Anabaptists

Although Anabaptist groups emerged in various locations during the 1520s, the earliest gathering was in Zurich on 21 January 1525. A group of believers, who had been inspired and then frustrated by the reformer, Ulrich Zwingli, baptised each other and embarked on a more radical form of reformation.

Over the next ten years, Anabaptist communities emerged in many places in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Moravia and elsewhere. This was a period of rapid growth, despite sustained persecution. Shared convictions emerged across this diverse movement: separation of church and state, religious liberty, Jesus-centred biblical interpretation, non-violence, truth-telling, mutual aid, multivoiced church, radical discipleship in supportive communities.

Anabaptism was a heroic movement that inspired passionate evangelism, church planting, remarkable courage under intense suffering and a consistent lifestyle that even their adversaries acknowledged as unusual. It was also flawed in many ways, as are all traditions, sometimes succumbing to legalism, often dividing in the search for a pure church, occasionally even resorting to violence in order to impose their views.

Anabaptism survived, partly by going underground, partly by emigrating, first to the east and later to the Americas. Denigrated by contemporaries and historians, it made a remarkable comeback in the 20th century as the writings of the early leaders were unearthed and translated and Anabaptists could be encountered in their own words. During the past century, the movement has become global with the greatest numerical strength in the Majority World.

Some Anabaptists arrived in England in the 16th century, seeking refuge from persecution, but most were quickly arrested, imprisoned, deported or executed.
Anabaptist ideas certainly had some impact on the early Baptists, but they were adamant that they were not Anabaptists. Only in the past 70 years have British Christians from many other traditions rediscovered this movement and begun to find inspiration in Anabaptist convictions and practices.

Click here for more information about the history of Anabaptists.

Click here to find out more about the Anabaptist Mennonite Network.