The Radical Reformation

The End of the World

Though it may come as a shock to many in the 21st century, the hype surrounding the turn of the millennium (Y2K and all that) was not the largest or most notorious surrounding THE END. One of the more outrageous occured in the central German town of Munster in the mid 1530’s. A group of Anabaptists led by Jan Mathis and Jan of Lieden took control of the entire city, renamed it the New Jerusalem, and set about purifying the Bride. The non-believers were cast out in the frigid winter of 1535, naysayers were decapitated, communism was installed, and the institution of polygamy was reinstated.

Even though the Anabaptists were Protestants, they were opposed by a group comprised of Catholics, regular armies of the Prince Bishop and Lutherans. The city was besieged for over a year, and when the collective forces made it inside the city, none of the Anabaptists were left alive. The leaders of the Revolt were placed in iron cages, tortured for 3 days, and then killed and left to rot in the hanging cages. The original cages are still hanging in the city of Munster today

How could such an event come to pass so quickly after the beginning of the Reformation. Luther had posted his 95 Theses in 1517 (only 17 years prior) and the preaching of Luther and Zwingli did not gain widespread effects until the early 1520’s. How did the returned emphasis on Sola Scriptura produce such an extreme situation in less than 15 years? The answer is found by examining the third stream of the Reformation. We have looked at the Lutherans, and the Reformed, and now we turn our attention to the Radicals

How could such an event come to pass so quickly after the beginning of the Reformation. Luther had posted his 95 Theses in 1517 (only 17 years prior) and the preaching of Luther and Zwingli did not gain widespread effects until the early 1520’s. How did the returned emphasis on Sola Scriptura produce such an extreme situation in less than 15 years? The answer is found by examining the third stream of the Reformation. We have looked at the Lutherans, and the Reformed, and now we turn our attention to the Radicals

The origins of the Anabaptists

The movement known as the Radical Reformation produced several different groups, with the largest and most influential being the Anabaptists. The term Anabaptists was given as an insult, and it simply means rebaptizers. Zwingli was the leading Swiss Reformer in Zurich, and he had thrown off most of the unbiblical teachings of the Catholic Church along with most of the trappings. Several of Zwingli’s students wanted to take things further than Zwingli was willing. These men read the NT and could not find the basis of infant baptism, so they wanted to start practicing believers baptism.

The Reformed Church & the Lutherans, while having differences, were both part of the Magisterial Reformation. This meant that to one degree or another, Lutheran and Reformed churches were under the authority of the State. The students of Zwingli, (the Swiss Brethren), fiercely opposed state control because they could not find this principle in the Bible. Therefore, these men insisted on a free Church, whose membership would consist of only baptized believers. As a result, in January 1525, the first adult baptisms took place, followed by a service in which Communion was observed.

While this doesn’t get our attention, in the 16th Century, this was a completely radical concept. “To Zwingli and the city council, the baptisms and eucharists of the Swiss Brethren were acts of anarchy which struck at the roots of the Zwinglian vision of Zurich as a united Christian community. Such lawless acts could not be tolerated - any more than a Western society today would tolerated the idea of a group of its citizens deciding to ignore state law and follow their own self chosen legal system. Religion, for the medieval mind, was the glue that held society together.” 2,000 Years of Christ’s Power, Volume 3, Renaissance & Reformation, by Nick Needham, p. 259

The Anabaptists did not claim their title as they disagreed that they were re-baptizing; they considered infant baptism to be illegitimate so their baptism was the first and only baptism a person received. The city council and the Reformed leaders would not sanction such a teaching that upset the established order so they began to execute the Radicals who refused the recant their beliefs. In March of 1526, the 1st Anabaptist was executed for his faith; ironically, he was killed by drowning. The hunting and execution of Anabaptists was wide-spread, and thousands of them were killed, especially after the events of Munster.

Anabaptist Beliefs

The closest thing to a confession of faith for the Anabaptists was a document written in 1527. It is called the Schleitheim Confession and it contains the following positions;

Believers Baptism

The Ban - a form of shunning as a means of church discipline

Communion

Separation of Church and State

Only 1 Pastor for the church

Pacifism and no oaths for government service

Note that the Confession focuses on behavior, but without the underlying scriptural basis for belief as to the nature of God or man, or the existing relationships between the two. [Compare the BF&M 2000 with its in-depth theological treatment of the Scriptures, the Nature of God, the nature of Man, and the need and means of Salvation.] The Anabaptist Confession is aimed at living the Christian Life (Sermon on the Mount) without going through the Scriptural foundation to get there.

This was written prior to the Uprising in Munster, but it was not widely known in the early stages. With the exception of the Munster Incident, the Anabaptists practiced pacifism and non-violence. However, the increase in persecutions by the other religious and civil forces along with an abuse of direct spiritual connections brought an unhealthy focus to a retreat mentality coupled with a end-of-the-world / new restoration concept. When a few charismatic Anabaptist leaders moved to Munster and began to proclaim the city as the focal point for the New Jerusalem, the masses began to gather. The city was surrounded soon after the Anabaptists took power, and the seige mentality along with the executions led to much of the aberrant behavior.

The Aftermath of Munster: Meno Simons picks up the pieces

The Rebellion of Munster tainted and haunted the Anabaptists for hundreds of years, but it did not wipe them out. A former Catholic Priest named Meno Simons was instrumental in keeping the movement alive. Simons was still serving as a priest during the Munster episode, but he had had doubts about Catholic teaching since about 1525. Meno had an Anabaptist brother who died in Munster, and while Meno totally rejected the rebel’s approach, he was sympathetic to Anabaptist core beliefs. He resigned as a priest and became a pastor to an Anabaptist church and quickly became its leading figure. Meno became a hunted man for the remainder of his life, be he persevered. He wrote against the tragedy at Munster and emphasized pacifism as a way of life. His descendents are with us today and we know them as Mennonites. Other belief systems that derive from the Anabaptist faith are the Hutterites, the Amish, Quakers, and Brethren churches. While some church historians claim that Baptists are also to be included in the Anabaptist family tree, the majority would disagree.