Neo-Anabaptism

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A 1685 illustration by Jan Luyken, published in Martyrs Mirror, of Dirk Willems saving his pursuer, an act of mercy that led to his recapture, after which he was burned at the stake near Asperen in the present-day Netherlands
Background Christianity Radical Reformation Sermon on the Mount
Doctrines and practices Theology of Anabaptism Believer's baptism Lovefeast Nonconformity to the world Nonresistance Free will Freedom of religion Priesthood of all believers Separation of church and state Foot washing Holy kiss Plain dress Shunning Simple living
Documents Schleitheim Confession Dordrecht Confession Ausbund Martyrs Mirror
Key people George Blaurock Hans Denck Conrad Grebel Melchior Hoffman Balthasar Hubmaier Hans Hut Jakob Hutter Alexander Mack Felix Manz Pilgram Marpeck Melchior Rink Michael Sattler Menno Simons
Largest groups Amish Apostolic Christians Brethren in Christ Bruderhof Conservative Mennonites Hutterites Mennonite World Conference Mennonites Mennonite Brethren Old Colony Mennonites Old Order Mennonites Old German Baptist Brethren River Brethren Russian Mennonites Schwarzenau Brethren
Related movements Schwenkfelders Baptists Pietism Radical Pietism Moravian Church Inspirationalists Quakers Neo-Anabaptism
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Neo-Anabaptism is a Christian theological movement in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century inspired by classical Anabaptism. According to Stuart Murray, neo-Anabaptists "identify with the Anabaptist tradition and are happy to be known as Anabaptists, but have no historic or cultural links with any Anabaptist-related denomination".^[1]

History and Beliefs

The sociologist James Davison Hunter and anabaptist minister Stuart Murray have both written at length on Neo-Anabaptism, describing the movement in books such as To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World and The Naked Anabaptist, respectively. Neo-Anabaptism is characterized by being unified but not monolithic, as they generally agree on ethics but are denominationally diverse and may differ on many theological points. The unification comes from a general focus on nonviolence and the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount as opposed to adhering to strict doctrinal creeds or inhabiting the same denomination. The movement has been compared to New Calvinism in that advocates of each movement tend to be part of various denominations yet are theologically united to some level and find inspiration from Reformation-era individuals and movements (for instance, John Calvin and Reformed theology for New Calvinism; Anabaptist theologians and their forebears such as Ulrich Zwingli, Menno Simons, and Jacob Hutter for Neo-Anabaptists).^[2]

The original Anabaptists were labeled as "Anabaptists" pejoratively, since critics used the term to highlight the movement's perceived obsession with Believer's baptism, or baptism by full-body immersion in water.^[3]

References

Further reading

• Hunter, James Davison (2010). "The Neo-Anabaptists". To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977952-9.
• Nation, Mark (2006). John Howard Yoder: Mennonite Patience, Evangelical Witness, Catholic Convictions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8028-3940-4.
• Paas, Stefan (2019). "The Counter-Cultural Church: An Analysis of the Neo-Anabaptist Contribution to Missional Ecclesiology in the Post-Christendom West". Ecclesiology. 15 (3): 283–301. doi:10.1163/17455316-01503002. ISSN 1744-1366. S2CID 210364964.
• Vermurlen, Brad (2020). Reformed Resurgence: The New Calvinist Movement and the Battle Over American Evangelicalism. Oxford University Press. pp. 62–64. ISBN 978-0-19-007353-4.