What do Anabaptists believe? What’s the source of their beliefs? And are they right?
Questions like these will be answered in the articles listed below. For an overview of Anabaptist beliefs, see the article on Who Are the Anabaptists?
Recently, Eastern Orthodox apologists have worked to develop a new argument for the veneration of icons. This time, they are arguing from images of praying people found in the catacombs. This argument, which I will call the Participatory Art Argument, starts by pointing out that, in the catacombs, as I mentioned in my archaeology post, …
Does Archaeology of Pre-Nicene Orant Images Prove Iconodulia? Read More »
Catholic Answers (catholic.com) is a hugely influential ministry. One of their functions is to provide people with pop-level arguments for Roman Catholicism. They repackage Roman Catholicism in a very appealing way. One of the goals of Catholic Answers is to prove that the Roman Catholic Church is in continuity with the early church. So many …
Is Catholic Answers Committed to Intellectual Honesty? Read More »
On this site, I’ve shown that we can reasonably conclude that the New Testament is infallible without drawing on an infallible tradition or magisterium to prove that it is. Anabaptists and Protestants, then, are in an excellent position—we have excellent support for our belief that Christian doctrine comes from the teachings of the apostles in …
by William R. McGrath This article was written around 1955 and published as an article and then a booklet. In this article, McGrath argues that the Protestant Reformation failed, being hamstrung by needing to follow political considerations. Instead, he advocates for following the example of the early Anabaptists, who even modern Anabaptists should learn from. …
The Anabaptists: Neither Catholic nor Protestant Read More »
This is the full text of the Schleitheim Confession, the earliest Anabaptist confession of faith. This material is from Anabaptists.org and was originally printed by Rod and Staff Publishers, Inc., Crockett, KY (Sixth Printing, 1985). The Schleitheim Confession was adopted by a Swiss Brethren Conference, February 24, 1527. I have added clarifications in brackets. Brotherly Union …
When reading Jesus’ commands can we ever say, “We know Jesus didn’t mean that, because that’s so obviously not true”? In this article, I discuss whether we can be justified in interpreting Jesus’ commands according to our moral intuitions. This is the fourth and final article in a series on the doctrine of nonresistance, which …
Divine Command Theory | What if Jesus didn’t really mean that? Read More »
This article is the third of a series on the doctrine of nonresistance, which is based on Jesus’ command to do no violence. More specifically, nonresistance is the view that even when striving for justice, Christians, unlike earthly governments, must only employ methods other than violence. This doctrine was so named by the Anabaptists, but …
Early Church Fathers on War, Violence, and Pacifism Read More »
This article is the second of a series on the doctrine of nonresistance, which is based on Jesus’ command to do no violence. More specifically, nonresistance is the view that even when striving for justice, Christians, unlike earthly governments, must only employ methods other than violence. This doctrine was so named by the Anabaptists, but …
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), Jesus introduced a surprising teaching, one that is so unlike our natural human impulses that Christians have mostly ceased to follow it. Though Jesus taught against violence, and though the pre-Constantinian church continued to teach Jesus’ command, few Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestants consider Jesus’ command …
Some of the terms Anabaptists use aren’t familiar to non-Anabaptists. Also, some of the terms I’m using on this site aren’t widely understood. So this post is meant to include short, understandable definitions of the terms as I use them. If any of these definitions aren’t clear enough, please let me know. Terms Used by …
