Anabaptists

“ If we, then, are anabaptists because we re-baptize those who received a baptism instituted of man and which was practiced upon those who had no knowledge whatever, how much, then, was Paul an anabaptist since he re-baptized those who were of understanding minds and baptized with a baptism which was from heaven and ordained of God. ”

“ Notwithstanding all this, we must be called anabaptists; never minding that we, in our infancy were baptized, not only without the Spirit, faith, word, or divine ordinance, but also without all reason and understanding, with an open, anti-Christian baptism, by such as he and the learned of his class themselves call anti-Christians, apostates, heretics, and deceivers who neither rightly understand God nor his word; who practice open idolatry; who bend their knees before wood and stone; who put their trust in idle doctrines and commands of men ”

“ For the first few years of its existence Anabaptism remained true to its original theologico-ethical principles. The doctrine of non-resistance was strictly adhered to. The Brethren believed in themselves as the elect, and that they had only to wait in prayer and humility for the "advent of Christ and His saints," the "restitution of all things," the "establishment of the Kingdom of God upon earth," or by whatever other phrase the dominant idea of the coming change was expressed. During the earlier years of the movement the Anabaptists were peaceable and harmless fanatics and visionaries. ”

“ We learn daily that, notwithstanding our warnings and commands, the sect of the Anabaptists, interdicted and condemned already many centuries last, augments day by day and gains continually in power and in influence. ”

“ Who does not find this uncleanness in himself, neither without nor within, is a true child of God, obedient to the Word of God. Who, in accordance with the command of Christ, preaches and baptizes such as believe, is not an Anabaptist, but a cobaptist [Mittaeufer] of Christ and the Apostles." "All such as preach, teach, and baptize otherwise than Christ commanded, are the real Anabaptists [opponents of Baptism] , acting contrary to the Son of God, by first baptizing, instead of first teaching and awaiting faith, as Christ commanded." ”

“ But heresy proved to be a veritable hydra. From one head sprang many daughters, the Anabaptists, [Sidenote: Anabaptists] harder to deal with than their mother. For while Lutheranism stood essentially for passive obedience, and flourished nowhere save as a state church, Anabaptism was frankly revolutionary and often socialistic. Melchior Hoffmann, the most striking of their early leaders, a fervent and uneducated fanatic, driven from place to place, wandered from Sweden and Denmark to Italy and Spain [Sidenote: 1530-1533] preaching chiliastic and communistic ideas. ”

“ Amongst these were disciples and apostles of many sects that were heretics in the eyes of both the Catholic and the Protestant Churches, and who rejected alike the dogmas and doctrines of Rome, of Wittenberg, and of Geneva. The one point all such sects seem to have had in common was the denial of the sanctity and efficacy of infant baptism: hence their inclusion under the general term Anabaptists, even though many of them passionately disclaimed any connection with this hated, proscribed and persecuted sect. ”

“ The manner of their church discipline and censures are recorded in Matth. xvii. and xxviii. 2 Cor. xi−l Cor v &c.
They say, though none can be saved but
those who repent, believe, and obey the gospel; yet faith repentance, and good works, are no ground or condition of a sinner's justification before God, but resteth alone upon the eternal decree of free grace. They receive the Lord's upper weekly———But are improperly called Anabaptists; for the Anabaptists are another Sect who baptize all their members every year. ”

“ This father of the Anabaptists, unable to assign to infants any stirring of faith, approved Luther's suggestion; and, casting infant baptism out of the churches, resolved to wash at the sacred font none who was not grown up. For the rest of the Sacraments, though that many headed beast utters many insults, yet, seeing that they are now of daily occurrence, and our ears have grown callous to them, I here pass them over. ”

“ Persons who are opposed to the baptism of infants. In this country, this sect arrogate to themselves the title of Baptists par excellence, as though no other body of Christians baptized: just as the Socinians extenuate their heresy by calling themselves Unitarians: thereby insinuating that those who hold the mystery of the Holy Trinity do not believe in one God. (See Anabaptists, Baptism.) ”

“ And since all who taught the baptism of adults were indiscriminately called Anabaptists, and under this name persecuted alike, it was sometimes scarcely possible for those who saved their lives by flight, to know when some were apprehended or put to death, whether they were of the number of their defenseless brethren and sisters, or not ”

“ Baptists, a denomination of Christians, sometimes called Anabaptists to distinguish them from Pædobaptists, who, however they may and do differ on other matters, insist that the rite of initiation is duly administered only by immersion, and to those who are of age to make an intelligent profession of faith; they are a numerous body, particularly in America, and more so in England than in Scotland, and have included in their membership a number of eminent men. ”

“ The Anabaptists, far exceeding{262} them in number, were drawn almost wholly from the humbler classes of the people. It is singular that this sect, the most quiet and inoffensive of all, should have been uniformly dealt with by the law with peculiar rigor. It may, perhaps, be attributed to the bad name which attached to them from the excesses committed by their brethren, the famous Anabaptists of Münster. The third denomination, the Calvinists, far out-numbered both of the other two. ”

“ In rapid succession Anabaptistic congregations sprang up in Swabia, Tyrol, Austria, Moravia, etc. Because of their attitude toward the civil government the Anabaptists were regarded as rebels and treated accordingly. As early as January, 1527, some of them were executed in Zurich. Persecution increased after the council held by Anabaptists in the autumn of 1527 at Augsburg, which then harbored a congregation of more than 1,100 "Apostolic Brethren," as the Anabaptists there called themselves. ”

“ Because it is, beyond contradiction, the only article on account of which others call us Anabaptists. For, since all other so-called Christians have, yet without true foundation, this in common that they baptize infants; while with us the baptism only which is accompanied by faith and a penitent life, according to the word of God, is administered, to adults; it follows, that with us such persons are baptized who have received baptism in their childhood, without faith and repentance; who, when they believe and repent, are again, or at least truly baptized with us ”

“ Though it cannot be denied, that in later times respectable men have lived in our country under the name of Anabaptists, and are even yet to be found, still their moral worth springs not from their otherwise innocent mode of baptism, but from their religious exercises, their simple way of living, and the good examples, which they have before their eyes. Yet here also we durst not forget, that it is not the part of history to examine articles of faith, but to keep to events and the external phenomena of life. ”

“ Private ownership is sinful; all things are to be held in common; Judgment Day is imminent; then the Anabaptists will reign with Christ on earth. Some also taught that finally the devil and all the damned would be saved; others held that there is neither a devil nor a hell, because Christ had destroyed them. (Tschackert 134ff. 141. 153.) Article XVII of the Augsburg Confession condemns "the Anabaptists, who think that there will be an end to the punishments of condemned men and devils... ”

“ The Ninth Article has been approved, in which we confess that Baptism is necessary to salvation, and that children are to be baptized, and that the baptism of children is not in vain, but is necessary and effectual to salvation. And since the Gospel is taught among us purely and diligently, by God's favor we receive also from it this fruit, that in our Churches no Anabaptists have arisen [have not gained ground in our Churches] , because the people have been fortified by God's Word against the wicked and seditious faction of these robbers. ”

“ Baptism, to the same God, but under Christ, who is grace itself." The rest are, 1. "that we all grow up in the same doctrine, the Christian. 2. Children will be educated Christianly. 3. It removes sluggishness in teaching." Nay, Zuingli often urges against the Anabaptists the unreasonableness of objecting to infant Baptism, "since it is an outward and ceremonial thing [176] , which, as well as other outward things, the Church may use worthily and with propriety, or omit and remove it, as seems to her most to conduce to the edification and well-being of the whole body." ”

“ In Germany, Switzerland, and Alsace their form of worship differs little from the Lutheran. Their bishops, elders, and teachers serve without pay. Children receive their name at birth, baptism is performed in the place of worship, and adults that join the sect are rebaptized. ”

“ Hence, men who came to be known as "libertines," though they were both patriotic and moral and only craved freedom, rose and said, "This is an intolerable tyranny; we will not allow any man to be lord over our consciences." And about the same time Calvin's orthodoxy was challenged. Two Anabaptists arrived and demanded liberty to prophesy; and Peter Caroli charged him with heresy as to the Trinity. He would not use the Athanasian Creed; and he defended himself by reasons that the scholar who knows its history will respect. ”

“ But the times in which we live are my plea and justification. I do not write so much to convince Baptists, as to establish and confirm Churchmen. I have often been surprised to see how ignorant some Churchmen are of the grounds on which infant baptism may be defended. If I have done anything to show Churchmen the strength of their own position, I feel that I shall not have written in vain.
IV. Let us now consider, in the last place, what position baptism ought to hold in our religion. This is a point of great importance. In matters of opinion man is ever liable to go into extremes. ”

“ I wonder that, while all acknowledge that there is one baptism, all do not understand the unity of the same baptism. For the Church and heresy are two distinct things. If heretics have baptism, we have it not; but if we have it, heretics cannot have it. But there is no doubt that the Church alone possesses the baptism of Christ, since it alone possesses both the favour and the truth of Christ. ”

“ They knew, of course, something of the many kinds of baptism practiced by the various sects of the day, but if the religions on the earth at that time were not accepted of the Lord as Joseph had been told, none of the ministers would have a right to baptize; besides, the passage in the Book of Mormon said that baptism was for the remission of sins. The preachers did not teach it this way, though they could read that it was taught in the same manner by the apostles in Christ's time. ”

“ We have no need to prove a Baptist apostolic succession. If we can derive our doctrine and practice from the New Testament, it is all we require.
The Council of Trent was right in its Canon: “If any one saith that the baptism which is even given by heretics in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the church doeth, is not true baptism, let him be anathema.” Dr. Norman Fox: “It is no more important who baptizes a man than who leads him to Christ.” ”

“ Luther says: “It cannot be proved by the sacred Scriptures that infant baptism was instituted by Christ, or begun by the [p. 131] first Christians after the Apostles.” Vanity of Inf. Bap., Part II., p. 8.
Neander says: “Baptism was administered at first only to adults, as men were accustomed to conceive of baptism and faith as strictly connected. We have all reason for not deriving infant baptism from Apostolic institution.” Ch. Hist., Vol. I., p. 311; Plant. and Train., Vol. I., p. 222.
Professor Lange says: “All attempts to make out infant baptism from the New Testament fail. ”

“ As a condition of the admission of any individual into the community proof had to be given of repentance and faith, and as an authenticating seal on the one side of the entrance being granted, and on the other side of the obligation being undertaken, baptism was administered, which now, as infant baptism was denounced as an invention of the devil, was understood simply of adult baptism, for the most part administered in the usual way by sprinkling. ”

“ Baptists hold to a unity of the ordinance, as well as to a oneness of the faith; insisting that as there is but one Lord, and one faith, so there is but one baptism. And the dipping in water of a professed disciple of Christ is that one baptism. Neither sprinkling a person with water, nor pouring water upon him can by any possibility be Christian baptism. That this position is the true one, we appeal to the New Testament, and the best extant historical and philological authorities to establish. ”