Anabaptism is a Christian theological tradition sometimes known as the “radical wing” of the Protestant Reformation. It had it’s beginnings in the early 1500’s soon after Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli began their efforts to reform the State Church. The early Anabaptist leaders felt that the Protestant reformers had not gone far enough in their reforms.
The Anabaptists differed from both the Protestants and the Catholics in these areas:
Adult Baptism: The Anabaptists contended that, according to scripture, baptism should come after an individual’s profession of faith and commitment to follow Jesus. This, of course, led them to reject infant baptism which was the normative practice in the state churches of the day. The Anabaptists contended that they were not “re-baptizers” at all because they didn’t consider their baptism as infants to be valid.
Voluntary Church Membership: In the 1500’s, every citizen born in a given geographical area was automatically a member of the state church of that region. The Anabaptists believed the true church should consist of only those who have made a voluntary, adult decision to follow Jesus and have committed themselves to encourage and discipline one another. This was a far cry from the church being comprised of everyone who resided in one geographical area with no regard to whether a person had individual faith or not.
Separation of Church and State: The Anabaptists thought it was entirely inappropriate to link the church and the government together. They argued that the governmental officials should not have the authority to determine a person’s church affiliation or a church’s theology and therefore called for complete separation of church and state. They taught a “two kingdom concept”, with Christians being part of Jesus’ kingdom, (which is not of this world) while residing as “resident aliens” in the kingdoms of this world.
Non-violence and Enemy Love: In a society racked by violence and self interest, the Anabaptists called for the way of Jesus as taught in the Sermon on the Mount to be the rule for everyday life. They took the Jesus’ command to “love one’s enemies” very seriously; because of this they refused to fight their enemies to protect themselves, choosing rather to suffer for their beliefs.* And indeed, suffer they did, by the hands of, (quite ironically) other Christians, Protestant and Catholic alike. Thousands of them died a martyr’s death during the 16th and early 17th centuries, often by drowning or being burned at the stake. By 1650 the executions had stopped but the Anabaptists were still under much persecution. Many had their property confiscated. Sometimes their children would be taken away and given to a family that belonged to the state church. They might be branded with hot irons and some were even sold as galley slaves, chained to row in the holds of Mediterranean ships. But, against all odds, the movement survived and eventually many Anbaptists immigrated to Canada and the United States. Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites all trace their roots back to the Anabaptists of the Reformation.