The Quincentenary of the Anabaptist Movement

James DeForest Murch’s groundbreaking history of the Restoration Movement, Christians Only: A History of the Restoration Movement, opens with an introductory chapter entitled, “The Preservation of the Faith.” In this chapter, Murch suggests departures from the original pattern for the church began soon after Jesus announced His plan to establish the church. “Holy Scripture,” Murch went on to explain, “is the first to record the cycle of purity, power, apostasy, and restoration in the church of Christ.” On every occasion in which the truth was betrayed, Murch further notes, “our Lord has … raised up men to restore apostolic preaching and practice by an appeal to the revealed Word of God.”i  

As Murch continues through the opening chapter of his book, he contends that “a large body of trustworthy evidence enables us to trace through history the fact that the true church, often a remnant flock, has existed continuously since Pentecost.”ii In the pages following this statement, Murch identifies groups like the Priscillians (fourth century), Paulicians (seventh century), Waldenses (twelfth century), Hussites (fifteenth century), and others, as the faithful remnants who sustained the “true church” down through the ages. The problem with Murch’s faithful remnant theory is that some of these groups have long been recognized as heretical for some of their teachings and ideas. Moreover, one must question whether the “true church” ever has or even can be identified as a group or denomination. 

Murch himself noted that Alexander Campbell wrote, “The true Christian church, or house of God, is composed of all those in every place that do publicly acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah, and the only Saviour of men, and building themselves upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, associate under the constitution which He himself granted and authorized in the New Testament, and are walking in His ordinances and commandments—and of none else.”iii Thus, it seems more accurate to suggest the “true church,” or even the “faithful remnant,” should not refer to a group or denomination, but to those known only by God who have fully surrendered themselves to Him and who obediently follow His commandments. 

With that being said, however, one cannot deny there have always been some groups or movements within the history of Christianity that have promoted principles, doctrines, and practices that have empowered individual adherents to these groups to more clearly recognize Jesus as their savior and to pursue a restoration of biblical Christianity. This is not to say the groups themselves were the “true church” (the church is not any humanly-devised group), but because of these groups—some more so than others—there were people who were enabled to be the church. For this reason alone, these movements through the history of the church are worthy of being remembered. One such group is known historically as the Anabaptist Movement (or the Radical Reformers), and this year marks the 500th anniversary of the beginning of this unique community. 

On October 31, 1517, a relatively unknown German monk and professor, Martin Luther (1483-1546), created a bit of a disturbance in the Roman Catholic Church as he posted 95 statements for discussion on the local bulletin board of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. In an additional series of publications, Luther further questioned the practices of the Roman Church, and he was ultimately excommunicated in early 1521. The developments that emerged from Luther’s struggles with Catholicism ignited a movement in opposition to Rome that became known as the Protestant Reformation. Luther, along with most of the other reformers who soon followed him, insisted that Christianity must be based on Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura), rather than the instructions of bishops, priests, and popes. 

Soon after Luther’s break from the Roman Catholic Church, Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531), a Swiss priest who served at a large church in Zurich, made a name for himself by preaching expository sermons on New Testament texts rather than following the Roman Catholic liturgy. Along with these teachings, Zwingli insisted that the church must focus on the teachings of Scripture as opposed to those of the Catholic Church. With this study of the Bible, Zwingli and the members of his church began to enact reforms that eventually led to a break from the Roman Catholic Church. Though their reforms began as early as 1522, the last Catholic Mass to be observed in Zurich was on Easter Sunday of 1525. 

A young associate who worked alongside of Zwingli in the plea for Christian reform in Zurich was Conrad Grebel (1498-1526). Grebel was closely aligned with Zwingli in many of his ideas but grew more distant as he discovered areas of disagreement in 1523 and 1524. One of these divergent views focused upon the subject of baptism. Through his study of Scripture, Grebel became convinced the proper subjects for baptism are believing adults who can confess their faith in Christ. Grebel’s objection to Zwingli’s firmly held belief in the validity of infant baptism led to a public disputation on January 17, 1525. Zwingli defended his belief in the baptism of infants against Grebel and two of his associates: Felix Manz (1498-1527) and George Blaurock (1491-1529). At the contest’s conclusion, the city magistrates of Zurich declared Zwingli the debate’s victor and ordered that all unbaptized infants be baptized immediately. 

Four days after the debate, on January 21, 1525 (slightly over four years after Martin Luther’s excommunication on January 3, 1521), the three opponents to Zwingli met to discuss their plans for moving forward. In this meeting, Blaurock asked Grebel to baptize him upon his simply confession of faith in Jesus as savior. Afterward, Blaurock baptized Grebel and Manz, which is widely recognized as the beginning of the mainline Anabaptist Movement. 

Although this Zurich contingency’s actions are widely accepted as the beginning of the Anabaptist Movement, it also appears as though Anabaptist fellowships emerged as separate and distinct groups in numerous other European regions as well. Historians refer to this as the polygenesis of the Anabaptist Movement. While differing Anabaptist groups had unique beliefs and practices, there were a few distinctive ideas that were widely accepted within the various Anabaptist communities. Perhaps most important was their insistence on believer’s baptism. The Schleitheim Confession (1527), a statement of beliefs for the Swiss Anabaptists written by Michael Sattler (1490-1527), went so far as to declare infant baptism “the greatest and first abomination of the pope.”iv As a result of this rejection of infant baptism, the Anabaptists called upon those who had been baptized prior to their ability to confess their personal faith in Jesus to submit to baptism (sometimes immersion, sometimes sprinkling) anew. For this reason, they were called “Anabaptists”: ana meaning again, and baptists referring to baptizers. 

Other beliefs and practices of the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century that made them distinct from the Christian groups around them were their beliefs in the separation of church and state and their support for pacifism. Relying on Philippians 3:20, the Anabaptists insisted they were not citizens of this earth but citizens of heaven. As a result, they refused to involve themselves with the political affairs of this world and especially insisted they wanted no part in the brutalities of worldly warfare. These were notions that were countercultural to nearly every other Christian community of the time. Nevertheless, it should be noted not all who were identified as early Anabaptists held firmly to these convictions. 

From their very inception, the Anabaptists throughout Europe were ridiculed, persecuted, and martyred. In 1527, an assembly of about 60 Anabaptists met at Augsburg, Germany, to discuss the differences of the various Anabaptist groups and to send missionaries throughout Europe to promote their generally agreed-upon ideas. Nearly all the missionaries and participants in the meeting were killed for their faith, which led to this assembly being known historically as the Martyrs’ Synod. Yet, as if responding to the claims of second-century church father Tertullian, who wrote “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” the Anabaptist Movement continued to attract people who sought a pure and genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. The very fact that the Anabaptists willingly submitted to persecution and martyrdom was evidence to many that they were sincerely committed to their beliefs. 

Now, as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist Movement’s beginning, we should remember their desire to follow the Bible (even if we may see errant ideas within some of the Anabaptist groups) influenced many to draw closer to Jesus. In an indirect manner, their thoughts were even influential upon the early leaders and advocates of the Restoration Movement. From a group like the Anabaptists, we should learn to search the Scriptures and stand up for the truth, even if we oppose the current trends and confront opposition in the process.v