Spelling of Anabaptist

[Crazy Liz]

I've seen several spellings of Anabaptist in this forum. Some people have asked that we all spell it the same way. I'm curious what reasons people have for different spellings, whether the spelling is important to you, and why.

Please post here if you have encountered tension over this issue and share how you feel about this and why.

 

[nzguy]

I have been meaning to reply to this post,

you see the hyphenated ana-baptist in The Trail of Blood booklet.. I didn't think it was any different to anabaptists.. but now I see that the majority of christians in this anabaptist forum aren't from that heritage.

so I guess anabaptist is for rebaptising churches that are part of universal church movements?

cos ana-baptists in the trail of blood heritage.. have no universal church existing!

anyway.. I've harped on about their being no universal church and church being only local in a number of posts now.. so I think I will just agree to disagree with folks

but the main point here is that I think the hyphenated ana-baptists is for the Landmarkism type churches and also independent baptist churches who associated themselves with ana-baptists.

 

[WayneinMaine]

so I guess anabaptist is for rebaptising churches that are part of universal church movements?


anyway.. I've harped on about their being no universal church and church being only local in a number of posts now.. so I think I will just agree to disagree with folks

but the main point here is that I think the hyphenated ana-baptists is for the Landmarkism type churches and also independent baptist churches who associated themselves with ana-baptists.

What I still have difficulty with is that Trail of Blood churches trace their lineage through the 16th century Anabaptist (which you deride as a a "universal church movement") yet seem to want to distance themselves from the actual teachings and practices of those churches who are historically descende from the "Anabaptist". Do you accept the points of the Schleitheim confession?

 

[Crazy Liz]

I have been meaning to reply to this post,

you see the hyphenated ana-baptist in The Trail of Blood booklet..

I see. I was wondering where it came from, and why Baptists seem to be the only ones who spell it as 2 words, or with a hyphen or with a capital B in the middle. I thought it was arrogant, as if Baptists want to make sure their name stood alone. It's good to know some are just copying a spelling quirk from a piece of literature.

I didn't think it was any different to anabaptists.. but now I see that the majority of christians in this anabaptist forum aren't from that heritage.

so I guess anabaptist is for rebaptising churches that are part of universal church movements?

I don't know that we think about it in that way. Anabaptists (and Quakers, also) generally do have a congregational form of church polity. You won't often see a hierarchy of bishops, although I think some Old Order Mennonites and Amish use the title bishop. I don't know exactly what their role is, though. I don't think there is a top commander-in-chief role, though, of a single bishop at the top of the pyramid. Perhaps someone else here knows more about this. All I know is I have never seen an Anabaptist church or group of churches organized that way.

cos ana-baptists in the trail of blood heritage.. have no universal church existing!

anyway.. I've harped on about their being no universal church and church being only local in a number of posts now.. so I think I will just agree to disagree with folks

I asked you in another thread why "no universal church" seems to be the key doctrine for you. I hope you'll respond there. I don't understand what the big deal is about using the word "church" only one way and not two ways.

but the main point here is that I think the hyphenated ana-baptists is for the Landmarkism type churches and also independent baptist churches who associated themselves with ana-baptists.

So do you now think ana-baptist and Anabaptist are two different things?

 

[nzguy]

I think they are meant to be the same thing... seeing as there heaps of churches websites that use anabaptist that are Landmarkists!

I guess the main difference is that you have ana-baptists that have teh body of Christ as universal and ana-baptists that have it as local.

The thing with calling every believer 'the church' .. is that it makes unity in the body of Christ are near impossibility.... that is why I harp on about there being no universal church.. because unity in the body of Christ is meant for congregations and assemblies.. that is achievable, closely knit unity that sits right with NT books like Ephesians and Corinthians.

In saying this.. sometimes seeing the body of Christ as universal is the ONLY difference in teaching.

Southern Baptist churches have pretty much exactly the same teaching as mine aside from the universal church doctrine.

I just wish more people would use Kingdom of God or Family of God.. instead of saying 'the church' in literature and news when describing all Chrstians.