Sorry. Couldn't resist.
Posted on 05/02/2013 6:40:01 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
I am often asked, “What is an Anabaptist?” and “Who are the Anabaptists?” If one listened to everyone who claimed an Anabaptist connection, it would be easy to be confused. For many today a progressive politics is Anabaptist; for others it means being either Yoderian (John Howard Yoder) or Hauerwasian (Stanley Hauerwas). Fair enough, but neither of them is the full representation of Anabaptism.
So today I want to sketch the view of the one description of Anabaptism that shaped the 20th century the most. I refer to Harold S. Bender‘s classic essay called “The Anabaptist Vision.” No, it is not true that all Anabaptists agree with Bender, and no, some today (like Thomas Finger, in his big study, A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology, or J. Denny Weaver, Becoming Anabaptist) want to frame things in a different way, but it can be said that Bender’s sketch is the most influential view of Anabaptism of the 20th century.
There are three major dimensions of the Reformation: Luther and the Lutherans in Germany, Calvin and the Reformed in Switzerland, and Zwingli-generated (and then finished later by others) Anabaptism. Anabaptism spread through Switzerland, South Germany, Moravia and then into the Netherlands. The early Anabaptist theologians and statements of faith were uniformly Protestant in theology (justification, salvation by faith) yet were not simply Lutheran or Reformed. Their emphasis on adult baptism, upon profession of faith, as part of commitment to be a disciple, and to form into a fellowship of discipleship distinguished the Anabaptists from both the Lutherans and the Reformed, not to mention the Catholics.
Anabaptism is largely responsible for the nonconformist impulse of the church — to be sure, it has some connections to those before it, like the Waldensians of Italy, but the Anabaptists were radical in their nonconformity to the State and to State-sponsored churches — that is, the Catholic Church, Lutherans and the Reformed. All non-State churches in the U.S., and that’s most, owe some debt to the Anabaptists.
They were a courageous lot — thousands were put to death. They paid their life to be nonconformists, and there’s a positive way to put this: they died in order to be faithful to their commitment to follow the Bible, the New Testament and Jesus Christ.
For Bender, the Anabaptists are the full implementation of the Reformation. Neither Luther nor Calvin went far enough. Bender’s focus is Luther, not Calvin, and he cites evidence that Luther late in his life realized his “mass church,” which was basically everyone born into the community/State would be baptized and be Lutheran, was ineffective in transforming the life of the person. The early Anabaptists, like Conrad Grebel, observed the lack of discipleship among the Lutherans of the Reformation. So the Anabaptists carried through the Lutheran reforms and broke with 1,500 years of the church.
Bender is famous for three features of the Anabaptist vision:
The essence of Christianity, or the Christian life, is discipleship — a committed following of Christ in all areas of life. The word on the street in the 16th century — and this word repeated often enough by bitter enemies of the Anabaptists — was that they were consistent and devout Christians. If Luther’s word was “faith,” the word for the Anabaptists was “follow.” The inner conversion was to lead to external transformation.
A new conception of the church as a brotherhood of fellowship. The ruling image of a church among the Catholics and Reformers was more national and institutional and sacramental, while the ruling image for the Anabaptists was fellowship or family. Joining was voluntary; the requirement was conversion; the commitment was to holy living and fellowship with one another. Thus, the Anabaptist separated from the “world” to form a society of the faithful. This view of the church led to economic availability and liability for one another.
A new ethic of love and peaceful nonresistance. Apart from rare exceptions like Balthasar Hubmaier and the nutcases around Thomas Müntzer, the Anabaptists lived a life shaped by love and nonviolence. They refused to coerce anyone.
Thus, for Bender, the focus was on discipleship not sacraments or the inner enjoyment of justification. The church was not an institution or a place for Word proclamation in emphasis but instead a brotherhood of love. In addition, against Catholics and Calvinists who believed in social reform, like the Lutherans the Anabaptists were less optimistic about social transformation. But, unlike the Lutherans who split life into the secular and sacred, the Anabaptists wanted a radical commitment that meant the creation of an alternative Christian society.
“I’ll continue messing with you until 1600EST today, then I’ll be back on monday.”
Do what you want, troll. I’m not wasting my time with dishonest questions.
A Catholic ana Baptist walk into a bar....
Ex: If Obama were to issue an EO that all church meetings were to be abandoned under penalty of death and a liberal SC upheld his proclamation you can’t see where violence might erupt?
Granted, that seems extreme today but like events have caused wars throughout history.
Isn’t this really what you said?
I answered that I did not know why a govt would do this.
You did not like that answer.
Later I answered that of course I could understand why people would get upset...because they did not want to be killed.
That had nothing to do with the reason, it had to do with the killing.
You never answered why a govt would kill people for attending a church meeting, which is what I do not understand.
Sounds good to me
I may or may not agree.
So now you "understand" but in post #95 you were back to "not understanding".
Will you "not understand" again after this post?
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
??? Sorry my friend, but you are making absolutely no sense now.
At least that makes more sense than those other 2 clowns.
So, Little Stu...looks like you're back to "not understanding" again.
Some people think that by suffering you can pay for your sins.
It's not Scriptural, of course, but it's out there.
Baptists are much more liberal these days. They even wave at each other in liquor stores.
Correct, I definitely do not understand what you are talking about.
And a troublemaker to boot.
ok, keep up the classy comebacks
You already confessed to just “messing” with people. That’s why you play dumb when people reply to your nonsensical posts. I’m not even sure why you’d purposely flutter around from one trollish comment to another in the first place, as you’re not a new member. Your behavior is childish, and I’m not the only one to notice and become frustrated with it.
Just plain truth.
Luke 19:27
Little Stu...typical of someone who looks down on others' faith as beneath him.
He toys with people because he thinks they are inferior to himself. In reality he is inferior because he turns from truth when confronted with it. Easy to pin him.
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