Anabaptists Beliefs and Doctrines and their influence.

[Hobie]

I was doing a study on the State of the Dead when I kept seeing references to the Anabaptist. This really made me want to dig deeper and see what Anabaptist beliefs and doctrines were. What I found was the Anabaptists were distinct at that time because of their assertion of the necessity of adult baptism, rejecting the infant baptism practiced by the Roman Catholic Church.

They believed that true baptism required a public confession of both sin and faith, which could only be accomplished as an adult exercise of free will. Anabaptists also held to the belief in the separation of church and state, and the concept that the church represents the community of saved. Some of their doctrines can be seen in light of the times with the other Reformers changing the long held beliefs coming from the Catholic Church, as they struggled to understand the light being given.

The original beliefs that they had at the start were the following:
�..They had three unique beliefs, unique from the established churches but very biblical:

(1) Believer's Baptism The Anabaptists held that a person must first believe the gospel before he could be accepted into the Church with the sign of water baptism. This is in accordance with the teachings of their Lord Jesus who placed believing ahead of baptism (Mt 28:19 and Mk 16:16).

(2) Pacifism The Anabaptists held that one could not obtain or protect his rights by the use of force. This is in accordance with the teachings of their Lord Jesus who commanded his followers not to resist an evil man (Mt 5:39 and John 18:36).

(3) Community of Goods The Anabaptists held that one could not have private property but must share all his goods in common with Christ's brothers and sisters. This is in accordance with the teachings of their Lord Jesus who said that no one could be his followers unless they gave up all of their possessions (Luke 14:33, also Mt 6:19-34, Mt 19:21, Luke 12:33, John 13:34-35, Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-5:11).

Today most Anabaptists do not hold to item 3 above, community of goods, but it was part of the original Anabaptists belief.

Now look at this:
What sets the Anabaptists apart from other Christian religions is their view of Jesus Christ. Those Christian religions who do focus on Jesus, such as the evangelicals and other Protestants, tend see Jesus primarily as a child in the manger and as a sacrifice on the cross, he is their savior. This is what one sees in their songs and in their confessions of faith. The Anabaptists see Jesus not only as their savior but also as their teacher, the one who teaches them how to live their lives while on this earth. They believe that obedience to his commands is required; therefore they try to live as he taught. Thus they are a separate people, following the hard narrow path to the Kingdom of God that Jesus taught and lived.

It might be accurate to say that evangelicals and other Protestants today stress the salvation aspect of the Gospel (evangelism, witnessing, building large congregations) and interpret this as faithfulness to their religion, while Anabaptist groups today are concerned with discipleship, seeing this as faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus..

A distinct teaching that came out of the Anabaptist movement is the premise that the church should be an assembly of believers having came through a regenerative experience. They understood the New Testament to clearly teach a process of regeneration; which is, becoming aware of one's sinfulness through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging the need of rescue from this situation, receiving salvation by grace (unmerited love of God demonstrated through Christ's sacrifice), and continuing spiritual renewal of the mind to become a witness of God's offer of grace.

Now they spread and split into many groups, but their doctrines on the whole seem to have developed into the following basic beliefs:

Anabaptists maintain that a loving God created the universe and everything in it. Marred by sin, the cosmos now stands in need of redemption, which God has offered through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Anabaptists believe in a sovereign triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Most Anabaptists believe in a personal archenemy of God called "Satan" or "the Devil."

Anabaptists believe that human beings were created to glorify and live in relationship with God. Since all humans break that relationship through sinful actions, they are faced with a choice: to continue their rebellion against God or repent of their sins and place their faith in God's saving grace.

Anabaptists believe that, although God created the world good, human sinfulness has resulted in great suffering. Many Anabaptists have interpreted some forms of suffering as a mark of faithfulness, befalling those who choose to "carry the cross" of Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant.

Anabaptists contend that salvation is not earned by one's works, but rather comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who place their trust in Christ enter into eternal life with God, a life that extends beyond the grave.


Here is one list of current Anabaptist beliefs:
The List of Anabaptist Beliefs
1. Infant baptism is a false baptism. Moreover, baptism does not save. One has to be saved in order to be baptised, i.e. the condition for baptism is to be a follower of Christ by having a living belief in Christ (cf. Acts 8:36-38).
2. Church and the State should be separated. Church is a Body of followers of Christ who respect the Laws of the State as long as it doesn't contradict with the Law of Christ. Church is not a political institution having any political power in the State. Church should not have any support from the State.
3. The Roman Catholic Church is not the true Church of Christ.
4. Calvinist theology of God's election is wrong. God does not unconditionally reprobate people to Hell. Rather, God's Manifested Wrath is conditional, and the condition is of not being in Christ. God will show His wrath only to people who are not in Christ. Likewise, God's election is conditional, and the condition is being in Christ. God elects only people who are in Christ.
5. Lutheran theology of salvation is wrong. Faith in Christ should be a living faith, faith which is confirmed in the fruits of Spirit. People who are living sinful life, without true repentance, will end in Hell. Living in sin and occasionally falling in sin are not the same thing. All children of God can fall in sin because of our weaknesses, but they do not live in sin.
6. Worshiping God is a very serious thing, and we ought not to introduce new things in our Worship, of which the Bible doesn't say anything about.
7. The Bible is a closed canon of holy books, i.e no more additions to the Bible are allowed because there are no more Apostles and Prophets in the Church. Only Apostles and Prophets have the authority to add new books to the Canon of the Bible. There are no new revelations or prophecies, and all supernatural Charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit are no more present in the children of God. The Charismatic gifts were only present during the Apostolic period of Church (the 1st. century). The Bible is our necessary and sufficient supreme authority in our lives.
http://www.house-church.net/beliefs.htm

You can see the hand of God leading the Reformation, and some of it was hard to discern fully as sometimes even the Reformers came up with the wrong view or could not grasp or accept some parts of the truth, but the truth was being poured out.

[podnad]

The Anabaptist movement emerged during the Protestant Reformation and emphasized several distinct beliefs that set them apart from other Christian groups of their time. They advocated for believer's baptism, insisting that baptism should follow a personal confession of faith, rejecting infant baptism practiced by the Catholic Church. Anabaptists also upheld the separation of church and state, viewing the church as a community of believers rather than a political entity. They emphasized discipleship, seeing obedience to Jesus' teachings as integral to Christian life, and rejected doctrines they considered unbiblical, such as the Calvinist view of predestination and the Lutheran concept of salvation by faith alone without corresponding life change. Today, Anabaptist beliefs continue to emphasize these principles of individual faith, community of believers, and the primacy of biblical authority in matters of doctrine and practice.

[Rella]

The Anabaptist movement emerged during the Protestant Reformation and emphasized several distinct beliefs that set them apart from other Christian groups of their time. They advocated for believer's baptism, insisting that baptism should follow a personal confession of faith, rejecting infant baptism practiced by the Catholic Church. Anabaptists also upheld the separation of church and state, viewing the church as a community of believers rather than a political entity. They emphasized discipleship, seeing obedience to Jesus' teachings as integral to Christian life, and rejected doctrines they considered unbiblical, such as the Calvinist view of predestination and the Lutheran concept of salvation by faith alone without corresponding life change. Today, Anabaptist beliefs continue to emphasize these principles of individual faith, community of believers, and the primacy of biblical authority in matters of doctrine and practice.

Interesting.

 I also need to correct you in that it is not just the Catholics who
do infant baptisms but also Many Presbyterians.

I partially believe the Anabaptist  but would like to know their view on the importance of Holy Communion.

[e.r.m.]

I was doing a study on the State of the Dead when I kept seeing references to the Anabaptist. This really made me want to dig deeper and see what Anabaptist beliefs and doctrines were. What I found was the Anabaptists were distinct at that time because of their assertion of the necessity of adult baptism, rejecting the infant baptism practiced by the Roman Catholic Church.

They believed that true baptism required a public confession of both sin and faith, which could only be accomplished as an adult exercise of free will. Anabaptists also held to the belief in the separation of church and state, and the concept that the church represents the community of saved. Some of their doctrines can be seen in light of the times with the other Reformers changing the long held beliefs coming from the Catholic Church, as they struggled to understand the light being given.

The original beliefs that they had at the start were the following:
�..They had three unique beliefs, unique from the established churches but very biblical:

(1) Believer's Baptism The Anabaptists held that a person must first believe the gospel before he could be accepted into the Church with the sign of water baptism. This is in accordance with the teachings of their Lord Jesus who placed believing ahead of baptism (Mt 28:19 and Mk 16:16).

(2) Pacifism The Anabaptists held that one could not obtain or protect his rights by the use of force. This is in accordance with the teachings of their Lord Jesus who commanded his followers not to resist an evil man (Mt 5:39 and John 18:36).

(3) Community of Goods The Anabaptists held that one could not have private property but must share all his goods in common with Christ's brothers and sisters. This is in accordance with the teachings of their Lord Jesus who said that no one could be his followers unless they gave up all of their possessions (Luke 14:33, also Mt 6:19-34, Mt 19:21, Luke 12:33, John 13:34-35, Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-5:11).

Today most Anabaptists do not hold to item 3 above, community of goods, but it was part of the original Anabaptists belief.

Now look at this:
What sets the Anabaptists apart from other Christian religions is their view of Jesus Christ. Those Christian religions who do focus on Jesus, such as the evangelicals and other Protestants, tend see Jesus primarily as a child in the manger and as a sacrifice on the cross, he is their savior. This is what one sees in their songs and in their confessions of faith. The Anabaptists see Jesus not only as their savior but also as their teacher, the one who teaches them how to live their lives while on this earth. They believe that obedience to his commands is required; therefore they try to live as he taught. Thus they are a separate people, following the hard narrow path to the Kingdom of God that Jesus taught and lived.

It might be accurate to say that evangelicals and other Protestants today stress the salvation aspect of the Gospel (evangelism, witnessing, building large congregations) and interpret this as faithfulness to their religion, while Anabaptist groups today are concerned with discipleship, seeing this as faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus..

A distinct teaching that came out of the Anabaptist movement is the premise that the church should be an assembly of believers having came through a regenerative experience. They understood the New Testament to clearly teach a process of regeneration; which is, becoming aware of one's sinfulness through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging the need of rescue from this situation, receiving salvation by grace (unmerited love of God demonstrated through Christ's sacrifice), and continuing spiritual renewal of the mind to become a witness of God's offer of grace.

Now they spread and split into many groups, but their doctrines on the whole seem to have developed into the following basic beliefs:

Anabaptists maintain that a loving God created the universe and everything in it. Marred by sin, the cosmos now stands in need of redemption, which God has offered through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Anabaptists believe in a sovereign triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Most Anabaptists believe in a personal archenemy of God called "Satan" or "the Devil."

Anabaptists believe that human beings were created to glorify and live in relationship with God. Since all humans break that relationship through sinful actions, they are faced with a choice: to continue their rebellion against God or repent of their sins and place their faith in God's saving grace.

Anabaptists believe that, although God created the world good, human sinfulness has resulted in great suffering. Many Anabaptists have interpreted some forms of suffering as a mark of faithfulness, befalling those who choose to "carry the cross" of Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant.

Anabaptists contend that salvation is not earned by one's works, but rather comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who place their trust in Christ enter into eternal life with God, a life that extends beyond the grave.


Here is one list of current Anabaptist beliefs:
The List of Anabaptist Beliefs
1. Infant baptism is a false baptism. Moreover, baptism does not save. One has to be saved in order to be baptised, i.e. the condition for baptism is to be a follower of Christ by having a living belief in Christ (cf. Acts 8:36-38).
2. Church and the State should be separated. Church is a Body of followers of Christ who respect the Laws of the State as long as it doesn't contradict with the Law of Christ. Church is not a political institution having any political power in the State. Church should not have any support from the State.
3. The Roman Catholic Church is not the true Church of Christ.
4. Calvinist theology of God's election is wrong. God does not unconditionally reprobate people to Hell. Rather, God's Manifested Wrath is conditional, and the condition is of not being in Christ. God will show His wrath only to people who are not in Christ. Likewise, God's election is conditional, and the condition is being in Christ. God elects only people who are in Christ.
5. Lutheran theology of salvation is wrong. Faith in Christ should be a living faith, faith which is confirmed in the fruits of Spirit. People who are living sinful life, without true repentance, will end in Hell. Living in sin and occasionally falling in sin are not the same thing. All children of God can fall in sin because of our weaknesses, but they do not live in sin.
6. Worshiping God is a very serious thing, and we ought not to introduce new things in our Worship, of which the Bible doesn't say anything about.
7. The Bible is a closed canon of holy books, i.e no more additions to the Bible are allowed because there are no more Apostles and Prophets in the Church. Only Apostles and Prophets have the authority to add new books to the Canon of the Bible. There are no new revelations or prophecies, and all supernatural Charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit are no more present in the children of God. The Charismatic gifts were only present during the Apostolic period of Church (the 1st. century). The Bible is our necessary and sufficient supreme authority in our lives.
http://www.house-church.net/beliefs.htm

You can see the hand of God leading the Reformation, and some of it was hard to discern fully as sometimes even the Reformers came up with the wrong view or could not grasp or accept some parts of the truth, but the truth was being poured out.

(1) Believer's Baptism The Anabaptists held that a person must first believe the gospel before he could be accepted into the Church with the sign of water baptism. This is in accordance with the teachings of their Lord Jesus who placed believing ahead of baptism (Mt 28:19 and Mk 16:16).

I read that Anabaptists didn't really focus on "how" one is saved, but rather on the life that comes after.

[Hobie]

Well, interestingly Seventh-day Adventist doctrine is based on the Anabaptist protestant tradition. The Protestant doctrine of the "priesthood of all believers" is central to the thinking of Seventh-day Adventists as members have always been encouraged to study the Bible to discover truth for themselves guided of the Holy Spirit.

Here is more on the history of Anabaptists and their beliefs...
'What did Anabaptists believe?
An Anabaptist was a person who had been baptized again, as a believer. Those who practiced believers' baptism did not call themselves Anabaptists. Rather, it was the Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Zwinglians, and Calvinists who gave them this name. The Anabaptists called themselves Christians or Brethren. To them, believers' baptism was not a rebaptism, but baptism proper.

The Anabaptists were not a homogenous group; often each leader had his own understanding and would stand up for his particular convictions. Nevertheless, a certain common faith bound them together.

In 1527 some of the Anabaptists met at Schleitheim, in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, and agreed on seven basic articles. 6 These articles indicate not only the beliefs they held in common but also, to some degree, points in which they differed from the other Reformers.

The first article concerned baptism. The Anabaptists agreed that only those who believe, who have repented, and are willing to live a life of active discipleship should be baptized. This excluded all infant baptism.

The second article dealt with the ban. Anabaptists believed that people are not perfect after they decide to follow Jesus, and that a believer could indeed fall into sin. They believed that in that case, as Jesus Christ Himself outlined (Matt. 18), the church should administer discipline.

The third article outlined their understanding of the Lord's Supper. They believed that one celebrated the Lord's Supper in remembrance of the broken body of Christ. They objected to the Roman Catholic idea of the Mass: that the Mass is a sacrifice, that the Latin liturgy must be used in connection with the Mass, and that the Mass involves transubstantiation—the priest's ministration changing the bread and wine into the real body and blood of Christ. They also believed that Luther erred in placing so much emphasis on the bodily presence of Christ in these elements.

The fourth article laid out their agreement that the believer should separate from evil and from the wickedness of this world. To them this meant a withdrawal from "Babylon" and "earthly Egypt," under which designations they included: "all popish and antipopish works and church services, meetings, and church attendance, drinking houses, civic affairs," and so forth.

The fifth article indicated that pastors should be men of good report. They should admonish and teach, warn and discipline, administer the Lord's Supper, and care for the members of the church. Each pastor should be supported by the church that had chosen him.

The sixth article revealed that these early Anabaptists believed that, in disciplining, Christians should go no further than administering the ban—in other words, excommunicating people from their fellowship. They opposed the use of the sword against erring members. They opposed capital punishment, as well, even in civil matters. This article also pointed out how difficult it is for a Christian to serve as a magistrate.

The seventh article dealt with the oath. Anabaptists believed that Christ forbade all swearing and oath taking. The Christian's word, yes or no, should be enough.

From this beginning, Anabaptism spread throughout Western Europe. Its adherents were especially concentrated in the northern part of Switzerland, southern Germany, around Strassburg, the Netherlands, Moravia, and Silesia. But increasingly, evidence is coming to light that Anabaptism also had its followers in other places, such as central Germany, especially Hesse and Thuringia. And we find evidence of congregations in northern Germany (in Emden, Hamburg, Gliickstadt) and along the Baltic Sea (in Liibeck, Wismar, Danzig, Elbing, Konigsberg, and other places). After the Reformation, Anabaptists spread into Romania and Russia; and eventually, because of constant persecution, many emigrated to America.' https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1986/07/anabaptists-the-reformers-reformers

[Amo]

SDA's have learned and adopted a lot of biblical truth from Baptists of sorts. We also learned and accepted the truth regarding God's seventh day sabbath, from Seventh Day Baptists.

[Hobie]

Each of the churches of the Protestant Reformation had advanced in their knowledge of truth following 'Sola Scriptura', but then locked down into creeds and made little headway after that..