convictions to the attention of a wider critical audience, Yoder reenergized stale theological debates over foundational Christian ecclesiological, Christological, and ethical beliefs. Yoder rejected Enlightenment presuppositions, epitomized by Immanuel Kant, about the possibility of a universal, rational ethic. Abandoning the search for a universal ethic underlying Christian and non-Christian morality, as well as attempts to "translate" Christian convictions into a common moral parlance, he argued that what is expected of Christians, morally, need not be binding for all people. Yoder defended himself against charges of incoherence and hypocrisy by arguing for the legitimacy of moral double standards, and by pointing out that since world affairs are ultimately governed by God's providence, Christians are better off being the Church, than following compromised moral systems that try to reconcile biblical revelation with the necessities of governance.

The Politics of Jesus

Of his many books, the most widely recognized has undoubtedly been The Politics of Jesus (1972); it has been translated into at least ten languages. In it, Yoder argues against popular views of Jesus, particularly those views held by Reinhold Niebuhr, which he believed to be dominant in the day. 

Niebuhr argued for a realist philosophy, which Yoder felt failed to take seriously the call or person of Jesus Christ. After showing what he believed to be inconsistencies of Niebuhr's perspective, Yoder attempted to demonstrate by an exegesis of the Gospel of Luke and parts of Paul's letter to the Romans that, in his view, a radical Christian pacifism was the most faithful approach for the disciple of Christ. Yoder argued that being Christian is a political standpoint and that Christians ought not ignore that calling.

The Politics of Jesus was ranked by the evangelical publication Christianity Today as the fifth most important Christian book of the 20th century.[19]

Sexual abuse[edit]

According to articles in The Elkhart Truth, allegations that Yoder had sexually abused, harassed, and assaulted women circulated for decades and became known in wider Christian circles, but were never publicly acknowledged until 1992.[20][full citation needed]After repeated institutional failures to address these abuses a group of victims threatened to engage in a public protest at a Bethel College (in North Newton, Kansas) conference where Yoder was to be a speaker. The college President rescinded Yoder's invitation, the student newspaper reported the story, and one of the victims reported that Bethel was "the first institution in the church that has taken this seriously".[21][full citation needed] The Elkhart Truth articles detail extensive allegations of harassment of students and others.[20][full citation needed]

From the summer of 1992 to the summer of 1996, Yoder submitted to the discipline of the Indiana–Michigan Conference of the Mennonite Church for allegations of sexual misconduct. Yoder's writing in the unpublished 1995 book The Case for Punishment suggested he believed he was the innocent scapegoat of a conspiracy. Upon the conclusion of the process, the church urged Yoder "to use his gifts of writing and teaching."[22]

Despite the allegations of abuse, Yoder's obituary in The New York Times did not mention any improprieties.[23] Sixteen years after his death, in October 2013, The New York Timesran an article discussing the allegations, quoting one of the complainants Carolyn Heggen who claimed that more than 50 women "said that Mr. Yoder had touched them or made advances." The article also discussed the recent formation of a support group for victims.[24]

More recently, the Mennonite church and Christian peace theologians are actively trying to come to grips with the sexual abuse – and apparent institutional cover-up – which taints the legacy of John Howard Yoder.[25]

In October 2014, the governing board of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) released the following statement:


With a desire to contribute to the larger church discernment process and to own the specific responsibility of the seminary, the AMBS board in their October 23–25 meeting approved a statement acknowledging the pain suffered by women who were victimized by Yoder:


As an AMBS Board, we lament the terrible abuse many women suffered from John Howard Yoder. We also lament that there has not been transparency about how the seminary's leadership responded at that time or any institutional public acknowledgement of regret for what went so horribly wrong. We commit to an ongoing, transparent process of institutional accountability which the president along with the board chair initiated, including work with the historian who will provide a scholarly analysis of what transpired. We will respond more fully once the historical account is published. We also support the planning of an AMBS-based service of lament, acknowledgement and hope in March 2015.

Seminary leaders held an AMBS-based gathering, including a Service of Lament, Confession, and Hope on the weekend of March 21–22, 2015.[26]

The historian Rachel Waltner Goossen was commissioned by Mennonite Church USA to produce a complete report chronicling Yoder's sexual abuse and church responses to it, which was published in January 2015.[25][27

Selected works[edit]
The Christian and Capital Punishment (1961)
Christ and the Powers (translator) by Hendrik Berkhof (1962)
The Christian Pacifism of Karl Barth (1964)
The Christian Witness to the State (1964)
Discipleship as Political Responsibility (1964)
Reinhold Niebuhr and Christian Pacifism (1968)
Karl Barth and the Problem of War (1970)
The Original Revolution: Essays on Christian Pacifism (1971)
Nevertheless: The Varieties and Shortcomings of Religious Pacifism (1971)
The Politics of Jesus (1972)[28]
The Legacy of Michael Sattler, editor and translator (1973)
The Schleitheim Confession, editor and translator (1977)
Christian Attitudes to War, Peace, and Revolution: A Companion to Bainton (1983)
What Would You Do? A Serious Answer to a Standard Question (1983)
God's Revolution: The Witness of Eberhard Arnold, editor (1984)
The Priestly Kingdom: Social Ethics as Gospel (1984)
When War Is Unjust: Being Honest In Just-War Thinking (1984)
He Came Preaching Peace (1985)
The Fullness of Christ: Paul's Revolutionary Vision of Universal Ministry (1987)
The Death Penalty Debate: Two Opposing Views of Capital Punishment (1991)
A Declaration of Peace: In God's People the World's Renewal Has Begun (with Douglas Gwyn, George Hunsinger, and Eugene F. Roop) (1991)
Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World(1991)
The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiological and Ecumenical (1994)
Authentic Transformation: A New Vision of Christ and Culture (with Glen Stassen and Diane Yeager) (1996)
For the Nations: Essays Evangelical and Public (1997)
To Hear the Word (2001)
Preface to Theology: Christology and Theological Method (2002)
Karl Barth and the Problem of War, and Other Essays on Barth (2003)
The Jewish-Christian Schism Revisited (2003)
Anabaptism and Reformation in Switzerland: An Historical and Theological Analysis of the Dialogues Between Anabaptists and Reformers (2004)
The War of the Lamb: The Ethics of Nonviolence and Peacemaking (2009)
Christian Attitudes to War, Peace and Revolution (2009)
Nonviolence: A Brief History – The Warsaw Lectures (2010)
Theology of Mission: A Believers Church Perspective (2014)
Articles and book chapters[edit]
(1988) The Evangelical Round Table: The Sanctity of Life (Volume 3)
(1991) Declaration on Peace: In God's People the World's Renewal Has Begun
(1997) God's Revolution: Justice, Community, and the Coming Kingdom
See also[edit]

Anabaptism portal
Biography portal
Christian anarchism
Disciple (Christianity) § Radical discipleship
Liberation theology
List of peace activists
Peace and conflict studies
Peace churches
Radical Christianity
References[edit]
Footnotes[edit]

^ Jump up to:a b c Nation 2011.
^ Jump up to:a b Dorrien 2009, p. 460.
^ Nation 2006, p. 32.
^ Zimmerman 2015, p. 148.
^ Zimmerman 2015, pp. 148–149.
^ Moore 2011, p. iv; Zimmerman 2015, pp. 148–149.
^ Yoder 2013.
^ Weaver 1999, p. 638.
^ Dawn 2015, p. xi.
^ Smith 2016, p. 165.
^ Dayton 2007, p. 425.
^ Goossen 2015, p. 9.
^ Heide 2009, p. 79.
^ Chaves 2013, p. 71.
^ Nation 2003, pp. 360–363.
^ Price, Tom (June 29, 1992). "Theologian Cited in Sex Inquiry". The Elkhart Truth. Elkhart, Indiana. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
^ Sokol, Michelle (April 9, 2015). "Mennonite Seminary Apologizes to Victims of Famed Theologian". National Catholic Reporter. 51 (13). p. 5. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
^ "Review of Constantine Revisited: Leithart, Yoder, and the Constantinian Debate, Edited by John D. Roth". The Christian Century. June 3, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
^ "Books of the Century". Christianity Today. April 24, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
^ Jump up to:a b Price, Tom (1992). "John Howard Yoder's Sexual Misconduct". The Elkhart (Indiana) Truth. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
^ Mennonite Weekly Review. March 12, 1992.
^ Nation 2003.
^ Steinfels, Peter (January 7, 1998). "John H. Yoder, Theologian At Notre Dame, Is Dead at 70". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
^ Oppenheimer, Mark (October 11, 2013). "A Theologian's Influence, and Stained Past, Live On". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
^ Jump up to:a b Goossen 2015.
^ Klassen, Mary E. (December 5, 2014). "AMBS Service to Acknowledge Harm from Yoder Actions". The Mennonite. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
^ Huber, Tim (January 5, 2015). "New Sources Give Clearer View of Abuse by Theologian". Mennonite World Review. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
^ Yoder 1994.
Bibliography[edit]
Chaves, João B. (2013). Evangelicals and Liberation Revisited: An Inquiry into the Possibility of an Evangelical-Liberationist Theology. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 978-1-62189-692-0.Dawn, Marva J. (2015). "Foreword". In Weaver, J. Denny (ed.). John Howard Yoder: Radical Theologian. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press. pp. xi–xiii. ISBN 978-0-7188-9394-1. JSTOR j.ctt1cgdz25.Dayton, Donald W. (2007). "An Autobiographical Response". In Collins Winn, Christian T. (ed.). From the Margins: A Celebration of the Theological Work of Donald W. Dayton. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. pp. 383–426. ISBN 978-1-63087-832-0.Dorrien, Gary (2009). Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4443-0577-7.Goossen, Rachel Waltner (2015). "'Defanging the Beast': Mennonite Responses to John Howard Yoder's Sexual Abuse" (PDF). Mennonite Quarterly Review. 89 (1): 7–80. ISBN 978-0-8361-9971-0. ISSN 0025-9373. Retrieved March 12, 2019.Heide, Gale (2009). System and Story: Narrative Critique and Construction in Theology. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. ISBN 978-1-63087-797-2.Moore, Charles E. (2011). Introduction. Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution (PDF). By Trocmé, André. Rifton, New York: Plough Publishing House. pp. v–xi. Retrieved March 12, 2019.Nation, Mark Thiessen (2003). "John Howard Yoder: Mennonite, Evangelical, Catholic". The Mennonite Quarterly Review. 77 (3): 357–370. ISSN 0025-9373. Retrieved March 12,2019. ——— (2006). John Howard Yoder: Mennonite Patience, Evangelical Witness, Catholic Convictions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-3940-4. ——— (2011). "Yoder, John Howard (1927–1997)". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved March 12, 2019.Smith, Graham R. (2016). The Church Militant: Spiritual Warfare in the Anglican Charismatic Renewal. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. ISBN 978-1-4982-2944-9.Weaver, Alain Epp (1999). "After Politics: John Howard Yoder, Body Politics, and the Witnessing Church". The Review of Politics. 61 (4): 637–673. ISSN 1748-6858. JSTOR 1408403.Yoder, John Howard (1994). The Politics of Jesus (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-85364-620-4. ——— (2013) [1959]. "Zofingen Disputation". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved March 13, 2019.Zimmerman, Earl (2015). "Oscar Cullmann and Radical Discipleship". In Weaver, J. Denny (ed.). John Howard Yoder: Radical Theologian. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press. pp. 145–166. ISBN 978-0-7188-9394-1. JSTOR j.ctt1cgdz25.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: John Howard Yoder

The Yoder Index. "A searchable index of the writings of John Howard Yoder" by John Nugent, Branson Parler, and Jason Vance.
A simplified summary of John H. Yoder's book: The Politics of Jesus at the Wayback Machine (archived March 18, 2008) by Nathan Hobby with James Patton
Remembering John Howard Yoder, by Stanley Hauerwas, First Things
John Howard Yoder at Find a Grave
Articles and video of John Howard Yoder, New online articles and video of Yoder, by Jesus Radicals
John H. Yoder Reading Room, Online texts by and on Yoder (Tyndale Seminary)
John Howard Yoder Digital Collection, Primarily unpublished works by Yoder, (by Goshen College Mennonite Historical Library, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and Mennonite Church USA Archives)

The Upside-Down Kingdom: Anniversary Edition eBook: Donald B. Kraybill, Lisa Sharon Harper: Amazon.com.au: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.

The Upside-Down Kingdom: Anniversary Edition eBook: Donald B. Kraybill, Lisa Sharon Harper: Amazon.com.au: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.






In the anniversary edition of the classic book The Upside-Down Kingdom, author Donald B. Kraybill calls readers to imagine and embody the reign of God on earth as it is in heaven. Since its publication in 1978, The Upside-Down Kingdom has become the most-trusted resource on radical Christian discipleship. 

• What does it mean to follow the Christ who traded victory and power for hanging out with the poor and forgiving his enemies? 
• How did a man in first-century Palestine threaten the established order, and what does that mean for us today? 
• What would happen if Christians replaced force with service, violence with love, and nationalism with allegiance to Jesus?

Product description

Review

“A remarkable achievement.”—Stanley Hauerwas


“As provocative as the disciples of Jesus.”—Tom Sine


“A sustained challenge to examine familiar realities in a completely new way. . . A wonderful tool to stimulate the sociological imagination.”—João Monteiro


“Both refreshing and provocative, as the surprises of Jesus’ kingdom ought to be.”—Mark Lau Branson


“Rich fare for self-examination.”—Mary Lynne Rapien


“Not only challenges Christians to resist cultural conformity but also urges people to practice upside-down living rooted in God’s reign.”—Young Lee Hertig


“Trends toward bigness, shininess, and power have only accelerated in the twenty-first century, making The Upside-Down Kingdom more relevant than ever.”—David R. Swartz


“Compels us to reconsider what life in the kingdom of God should look like.”—Discipleship Journal


“The kingdom is still upside down! Kraybill challenges us to translate this upside-down kingdom into our lives today.”—Reta Halteman Finger


“This book gave me great courage, a sense of the ethics of relationships that invite us to embody the love exemplified in Jesus’ life.”—John Paul Lederach

About the Author

Donald B. Kraybill is internationally recognized for his scholarship on Anabaptist groups. His books, research, and commentary have been featured in national and worldwide media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, CNN, and NBC. He is a distinguished college professor and senior fellow emeritus at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. Kraybill is the author, coauthor, or editor of many books, including Amish Grace, The Amish Way, Renegade Amish, and The Riddle of Amish Culture.

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The Upside-Down Kingdom: Anniversary Edition Kindle Edition
by Donald B. Kraybill (Author), Lisa Sharon Harper (Foreword)
4.8 out of 5 stars 27 reviews from Amazon.com


Length: 320 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting:Enabled
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Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 2440 KB
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Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com
Amazon.com: 4.8 out of 5 stars 27 reviews

Arthur Sido
4.0 out of 5 starsGreat book with a few cautions2 October 2011 - Published on Amazon.com
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It took me a while but I finally finished Donald Kraybill's The Upside-Down Kingdom. Kraybill is Distinguished College Professor, and Senior Fellow of Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, which is a pretty impressive title, at least for its length, and one of the foremost experts on Anabaptism and especially the Amish in the world. The Upside-Down Kingdom (UPK for short) is not a book on Anabaptism per se but rather a look at the way that Christ's Kingdom is in every respect the exact opposite of what the world values. Up is down, great is least.

UPK is a fascinating book and challenging to boot. Some of the background information that Kraybill shares is absolutely incredible and really fleshes out portions of Scripture. He does a great job of drawing out from Scripture some crucial points regarding status, power, wealth, etc. that we take for granted and showing the reader where we have strayed far from the intent of Scripture. It is a pretty devastating indictment of our traditional church culture in the West and should make any open-minded Christian ask some serious questions and take a deep introspective look. There are a few slow points but the book as a whole flows beautifully and reads easily while still be meaty.

That isn't to say that I don't have concerns. I do with every book but UPK has some issues that are especially concerning. First Kraybill seems pretty comfortable with traditional church structures. He certainly has criticisms of them but he seems to miss in places that the very traditions we cling to in many ways hamper living as citizens of the Upside-Down Kingdom. He also takes great liberties in assigning motivations and emotions, especially to Christ, that are absent from the text. What Jesus, the eternal God, is thinking in a situation is not a topic I am comfortable making definitive statements about.
My bigger concern has to do with how Christ is represented and how His cross is understood. The language about the deity of Christ and the relationship between God the Father and God the Son is a bit sloppy and imprecise. Someone could read this book and perhaps get the impression that God is the Father is God and that Jesus is something less than God. His treatment of the cross is even more troubling. Statements like this for example...

"...Jesus demolished the entire sacrificial system when he announced full forgiveness, direct from God - any time, any place without a bloody sacrifice." (The Upside-Down Kingdom, pg. 248)

Kraybill seems to be saying that the sacrificial system was overturned symbolically and finally when Jesus overturned the money changers tables in the temple and that the cross is primarily the result of the social unrest caused by a life of radical service. The problem is that this is doesn't match Scripture which tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22) and that Jesus brought peace between man and God by His shed blood on the cross (Col 1:20). So there are certainly some places where red flags popped up in an otherwise outstanding book.

So in summary I would absolutely recommend The Upside-Down Kingdom to most Christians but I would add a note of caution. Read with your eyes (and Scriptures!) wide open and be discerning in places where Kraybill starts to stray from orthodox teachings. I would caution a newer believer who is not solidly grounded in the Bible to be very cautious here. Perhaps read in the context of a study group UPK would work but I would be concerned that a new believer would miss some of the red flags I saw. I don't want to give the impression that this is not an outstanding book because it absolutely is and one I highly recommend. Just read with caution, which is good advice for any book!
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Willys Wrencher
4.0 out of 5 starsLiving like Jesus Christ4 May 2010 - Published on Amazon.com
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"The Upside-Down Kingdom" by Donald B. Kraybill is an excellent book challenging all Christians to radically live out the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings of Jesus Christ. Mr. Kraybill, a sociologist and Christian of Anabaptist/Mennonite background, correctly and lovingly challenges Christians to abandon the philosophies of this world in order to accurately represent the Kingdom of God on earth.

The Upside-Down Kingdom shows that the Kingdom of God really is opposed to any worldly system of thinking or government. To win, you must lose. To live, you must die. To gain, you must live. Every one of Christ's commands are the direct opposite of those taught by the leading thinkers of the world. If Christians are to impact their generation for the Kingdom of God we must start living like true ambassadors of the Kingdom.

I give this book four starts because I thought it was slightly repetitive at points and not quite as conservative in some of its views as I would have liked. The main instance of this is when the author contrasts the Greek definitions of "love" in a way that I think stretches sound exegesis. This is common in modern evangelicalism but is really not as significant as Mr. Kraybill would have us believe. However, this book is still a great, easy read and will certainly challenge those who want to live like Jesus did.
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5 people found this helpful

Gabbarta
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Upside-Down Kingdom3 March 2011 - Published on Amazon.com
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In order for us to have a clear understanding the theology of Kingdom we have to know who Jesus are without any cultural, theological, spiritual, or philosophical assumptions, or what the author calls detours around Jesus. We have to know Him from his own story and words. Therefore, Kraybill's the theology of Kingdom is based on the story of Jesus Christ and centered on His ministry. He provides a biblical framework for understanding the kingdom.
The author calls the Kingdom that Jesus preached the upside down kingdom of radically different principles and values, because its realization stands in contrast to the common ways of this world. The king of this Kingdom is God (the author uses Jesus sometimes), and its principle are Jubilees, Sabbath and Shalom that were insinuated in Jesus' words and message, and their main goal is to elevate men and women from the social, political, religious monarchal, economical labels or boxes to the level of siblings in the Kingdom. However, these principles contradict with the principles of the world. He explains that the political and religious power plays had drastic effects on the economic life of the majority poor. Therefore, Jesus himself has to face the three spheres of social power: politics, economics and religion.
The author believes that Jesus teaching on kingdom is personal and realistic, and it is not to be lived aggregately but collectively. By personal, I mean that God rules in believer's heart and relationships to elevate them to a new status. By realistic I mean it could be applied to our live wherever and whenever human live. We can envision this in the church as assembly of people who are citizens of the Kingdom, and who adopt the idea and the values of the Kingdom in any culture they reside in. Because believers are, like any other human beings, social, they need a social structure to meet their needs and the needs of others. The church is the social structure that the values and culture of the Kingdom are practiced and passed on to others. Therefore, church as a "social vehicle" of the Kingdom culture uses its "servant structure" to accomplish Kingdom's mission, which is church's work. Its mission is to be the prophetic voice in the world against social discrimination, political oppression, religious scandals, and economic injustice according to God's purpose and will. In another level, the author criticizes the institutional church. He believes that Kingdom of God is above any place, nation, and culture. However, as the author get to the end of this point, he ultimately realized that we need to periodically evaluate the rule and purpose of its activities.
Being from an Anabaptists background, the author articulates very well the Kingdom children's respond to the violent. Responding to violent with violent will naturally produce greater loss for both parties. A quick peak to the history, we will find that violent never solved problems. When we do not respond violently, we might think it is weakness, but according to Jesus Teaching it is power. Responding to violent with love serves many purposes. Firstly, we do not give the perpetrator what he or she intended by acting violently. Secondly, we teach the aggressor a lesson that some of them might not be familiar with. Thirdly, we are showing our ultimate obedience to our Master who commanded us to love our enemy. The author bases his argument on the principle of non-reciprocal love (agape). Agape is a love that does not expect something in return. It is like God's love for us.
What Kraybill makes it clear is that the kingdom is not compromising to culture, powers or convenience; rather, its main goal is to transform them. The only way to that is through what he calls them the triple symbols, basin, cross, and tomb. The symbol of basin represents what is known recently by the servanthood leadership. Serving others without any regards to sex, nation, religion, and ethnicity is the core of the Kraybill's Kingdom Theology. This is not an easy task, because it will lead to the cross. But because we trust God, and we are accomplishing Kingdom's mission, the final word is for God. When the church adopts the triple symbol concept, its journey toward accomplishing its mission is not going to be a comfortable one.
Looking at the political climate during the time, we will realize that the Jewish people were in desperately waiting for a king to liberate them from Romans. In the wilderness, Jesus had faced that temptation. He did not accept political authority that was offered to Him by the tempter. Instead, He chose to be a revolutionary. He was a revolutionary not in the Zealous type of rebel that used violence, but in violating Pharisees' laws and regulations that were above God's law, criticizing the false political tranquility of the Romans, and condemning the right-wing Sadducees lucrative temple operation. Serving others out of love was His policy. The second sphere that Jesus faced was religious power. The religious practice grew stale, empty, and lucrative. Jesus was tempted to reveal His Messianic secret to influence people to make a new movement or create a new religion. He might have struggled with this thought during His mission. Instead, again He preferred the role of the servant Savior. The third sphere was the economic power. Again and again Jesus preached against economic injustice that trampled the poor to benefit the rich. Jesus was tempted to use His power to feed the hunger and end the economic unjust. Instead, He chose to be the bread of life for all nations. His life, His way, and His teaching will form a new foundation of living.
I read the book entirely, and I, without any doubt, can say that it is one of the most transforming books that I have read in English. It presents a universal theology of the Kingdom that could be applied to different contexts and understood in any given situation. The strengths of the Kraybill's theology of Kingdom is that it is a biblical theology, which could be applied to any church in any place in the world within their current context. Just as he provides context for the reader, he allows for contextual interpretation for those that wish to apply what they have learned from the text. And this might be the genius of this book. It never imposes context but rather exposes it. Moreover, the author incorporates his sociological education to bring to life in a very articulated and easy to understand language the historical, political, and social culture of the New Testament.
My criticism of this book is that Kraybill seems to be ambivalent in his argument about the church. In one hand, he sees it as a servant structure for the Kingdom's mission. In the other hand, he does not seem happy with concept of the church. I believe that all human being's effort will fall short in living the faith. However, I also believe, that the church with all its shortcomings will remain the beloved bride of Christ. We cannot disvalue the rich meanings of the symbols of the church. At the same time, I agree with the author that we have to evaluate the meaning and purpose of these symbols periodically. The author also seems to accommodating from time to time for those who may yearn for personalized version of the Gospel of the kingdom and find this kind of interpretation repelling.
The author theology fits best into the Anabaptist perspective of Church, State, and Public Justice. By taking Jesus words to heart, the church can become the prophetic voice in the community. Jesus called his disciples light and the salt of the world. Its mission is to add Kingdom's value and speak God's truth by loving the other and caring the community. The church already has a great deal of influence on people and communities' values. It is not expecting to benefit from this task financially, nor try to gain power over people whom she is serving. Rather to transform them to the image of Jesus. It is not going to be an accomplishable task. However, it is going to be an earthly time process. The test will show how faithful she will remain to her Master, "but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."
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Anabaptism - Wikipedia

Anabaptism - Wikipedia



Anabaptism
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Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin anabaptista,[1]from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά- "re-" and βαπτισμός "baptism",[2] German: Täufer, earlier also Wiedertäufer[a]) 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.[3][4][5]

Approximately 4 million Anabaptists live in the world today with adherents scattered across all inhabited continents. In addition to a number of minor Anabaptist groups, the most numerous include the Mennonites at 2.1 million, the German Baptists at 1.5 million, the Amish at 300,000 and the Hutterites at 50,000.

In the 21st century there are large cultural differences between assimilated Anabaptists, who do not differ much from evangelicals or mainline Protestants, and traditional groups like the Amish, the Old Colony Mennonites, the Old Order Mennonites, the Hutterites and the Old German Baptist Brethren.

The early Anabaptists formulated their beliefs in the Schleitheim Confession, in 1527.[6][7] Anabaptists believe that baptismis valid only when the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ and wants to be baptized. This believer's baptism is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized. Anabaptists are those who are in a traditional line with the early Anabaptists of the 16th century. Other Christian groups with different roots also practice believer's baptism, such as Baptists, but these groups are not seen as Anabaptist. The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the early Anabaptist movement. Schwarzenau Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are considered later developments among the Anabaptists.

The name Anabaptist means "one who baptizes again". Their persecutors named them this, referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ, even if they had been baptized as infants.[8] Anabaptists required that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen and so rejected baptism of infants. The early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism:


I have never taught Anabaptism.... But the right baptism of Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ.
— Hubmaier, Balthasar (1526), Short apology.[9]:204

Anabaptists were heavily and long persecuted starting in the 16th century by both Magisterial Protestants and Roman Catholics, largely because of their interpretation of scripture which put them at odds with official state church interpretations and with government. Anabaptism was never established by any state and therefore never enjoyed any associated privileges. 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 groups who practiced rebaptism, now extinct, believed otherwise and complied with these requirements of civil society.[b] They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, and some historians consider them outside 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.[10]


Contents
1Origins
1.1Medieval forerunners
1.2Zwickau prophets and the German Peasants' War
1.3Views on origins
1.3.1Monogenesis
1.3.2Polygenesis
1.3.3Apostolic succession
2History
2.1Switzerland
2.2Tyrol
2.3Low Countries and northern Germany
2.4Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia
2.5South and central Germany, Austria and Alsace
3Persecutions and migrations
4Types
5Spirituality
5.1Charismatic manifestations
5.2Holy Spirit leadership
6Today
6.1Anabaptists
6.2Similar groups
6.3Neo-Anabaptists
7Legacy
8See also
9Notes
10References
11Bibliography
12Further reading
13External links
Origins[edit]


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Medieval forerunners[edit]
Main article: Proto-Protestantism

Anabaptists are considered to have begun with the Radical Reformers in the 16th century, but historians classify certain people and groups as their forerunners because of a similar approach to the interpretation and application of the Bible. For instance, Petr Chelčický, a 15th-century Bohemian reformer, taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology.[11] Medieval antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life, the Hussites, Dutch Sacramentists,[12][13] and some forms of monasticism. The Waldensians also represent a faith similar to the Anabaptists.[14]

Medieval dissenters and Anabaptists who held to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount share in common the following affirmations:
The believer must not swear oaths or refer disputes between believers to law-courts for resolution, in accordance with 1 Corinthians 6:1–11.
The believer must not bear arms or offer forcible resistance to wrongdoers, nor wield the sword. No Christian has the jus gladii (the right of the sword). Matthew 5:39
Civil government (i.e. "Caesar") belongs to the world. The believer belongs to God's kingdom, so must not fill any office nor hold any rank under government, which is to be passively obeyed. John 18:36 Romans 13:1–7
Sinners or unfaithful ones are to be excommunicated, and excluded from the sacraments and from intercourse with believers unless they repent, according to 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 and Matthew 18:15 seq., but no force is to be used towards them.
Zwickau prophets and the German Peasants' War[edit]
Main articles: Thomas Müntzer, Zwickau prophets, and German Peasants' War

Twelve Articles of the Peasants pamphlet of 1525

On December 27, 1521, three "prophets"appeared in Wittenberg from Zwickau who were influenced by (and, in turn, influencing) Thomas Müntzer—Thomas Dreschel, Nicholas Storch, and Mark Thomas Stübner. They preached an apocalyptic, radical alternative to Lutheranism. Their preaching helped to stir the feelings concerning the social crisis which erupted in the German Peasants' War in southern Germany in 1525 as a revolt against feudal oppression. Under the leadership of Müntzer, it became a war against all constituted authorities and an attempt to establish by revolution an ideal Christian commonwealth, with absolute equality among persons and the community of goods. The Zwickau prophets were not Anabaptists (that is, they did not practise "rebaptism"); nevertheless, the prevalent social inequities and the preaching of men such as these have been seen as laying the foundation for the Anabaptist movement. The social ideals of the Anabaptist movement coincided closely with those of leaders in the German Peasants' War. Studies have found a very low percentage of subsequent sectarians to have taken part in the peasant uprising.[15]
Views on origins[edit]


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

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

Three main theories on origins of the Anabaptists are the following:
The movement began in a single expression in Zürich and spread from there (Monogenesis);
It developed through several independent movements (polygenesis); and
It was a continuation of true New Testament Christianity (apostolic succession or church perpetuity).
Monogenesis[edit]

Felix Manz was executed by drowning within two years of his rebaptism

A number of scholars (e.g. Harold S. Bender, William Estep, Robert Friedmann[citation needed]) consider the Anabaptist movement to have developed 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.[16] 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.[17] This continues to be the most widely accepted date posited for the establishment of Anabaptism.
Polygenesis[edit]

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.[18][page needed] The authors of the essay noted the agreement among previous Anabaptist historians on polygenesis, even when disputing the date for a single starting point: "Hillerbrand and Bender (like Holl and Troeltsch) were in agreement that there was a single dispersion of Anabaptism ..., which certainly ran through Zurich. The only question was whether or not it went back further to Saxony."[18]: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".[19] 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 Vermanungof 1542 was deeply influenced by the Bekenntnisse of 1533 by Münster theologian Bernhard Rothmann. Melchior Hoffman influenced the Hutterites when they used his commentary on the Apocalypse shortly after he wrote it.

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

Several historians, including Thor Hall,[20] Kenneth Davis,[21] and Robert Kreider,[22] have also noted the influence of Humanism on Radical Reformers in the three originating points of departure to account for how this brand of reform could develop independently from each other. Relatively recent research, begun in a more advanced and deliberate manner by Andrew P. Klager, also explores how the influence and a particular reading of the Church Fathers contributed to the development of distinctly Anabaptist beliefs and practices in separate regions of Europe in the early 16th century, including by Menno Simons in the Netherlands, Conrad Grebel in Switzerland, Thomas Müntzer in central Germany, Pilgram Marpeck in the Tyrol, Peter Walpot in Moravia, and especially Balthasar Hubmaier in southern Germany, Switzerland, and Moravia.[23][24]
Apostolic succession[edit]

Baptist successionists have, at times, pointed to 16th-century Anabaptists as part of an apostolic succession of churches ("church perpetuity") from the time of Christ.[25] This view is held by some Baptists, some Mennonites, and a number of "true church" movements.[c]

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

A different strain of successionism is the theory that the Anabaptists are of Waldensianorigin. 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.
History[edit]

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

Anabaptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli. As early as 1522 it became evident that Zwingli was on a path of reform preaching when he began to question or criticize such Catholic practices as tithes, the mass, and even infant baptism. Zwingli had gathered a group of reform-minded men around him, with whom he studied classical literature and the scriptures. However, some of these young men began to feel that Zwingli was not moving fast enough in his reform. The division between Zwingli and his more radical disciples became apparent in an October 1523 disputation held in Zurich. When the discussion of the mass was about to be ended without making any actual change in practice, Conrad Grebelstood up and asked "what should be done about the mass?" Zwingli responded by saying the council would make that decision. At this point, Simon Stumpf, a radical priest from Hongg, answered saying, "The decision has already been made by the Spirit of God."[26]

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".[27] Zwingli broke off the meetings after two sessions, and Felix Manz petitioned the Council to find a solution, since he felt Zwingli was too hard to work with. The council then called a meeting for January 17, 1525.

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

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


After prayer, George of the House of Jacob (George Blaurock) stood up and besought Conrad Grebel for God's sake to baptize him with the true Christian baptism upon his faith and knowledge. And when he knelt down with such a request and desire, Conrad baptized him, since at that time there was no ordained minister to perform such work.[28]

Afterwards Blaurock was baptized, he in turn baptized others at the meeting. Even though some had rejected infant baptism before this date, these baptisms marked the first re-baptisms of those who had been baptized as infants and thus, technically, Swiss Anabaptism was born on that day.[29][30]
Tyrol[edit]

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.[31] Although little hard evidence exists of a direct connection between Gasmair'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.[32]

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.[33]

Jacob Hutter was one of the early converts in South Tyrol, and later became a leader among the Hutterites, who received their name from him. Hutter made several trips between Moravia and Tyrol, and most of the Anabaptists in South Tyrol ended up emigrating to Moravia because of the fierce persecution unleashed by Ferdinand I. In November 1535, Hutter was captured near Klausen and taken to Innsbruck where he was burned at the stake on February 25, 1536. By 1540 Anabaptism in South Tyrol was beginning to die out, largely because of the emigration to Moravia of the converts because of incessant persecution.[34]
Low Countries and northern Germany[edit]

Menno Simons

Melchior Hoffman is credited with the introduction of Anabaptist ideas into the Low Countries. Hoffman had picked up Lutheran and Reformed ideas, but on April 23, 1530 he was "re-baptized" at Strasbourgand within two months had gone to Emden and baptized about 300 persons.[35] 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".[36] Obbe and Dirk Philips had been baptized by disciples of Jan Matthijs, but were opposed to the violence that occurred at Münster.[37] 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.[38] 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".[38]

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

Although Moravian Anabaptism was a transplant from other areas of Europe, Moravia soon became a center for the growing movement, largely because of the greater religious tolerance found there.[39][40] 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.[41] The coming of Balthasar Hübmaier to Nikolsburgwas a definite boost for Anabaptist ideas to the area. With the great influx of religious refugees from all over Europe, many variations of Anabaptism appeared in Moravia, with Jarold Zeman documenting at least ten slightly different versions.[42] Soon, one-eyed Jacob Wiedemann appeared at Nikolsburg, and began to teach the pacifistic convictions of the Swiss Brethren, on which Hübmaier had been less authoritative. This would lead to a division between the Schwertler (sword-bearing) and the Stäbler (staff-bearing). Wiedemann and those with him also promoted the practice of community of goods. With orders from the lords of Liechtenstein to leave Nikolsburg, about 200 Stäbler withdrew to Moravia to form a community at Austerlitz.[43]

Persecution in South Tyrol brought many refugees to Moravia, many of whom formed into communities that practised community of goods. Jacob Hutter was instrumental in organizing these into what became known as the Hutterites. But others came from Silesia, Switzerland, German lands, and the Low Countries. With the passing of time and persecution, all the other versions of Anabaptism would die out in Moravia leaving only the Hutterites. Even the Hutterites would be dissipated by persecution, with a remnant fleeing to Transylvania, then to the Ukraine, and finally to North America in 1874.[44][page needed][45]
South and central Germany, Austria and Alsace[edit]

Thomas Müntzer led the German peasants against the landowners

South German Anabaptism had its roots in German mysticism. Andreas Karlstadt, who first worked alongside Martin Luther, is seen as a forerunner of South German Anabaptism because of his reforming theology that rejected many Catholic practices, including infant baptism. However, Karlstadt is not known to have been "rebaptized", nor to have taught it. Hans Denckand Hans Hut, both with German Mystical background (in connection with Thomas Muntzer) both accepted "rebaptism", but Denck eventually backed off from the idea under pressure. Hans Hut is said to have brought more people into early Anabaptism than all the other Anabaptist evangelists of his time put together. However, there may have been confusion about what his baptism (at least some of the times it was done by making the sign of the Tau on the forehead) may have meant to the recipient. Some seem to have taken it as a sign by which they would escape the apocalyptical revenge of the Turks that Hut predicted. Hut even went so far as to predict a 1528 coming of the kingdom of God. When the prediction failed, some of his converts became discouraged and left the Anabaptist movement. The large congregation of Anabaptists at Augsburg fell apart (partly because of persecution) and those who stayed with Anabaptist ideas were absorbed into Swiss and Moravia Anabaptist congregations.[46]:35–117[15] Pilgram Marpeck was another notable leader in early South German Anabaptism who attempted to steer between the two extremes of Denck's inner Holiness and the legalistic standards of the other Anabaptists.[47]
Persecutions and migrations[edit]

Felix Manz was executed by drowning within two years of his rebaptism

Birching of Anabaptist martyr Ursula, Maastricht, 1570; engraving by Jan Luyken from Martyrs Mirror[48]

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 or 21, 1527, Roman Catholic authorities executed Michael Sattler.[49] King Ferdinand declared drowning (called the third baptism) "the best antidote to Anabaptism". The Tudor regime, even the Protestant monarchs (Edward VI of Englandand Elizabeth I of England), persecuted Anabaptists as they were deemed too radical and therefore a danger to religious stability.

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

The persecution of Anabaptists was condoned by ancient laws of Theodosius I and Justinian I that were passed against the Donatists, which decreed the death penalty for any who practised rebaptism. Martyrs Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght, describes the persecution and execution of thousands of Anabaptists in various parts of Europe between 1525 and 1660. Continuing persecution in Europe was largely responsible for the mass emigrations to North America by Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Unlike Calvinists, Anabaptists failed to get recognition in the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 and persecution continued in Europe well after that treaty.
Types[edit]
Main article: Theology of Anabaptism

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

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

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

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

Memorial plate at Schipfe quarter in Zürich for the Anabaptists executed in the early 16th century by the Zürich city government
Charismatic manifestations[edit]

Within the inspirationist wing of the Anabaptist movement, it was not unusual for charismaticmanifestations 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),[50] and speaking in tongues.[51] In Germany some Anabaptists, "excited by mass hypnosis, experienced healings, glossolalia, contortions and other manifestations of a camp-meeting revival".[52] 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."[53] The Hutterite Chronicle and The Martyrs Mirror record several accounts of miraculous events, such as when a man named Martin prophesied while being led across a bridge to his execution in 1531: "this once yet the pious are led over this bridge, but no more hereafter". Just "a short time afterwards such a violent storm and flood came that the bridge was demolished".[54]
Holy Spirit leadership[edit]

The Anabaptists insisted upon the "free course" of the Holy Spirit in worship, yet still maintained it all must be judged according to the Scriptures.[55] 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."[56]
Today[edit]
Anabaptists[edit]

Hutterites in North America

Mennonite family in Campeche, Mexico

Amish children on their way to school

Several existing denominational bodies are the direct successors of the continental Anabaptists. Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites are in a direct and unbroken line back to the Anabapists of the early 16th century. Schwarzenau Brethren and River Brethren emerged in the 18th century and adopted many Anabapist elements. The same is true for the Bruderhof Communities that emerged in the early 20th century.[57] Sometimes the Apostolic Christian Church is seen as Neutäufer("Neo-Anabaptist").[58] 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, only the Amish and the Hutterites today are composed almost totally of descendants of the continental Anabaptists, while among the Mennonites there are Ethnic Mennonites and others who are not. Brethren groups have mostly lost their ethnic distinctiveness.

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.[59] In 2015 there were some 300,000 Amish, more than 200,000 "Russian" Mennonites in Latin America, some 60,000 to 80,000 Old Order Mennonites and some 50,000 Hutterites, who have preserved their ethnicity, their German dialects (Pennsylvania German, Plautdietsch, Hutterisch), plain dressand other old traditions.
Similar groups[edit]

The Bruderhof Communities were founded in Germany by Eberhard Arnold in 1920,[60] establishing and organisationally joining the Hutterites in 1930. The group moved to England after the Gestapo confiscated their property in 1933, and subsequently to Paraguay to avoid military conscription, and by settlement then moved the United States after World War II.[61]

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.

The relations between Baptists and Anabaptists were early strained. In 1624, the then five existing Baptist churches of London issued a condemnation of the Anabaptists.[62]Puritans of England and their Baptist branch arose independently, and although they may have been informed by Anabaptist theology, they clearly differentiate themselves from Anabaptists as seen in the London Baptist Confession of Faith A.D. 1644, "Of those Churches which are commonly (though falsely) called ANABAPTISTS".[63] Moreover, Baptist historian Chris Traffanstedt maintains that Anabaptists share "some similarities with the early General Baptists, but overall these similarities are slight and not always relational. In the end, we must come to say that this group of Christians does not reflect the historical teaching of the Baptists".[64] German Baptists are not related to the English Baptist movement and were inspired by central European Anabaptists. Upon moving to the United States, they associated with Mennonites and Quakers.

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

The term Neo-Anabaptist has been used to describe a late twentieth and early twenty-first century theological movement within American evangelical Christianity which draws inspiration from theologians located within the Anabaptist tradition while remaining ecclesiastically outside of it. Neo-Anabaptists have been noted for its "low church, counter-cultural, prophetic-stance-against-empire ethos" and for focusing on pacifism, social justice and poverty.[65][66] The works of Mennonite theologians Ron Sider and John Howard Yoder are frequently cited as having a strong influence on the movement.[67]

Persons often associated with the Neo-Anabaptist movement include Stanley Hauerwas, Scot McKnight, Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, and Shane Claiborne.[65][unreliable source]
Legacy[edit]

Common Anabaptist beliefs and practices of the 16th century continue to influence modern Christianity and Western society.
Voluntary church membership and believer's baptism
Freedom of religion – liberty of conscience
Separation of church and state
Separation or nonconformity to the world
Nonresistance, in modernized groups interpreted as pacifism
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).[e] 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[69] 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.[70]
See also[edit]

Anabaptism portal
Adrianists
Amish Mennonite
Clancularii
Christian Anarchism
Conservative Mennonites
Donatists (first historical occurrence of re-baptism)
Funkite
List of Anabaptist churches
Melchior Rink, a central-German Anabaptist leader during the sixteenth-century
Peace churches
Restorationism
Shtundists
Notes[edit]

^ Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term "Wiedertäufer" (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. The term Täufer(translation: "Baptizers") is now used, which is considered more impartial. From the perspective of their persecutors, the "Baptizers" baptized for the second time those "who as infants had already been baptized". The denigrative term Anabaptist signifies rebaptizing and is considered a polemical term, so it has been dropped from use in modern German. However, in the English-speaking world, it is still used to distinguish the Baptizers more clearly from the Baptists, a Protestant sect that developed later in England. Cf. their self-designation as "Brethren in Christ" or "Church of God": Stayer, James M. (2001). "Täufer". Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE) (in German). 32. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 597–617. ISBN 3-11-016712-3. Brüder in Christo", "Gemeinde Gottes.
^ For example, the followers of Thomas Müntzer and Balthasar Hubmaier.
^ A "true church" movement is a part of the Protestant or Reformed group of Christianity that claims to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity. Most only assert this in relation to their church doctrines, polity, and practice (e.g., the ordinances), while a few hold they are the only true Christians. Some examples of Anabaptistic true church movements are the Landmark Baptists and the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. The Church of God, the Stone-Campbell restoration movement, and others represent a variation in which the "true church" apostatized and was restored, in distinction to this idea of apostolic or church succession. These groups trace their "true church" status through means other than those generally accepted by Roman Catholicism or Orthodox Christianity, both of which likewise claim to represent the true faith and order of New Testament Christianity.
^ Such as the Adoptionism of the Paulicianists; some of the other groups often cited were in fact little different from the Catholics and bore little similarity to modern Baptists.
^ The origins of religious freedom in the United States are traced back to the Anabaptists.[68]
References[edit]

^ "Anabaptist, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, December 2012, retrieved January 21,2013
^ "Anabaptism, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, December 2012, retrieved January 21,2013
^ Klaassen 1973.
^ McGrath, William, The Anabaptists: Neither Catholic nor Protestant (PDF), Hartville, OH: The Fellowship Messenger, archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016
^ Gilbert, William (1998), "The Radicals of the Reformation", Renaissance and Reformation, Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas
^ Bruening, Michael W. (April 5, 2017). A Reformation Sourcebook: Documents from an Age of Debate. University of Toronto Press. p. 134. ISBN 9781442635708. In 1527, Sattler presided over a meeting at Schleitheim (in canton Schaffhausen, on the Swiss/German border), where Anabaptist leaders drew up the Schleitheim Confession of Faith (doc. 29). Sattler was arrested and executed soon afterwards. Anabaptist groups varied widely in their specific beliefs, but the Schleitheim Confession represents foundational Anabaptist beliefs as well as any single document can.
^ Hershberger, Guy F. (March 6, 2001). The Recovery of the Anabaptist Vision. Wipf & Stock Publishers. p. 65. ISBN 9781579106003. The Schleitheim articles are Anabaptism's oldest confessional document.
^ Harper, Douglas (2010) [2001], "Anabaptist", Online Etymological Dictionary, retrieved April 25, 2011
^ Vedder, Henry Clay (1905), Balthasar Hübmaier: the Leader of the Anabaptists , New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, p. 204.
^ Dyck 1967, p. 45
^ Wagner, Murray L (1983). Petr Chelčický: A Radical Separatist in Hussite Bohemia. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-8361-1257-1.
^ van der Zijpp, Nanne. "Sacramentists". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
^ Fontaine, Piet FM (2006). "Chapter I – part 1 Radical Reformation – Dutch Sacramentists". The Light and the Dark: A Cultural History of Dualism. XXIII. Postlutheran Reformation. Utrecht: Gopher Publishers. Archived from the original on May 9, 2007.
^ van Braght 1950, p. 277.
^ Jump up to:a b Stayer 1994.
^ Estep 1963, p. 5: 'Too much has been said of Münster. It belongs on the fringe of Anabaptist life which was completely divorced from the evangelical, biblical heart of the movement'
^ Dyck 1967, p. 49.
^ Jump up to:a b Stayer, James M; Packull, Werner O; Deppermann, Klaus (April 1975), "From Monogenesis to Polygenesis: the historical discussion of Anabaptist origins", Mennonite Quarterly Review, 49(2)
^ Stayer 1994, p. 86.
^ Hall, Thor. "Possibilities of Erasmian Influence on Denck and Hubmaier in Their Views of Freedom of the Will." Mennonite Quarterly Review 35 (1961): 149-70.
^ Davis, Kenneth R. "Erasmus as a Progenitor of Anabaptist Theology and Piety." Mennonite Quarterly Review 47 (1973): 163-78.
^ Kreider, Robert. "Anabaptism and Humanism: an Inquiry Into the Relationship of Humanism to the Evangelical Anabaptists." Mennonite Quarterly Review 26 (1952): 123-41.
^ Klager, Andrew P. 'Truth is immortal': Balthasar Hubmaier (c.1480-1528) and the Church Fathers. PhD thesis. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2011, pp. 28–32.
^ Klager, Andrew P. "Balthasar Hubmaier’s Use of the Church Fathers: Availability, Access and Interaction." Mennonite Quarterly Review 84, no. 1 (January 2010): 5–65.
^ Carrol, JM (1931). The Trail of Blood. Lexington, KY: Ashland Avenue Baptist Church. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
^ Ruth, John L. (1975). Conrad Grebel, Son of Zurich. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-8361-1767-0.
^ Dyck 1967, p. 46.
^ The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren, Known as Das grosse Geschichtbuch der Hutterischen Brüder. Rifton, New York: Plough Pub. House. 1987. p. 45.
^ "1525, The Anabaptist Movement Begins". Retrieved December 27,2017.
^ Klaassen, Walter (1985). "A Fire That Spread Anabaptist Beginnings". Waterloo, ON, Canada: Christian History Institute. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
^ Hoover, Peter (2008). The Mystery of the Mark-Anabaptist Mission Work under the Fire of God. Mountain Lake, Minnesota: Elmendorf Books. pp. 14–66.
^ Packull 1995, pp. 169–75.
^ Packull 1995, pp. 181–5.
^ Packull 1995, p. 280.
^ Estep 1963, p. 109.
^ Estep 1963, p. 111.
^ Dyck 1967, p. 105.
^ Jump up to:a b Dyck 1967, p. 111.
^ Estep 1963, p. 89.
^ Packull 1995, p. 54.
^ Dyck 1967, p. 67.
^ Packull 1995, p. 55.
^ Packull 1995, p. 61.
^ Packull 1995.
^ Sreenivasan, Jyotsna (2008). Utopias in American History. ABC-CLIO. pp. 175–6.
^ Packull, Werner O (1977). Mysticism and the Early South German-Austrian Anabaptist Movement 1525–1531. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press. ISBN 0-8361-1130-3.
^ Loewen, Harry; Nolt, Steven (1996). Through Fire & Water. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press. pp. 136–137.
^ "Ursel (d. 1570)". GAMEO. January 10, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
^ Bossert, Jr., Gustav; Bender, Harold S.; Snyder, C. Arnold (2017). "Sattler, Michael (d. 1527)". In Roth, John D. (ed.). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, reprinted from Bossert, Jr., Gustav; Bender, Harold S.; Snyder, C. Arnold (1989). Bender, Harold S. (ed.). Mennonite Encyclopedia. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press. Vol. 4, pp. 427–434, 1148; vol. 5, pp. 794–795.
^ Klaassen 1973, p. 63.
^ Little, Franklin H (1964), The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism, New York: Beacons, p. 19
^ Williams 2000, p. 667.
^ Marpeck 1978, p. 50.
^ van Braght 1950, p. 440.
^ Oyer, John S (1964), Lutheran Reformers Against Anabaptists, The Hague: M Nijhoff, p. 86
^ Peachey, Paul; Peachey, Shem, eds. (1971), "Answer of Some Who Are Called (Ana-)Baptists – Why They Do Not Attend the Churches", Mennonite Quarterly Review, 45 (1): 10, 11
^ "Life Among The Bruderhof". The American Conservative. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
^ "Apostolic Christian Church of America".
^ Mennonite World Conference(December 1, 2009), New global map locates 1.6 million Anabaptists, Mennonite Brethren Herald
^ "About Us". Plough. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
^ "Church Community is a Gift of the Holy Spirit – The Spirituality of the Bruderhof | Anabaptism | Religion & Spirituality". Scribd. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
^ Melton, JG (1994), "Baptists", Encyclopedia of American Religions
^ "London Baptist Confession of 1644". spurgeon.org. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Of those Churches which are commonly (though falsely) called ANABAPTISTS;
^ Traffanstedt, Chris (1994), "Baptists", A Primer on Baptist History: The True Baptist Trail, archived from the original on September 11, 2013
^ Jump up to:a b DeYoung, Kevin. "The Neo-Anabaptists". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
^ Hiebert, Jared; Hiebert, Terry G. (Fall 2013). "New Calvinists and Neo-Anabaptists: A Tale of Two Tribes". Direction: A Mennonite Brethren Forum. 42 (2): 178–194. Retrieved March 25,2017.
^ Tooley, Mark. "Mennonite Takeover?". The American Spectator. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
^ Verduin, Leonard (1998), That First Amendment and The Remnant, The Christian Hymnary, ISBN 1-890050-17-2
^ Kropotkin, Peter (1910), "Anarchism", The Encyclopædia Britannica
^ Estep 1963, p. 232.
Bibliography[edit]

van Braght, Thieleman J (1950) [1938], Martyrs Mirror, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, ISBN 978-0-8361-1390-7.
Carroll, J.M. (1931). The Trail of Blood: Following the Christians Down through the Ages, or, the history of Baptist Churches from the Time of Christ, Their Founder, to the Present Day. Lexington, Ky.: Ashland Avenue Baptist Church. 56 p. + fold. chart. Without ISBN
Dyck, Cornelius J (1967), An Introduction to Mennonite History, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, ISBN 0-8361-1955-X.
Estep, William R (1963), The Anabaptist Story, Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-1594-4.
Klaassen, Walter (1973), Anabaptism: Neither Catholic Nor Protestant, Waterloo, ON: Conrad Press.
Knox, Ronald. Enthusiasm: a Chapter in the History of Religion, with Special Reference to the XVII and XVIII Centuries. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1950. viii, 622 p.
Marpeck, Pilgram (1978), Klassen, William; Klassen, Walter (eds.), Covenant and Community: The Life, Writings, and Hermeneutics, Scottdale, PA: Herald.
Packull, Werner O (1995), Hutterite Beginnings: Communitarian Experiments During the Reformation, Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-6256-6.
Stayer, James M (1994) [1991], The German Peasants' War and Anabaptist Community of Goods, Montréal: McGill-Queen's Press, MQUP, ISBN 0-7735-0842-2.
Williams, George Hunston (2000) [1962], The Radical Reformation (3rd ed.), Truman State University Press, ISBN 0-664-20372-8.
Further reading[edit]

Newman, Albert H, A History of Anti-Pedobaptism, From the Rise of Pedobaptism to AD 1609, Google Books, ISBN 1-57978-536-0.
Hillerbrand, Hans, Anabaptist Bibliography 1520–1630, Google Books, ISBN 0-910345-03-1.
Fast, Heinhold (1999). "Anabaptists". In Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 45–48. ISBN 0802824137.
James M. Stayer. "Anabaptists and the Sword". ISBN 0-87291-081-4.
Mary E. Bamford. Harrison, Larry (ed.). "In Editha's Days. A Tale of Religious Liberty" (The Bible Makes Us Baptists ed.). LCCN 06006296.
Harold S. Bender; Dyck, Cornelius J.; Martin, Dennis D.; Smith, Henry C. (eds.). Mennonite Encyclopedia. ISBN 0-8361-1018-8.
Baylor, Michael G. "Revelation & Revolution: Basic Writings of Thomas Muntzer". ISBN 0-934223-16-5.
Bender, Harold S. "The Anabaptist Vision". ISBN 0-8361-1305-5.)
Verduin, Leonard. "The Anatomy of a Hybrid : a Study in Church-State Relationships". ISBN 0-8028-1615-0.
Thieleman J. van Braght. "The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror". ISBN 0-8361-1390-X.
J. Gordon Melton (ed.). "The Encyclopedia of American Religions". ISBN 0-8103-6904-4.
Pearse, Meic, The Great Restoration: The Religious Radicals of the 16th and 17th Centuries.
Cohn, Norman. "The Pursuit of the Millennium". ISBN 0-19-500456-6.
Verduin, Leonard. "The Reformers and their Stepchildren". ISBN 0-8010-9284-1.
Peter Hoover. "The Secret of the Strength". Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
Arthur, Anthony. "The Tailor King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster". ISBN 0-312-20515-5.)
Ham, Paul (2018). New Jerusalem: The short life and terrible death of Christendom's most defiant sect. Sydney: Random House Australia. ISBN 9780143781332.
External links[edit]
Anabaptismat Wikipedia's sister projects
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Wikimedia Commons
Texts from Wikisource
Data from Wikidata
Library resources about
Anabaptism

Online books
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries

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

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Protestant Reformation
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Moravian Church
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Swiss Brethren
Hutterites
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History

Ausbund
German Peasants' War
Münster rebellion
Martyrs Mirror
Schleitheim Confession
Dordrecht Confession of Faith
Theology

Theology of Anabaptism
Apostolic succession/Great Apostasy
Church discipline
Communalism/Communism
Freedom of religion
Memorialism
Nonconformity to the world
Nonresistance
Pacifism
Priesthood of all believers
Separation of church and state/free church
Sola scriptura
Practices

Agape feast
Believer's baptism
Foot washing
Ordnung
Plain dress
Shunning
Simple living
Notable
Anabaptists

Felix Manz
Conrad Grebel
Pilgram Marpeck
Michael Sattler
Hans Denck
Jacob Hutter
Balthasar Hubmaier
Bernhard Rothmann
Dirk Philips
Menno Simons
Jakob Ammann
Alexander Mack
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