Anabaptism

Anabaptism is a Christian movement that emerged in the 16th-century Radical Reformation. It practices baptism upon a person’s profession of faith and emphasizes voluntary congregations.

Believer's baptism: Baptism administered to people who can personally profess faith, rather than to infants. It is the practice that gave Anabaptists their name and marked their break with established churches.
Zurich Reformation: The Protestant reform movement led by Huldrych Zwingli in Zurich during the 1520s. Disagreements with Zwingli’s reforms helped spark the first Anabaptist communities.
Menno Simons: A sixteenth-century Dutch Anabaptist leader whose writings helped organize Mennonite communities. His pastoral leadership gave Mennonites their name and strengthened a surviving Anabaptist tradition.
Mennonites: Christian communities descended from Anabaptist traditions associated with Menno Simons. They are among the largest and most diverse contemporary Anabaptist groups.
Infant baptism: The baptism of infants, commonly practiced in Catholic, Orthodox, and many Protestant churches. Rejecting infant baptism was the defining public disagreement between Anabaptists and established churches.
Radical Reformation: Sixteenth-century movements that sought more fundamental religious reform than Europe’s established Protestant churches. Anabaptism emerged within this broader reforming upheaval.
Felix Manz: A Swiss reformer and early Anabaptist leader executed in Zurich in 1527. His baptism and execution make him a central figure in Anabaptism’s beginnings.
Michael Sattler: A former Benedictine monk who became an early Anabaptist leader and helped draft the Schleitheim Confession. His teaching and martyrdom made him influential in the Swiss Brethren movement.
Amish: An Anabaptist Christian tradition that emerged from the Swiss Brethren and emphasizes communal discipline and separation. Amish communities show one distinctive way Anabaptist commitments shape daily life.
Magisterial Reformation: The Protestant Reformation movements supported by territorial rulers and established civic authorities. Unlike magisterial reformers, Anabaptists generally opposed state-enforced church membership.

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