The Anabaptists Guided notes

The Anabaptists The radical Anabaptists rejected the involvement of the state in church affairs. To them the true Christian church was a voluntary community of adult believers who had undergone spiritual rebirth and had then been baptized. This belief in adult baptism separated the Anabaptists from both Catholics and Protestants, who baptized infants.

The Anabaptists Based on New Testament account of early Christianity, Anabaptists considered all believers equal. Any member of the community could be a minister because all Christians were considered priests. (However, women were often excluded from the ministry.)

The Anabaptists Anabaptist believed in the complete separation of church and state. Government was not to even have political authority of real Christians. Anabaptists would not hold office or bear arms. They took literally the biblical commandment to not kill.

The Anabaptists Their political and religious beliefs caused Anabaptists to be branded dangerous radicals. Protestants and Catholics agreed on the need to persecute Anabaptists.

Mennonites and Amish Contemporary Mennonites and Amish are Anabaptist communities

Menno Simons & Jacob Ammann Menno Simons was the popular leader of Anabaptism that started the Mennonite following. In the 1690’s, Jacob Ammann took a group of Swiss Mennonites and started their own church. They became known as the Amish.

Protestants developed a new view of the family. It had rejected the idea that priests received special holiness stemmed from celibacy (staying unmarried), and the family was placed at the center of human life.

The Role of Women in the Faith However, Protestantism continued the traditional subservience and obedience of the wife. Woman’s role was to bear children. This function was part of the divine plan, according to Luther and Calvin. Protestantism did not change women’s subordinate place in society.