Conflicting Religious Perspectives (1517 - 1558)

The third Protestant perspective was more diverse, probably developing soon after the 1524-1525 Peasants’ War, in more than one region at once. As more ordinary people read the bible in their own languages, they formed radical new understandings. Believing Anabaptists were given equal status, regardless of sex or background, which could be particularly attractive to those in the lower classes.

After a bloody massacre at Munster, when Anabaptists briefly took power in the city, they became strong advocates for separation of church and state, non-violence and peace.

More loosely defined than other traditions, by 1558 there were Anabaptist minorities in Switzerland, South Germany/Austria, and North Germany/Low Countries. When persecuted, they would cross national borders to seek somewhere safer.

Church Authority

Anabaptists stressed the importance of the Bible too, but believed that each gathered community of believers had the ability to interpret it themselves. This authority stemmed from Jesus’ promise to be with his followers:

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them Matthew 18 v 20.

Each individual church was empowered to make its own decisions. Although some might argue that this was a recipe for chaos, Anabaptists believed that Jesus would guide them, through his Spirit, when they met together to seek his will. Everyone was allowed to speak and vote on the outcome.

Beliefs and Practices

The name Anabaptist means Re-baptiser, from the practice for which they were most widely known, as they followed the New Testament pattern of baptising adult believers rather than infants.

Anabaptists saw faith in Jesus as an important part of a process. Individuals who responded to preaching and teaching about Jesus in faith, were baptised as believers, and became members of the local church, whereby they began a new life of on-going transformation and salvation within that context.

Core Anabaptist practices were taken from the first chapters of the Book of Acts, where after repentance and baptism, thousands of believers met together to pray, praise God, eat and sustain the poor. In some instances, this led to Anabaptists selling their possessions and living more communally. (Acts 2 v 41-47)

Services were less structured, with different members speaking, praying and singing. Believers’ baptism and the Lord’s Supper were seen as acts of obedience and remembrance (ordinances) rather than sacraments, during which the bread, wine and water did not change in any way. Ordinances could be administered anywhere, by any believing member.

Another distinction was their strong separation from the state institutions. Anabaptists would not swear oaths of allegiance to secular authorities, administer the law as magistrates, nor serve in the military.

Also, perhaps unsurprising given the amount of persecution they faced, many also believed that the End Times were imminent, as imagined in the New Testament Book of Revelation.