Anabaptism and Other Denominations
On this 500th anniversary of the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement, Rosedale Bible College’s Beacon articles will look at a wide variety of denominations within the household of faith, highlighting a different denomination each month. We hope to foster a humble, rooted appreciation for how the gospel has come to us and to consider how Jesus might be calling us forward.
When they came from Germany to the new world, Lutherans and Mennonites often settled in the same communities, helping to create the “Pennsylvania Dutch” culture of eastern Pennsylvania. It’s actually quite common to find Lutheran and Mennonite churches in the same small towns throughout the Midwest, though the theology is vastly different.
Martin Luther’s original intent in the Reformation was not to start a brand-new church, but to be a continuation of the church that was reformed by the gospel. This may explain the high church culture of Lutheranism—pastors wear robes, cross themselves, and lead a rich liturgical worship filled with hymns, recitation of the creeds, Scripture readings, confession of sin and assurance of pardon, and chants.
Lutherans are all about the gospel. A core Lutheran idea is that we are “just and sinner,” which simply means that though we are still sinners, we are clothed in the righteous robes of Christ. Lutherans emphasize justification by faith alone, and not by our works. They believe in two sacraments: the Lord’s Supper and baptism. Christ’s body and blood are objectively present in the Lord’s supper, and baptism is how God saves the believer. Lutherans also baptize infants. This makes the sacraments paramount to the worship service because they are the means God uses to confer grace; hence, the gospel.
Luther and his followers depended on the state to protect them from persecution by Catholic authorities, a luxury the Anabaptists simply did not have.
Luther also held to a version of two-kingdom theology in which the state is commissioned to operate according to reason: reward the good, punish the evil, and protect the rights of the church. The church, on the other hand, is called to operate according to the gospel of grace.
Luther exhorted his followers to carry out their vocation as divine service, even if that meant taking life: “Therefore, if you see that there is a lack of hangmen, constables, judges, lords, or princes, and you find that you are qualified, you should offer your services and seek the position, that the essential government authority may not be despised and become enfeebled or perish” (Temporal Authority: To What Extent it Should Be Obeyed). This is obviously distinct from an Anabaptist two-kingdom view (Luther vehemently rejected the Anabaptists as heretics).
There’s much to appreciate about Lutheranism: a theology of the cross and justification by faith alone where humble sinners find unmerited grace and assurance of salvation; a strong liturgy anchored in Scripture which stands in stark contrast to our chaotic world; a high view of the Lord’s Supper and baptism that shifts focus from our own works toward the work of Jesus in the gospel that makes salvation possible; and finally, Luther’s belief that all people, not just the clerics, should read the Bible.
Nonetheless, I’m not a Lutheran, I’m a Mennonite. And the reason is because of what I believe about the nature of the gospel and the church. Personal faith and baptism should be a voluntary act by which we are initiated into a body of believers; hence, believer’s baptism. Christians should desire to take the Lord’s Supper regularly to renew their covenant with Christ and the Church until He returns. And finally, I believe in regenerate church membership through congregational discipleship and church discipline, freed from any ties to the state.
Furthermore, Luther and his followers depended on the state to protect them from persecution by Catholic authorities, a luxury the Anabaptists simply did not have. More Anabaptists were martyred—by both Catholics and Lutherans—at the time of the Reformation than Christians in the first three centuries before Constantine (The Story of Christianity). Yet, the Anabaptist movement spread like wildfire. Why? Not only because of a commitment to faith and the sacraments, but because of a holistic, all-encompassing vision for the church that held to a faith that produced works, or “cross-centered discipleship.”
Luther saw the Anabaptist view of the church as dangerous to the social order and legalistic, but I disagree. God has instituted the state to maintain order and punish the evildoer (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 3:14-15), to be sure. However, the call of the Church is not to influence society by making sure we have Christian rulers; rather, the call of the Church is to preach the gospel, baptize, and make disciples until Christ returns. We praise God for wise and just rulers, but our commission is discipleship according to the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God, no matter the earthly context.
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3 Responses
For me our relationship as brothers and sisters in Christ is our most precious relationship and I find it incredible and horrible that a brother should persecute and kill other brothers. Of course as ghastly as it is it was the culture of the age: their heretics so kill them. Let us learn and love today.
I appreciate this article, thank you!!
Growing up, even in the Mennonite church, I was taught a lot of respect for Luther. Since then I’ve come to have a much more complicated view of his legacy. Do I appreciate his push for scripture to be for everyone and not just for clergy? Absolutely. But his legacy of continued State Christianity, bloody Christian-on-Christian killing, and raging antisemitism that twisted the German church and society for years to come, makes it difficult for me to think positively of him or his impact on the Church.
Nice.