The Early Anabaptists
On October 17, 1517, Martin Luther (1483–1546) nailed his Ninety-five Theses against the Roman Catholic Church, which indicated that the Reformation was launched. In less than ten years, the Reformation had taken place in many areas around Europe. In Zurich, a group of reformers led by Conrad Grebel (1498–1526), George Blaurock (1492–1529), and Felix Manz (1498–1526) formed the first free church to follow the New Testament pattern, which was called Anabaptist.
The Birth of Anabaptists
Grebel and Manz were well-educated and discovered that the church back to the first centuries and the church at their time differed in many respects while they were studying the Scriptures with Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531). In the New Testament, the church was constituted by true believers who have risked their lives for Jesus Christ. However, the churches in Zurich considered everyone as believers by infant baptism.
Grebel’s wife gave birth to a boy in the Fall of 1524, but Grebel refused to baptize his son. Many parents followed him, which caught the council of Zurich’s attention. The controversy of infant baptism became the root of the split between Zwingli and the radicals. On January 17, 1525, the radicals lost in the disputation. As a result, the council warned them to baptize babies in one week, otherwise, they would be expelled from Zurich.
Four days later, a dramatic and unforgettable event happened in Manz house. Grebel baptized Blaurock, and then Blaurock baptized other presents. They considered this new baptism as a sign to be a true disciple of Christ to separate them from the world. With this first baptism, the Anabaptism was born and the first free church was constituted, which was regarded as the most revolutionary reform that break with the Roman Catholic Church. However, the Anabaptist was deemed as heresy and rebel. Therefore, a period of martyrdom came at the same time. Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants under Zwingli persecuted the Anabaptist because they rejected the union of state and church.
The Theology of Anabaptists
The name “Anabaptist,” which means people who rebaptize, was dubbed by the opposition of the Anabaptists. In fact, the Anabaptists themselves rejected the idea of “rebaptize,” because they did not recognize the infant baptism as a truly valid baptism. They believed a valid baptism happen only under a conscious decision when believers confess their faith and want to live as disciples of Christ. They shared the creed with Luther and Calvin that only faith makes believers righteous before God, and believers cannot be saved by performing religious acts. The earlyAnabaptistt emphasized this concept. However, they accused Lutheranism as the contradiction between the doctrine of justification by faith and the support of infant baptism.
On the other hand, refusing infant baptism implied repudiation of the Roman Catholic Church. The goal of the Anabaptists was to build a church as the New Testament example was, which was totally separate from the state. The ecclesiology of anabaptist was that true believers freely gathered together to fellowship with other believers and focus on studying the Words of God. Back to the 16th century, such a viewpoint was a radical revolutionary idea. Although Luther highlighted the individual’s faith, he did not break away from the state. The anabaptist wanted immediate reform and denied the authority of the state-church. Sadly, they were persecuted at the hands of both Protestants and Roman Catholics, because they were regarded as a threat to the state.
Conclusion
Based on the scripture, the early Anabaptists believed that believer’s baptism was a valid confession to be a true disciple of Christ rather than infant baptism. Therefore, a church should be composed by a community of like-minded true Christians who repent based on an individual confession of faith. Even though the early Anabaptists in Zurich perished in years, but they have impacted many sects. The Anabaptist can be seen as the pioneer of the modern Protestants as far as the creed of separation of church and state.
