“ANABAPTISTS, A sect or denomination of Christians who deduce their original from the apostolic age.
Mark Osgatharp
“ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA; OR, A DICTIONARY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES COMPILED UPON A NEW PLAN” [published in Edinburg, Scotland – 1771].
“ANABAPTISTS, A sect or denomination of Christians who deduce their original from the apostolic age. The name was given them by their opponents, soon after the Reformation, by way of scorn, and imports re-baptizing but this charge they disclaim, by denying that the sprinkling, or pouring of water, upon infants has any relation at all to the scri…See More19Thomas E Kresal, John Whitten and 17 others9 Comments2 SharesLikeCommentShare
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- John Hammons After all these years…I have come across two different sources that tell the true story of … Munster…It was not the Anabaptist that started this but by Lutherans.The Anabaptist have gotten the blame of this for years.ManageJohn Hammons replied · 6 Replies 2h
- Jim Curran A few notes on Munster: 1) This was used as an accusation in many Anabaptist trials. In addition this was used to accuse any Anabaptist marriage since they did not accept the Catholic sacrament. WITHOUT EXCEPTION all said that any such sexual sin as was accused at Munster was sinful and decried it. (See Martyr’s mirror for the most extensive list) This alone indicates that this was not a “mainstream” anabaptist movement. 2) The accusations of sexual license were all promulgated by the Catholics afterward so there could be some doubt as to veracity- some modern historians do take that view. 3) Anabaptist was a blanket term that was thrown on anyone that rebaptized. The ones in Munster were radically different than others. Their Eschatology was certainly adventist and far different even indicating an actual ushering in of the millennium . These were more like a cross between charismatics and the early adventist movement with a bunch of libertinism thrown in. In this they were a complete contrast to all the others. 4) Other anabaptists took great pains to reject their teachings. 5) As to the converts- a) It seems as if they believed adult baptismal regeneration as they forced the city to undergo it (somewhere between a Constantine/ Catholic view and a Church of Christ view) Nowhere did any other Anabaptist approve forced baptism. b) All of the “converts” were new and came out of either Lutheranism or Catholicism within about a year. These were not people that had any background in Anabaptism. 6) Looking at the leaders- a) Bernard Rothmann- who started the movement in Munster was most assuredly a Lutheran in background- in 1533 the city was recognized by treaty as a Lutheran city- He “converted” to “anabaptism” the summer of that same year. Since he was the main theological voice and a recent “convert” there was assuredly Lutheranism in this- a radical one albeit it. The views on church and state were much more Lutheran. b) Jan Matthys- who declared Munster the “New Jerusalem” and wound up dying with twelve men after declaring himself the “new Gideon” and attacking the besieging army was a protege of Melchior Hoffman. Hoffman is always attributed as an anabaptist but in reality he was a radical Lutheran who admitted under examination that he made “common cause” with the Anabaptists. (1911 Encyclopedia Britanicia) He was a Lutheran Lay preacher that had actually been censured by Luther. Hoffman was the one who had started the idea of the New Jerusalem starting in 1530- Mattys moved the time and the place from Strasbourg to Munster. c) John of Leiden was a convert of Matthys’ in 1633 and was the one behind many of the excesses accused. He recognized Matthys as a prophet and also declared himself to be one. d) Bernhard Knipperdolling and Bernhard Krechting were both recent converts. 7) looking at the evidence as a whole this all seems traceable to Rothman and Hoffman which both came from Lutheranism and radicalized. This really wasn’t an Anabaptist rebellion when one looks at all the facts as there were radical differences here. Perhaps a more modern example might show a parallel occurrence. Alexander Campbell was a Presbyterian pastor who grafted himself on the Baptists and was even baptized. After a while he began to show himself as the wolf he was and started teaching adult baptismal regeneration. He drew out many gullible people that were in most cases trusting in baptism rather than Christ. In many ways the Munster movement could be looked as similarly- they may have claimed to be Anabaptist but they were not. The roots were in Lutheranism albeit a radical form- there was union of church and state and forced baptism as in Lutheranism- the only difference was they were doing it to adults. All of the the other excesses were the whims of unsaved carnal men.2Manage
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