ANABAPTIST THOUGHT
TODAY
Editorial
October, 1970
Volume 5. Number 4
The Anabaptists (as well as the Pietists) had a tremendous
influence on Alexander Mack and the early Brethren. Some of the younger
members of the Church of the Brethren are appealing to the practices of
the Anabaptists, in order to justify their noncooperation with the state.
Some say that just as the Anabaptists refused to have their babies baptized,
so Christians today should refuse to cooperate with the Selective Service,
etc. The article in this issue of the BRF Witness is
a study of Anabaptist thought.
The 1970 Annual Conference Central Committee [Program
and Arrangements Committee] arranged for a discussion of the theme Anabaptist
Thought Today at one of the post-evening insight sessions of the Conference.
The message in this BRF Witness was delivered at that session.
Note that the Anabaptists accepted the entire New Testament, when studied
in context and in light of the laws of grammar, literally--and they disobeyed
the state only when the state required them to do something which was expressly
forbidden in the New Testament, or when they were forbidden to perform
an act clealy required by the Scriptures. When the New Testament
spoke clearly, the acted. At all other times, they were not permitted
"to despise, blaspheme, or resist the government."
--H.S.M.
Basic Principles of Anabaptist Thought
By Harold S. Martin
We have been asked to speak on several questions related to the theme,
"Anabaptist Thought Today." The questions assigned are these:
[1] As you understand Anabaptism historically, what do you feel are
some of its most important themes for the life of the Church of
the Brethren today?
[2] Where and in what form do you see Anabaptist themes and values existing
in the life of the church today?
[3] Where and in what form do you see Anabaptist themes and values existing
in the life of the world today?
The Roman Catholic Church had declined in spiritual vitality down through
the years, and by the early sixteenth century the church had become so
corrupt that great numbers of Christians were calling for reformation,
but reformation was slow in coming. During the 1500s, however, under the
leadership of such men as Luther and Calvin and Zwingli, thousands of people
broke away from the Catholic Church, and established independent Protestant
churches. Luther and Zwingli and the other Reformers instituted some very
excellent reforms -- but when they saw what it would cost to come all the
way back to Scriptural ground on such matters as nonconformity and nonresistance
and voluntary church membership -- they simply failed, and even persecuted
those who disagreed with them.
The Anabaptists were a group of Christians who opposed both the apostasy
of the Roman Catholic Church, and the compromises of the Protestant
Reformers. Their ideal was the primitive Christianity of the church
of New Testament times. Harold Bender, the Mennonite historian, states
three major themes of the Anabaptist movement, and these [as I understand
Anabaptism historically] are important themes for the life of the Church
of the Brethren today. The themes were practical discipleship, voluntary
church membership, and the practice of love and nonresistance.
1. PRACTICAL DISCIPLESHIP
The Anabaptists were devoted to the Scriptures.
The Protestant Reformers emphasized salvation through faith alone.
They said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." But
their emphasis on justification by faith alone, resulted in a cheap grace,
and in hundreds of baptized church members who had no thought of counting
the cost, and of taking up the cross daily and following Christ.
The Anabaptists saw the fallacy of the "only believe" doctrine, and
said that to be a Christian involves much more than a mere intellectual
belief -- to be a Christian means to follow Christ in one's daily life.
This Anabaptist concept of discipleship is summarized in the words of Menno
Simons: "Verily, they are not of the true church of Christ, who merely
boast of his name. But those are of the true church of Christ who are born
from above, who are of a penitent mind, who obey [God], and live according
to his holy commandments." This practical discipleship was central to Anabaptist
belief because of their respect for the Scriptures. The Anabaptists
were "biblicists" -- that is, they tried to follow the New Testament literally.
They had a fervent desire to obey every detail of the Scriptures. Alexander
Mack says [in the preface to his book, Rites and Ordinances]:
"We see how strictly God commanded his people to observe the laws which
he had made known by his servant Moses. So...God will be still more strict
to have observed all that he has in these latter times revealed...by
his beloved Son." He says that those who are promised eternal life, are
those who "will obey him in all things, in small matters as well as in
the great.''
The Anabaptists tried to follow the details of the New Testament literally,
and this led them to oppose such things as divorce, going to war,
the taking of oaths, and even the wearing of gold rings. And it led them
to
practice such things as feetwashing, the lovefeast, the sister's headcovering,
and modesty in attire. The Anabaptists said that a system of theology [a
carefully stated creed] doesn't amount to much, unless its principles
are lived out in the daily lives of the church members.
2. VOLUNTARY CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
The Anabaptists rejected infant baptism. The word "Anabaptist" means
"rebaptizer," or "the again-baptizer." During the Reformation, both Roman
Catholics and Protestants insisted that the church must include everyone
in the community, and so the law required that each baby born within the
confines of a certain state, had to be baptized into the church which happened
to be the religious affiliation of the prince of that particular province.
Thus everybody was a church member, but many within the church showed
no signs of spiritual life. They were baptized as infants; there was no
decision of their own.
By way of contrast, the Anabaptists believed that the church should
include only those who had been born again, and who were living
a transformed life. To the Anabaptists, the church was not the entire
community, but a select group, keeping itself separated from the world.
They considered infant baptism a meaningless and useless rite, and they
insisted on rebaptism at the time when a person accepted Christ of his
own accord. Baptism was not merely a ritual for new-born infants [to make
sure that everyone in the community belongs to the state church], but baptism
was a sign of the new birth [an outward sign of an inward change].
The Anabaptists did not believe that the entire social order
could be Christianized, and that the church must comprise everybody --
but they did believe that in the church they could create
a truly Christian society. And so they tried to maintain a pure church
by having included in its membership only those who voluntarily chose to
become members -- and by exercising a vigorous discipline within the church.
3. THE PRACTICE OF LOVE AND NONRESISTANCE
The Anabaptists stood for absolute separation of church and state. They
held firmly to the principle of non-participation in war.
They believed strongly that the state was necessary, and that
it was indeed ordained of God for the maintenance of order in an unregenerate
society. But they also believed that the Christian could have no
part in the use of force -- whether as a soldier in the army, or even as
a magistrate in the civil government. They stood firmly for the separation
of church and state.
The Anabaptists did not take a stand of opposition to war, but
rather, they took a stand of nonparticipation in it. They were not
merely humanitarian pacifists crusading for the end of all wars. The historian
Bender says that the Anabaptists "saw the whole of history [from the fall
of the first Adam, down to the second coming of Christ], as a great battle
between God and his enemies. There was no humanistic view of getting rid
of war in history." The Anabaptists [who had a strong influence on Alexander
Mack and the early Brethren] recognized that the unregenerate world was
not
capable of living a nonresistant life, and that the state operated by sub-Christian
principles -- but the Christian lived by nonresistant principles, and therefore
was separate from the state. The Dortrecht Confession
[adopted
by the Anabaptists in Dortrecht, Holland in 1632], says, "We also
believe and confess that God has instituted civil government for the punishment
of the wicked and the protection of the pious...Wherefore we are not permitted
to despise, blaspheme, or resist the government, but we are to acknowledge
it as a minister of God, and be subject and obedient to it -- in all things
that do not militate against the laws and commandments of God...[we are]
also faithfully to pay it custom, tax, and tribute; thus giving it what
is its due, as Jesus Christ taught, did himself, and commanded his followers
to do."
The humanitarian pacifist passes resolutions expressing opposition
to war; he urges the nations of the world to disarm, and to find "a Christian
way" to solve international problems; he views the state as an agency for
Christianizing the social order. These are excellent ideals, but they are
based on a wrong concept of sin, Christianity, and the kingdom of God.
The
Anabaptist nonresistant sees no possibility for transforming human
nature apart from the grace of God; he believes that loyalty to God's kingdom
limits his participation in earthly governments; he contributes to the
government through peaceful living, rather than through direct political
action; he expresses appreciation for the government and prays for it,
but does not attempt to control it, nor demand that it follow a certain
course of action with respect to foreign policy, etc.
CONCLUSION
[1] As you understand Anabaptism historically, whet do you feel are
some of its most important themes for the life of the Church of the Brethren
today?
The themes are practical discipleship [obedience even to the details
of the Scriptures]; voluntary church membership [a pure church composed
only of those who voluntarily choose to live a transformed life]; the practice
of nonresistance [a strict observance of separation between church and
state].
[2] Where and in what form do you see Anabaptist themes and values
existing in the life of the church today?
The theme of practical discipleship is seen today in the Church's
emphasis on "the good life" [emphasizing not a creed, but good living].
But the desire to obey every detail of the Scriptures is fading
rapidly in the Church of the Brethren, even to the point that those who
do
attempt to follow the New Testament literally, are not usually called by
the nice word "biblicists," but by the ugly word, "legalists." [I have
discovered, however, that those who level the charge of "legalism" usually
don't know what legalism is].
The theme of voluntary church membership is universally held
throughout the Church of the Brethren today, and we commend the Church
for maintaining this position. But the concept of the Church as a select
group, composed of transformed individuals [keeping itself separate from
the world, and disciplined], is being endangered by the emphasis on "a
turn to the world." There is often very little evidence of changed lives,
of church discipline, and of standards and restrictions and regulations.
The theme of love and nonresistance is seen today in the Church's
emphasis on pacifism. But today, the biblical nonresistance of the Anabaptists
and Pietists is being replaced by a humanistic pacifism -- a crusade for
a world without war.
[3] Where and in what form do you see Anabaptist themes and values
existing in the life of the world today?
None of these themes exist in the world; only believers are capable
of practicing the biblical themes and values upheld by the Anabaptists.
It is my conviction that the Church of the Brethren should move beyond
the ecumenical movement [as symbolized in the Councils of Churches];
and even beyond the evangelical movement [as symbolized in the Billy
Graham Crusades and the Congresses on Evangelism]; and again recapture
the Anabaptist vision of practicing the principles of the biblical
faith as taught in the Scriptures and handed down by our Anabaptist forerunners.
The foregoing
message was given at a post-evening session of the
Church
of the Brethren Annual Conference at Lincoln, Nebraska on June 26. 1970.