Friday, March 25, 2011

Who really were and are the Anabaptists? A short introduction


I have written before how the White Horse Inn misrepresents the New Perspective on Paul. Once again, they have misrepresented a section of the Christian church, and in this case, it is the Anabaptists.


In episode broadcasted on the 6-3-11 of the White Horse Inn, Michael Horton and his gang calls the Anabaptists are a continuation of medieval mystics, and then he says that they are not part of the Reformation. Where did Michael Horton and the guys at the White Horse Inn do their Church History at? Haven’t they heard of the Radical Reformation? Or they think that the only streams of the Reformation are Lutherans and Calvinist? (Ken Jones says he is a Baptist, but I’ve done some research and still can’t find what Baptist denomination he belongs to.)


Michael Horton mentions in minute 12:08 to 12:15 that the Anabaptists are not part of the Reformation, and claimed that they were a continuation of the mystical medieval movement from the earlier centuries. So Horton condemns the Anabaptist as heretics, since because they don’t belong to the Reformation, they must belong to the Reformation arch-enemy, the Roman Catholic Church. This is just a blatant misrepresentation of the facts. It would seem that Horton and the gang are a new kind of history revisionists, who are trying to reconstruct the Reformation to fit their own petty ideas as to who belongs or not to the Reformation.


James R. Payton Jr., has written a gem of a book titled, “Getting the Reformation Wrong. Correcting some misunderstanding.” He has a chapter “How the Anabaptist Fin In.” He rightly points out that many get the Reformation wrong by continuing using the term Anabaptist as a ‘“catch-all” designation for a much more diverse assortment of religious movements which were neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant.” Both camps, Roman Catholics and Protestants saw Anabaptists as a threat to their own interests. While the Roman Catholics saw the Anabaptist as Protestants to be wiped out, the Protestants saw the Anabaptists as rejecting the Magisterial Reformation (they rejected the connection of Church and estate, a practice that carried over to the Lutherans and Reformed from Rome. It would seem that Horton does not see that some Roman practices did live within the Magisterial Reformation churches, at least for a while.) They rejected what both Luther and Calvin were doing, not because they were anti-reformation, rather, because they saw that in many issues, they weren’t going far enough. As mentioned, they kept the alliance between church and state, and also kept the baptism of infants.


But to correct Horton’s misunderstanding, and misrepresentation of the Anabaptist, I would like to list the different brands of Anabaptists during the XVI century, as listed by Payton:

Swiss Anabaptism: They emerged from Zurich, and were originally working along with Zwingli. Conrad Grebel, and Felix Manz influenced them. They wanted a more rigorous type of discipleship that the one practiced in both Catholicism and Protestantism. They embraced pacifism and rejected the norms found in their Christianised society. The downturn of this group was that in their rejection of medieval society, they created a sort of monastic community for themselves, not dealing with the outside world.


Establishment Anabaptism: This branch of Anabaptism was short lived. Led by Hubmaiaer, received the support of the local rulers, which was very unusual within the Anabaptists. The movement took place at Waldshut, Germany. But it ended when Hubmaiaer was captured and killed in 1528.


Militant Anabaptism: This is one of the two brands that Anabaptists get the bad name they fare among the likes of Horton and others who portray Anabaptists are radicals, extremists, and dangerous people who follow their own prophecies and private interpretation. It was in the city of Munster, in Northern Germany that the Anabaptists won the majority in the city council. Due to their convictions, they enacted laws that were increasingly radical. Many citizens left and carried their discontent to both Catholic and Protestant lands. The leaders of the city, Jan Matthijs and Jan van Leiden, saw themselves as Old Testament prophets, and introduced polygamy into the city, as well as outlawing sin by civil enactment. The other towns heard of it, and waged war against the city, and the Anabaptists were defeated. This episode was not forgotten by the rulers of Europe, who came to consider Anabaptists seditious, and also helped Menno Simons to embrace pacifism as a trait of Anabaptism.


Communitarian Anabaptism: As the name implied, this branch of Anabaptists practiced community of possessions. This was due to considering themselves a separated community from the rest, and also following Acts 2 and 4. After the 16th century, only the Hutterites maintain such lifestyle.


Mystical Anabaptism: This is the other brand of Anabaptism for which Anabaptists still get a banging on the head, but it is not taken into account that such form of Anabaptism died along with the Peasants’ War, 1524-1526. In this type of Anabaptism, it was emphasized that the believer could gain a mystical connection with God. God could speak directly to the believers as to His will on earth. While some took a quietist approach, others like Thomas Muntzer, took a very activist approach, even taking part in the Peasant’s War. Because of its elitist nature, it was restrictive, since only some would receive the revelation of the Spirit, and the others would have to follow. Although this type of “spirituality” is still present with us in some parts of Christianity, it is not prominent among Anabaptists today.


Spiritualist Anabaptism: A derivative of the previous, spiritualist Anabaptists were quietistic in orientation, claiming that they received direct interventions from the Holy Spirit. Again, because of its elitist nature, this movement was confined to individuals and never became organised communities.


Apocalyptic Anabaptism: The last brand of Anabaptism also claimed to have divine revelation as to the second coming of Christ. Hans Hut was a clear example of this movement, who predicted the coming of Christ in 1528. Melchior Hoffman predicted Christ’s return to Strasbourg in 1533. He was jailed on arrival, and died 10 years later, past the time of his prophecy. Of interest is that although we find such figures in Anabaptists, there were similar trends within Roman Catholicism as well in Protestantism. An example is that Luther considered the present pope, Leo X the antichrist, but he died and Luther’s suspicions were proved wrong.


There were 3 kinds of Anabaptisms that had a spiritual leaning, that didn’t last, the militant one, the spiritual one and the mystical one. I can’t say the same for the apocalyptic one, because as I have said before, they find their equal in both the Catholics and Protestants.


I like the White Horse Inn, I listen to it every week, and have even subscribed to their magazine, Modern Reformation. But this continuing attack on these brethren in Christ, is really tiresome, taking into account that they have brand all Anabaptists as spiritual and radicals.


Funny thing is that, although persecuted, the ones that survived don’t even get a mention by the White Horse Inn people!! Hutterites, Mennonites and Amish, they are faithful Christians who are carrying on with the beliefs and practices of the Anabaptists, and it was them who were concerned about mission, long before the leaders of the Magisterial Reformation even cared about that.


This is my small contribution to this issue, and I hope serves as a corrective, to both the listeners, and the presenters of the White Horse Inn.


Luis Alberto Jovel

What Is Hell Like? Does It Even Exist? NT Wright on 100 Huntley Street (HD)

With all the fuss about Rob Bell's book, as always, N. T. Wright brings us a good word on the subject of hell.