Journal: Central Bible Quarterly
Volume: CENQ 06:1 (Spring 1963)
Article: Are The Anabaptists Our Forefathers?
Author: Robert Delnay

CenQ 6:1 (Spring 1963) p. 17

Are The Anabaptists Our Forefathers?

Robert Delnay

Central Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary

It has become the fashion among a number of groups to disavow their origins. Methodists have for several years been minimizing their links with John Wesley. Presbyterians are having less and less to say about either Calvin or Knox. Ecumenical Lutherans admit their embarrassment at the actions of Luther, and among those claiming to be Baptists there has been a certain disposition to disavow the Anabaptist movement of. the sixteenth century. We might well consider, however, the degree to which the Anabaptists might be willing to acknowledge the present heirs of their spiritual legacy.

After four centuries, the Baptists still keep their hold on some of the major principles. We profess to believe in the absolute authority of the New Testament, which means accepting only what the Bible prescribes, and not opening the door to whatever it does not actually prohibit. We try to practice regenerate membership, although many Baptists would find it hard to defend their methods of screening the people they vote into their churches. We hold to the independence of the local church as well as the separation of church and state. We try to keep unbelievers from being baptized, and our insistence on immersion helps this by its sheer irksomeness to many unbelievers. Our soul liberty we seem to take for granted. All these principles are a part of the spiritual heritage which the Anabaptists left. If we do not hold these things with the same vigor that they had, it is mainly because we have been affluent for three generations, and we have not faced persecution for about seven.

The Anabaptist movement was a considerable force in central Europe during the years 1525–1535, and while remnants lasted long after those years, the movement declined there because of the extermination of its leaders. In northern Europe it made its most dramatic gains after 1535, and the Mennonite groups are some of the results. The Anabaptists held the principles sketched above, but their stress lay on other principles. Could the Anabaptists return to pass judgment on their heirs, they might

CenQ 6:1 (Spring 1963) p. 18

well disavow us. The ideas that they emphasized are matters which we barely notice.

1. Obedience To The Word

A first principle of the Anabaptist movement was their acceptance of New Testament authority. This meant a loving devotion to its study, and they had the reputation of being walking concordances. They not only accepted the authority of the Bible, they earnestly studied the Bible to find out what that authority required. They accepted its commands with a courageous literalism. Grebel and Man...