By Alfredo Mullet
Mennonites, like all the other Protestant Denominations, trace their roots to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Originally they were followers of Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss reformer, who wanted to reform the Catholic Church. However, after realizing that Zwingli wanted gradual change supported and authorized by the magisterial authorities, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock and other associates of Zwingli decided they had to part ways with him. The two immediate issues over which they separated were infant baptism and civil authority. These two were closely related; the Catholic Church’s spiritual authority was connected to civil authority. Thus, infant baptism was not only a religious ceremony, but also an initiation of citizenship into the state. At baptism a child was issued a baptismal record which functioned as a kind of birth certificate. For a person to be un-baptized by the Catholic Church meant they were legally undocumented. While Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other reformers were dissatisfied with some of the religious practices and theological positions of the Catholic Church, they were not willing to go so far as to give up infant baptism and ecclesiastical connection with the civil government.
These disagreements with Zwingli prompted Grebel, Manz, and Blaurock to meet together with other fellow Believers on the night of January 21, 1525. During the course of their Bible study, George Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptize him. Then Blaurock proceeded to go around the circle baptizing the others in what they considered their first true baptism. This was a boldly daring move because it challenged the authority of the State Church. Essentially, they were declaring that infant baptism had no Biblical precedent in the New Testament; only adults who could confess their faith in Jesus Christ were fit candidates for baptism. Since infants could not personally acknowledge their faith in Christ, baptizing them did nothing to initiate them as members into his Spiritual Body.
This event in January of 1525 in Zurich Switzerland is traditionally called “The Birth of Anabaptism” or as it is also often referred to as “The Radical Reformation”; radical, because it was willing to step out in practical obedience to the New Testament teachings of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount. It was a revival of the early Christian Church Movement as reported in the book of Acts and the writings of the first Apostles. The belief and practice of believers’ baptism earned them the name, Ana-Baptists, a term which meant re-baptizers; although in their minds it was simply the first and only true Biblically valid baptism. Their refusal to recant and revert to the former Old Ways of religious and political beliefs and practices stirred up severe persecution from both the Catholic and Protestant leaders against them. Many of them paid the ultimate price of martyrdom for the sake of obedience to what they believed were clear Bible Doctrines binding on all disciples of Jesus Christ.
There are different groups that arose from this “Radical Reformation” movement named after their founders. The Hutterites received their name from Jacob Hutter, the Amish from Jacob Amman, (who eventually split from the Swiss Mennonites in 1693), and the Mennonites from Menno Simons. Menno Simons was a Dutch Catholic priest (he was the only one of the early Anabaptist leaders who died a natural death in 1561, though he was forced into continual exile with a price on his head) who converted to Anabaptism in the 1530’s. He was very active in teaching and proclaiming the new-found doctrines of the Anabaptists in the Netherlands and northern Germany. One of his specific commitments was to the New Testament non-violent peace position as taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
Early Anabaptism was not a unified movement in the sense of having a common form of church order and leadership (a general conference type of administration binding on all churches within the constituency).
Some reasons for this were due to their belief in congregational autonomy; they taught that each church was an enclave of the Kingdom of God within its particular locality. Secondly, since they were severely persecuted they had to operate as an underground movement; they never knew how quickly they would have to flee to another location for safety. Another reason was the geographical barriers; the Anabaptist fire rapidly spread throughout Western Europe making it difficult to keep up with every local congregation.
However, in spite of these survival struggles facing them Michael Sattler of Germany was instrumental in drafting the Schleitheim Confession in 1527. Less than three months later he was severely tortured and finally burned at the stake. His wife, along with others arrested, were also executed by the sword or by drowning. This Confession highlighted seven articles of basic Anabaptist faith beliefs and practices.
These seven were:
1. Baptism; administered only to those who would openly confess their faith in Christ and whose lives evidenced the New Birth. Baptism had no spiritually transforming power in the ceremony itself, but rather it was a testimony of the Holy Spirit baptism already poured out on the Believer. 2. The Ban/Excommunication; the process of disciplining church members who have sinned or erred from the faith as a means to bring them back to repentance and re-instatement of fellowship. Since the emphasis for this is redemptive love there is no coercive force or physical violence applied.
3. The Breaking of Bread/Communion; this ceremony was only for those who were united in Christ by one faith, one true baptism, and one Spirit to one Body.
4. Separation from the Abomination; to completely and wholly follow Jesus Christ demands that his disciples separate themselves from the ungodly influences and practices of the worldly minded society and compromising religious institutions.
5. Pastors in the Church; this article laid out the spiritual and moral qualifications for church leaders. It also stipulated their purpose and responsibilities to the Body, and in the event that a pastor was arrested, it instructed them in the ordaining of other leaders to take their place. 6. The sword; the governmental magistrates who are outside of the perfection of Christ are authorized by God to use the sword for the punishment and execution of the wicked and the protection of the good. The Disciples of Christ have no business resorting to physical violence and using the sword to punish the erring; instead they are to treat all humanity with love and kindness.
7. The Oath; Jesus Christ taught emphatically that his followers do not need any oaths to confirm and strengthen the truth of their statements. A simple yes or no is sufficient to those who are honest and true-hearted.
This Schleitheim Confession was certainly not a complete account of all the Christian beliefs of the Anabaptists, but it was intended to give a basic unity of Biblical faith to counter some of the false charges made against them by their Catholic and Protestant opponents.
Along with these seven articles there were other Biblical and theological doctrines that distinguished them from the other Reformers. These were not designed to be an imposed systematic theology (for they believed that strict theological systems restricted the moving of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual believer and the congregation), but more like clearly expressed principles and dogmas as Christological threads running throughout the Old and New Testaments.
Here are some of them:
1. The Two Covenants; although both the Old and New Testaments were equally inspired by God, the Old Covenant was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Therefore, the New Covenant (particularly the Sermon on the Mount) is now the rule of faith and practical life for the Believers in Christ. They understood that the Old Testament system of national theocracy was designed to one day become obsolete and be replaced with a superior Covenant of an International Kingdom of Heaven comprised of all ethnicities, nationalities, language groups, and economic classes.
2. The Two Kingdoms; There are only two Kingdoms on earth, the kingdom of Heaven, the church of which Jesus Christ is King and Law-giver and the kingdom of this world which is influenced and managed by the powers of Darkness. Because the Disciples of Christ are citizens of Light they cannot, at the same time, become involved and embroiled with earthly governmental systems of power. While they are to respect and submit to worldly authority structures, their primary allegiance is to Christ, their King. Thus, when it comes to the choice between conflicting commands they must choose Jesus Christ. The Church and State are two incompatible institutions because they operate under different Rulers for two distinct purposes.
3. The Way of Peace; furthermore, the Kingdom of Heaven people are called to be peace makers, for this reason, they cannot take up arms to defend themselves or fight for the state. They would rather suffer loss and even death rather than hurt a fellow human who is equally created in the image of God. The call to peace is not simply one of avoiding conflict, but rather a
command to proactively do good to those who abuse, slander, and persecute them. 4. A Proper View of the Scriptures; while the Anabaptists believed the Biblical Scriptures were the authoritative Word of God, they did not worship the Bible, but the One who is its main character, Jesus Christ. They placed the greater emphasis on the Word (Logos) behind the words (rhema). For this reason, one had to be spirit filled and controlled; since the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, only he can reveal its intended meaning.
5. The Community of Saints; although the Church is made up of individual believers who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, these are to find their place within the Body of Christ, the local congregation. A person is not saved by Church membership but rather for Church membership, therefore, to remain outside the Body and Bride on earth is to forfeit one’s place in the Heavenly fulfillment of the marriage Supper of the Lamb. The Church is not primarily an earthly organization, but the actual and literal Body of Christ. The Church’s main tasks are evangelization and discipleship. Its primary theology is expressed in a life of service to the church and humankind in general.
It is important to note that Anabaptism is not a denomination, but rather a Christian Biblical Worldview, so the Mennonite denomination does not have a monopoly on these Anabaptist principles. Anyone whose heart resonates with these doctrines and practices can accept them for their own and become an Anabaptist by choice; even if a person is born a
Mennonite he or she can choose to receive or reject the Anabaptist Heritage. Today, we as modern Mennonites are the privileged heirs of this rich spiritual inheritance, and although we have often not consistently preached and practiced these Biblically distinctive doctrines, we at Faith Mennonite Fellowship are doing our best to rediscover and renew our commitment to these basic Biblical beliefs and practices.
In Christ-like humility, we invite your feed-back and input by questions, encouragement, and both positive and negative criticism. We admit we are not perfect, but we sincerely aspire to exemplify our Perfect Model, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, who gave himself for us to purify us as his people to become zealous of his Good Works.
