CHURCH HISTORY II Lesson 5 CHURCH HISTORY II Lesson 5 The Anabaptist Tradition Children of Light Scattered Everywhere: The Radicals of the Reformation “There is no other foundation that can be laid but the foundation which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ”I Cor 3:11

CHRISTIANITY Popish CatholicCatholic ReformsHumanistsLutherans Anglicans Reformed Presbyterians Radicals Rationalists Spiritualists Anabaptists

Three episodes that expose what was taking place What motivated What kind of people they were What they wanted to do with the church I. Inn of the Black Bear, Jena (Saxony); August 22, 1524 Martin Luther Andreas Bodenstien van Karlstadt“listen to the Spirit” “rioting, murderous spirits” Thomas Muntzer “Allstedt” prophets “power shall be given to the common people” Brother Fatten-Swine Brother Soft Life Doctor Liar The Lutheran Pope of all scripture Perverters

“Why, Dr. Luther, have you said that there is just one spirit, that is, the murderous spirit of Allstedt? “If I had erred, you should have reproved me in a brotherly way, and not have stabbed me and struck me thus.” Luther “You stabbed me before I stabbed you!” Karlstadt “No, I did not!” Two views of the Reformation Thoroughness Pace “Luther broke the Pope’s pitcher but kept the pieces in his hand” “The cause is good, but there has been too much haste. For there are still brothers and sisters on the other side who belong to us and must still be won.” Martin Luther Shape What was to shape it? “He who has not the Spirit does not know how to say anything deeply about God, even if he has eaten through a hundred Bibles.” Thomas Muntzer What was to be the SHAPE of the Church? Regeneration vs. Justification

II. Events in Switzerland January 1, 1519Zwingli becomes priest The Grossmuster “I began to try every doctrine by this touchstone (of Scripture). If I saw that a teaching could bear the test, I accepted it; if not, I rejected it” “custom should yield to the Bible” Conrad Grebel Felix Mantz George Blaurock These men were not ignorant or unlearned January 21, 1525gathered at Mantz house The men who gathered in Manz’s house that winter night were aware of the seriousness of what they were doing. But as the evening wore on they became more and more convinced that they had no choice but to obey God who had led them to their new and dangerous understanding. And then—if the account in the ancient Hutterian Chronicle is accurate—they felt suddenly compelled to take the actual step necessary to give concrete form to their obedience. Amid prayer and the certainty of persecution they baptized one another and in the same moment commissioned each other to build Christ’s church on earth. These men expected persecution – they were not disappointed May 1525 Eboli Bort January 1527 Mantz drowned ANABAPTIST ‘Re-Baptizers’

What did they believe? Magisterial Reformers (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin) Three main Reformation principles Justification by grace through faith The authority of the Bible The priesthood of all believers Church-state cooperation State support of the church The parish structure in church life Infant baptism Mixed membership ANABAPTISTS Separation of the church from the state Baptism of adult believers only Voluntary church membership Religious freedom (soul liberty) A ‘pure church’ Schleitheim Confession (1527) Dortrecht Confession (1632) “A person could not be called a dirtier name in 16 th century Europe”Dr. Walter Klassen

III Disaster at Munster Westphalia area, northeast Germany Expelled Catholics and Protestants Set up Old Testament theocracy; waited for God’s Kingdom to be established on the earth *Anabaptist now perceived as revolutionaries!

Menno Simons Background Ordained for priesthood Events leading to his conversion Doubts about the Eucharist Questions about infant baptism “I examined the scriptures diligently, and pondered them earnestly, but could find no report of infant baptism.” Departure from the Papacy The Munster debacle Conversion and entrance into Anabaptism January 1536 broke with Rome 1537 Re-baptized and re-ordained “Without constraint I renounced all my worldly reputation, name and fame, my unchristian abominations, my masses, my infant baptism, and my easy life, and I willingly submitted to distress and poverty under the heavy cross of Christ”

Simons’ life and ministry Lived and worked as a hunted heretic Established churches and ordained ministers Charles V put a reward on his head Wife and children had no where to safely stay they “could not find in all the countries a cabin or hut in which (we) could be put up in safety for a year or even a half year.” Wrote 25 books and tracts, numerous letters, meditations, sermons and hymns The Spiritual Resurrection (1536) Meditation on the Twenty-Fifth Psalm (1537) The New Birth (1537) Christian Baptism (1539) Foundation of the Christian Doctrine ( )

Distinctive Mennonite Emphases Outlined by Simons 1. The need for repentance and faith It will not “help a fig to boast of the Lord’s blood, death, merits, grace or gospel if the believer is not truly converted from his sinful life” 2. The need for the new birth “True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, it binds up that which is wounded, it has become all things to all people” 3. Freedom to choose or reject God’s offer of forgiveness 4. A call for religious toleration 5. The desire to restore the primitive (New Testament) church 6. Discipleship is the essence of Christianity “The Prince of Peace is Jesus Christ. We who were formerly no people at all, and who knew of no peace, are now called to be…a church…of peace. True Christians do not know vengeance. They are children of peace…they walk in the way of peace” Reply to False Accusations

What were the lasting contributions of the Radicals or Anabaptists? Separation of church and state Religious liberty Separation from the world