Anabaptism’s history and its relevance for today were the focus of the commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of Anabaptism January 22, 2205, at Fresno Pacific University.
Anabaptism began as a movement within the larger 16th century Protestant Reformation. Emerging in pockets across Western Europe, its beginnings are marked by the actions of a small group of Christians who met secretly in Zurich, Switzerland, on January 21, 1525. Their decision to be voluntarily baptized as adults resulted in imprisonment and death for many but ultimately inspired Christians around the world to a vision of discipleship focused on the way of Jesus.
Valerie Rempel, Ph.D., former vice president of FPU and dean of Freno Pacific Biblical Seminary, outlined Anabaptism in a community luncheon on the main FPU campus, 1717 S. Chestnut Ave., Fresno.
Rempel summed up sixteenth century Anabaptists as “radical Bible readers at the core.” “They understood the reign of God to be centered in the church rather than the state and believed that the body of Christ was to give visible witness to its proper citizenship. They saw themselves as present-day disciples of Jesus and because of that, they gave special weight to Jesus’s teaching—to his invitation to live generous lives, to his call for love of enemies, to his encouragement to participate in God’s work of healing and justice and hope,” she said.
Early Anabaptism was defined by the Schleitheim Confession, crafted by Swiss Anabaptists just two years after that first meeting, Rempel said. Articles dealt with, among other things, adult baptism, the breaking of bread, taking oaths and bearing arms.
Believer’s Baptism
Though no longer controversial in much of the Christian world, adult or believer’s baptism was the issue that put early Anabaptists most in peril. People believed that baptizing infants ensured their salvation in times of high child mortality, and governments, through baptismal records kept by official churches, counted people for purposes ranging from taxation to military conscription.
“The ‘sin’ of believers’ baptism lay both in its theological challenge—that baptism couldn’t wash away sin but was a sign of the believer’s pledge to follow Jesus and the cleansing of sin already accomplished on the cross—and its challenge to the existing social order. Believer’s baptism signaled entry into a voluntary community of faith that functioned outside of the state’s protection or control,” Rempel said. “That was radical, indeed!”
The Lord’s Supper
Anabaptist understanding of the Lord’s Supper as a memorial meal, eaten in remembrance of Christ—a vertical relationship—but shared with others in the community of faith—giving it a horizontal aspect, as well—is also easy to affirm today, Rempel said.
Swearing Oaths
Despite Matthew 5:33 and James 5:12, Christians also spend little time today debating the swearing of oaths. “Though at least in the American context, you can opt for affirming over swearing in a court of law,” Rempel said. “I did that once; the judge rolled his eyes but indulged me.”
Refusal to Bear Arms
Early Anabaptists insisted that Jesus’ charge to lay down the sword was an issue of allegiance. “Disciples of Jesus were to live first and foremost as citizens of Christ’s peaceful kingdom. Bearing arms violated not only the biblical injunction against killing but represented an allegiance to the state as the primary means of security, rather than to a just and powerful God,” Rempel said.
Today pacifism continues to be radical. “Let’s agree, however, that the call to separate the church from the state continues to be relevant for contemporary Christians. Christ is the head of the church, and we are always called to give primary allegiance to Jesus as Lord,” Rempel said.
Global Effects of Anabaptism
The desire of Anabaptists not to be martyrs but to live and worship freely drove waves of migration to what is now the United States, Canada, Poland, Ukraine, Paraguay, Brazil and Mexico. “As these communities of Anabaptist believers settled and built homes and meeting places, they also created the institutional structures that many of us are so deeply connected to,” Rempel said.
Some things seem less radical today than they once did. For example, many Christians today also see wisdom in the separation of church and state. “Anabaptists are sometimes even credited with helping to separate the church from the state in ways that have been legitimated in our American Constitution and other democracies,” she said.
Five centuries after the Schleitheim Confession—written during severe persecution by Catholic and Protestant bodies of the time—Anabaptists have a very different relationship with their fellow Christians. Still, geography matters. World Watch List 2025 suggests that one in seven Christians worldwide is in danger because of their faith. Anabaptists are surely among them, Rempel said. “The church in Ethiopia, Congo, India and elsewhere is dynamic and a vibrant part of the Anabaptist community which now includes some 2.13 million baptized believers around the globe—two-thirds of them in Africa, Asia and Latin America.”
The question of what it means to be part of a radical tradition when most of us don’t look radical is still worth exploring, Rempel concluded. On the one hand, in the last several decades increasing numbers of Christians identify with Anabaptism while remaining in their own traditions. These “neo-anabaptists”—including Anglican-Anabaptists, Restorationist-Anabaptists and Pentecostal-Anabaptists—desire to live as disciples of Jesus and are drawn to a Christianity that rejects domination. “I am hopeful that these new enthusiasts, joined with the witness of my global brothers and sisters, will help establishment folks like me renew our commitment to live as faithful disciples of Jesus,” she said.
On the other hand, the confidence of many Christians, including some in the Anabaptist tradition, in political parties across the spectrum—left and right—would deeply trouble our spiritual forebearers, she said. “Five hundred years later, are we prepared to keep our commitments to peace and justice rooted in the transformative power of the Gospel rather than the particularities of a political party?”
About Valerie Rempel
Before becoming a director of accreditation for the Association of Theological Schools in 2021, Rempel was vice president and dean of Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary (FPBS), part of FPU. She joined the faculty in 1996, also serving as J.B. Toews Chair of History and Theology and director of the Center for Anabaptist Studies.
The anniversary celebration also included a morning chapel presentation by Brian Schulz, Ph.D., professor of biblical and theological studies, in the Warkentine Culture & Arts Center. Both gatherings were hosted by FPBS in collaboration with the Council of Senior Professionals and the Center for Anabaptist Studies. Cheryl Dueck Smith, D.A., is director of the Center for Anabaptist Studies and assistant professor of marriage and family therapy at the seminary.
(Photo of Valerie Rempel by Kyle Young for Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary)