Theology of Anabaptism

Anabaptists (originally a pejorative title, meaning "re-baptizers", from Greek ανα and βαπτιζω) are Christians of the Radical Reformation.

The leading elements of Anabaptist theology are:

(Note: Schwertler Anabaptists, such as Balthasar Hubmaier, were not nonresistant and supported the government; they even encouraged involvement in government.)

Anabaptists also regard true religious reform as involving social improvement. The socialism of the 16th century was Christian and Anabaptist, though most Anabaptists never adopted a strict communal lifestyle.

The Anabaptists practiced church discipline before any of the Reformers adopted it. Reformer Martin Bucer was influenced by them to introduce discipline into the church in Strassburg, though the attempt was not successful. Bucer convinced John Calvin of the idea, and he established church discipline in Geneva. Calvin read the Schleitheim Confession in 1544 and concluded, "these unfortunate and ungrateful people have learned this teaching and some other correct views from us." Calvin was only 18 years old and still a Catholic when the Schleitheim Confession was formed in 1527. According to Harold S. Bender and several of his colleagues, the Anabaptists were "voluntaristic in religious choice, advocates of a church completely free from state influence, biblical literalists, non-participants in any government activity to avoid moral compromise, suffering servant disciples of Jesus who emphasized moral living and who were persecuted and martyred as Jesus had been, and restitutionists who tried to restore pre-Constantinian Christian primitivism". (Note: Schwertler Anabaptists, such as Balthasar Hubmaier, were not against participation in any government activity, but even encouraged involvement in government.) While within historical Anabaptism numerous variations occurred, the comparison of Anabaptism with Protestantism highlights a consistent core of faith and practice among the Anabaptists.

After Martin Luther's rejected reformation of Roman Catholicism, these groups denied the validity of infant baptism. In addition, Anabaptists rejected all Roman Catholic baptism as invalid. They therefore re-baptized those whom they regarded as not having received any Christian initiation at all, and claimed that their baptism after profession of faith was the recipient's first legitimate baptism. Reportedly, one of the first adult baptisms was publicly performed in Zürich, Switzerland, in January 1525.

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