(Ana)baptism - Encyclopaedia of Renaissance Philosophy

Christopher Martinuzzi, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Emese Bálint, European University Institute, Florence

(Ana)baptism Abstract The term Anabaptism refers to the Christian movement that emerged in 16th century Europe as a consequence of, and in parallel to the Reformation. Originally, the name was used by the opponents of the movement because it disapproved of infant baptism and practiced baptism on believing adults. The German term ‘Wiedertäufer’ was later changed to ‘Täufer’ (Baptist) while in the English language scholarship the term ‘Anabaptist’ was kept because ‘Baptist’ refers to an entirely different entity. Heritage and Rupture with the Tradition Despite strong persecution by both Catholics and Protestants, the Anabaptist movement spread across 16th century Europe. From Switzerland to Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Moravia, Poland, Hungary, Transylvania, Britain, it finally reached North America in the late 17th century. Apart from denying infant baptism, Anabaptism has often been associated to an apolitical attitude toward society, that in most cases resolved in a refusal to swear oaths, in taking part in any form of public authority and to bear arms. Though most historians now agree with J.M. Stayer’s polygenesis idea (Stayer 2002), e.g. multiple geographical points of origin of the movement, the debate over where and when the movement actually began is still an open one. The first adult “re-baptism” occurred in Zurich on January 21, 1525, when Conrad Grebel baptised George Blaurock, who in turn baptised other members of the Swiss Brethren. This event is considered to be the true starting point of the movement by the scholarship supporting the monogenesis theory (Bender 1950), only taking into account the practice of adult baptism and not considering the previous theological debate over the sacrament; rejecting those who did not adhere to the non-violent statements of the Swiss Brethren (such as the followers of Thomas Müntzer or the Münsterites). The tendency in literature is to separate the early Saxon Reformation from the first Anabaptist movements in Switzerland and Austria. Recent studies (Balint et al. 2017) have shown how the first Swiss and German Anabaptists had been influenced by the early Saxon reformers Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt and Müntzer in matters of authority, baptism and communalism, as well as on other more theological doctrines. Grebel’s 1524 correspondence with Müntzer and Karlstadt shows clear evidence of this (Harder 1985). Müntzer’s spiritualism influenced many German Anabaptists, such as Hans Denck, Hans Hut and Melchior Rinck, who all created their own shades of Anabaptism. Even more so than Müntzer, the teachings of Karlstadt would not only influence members of the Swiss Brethren, such as Felix Mantz and Andreas Castelberg, but also the thought

of Melchior Hoffman, and the apocalyptic leaders of the Münsterites, Jan Matthijs and Jan Beukels of Leiden. A profound change was brought about by these figures, threatening the power of the secular rulers – traditional customs, laws, and practices – in the name of a higher authority. Although it was seen, from the outside, as an aggregate movement, from the inside it never managed to unite in one single cohesive group. Bitter internal conflicts led to insurmountable divisions within the movement. These differences related to political and eschatological matters. The first attempt to create doctrinal unity was with Michael Sattler’s Schleitheim Confession (1527). Innovative and Original Aspects The community of goods was one of the few uniting elements: it was a project dear to the Swiss Brethren that would define it as Liebeskommunismus (sharing and caring); Müntzer had promoted the idea that omnia sunt communia; the Hutterites in Moravia promoted the restoration of the community of goods; while the Dutch Mennonites expressly rejected such radical interpretation of the Christian message. Other forms of Anabaptism included more spiritualist, apocalyptic and even antiTrinitarian views, as was the case of those that gathered at the Council of Venice of 1550. Impact and Legacy From 1539 Menno Simons, a former priest became the leader of the Melchiorite remnants in the Habsburg Netherlands. Menno preached in favour of non-violence and separatism, and created one of the most widespread forms of Anabaptism found today, the Mennonites. Under the leadership of Jakob Hutter, a hat maker from Tyrol, a new sect was coined (1533) that practiced the community of goods. Still keeping the original organizational form, the Hutterites are active today in North America. In the same way, the Amish trace their existence back to 1693, when Jakob Ammann revived the Swiss Anabaptist apolitical and separatist movement.

References: Primary literature -

Matheson, Peter (ed.). 1994. The Collected Works of Thomas Müntzer. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. Harder, Leland (ed.). 1985. The Sources of Swiss Anabaptism. The Grebel Letters and Related Documents, Scottdale, Herald Press. Estep R., William, Jr. et. al. (eds.). 1976. Anabaptist Beginnings (1523–1533). A Source Book. Leiden: Brill. The Hutterite Brethren (eds.). 1987. The Chronicle of the Hutterite Brethren, Rifton, N.Y.: Plough.

Secondary literature -

Balint, Emese and Martinuzzi, Christopher. 2017. Composite Religions and Ideas in Exile. Encounters between Early Saxon Reformers and the First Anabaptists. In Y. Kaplan (ed.),

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Early Modern Ethnic and Religious Communities in Exile. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Forthcoming (in print). Bender, S. Harold. 1950. Conrad Grebel. The Founder of the Swiss Brethren Sometimes Called Anabaptists, Goshen: Mennonite Historical Society. Clasen, Claus-Peter. 1972. Anabaptism. A Social History, 1525-1618: Switzerland, Austria, Moravia, South and Central Germany, Ithaca-London: Cornell University Press. Deppermann, Klaus. 1979. Melchior Hoffman. Soziale Unruhen und apokalyptische Visionen im Zeitalter der Reformation, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Estepp, R. William. 1996. The Anabaptist Story. An Introduction to Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism, Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans Pub. Friesen, Abraham. 1998. Erasmus, the Anabaptists, and the Great Commission, Grand RapidsCambridge: Eerdmans Pub. Hill, Kat. 2015. Baptism, Brotherhood, and Belief in Reformation Germany. Anabaptism and Lutheranism, 1525-1585, Oxford University Press. Packull, O. Werner. 1995. Hutterite Beginnings. Communitarian Experiments during the Reformation, Baltimore & London: John Hopkins University Press. Roth, D. John, et al. (eds.) 2007. A Companion to Anabaptism and Spiritualism, 1521-1700, Leiden-Boston: Brill. Rotondò, Antonio. 2008. Studi di storia ereticale del Cinquecento, Florence: Olschki. Stayer, M. James. 2002. Anabaptists and the Sward, Eugene: Wipf and Stock. Id., 1991. The German Pesants’ War and Anabaptist Community of Goods, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Waite, K. Gary. 1990. David Joris and Dutch Anabaptism, 1524-1543, Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Williams, H. George. 2000. The Radical Reformation, Kirksville: Truman State University Press.