Chapter 21 - Protesting Against the Protestants

It is common to divide protestant reformation into 2 groups:

• magisterial reformation and radical reformation

Magisterial reformation:

• Magisterial reformation: sought to utilize support of magistrates (public officials) and governing authorities to advance their reform movements

  • Tried to get public officials to spread their views and expel the heretics

• Radical reformers:

• Radical reformers: believed there should be separation of church and state

  • Didn’t think it was right for government to coerce individuals to affirm certain religious beliefs of engage in religious practices

  • Can be divided into 3 categories: anabaptists, spiritualists, and anti-trinitarian rationalists

baptismal regeneration:

• Historically Christian baptism had been practiced as an initiation rite into Christian church

• Catholics say that it is baptismal regeneration: sacrament of regeneration by water in the word

what was the disagreement between protestants and catholics surrounding baptism about?

The disagreement on baptism centered around whether or not children could or should be baptized

why were people against practice of infant baptism

• People believed that infant baptism was contrary to sola fide (faith alone) - because infants are unable to have a faith of their own

who were the Brethren and what did they believe about baptism

• The Brethren led by Conrad Grebel, maintained that baptism is a sign of signifying one’s personal commitment to faith in Christ, not a means of regeneration or coming to faith 

who were the anabaptists?

Several Swiss Christians who disagreed with infant baptism, baptized themselves and called themselves Anabaptists (means rebaptism)

what was the schleitheim confession

• Swiss Anabaptist belief was ratified in 1527 in the Schleitheim confession: published document which offered 7 declarations of Anabaptist belief

  • Baptism is to be administered only to those who have consciously repented and believed that Christ died for their sins

believer’s baptism

Believer’s baptism is the Christian practice of baptizing individuals who are old enough to consciously understand the gospel and make a personal profession of faith in Jesus Christ. It stands in contrast to infant baptism, as it serves as a public declaration of a person's already established faith.

who is the start of anabaptism attributed to

People attribute the start of Anabaptism to Zwickau prophets and Thomas Müntzer (German social revolutionaries)

what are the Zwickau prophets

• Zwickau prophets

  • Group of radical reformers who rejected Catholic teachings 

  • Opposed by Martin Luther and soon dissolved

who was Thomas Müntzer

• Thomas Müntzer

  • Reformed pastor, former student of Luther

  • One of the leaders of German Peasants’ War

what were 4 core tenets that anabaptists affirmed

• Bible is the final authority for matters of faith and practice

• Believer’s baptism

• Personal, devoted relationship with Christ

• Communal nature of Christian life

what is water baptism often called

• Water baptism is often called baptism in remissionem peccatorum (Latin for in forgiveness of sins)

why was the view of believer’s baptism so radical

View of believer’s baptism was radical bc it meant that all Catholics and reformers who had been baptized as children were not really baptized after all

what were the 2 significant results of believer’s baptism

• Led to 2 significant results:

  • Impossible to distinguish between true Christians and false ones bc both had been baptized as infants

  • Meant that Catholic and Reformed churches were not truly Christian churches

what is ecclesia

Ecclesia - Greek word meaning those called out

the disagreements that arose between anabaptists led to which new denominations?

• Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites

what were some fundamental aspects of being a christian for anabaptists

• For Anabaptists, the need for personal repentance and faith was a fundamental aspect of being a Christian

• Another major theme of Anabaptists: the necessity of a personal, devoted relationship with God

  • Affirmed synergism in which human wills cooperate with God’s grace in their salvation

  • Personal relationship with God meant a life of discipleship to Christ and his teachings

• Another theme: the communal nature of Christian life

  • Believed that faith and life are inseparable - living in Christian community was vital

  • Believed that christian community should be separate from the world (separation of church and state)

what were the core beliefs of anabaptists

But core Anabaptist beliefs are still: rejection of infant baptism, personal holiness and devotion to Christ, church unity and community separated from the state, and nonviolence and pacifism

mennonites

• Mennonites

  • Named after Menno Simons (1496-1561)

  • Largest group of Anabaptists

  • Believer’s baptism, holiness of life as a basis for faith, pacifism

Amish

• Amish

  • Jacob amman (1644-1720)

  • Reform group of mennonites

  • Many live in Pennsylvania and are known for simple living, plain attire, and resistance to using many conveniences of modern society

hutterites

• Hutterites

  • Jacob hutter (1500-1536)

  • practiced believer’s baptism, the communal ownership of property and goods, and nonviolence or pacifism.

who is balthasar hubmaier

one of the anabaptist heroes

• Balthasar Hubmaier (1480-1528)

  • Became a Catholic priest and was an influential apologist during Luther

  • He moved and began studying the ideas of the reformers and eventually converted to Protestantism

  • Studied the ideas of the Swiss Brethren 

    • Began to question role of government in religion and infant baptism practice

  • Huge proponent of believer’s baptism

  • Disagreement with Zwingli about if infant baptism was ok or not, he was arrested bc he refused to recant argument that infant baptism should not be allowed

dirk willems

one of the anabaptist heroes

• Dirk Willems

  • Placed in prison bc of his beliefs about baptism

  • Known for saving his prison guard who fell in the water chasing after him 

  • Died shortly after bc he was rearrested and killed

menno simons

one of the anabaptist heroes

• Menno Simons

  • Became Catholic priest but said he was troubled with certain Catholic doctrines, specifically transubstantiation

  • Began to study works of Zwingli and Calvin and eventually converted to Anabaptism

  • Münster rebellion was where his brother got killed, had huge impact on him

  • Münster Rebellion

    • Group of Anabaptists believed Christ would return soon and münster was the new Jerusalem

    • Battle broke out and many died

  • Simons eventually joined this rebellion

  • He led the early movement during one of the most difficult times in anabaptist history 

what was the münster rebellion

• Münster Rebellion

  • Group of Anabaptists believed Christ would return soon and münster was the new Jerusalem

  • Battle broke out and many died

what were the other movements in the radical reformation

• spiritualists

• anti-trinitarian rationalists

what are spiritualists

• Spiritualists

  • Emphasized role of Holy Spirit which took precedence over literal understanding of Bible

  • Focused on invisible rather than visible church

  • Rejected external and social aspects of church

  • Caspar Schwenkfeld and Sebastian Franck

what were anti-trinitarian rationalists

• Anti-trinitarian rationalists

  • Placed much weight on human reason as the source of ultimate authority, in addition to Scripture 

  • Rejected doctrine of the trinity

  • Michael Servetus and Faustus Socinus

what makes the three unified (anabaptists, spiritualists, and anti-trinitarian rationalists)

• their disdain for infant baptism and for the state’s authority in matters of faith

who were the anabaptists

The Anabaptists were a group of Protestant Reformers in the sixteenth century who were called “Anabaptists” because they were baptized again as adults – rejecting their infant baptism as unbiblical.

in contrast to the roman catholics and magisterial reformers in the 16th century, anabaptists held to what?

the Anabaptists held to believer’s baptism and a freedom of religion from the state.