Part Two of Two
Discipleship
First and fundamental in the Anabaptist vision was the conception of the essence of Christianity as discipleship. It was a concept which meant the transformation of the entire way of life of the individual believer and of society so that it should be fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ. The Anabaptists could not understand a Christianity which made regeneration, holiness, and love primarily a matter of intellect, of doctrinal belief, or of subjective “experience,” rather than one of the transformation of life. They demanded an outward expression of the inner experience. Repentance must be “evidenced” by newness of behavior. “In evidence” is the keynote which rings through the testimonies and challenges of the early Swiss brethren when they are called to give an account of themselves. The whole life was to be brought literally under the lordship of Christ in a covenant of discipleship, a covenant which the Anabaptist writers delighted to emphasize. The focus of the Christian life was to be not so much the inward experience of the grace of God, as it was for Luther, but the outward application of that grace to all of human conduct and the consequent Christianization of all human relationships.
The great word of the Anabaptists was not “faith” as it was with the reformers, but “following.” And baptism, the greatest of Christian symbols, was accordingly to be for them the “covenant of a good conscience toward God” (I Peter 3:21), the pledge of a complete commitment to obey Christ, and not primarily the symbol of a past experience. The Anabaptists had faith, indeed, but they used it to produce a life. Theology was for them a means, not an end.
That the Anabaptists not only proclaimed the ideal of full Christian discipleship but achieved, in the eyes of their opponents, a measurably higher level of performance than the average, is fully witnessed by the sources. The early Swiss and South German reformers were keenly aware of this achievement and its attractive power. Zwingli knew it best of all, but Bullinger , Capito, Vadian, and many others confirm his judgement that the Anabaptist Brethren were unusually sincere, devoted and effective Christians. However, since the Brethren refused to accept the state church system which the reformers were building, and in addition made “radical” demands which might have changed the entire social order, the leaders of the Reformation were completely baffled in their understanding of the movement. In Zwingli’s last book against the Swiss Brethren in 1527 for instance, the following is found: “If you investigate their life and conduct, it seems at first contact irreproachable, pious, unassuming, attractive, yea, above this world. Even those inclined to be critical will say their lives are excellent.”
And the Roman Catholic theologian, Franz Agricola, in his book of 1582, Against the Terrible Errors of the Anabaptists, says: “Among existing heretical sects there is none which in appearance leads a more modest or pious life than the Anabaptist. As concerns their outward public life they are irreproachable. No lying, deception, swearing, strife, harsh language, no intemperate eating and drinking, no outward personal display is found amongst them, but humility, patience, uprightness, neatness, honesty, temperance, straight forwardness, in such measure that one would suppose that they had the Holy Spirit of God.
2. Brotherhood
A second major element in the Anabaptist vision, a new concept of the church was created by the central principle of newness of life and applied Christianity. Voluntary church membership based upon true conversion and involving a commitment to holy living and discipleship was the absolutely essential heart of this concept. This vision stands in sharp contrast to the church concept of the reformers who retained the medieval idea of a mass church with membership of the entire population from birth to the grave compulsory by law and force.
It is from the standpoint of this new conception of the church that the Anabaptist opposition to infant baptism must be interpreted. Infant baptism was not the cause of their disavowal of the state church; it was only a symbol of the cause. How could infants give a commitment based upon a knowledge of what true Christianity means? They might conceivably passively experience the grace of God (though Anabaptists would question this), but they could not respond in pledging their lives to Christ. Such infant baptism would not only be meaningless, but would in fact become a serious obstacle to a true understanding of the nature of Christianity and membership in the church. Only adult baptism could signify an intelligent life commitment.
The world would not tolerate the practice of true Christian principles in society, and the church could not tolerate the practice of worldly ways among its membership. Hence, the only way out was separation, the gathering of true Christians into their own Christian society where Christ’s way could and would be practiced. On this principle of separation Menno Simon said: “All the evangelical scriptures teach us that the church of Christ was and is, in doctrine, life, worship, a people separated from the world.
In a sense this principle of nonconformity to the world is merely a negative expression of the positive requirement of discipleship, but it goes further in the sense that it represents a judgement on the contemporary social order, which the Anabaptists called “the world,” as non-Christian, and sets up a line of demarcation between the Christian community and worldly society.
A logical outcome of the concept on nonconformity to the world was the concept of the suffering church. Conflict with the world was inevitable for those who endeavored to live an earnest Christian life. The Anabaptists expected opposition: they took literally the words of Jesus when he said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” but they also took literally his words on encouragement, “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Perhaps it was persecution that made the Anabaptists so acutely aware of the conflict between the church and the world, but this persecution was due to the fact that they refused to accept what they considered the sub-Christian way of life practiced in European Christendom. They could have avoided the persecution had they but conformed, or they could have suspended the practice of their faith to a more convenient time, but they chose with dauntless courage and simple honesty to live their faith, to defy the existing world order, and to suffer the consequences.
3. Love and Nonresistance
The third great element in the Anabaptist vision was the ethic of love and nonresistance as applied to all human relationships. The Brethren understood this to mean complete abandonment of all warfare, strife, and violence, and of the taking of human life. Conrad Grebel, the Swiss, said in 1524: “True Christians use neither worldly sword nor engage in war, since among them taking life has ceased entirely, for we are no longer under the Old Covenant … The Gospel and those who accept it are not to be protected with the sword, neither should they thus protect themselves.
In this principle of nonresistance, or biblical pacifism, which was thoroughly believed and resolutely practiced by all the original Anabaptist Brethren and their descendants throughout Europe from the beginning until the last century, the Anabaptists were again creative leaders, far ahead of their times, in this antedating the Quakers by over a century and a quarter. It should be remembered that they held this principle when both Catholic and Protestant churches not only endorsed war as an instrument of state policy, but employed it in religious conflicts as well.
There were two foci (cornerstones) in the Anabaptist vision
- The first focus relates to the essential nature of Christianity. Is Christianity primarily a matter of the reception of divine grace through:
- A sacramental-sacerdotal institution (Roman Catholicism),
- Or chiefly enjoyment of the inner experience of the grace of God through faith in Christ (Lutheranism)
- Or is it most of all the transformation of life through discipleship (Anabaptism)
The Anabaptists were neither institutionalists, mystics, nor pietists (movement within Lutheranism in reaction to the Churches formalism and intellectualism) for they laid the weight of their emphasis upon following Christ in life. To them it was unthinkable for one truly to be a Christian without creating a new life on divine principles both for himself and for all men who commit themselves to the Christian way.
- The second foci relates to the church. For the Anabaptist, the church was neither:
- An institution (Catholicism)
- Nor the instrument of God for the proclamation of the divine Word (Lutheranism)
- Nor a resource group for individual piety (Pietism)
- But rather a brotherhood of love in which the fullness of the Christian life ideal is to be expressed. (Anabaptist)
The Anabaptist vision may be further clarified by comparison of the social ethics of the four main Christian groups of the Reformation period, Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran,and Anabaptist.
Catholic and Calvinist alike were optimistic about the world, agreeing that the world can be redeemed; they held that the entire social order can be brought under the sovereignty of God and Christianized, although they used different means to attain this goal.
Lutheran and Anabaptist were pessimistic about the world, denying the possibility of Christianizing the entire social order; but the consequent attitudes of these two groups toward the social order were diametrically opposed. Lutheranism said that since the Christian must live in a world order that remains sinful, he must make a compromise with it. As a citizen he cannot avoid participation in the evil of the world, for instance in making war, and for this his only recourse is to seek forgiveness by the grace of God; only within his personal private experience can the Christian truly Christianize his life.
The Anabaptist rejected this view completely. Since for him no compromise may be made with evil, the Christian may in no circumstance participate in any conduct in the existing social order which is contrary to spirit and teaching of Christ and the apostolic practice. He must consequently withdraw from the worldly system and create a social order within the fellowship of the church brotherhood. Extension of this Christian order by the conversion of individuals and their transfer out of the world into the church is the only way by which progress can be made in Christianizing the social order.
However, the Anabaptist was realistic. Down the long perspective of the future he saw little chance that the mass of humankind would enter into such a brotherhood with its high ideals. Hence he anticipated a long and grievous conflict between the church and the world. Neither did he anticipate the time when the church would rule the world; the church would always be a suffering church. He agreed with the words of Jesus when He said that those who would be His disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow him, and that there would be few who would enter the strait gate and travel the narrow way of life. If this prospect should seem too discouraging, the Anabaptist would reply that the life within the Christian brotherhood is satisfyingly full of love and joy.
Summary
The Anabaptist vision was not a detailed blueprint for the reconstruction of human society, but the Brethren did believe that Jesus intended that the kingdom of God should be set up in the midst of earth, here and now, and this they proposed to do forthwith. We shall not believe, they said, that the Sermon on the Mount or any other vision that He had is only a heavenly vision meant but to keep His followers in tension until the last great day, but we should practice what he taught, believing that where He walked we can by His grace follow in His steps.
THE END —- Your Response?