It is not denied that most of the phenomena of the
Anabaptist movement could be accounted for without the supposition of the persistence in it of mediaeval types of evangelical life and thought; but it seems more reasonable to postulate the perpetuity of the older types than to suppose that so many varieties of teaching had independent origin in the two periods and that the older types that can be traced to the Reformation era should have suddenly become extinct to give place to similar parties newly originated.
Weaver-Zercher's work places the Martyrs Mirror in historical context, and it is a very important contribution to
Anabaptist studies.
The famous and well-documented life and death of Michael Sattler, friend and dialogue partner to Martin Bucer from Strasbourg and former Benedictine prior and author of the first
Anabaptist Confession of Faith of Schleitheim, (4) illustrates well the essence of the
Anabaptist dissent.
In December 1534, representatives of three of the twelve Imperial districts, those of the lower and middle Rhine, were summoned to Koblenz to appropriate funds for the maintenance of a three thousand-man mercenary army that would surround
Anabaptist Munster and eventually cut it off from outside provisions and communications.
9) Yoder Nyce's
Anabaptist re-vision, like Bender's vision, was modeled on Jesus' vision.
Central to the thinking of Mennonites of European heritage, when entering into dialogue with Catholics, was the matter of the persecutions of their
Anabaptist forebears by Catholics, especially during the sixteenth century.
10) The Hutterite Brethren chose to dwell in communes called Haushaben or Bruderhrfe in southern Moravia; this part of the Bohemian kingdom provided a haven of toleration for a number of
Anabaptist groups who fled imperial persecution the late 1520s and 1530s.
Not surprisingly,
Anabaptist Munster, with its tales of polygamy and communism, its lurid accounts of the excesses of Jan of Leiden's pantomime court, all played out before the backdrop of the instruments of state terror, has held the attention of both contemporaries and subsequent generations.
Another kind of indication that Yoder could contemplate other theological expressions alongside classic Nicene-Chalcedonian Christology was his purpose for studying
Anabaptist history.
Some references to works by Erasmus, Luther, and Hutten reach back a little further, and in the case of the
Anabaptists the discussion is expanded to include some works written later in the sixteenth century.
Viewing New Creations With
Anabaptist Eyes: Ethics Of Biotechnology deftly co-edited by the scholarly team of Roman J.
A Contemporary
Anabaptist Theology/Biblical, Historical, Constructive.
