ANTH316 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ephrata Cloister, Early Christianity, Conrad Grebel
19 Jun 2018
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BASIC ANABAPTIST BELIEFS
Return to beliefs and actions of Early Christian Church
Anabaptists thought Protestant didnāt reform enough
Ex: Protestants continued infant baptism: not in bible
Anabaptists saw themselves as āThird Wayā completely distinct from catholics or protestants
Believe theyāre the only church to truly emulate the Early Christian Church
Saw themselves more closely related to Protestants than Catholic
Distinction caused persecution from both Protestants and Catholics
January 21, 1525: Conrad Grebel, Felix Mantz, George Blaurock
Baptized one another in Zurich, Switzerland
Start of Anabaptism
February 24, 1527: Michael Sattlet wrote down the basic beliefs of Anabaptism
āThe Schleitheim Articlesā/āDeclaration of Brotherly Loveā
May 1527: burned at stake
Anabaptism seen as threat to Protestants
7 BASIC BELIEFS
-Adult baptism: infant baptism isnāt in bible, only adults can profess belief
-Church is a covenant community: church doesnāt need building or ofļ¬cial leadership to
exist, gathering of church members and actions give church its deļ¬nition
-Literal obedience to teachings of christ
-Refusal to swear oaths: if in legal settings Anabaptists āafļ¬rmā they donāt swear
-Rejection of violence: no military service, rejection of idea of ājust warā
-Separation from the world
-Exclusion of errant members from the church community: āultimate act of loveā
3 major themes that link all anabaptists
-Radical obedience to jesusās teaching that transforms behavior
-Church is Voluntary (adult believers baptism) body thatās separate from world
-Ethic of love that rejects violence in all forms and spheres of life
These beliefs immediately get Anabaptists into trouble
New Protestant churches still on shaky ground and would tolerate no dissent
Issue of adult baptisms became focal point
Issues of Baptism
Religious doctrine issues (no dissent)
Health issues: people not big on baths
āSatanic Islamic Ablutionā: muslims wash before prayer
*Census and taxation issue
Refusal to take oaths & perform military service seen as traitorous
Secular leaders didnāt want independent church to question their actions
Catholic church saw Anabaptism as movement they could repress unlike Protestant
Reformation
Martyrs Mirror
General signiļ¬cance, greatest for amish
New developing signiļ¬cance for mennonites
Not really big for brethren, very general
One of 3 books in every amish home
Bible, ausbund, martyrs mirror
Ephrata Cloister: second oldest german printing press in america
Document Summary
Return to beliefs and actions of early christian church. Ex: protestants continued infant baptism: not in bible. Anabaptists saw themselves as third way completely distinct from catholics or protestants. Believe they"re the only church to truly emulate the early christian church. Saw themselves more closely related to protestants than catholic. Distinction caused persecution from both protestants and catholics. January 21, 1525: conrad grebel, felix mantz, george blaurock. February 24, 1527: michael sattlet wrote down the basic beliefs of anabaptism. Adult baptism: infant baptism isn"t in bible, only adults can profess belief. Church is a covenant community: church doesn"t need building or of cial leadership to exist, gathering of church members and actions give church its de nition. Refusal to swear oaths: if in legal settings anabaptists af rm they don"t swear. Rejection of violence: no military service, rejection of idea of just war . Exclusion of errant members from the church community: ultimate act of love .
