After Münster: Two Kinds of Faith
I came across the Wikipedia article on the Rebellion of Münster recently, and was surprised to learn that the city was taken by Anabaptists by force in 1534. The Anabaptist theocracy lasted less than a year and a half, after which it was overthrown quite violently. The leaders were tortured to death, and their bodies were put on display in the town for the next 50 years in hanging cages that remain in place five centuries later.
After the rebellion, two kinds of Anabaptism became distinct from one another…
(Via Radical Congruency.)
I’m a bit shocked by this bit of history Justin Baeder brings out. Like Justin, I had heard nothing of a violent sect of Anabaptists. Historically, Anabaptists are known for their extreme pacifism. When Lutherans and Catholics both began murdering them by drowning (giving them one final baptism), they did not fight back choosing the way of the martyr.
I noted in my article, Lamenting an Anti-Pacifist Church, evangelical practices today are much closer to the Anabaptists beliefs and practices then any other form of Protestantism. The thing they were hated for, baptizing again, is fairly routine among evangelicals. If you were baptized but you do not feel it was accompanied by a genuine faith, most evangelical pastors will have no problem whatsoever baptizing again (anabaptist… baptize again…).
Justin’s conclusion resonates with me: “I think there’s an important message here: the way we pursue our aims determines how history will remember us.”
We are reading Anabaptist theology in one of my classes. I think it is interesting how loosely tied with Anabaptists Munster was. He is one of the few that have been forgotten that the Anabaptists can both claim and disclaim (just like Karlstadt- who stood in direct opposition to the violent method of Munster.)
Also, Munster believed that God revealed himself directly to the heart through the Spirit, thus eliminating the authority of scripture. Karlstadt, on the other hand, was sola scriptura, like most other reformers; and he believed in nonviolent resistance.
The correct heading htat these two reformers belong under, I believe, is not Anabapitst, but “radical reformers,” in that they differed with the magisterial reformers in many ways, but were not Anabaptists (only loosely connected, and somewhat influential.)
JoeBum
February 28th, 2006
JoeBum: “Anabaptist” means “re-baptizer”. If they practiced believers baptism, then they were anabaptist.
Mennonites in general are a peacable folk, but anabaptism encompasses more than just Mennonism.
Roger
March 1st, 2006
Right, Roger, I understand that, but just because you re-baptize does not make you Anabaptist in the true sense of the word.
anabaptist was used as a word of derrogation to anyone who re-bapitzed. Helwys and Smyth were not Anabaptists, but they certainly re-baptized.
Before, Anabaptists formed as a movement of sorts, (or denomination if that fits) there were precursors in theology that influenced them; ie, Karlstadt and Munster. Thanks Roger, hopefully this clarifies.
JoeBum
March 1st, 2006
Just as a note of clarification, Münster is a city in present day Germany where the event took place, and Thomas Muntzer is a theologian. There are some similarities (both advocated re-baptism, had no problem with use of violence within their anabaptism, and saw greater society as corrupt and hell-bound) but their connection isn’t all that consistent. Muntzer was a disenchanted Lutheran, while the leaders of the Münster rebellion were followers of Jan Matthjis, a follower of Melchior Hoffman, an apocalyptic disenchanted ex-Lutheran.
Also, Muntzer has since been embraced by contemporary Marxists as a hero of the people, and Münster still hangs their cages from their cathedral, but their tourism is based on the number of their medieval style buildings.
Will
March 1st, 2006
A Random Walk
Sorry for not posting lately, but I’ve been traveling. I was able to keep up with my blog reading and found a couple worth noting.
Brad at 21st Century Reformation has a nice post on sanctification titled “Coming out of Denial and Discove…
The Blind Beggar
March 1st, 2006