Posts filed under ‘History’
History Notes: Streams of Anabaptism (2)
According to Estep, the second group of Anabaptists may be grouped as Biblicists in the sense that they held that the Word is over the Spirit, making them less subjective than their Inspirationist brethren. They placed the New Testament over the Old Testament. The New Testament was, for them, the final court of appeal, while the Old Testament was the prelude.
There are five basic Biblicist Anabaptist Groups:
1) The Swiss Brethren. These were originally students of Zwingli, but they became more radical than he was. They included Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock. Upon becoming convinced of the importance of believer’s only baptism, Grebel first baptised Blaurock who, in turn, baptised Grebel and the other. All three men were killed within a short time of becoming Anabaptists, and so they were never able to develop their theology.
2) Southern German Anabaptists. Notable individuals in this group are Balthasar Hubmaier and Michael Sattler. Like the Swiss Brethren, they, too, were killed shortly after becoming Anabaptists. Sattler is interesting, however, in that he spent time in Strasbourg where Bucer and Capito were. The three of them had discussions on Christian theology, and after Sattler was arrested, both Bucer and Capito wrote a letter to the magistrate testifying to Sattler’s Christian character. Sattler was also instrumental in the writing of the Schleitheim Confession.
3) Dutch and North German Mennonites. The leaders of the previous two groups were well-educated, but Menno Simons was not. At his ordination as a priest, he knew very little of the Bible and even had doubts about transubstantion. As a priest, he studied the Scriptures and his views began to change, but he did not yet consider himself to be a Christian (he described his life as empty and frivolous). In 1535 he witnessed the execution of 300 Anabaptists, which had a profound affect on him, and he became an Anabaptist. While Simons did have the time to develop his theology a bit, his lack of education is evident in it. He did hold to an unorthodox Christology (he held the celestial flesh view).
4) Hutterites. Jacob Hutter was an Austrian (from Tyrol). He developed a doctrine of communal living. The Hutterites were also known for their missionaries, 80% of which were martyred.
5) Pennsylvania Dutch/Amish. They also stand in the Biblicist tradition.
History Notes: Streams of Anabaptism (1)
One of the difficulties in Reformation history is that of the Anabaptists. They frequently get lumped together, and, worse, the term came to be applied as a simple pejorative even of those who weren’t Anabaptists at all. In our Baptist History class this term, Dr. Renihan did a unit on the Anabaptist Reformation, and he gave us some categories with which to work, well, three categories. These are based in W. R. Estep’s book, The Anabaptist Story.
The first is that of the Inspirationists.
The Inspirationists or Spiritualisten originated in Germany in 1522. They held that the Spirit is master over Scripture, that is, that the final appeal is not to Scripture, but to the Holy Spirit. They claimed the ability to read minds, receive visions, and immediate revelations from God. They were the mystics, the subjectivists. Notable Inspirationist Anabaptists included Thomas Münzer and Melchior Hoffman.
Münzer was originally a cohort of Luther, but his views developed in a much more radical direction. He was part of the Zwickau Prophets who looked to the Holy Spirit for inspiration and and guidance. He was instrumental in the Peasants’ Revolt and was eventually executed for his role therein.
Hoffman, too, was once a cohort of Luther. He became caught up in the millennial fervour and was told by an old Anabaptist that he would be imprisoned for six months only to be released as Elijah to prophesy on the return of Christ. Hoffman than instigated his own imprisonment, but he was kept in prison for 10 years, where he ultimately died. He was very popular and his preaching intensified the furor, especially in Münster.
Münster was easily the worst event of the Anabaptist Reformation. The Anabaptists took control of the city and chaos ensued. Those who did not submit to baptism were exiled and killed. A community of goods was instituted, as was polygamy. The city was besieged for a year by Protestant and Roman armies, and eventually the defenders were slaughtered, which put that incident to rest.
It seems to me that today when we speak of Anabaptists, we are frequently grouping them as though they were all Inspirationists, but there were two more groups: the Biblicists and the Rationalists.
Hart on Mullins and Machen
In the process of attempting to find a little bit more about J. Gresham Machen on E.Y. Mullins, I came across this live blog on a portion of a conference at SBTS on Southern Seminary and the History of American Culture. Dr. Hart spoke on Machen and Mullins and how they were similar and yet quite different.
E.Y. Mullins is “my” Baptist for my Baptist History class. He was the fourth president of SBTS and he tried to walk a thin line between the modernists and the fundamentalists — he really was a moderate, the likes of which we rarely see today. Nonetheless, more often than not, he erred on the side of modernism. Hindsight, however, is always 20/20…
An Oddity of History
Today in MedRef, it came up that the Renaissance didn’t really come to England until the late 16th century. This reminded me of a quote I have stuck to my computer at home from a British historian whose name I can’t remember, Lewis Namier (I think):
Everything peculiar about English history can be put down to the obvious fact that Great Britain is an island.
