Crumbs from the Table

The Anabaptists were Christians at the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s who wanted a more radical break with the past and return to the truth of the Bible.  The Anabaptists were a very eclectic collection of different people and causes, united only by the fact that they did not align with the Roman Catholic church nor with the so-called Magisterial Reformers. "Anabaptist" means "rebaptiser" because in many if not most cases they rejected the longstanding practice of baptising infants, and instead practised believer's baptism on profession of faith.  The Anabaptists are called the "stepchildren" of the Reformation - at times disowned and unloved, but clearly the product of the time and in some ways more consistent and radical than their Protestant counterparts.  The first iteration of Anabaptism were the Carlstadt and the Zwickau prophets, who sought a more radical reformation that Luther espoused.  A second expression came in the form of...

Ulrich Zwingli (d. 1531), like his contemporary Martin Luther (d. 1546), was a courageous reformer of the church, to whom Protestant Christians owe a debt of gratitude. He began his reform at Zurich in 1519 by preaching through the gospel of Matthew, reviving the practice of Chrysostom of consecutive Bible exposition. Zwingli simplified the worship of the church, purging it of unbiblical elements, and limiting it to what God had expressly commanded. In his theology, Zwingli exalted God's sovereign will in providence and salvation, and affirmed the chasmic difference between Creator and created. Zurich became a hub from where the Reformation spread out to other cities such as Berne, Strasburg and Geneva.   On one point, however, Zwingli was deficient, namely in respect of baptism and the Lord's Supper.   Zwingli's paradigm for understanding the sacraments was the Latin word sacramentum , equivalent to the German word "Eid". This referred to a soldier's oath of ...

 Baptist churches first emerged in the English-speaking world around 1609 (General Baptists), and 1640 (Particular Baptists) respectively. The Particular Baptists are so called not because of some inate "pickiness" but because of their (our) belief, along with most other reformed Christians at the time, in Christ's particular redemption. The saving work of Christ on the cross and in the resurrection actually saved particular people. This is sometimes referred to as "limited atonement".   The Particular Baptist churches in the English-speaking world emerged from existing independent congregations, which had sprung up in England from the late 16th century onwards. What made them "Baptist" was their conviction that baptism should be administered on profession of faith, and therefore should not be given to infants too young to profess faith. The practice of delaying baptism until the serious commitment could be made in an informed way was certainly a commo...