What do you believe?

[BigChrisfilm]

I was just wondering what makes anabaptist beliefs different then say normal baptist?

 

[nota]

What`s a "normal baptist"??

There is a bunch of different baptist denoms.
A few of them are : American baptist, GARBC, Bible baptist, Southern baptist, Missionary baptist, Independent baptist....
There are others I am not familiar with.

Just wondering....are any of the above or all of the above "normal"?

Sorry, couldn`t resist.
Don`t mean to give you a hard time.

nota

 

[MrJim]

There is also a broad spectrum of anabaptist beliefs & churches from conservative horse-and-buggy to liberal UCC/UM...it's a tiny splintered part of Christianity but if you dig enough there is treasure to be found

 

[PacersRock44]

I think that Anabaptists believe that you can and should be baptized more than once if you say fall away from God or maybe have a new revelation but I am by no means an expert in the denomination.

 

[ZaidaBoBaida]

Anabaptists were originally called that because they said that infant baptism didn't count. If you had been baptized as an infant you had to be baptized again - hence why they're called rebaptizers.

Yes, some people get silly with it and get baptized a bunch of times, but I think that is blasphemous.

 

[WayneinMaine]

THe biggest distinctions (at the root level - Mennonites have now adopted a lot of Protestant ideas) are a Christocentric / kingdom of God understanding ofthe scriptures, a rejection of salvation "by faith alone", a commitment to live out the ethics taught by Jesus (especially emphasizing the Sermon on the Mount) and baptism for those who make a mature (adult) commitment to be disciples of Jesus.

 

[WayneinMaine]

Anabaptists were originally called that because they said that infant baptism didn't count. If you had been baptized as an infant you had to be baptized again - hence why they're called rebaptizers.

Yes, some people get silly with it and get baptized a bunch of times, but I think that is blasphemous.

I have never heard of any Anabaptist related church baptizing multiple times, though some churches (notably the Brethren and German Baptists) not only do not recognize infant baptism, they do not recognize baptism if it is not done the right way (trine immersion).

 

[BigChrisfilm]

THe biggest distinctions (at the root level - Mennonites have now adopted a lot of Protestant ideas) are a Christocentric / kingdom of God understanding ofthe scriptures, a rejection of salvation "by faith alone", a commitment to live out the ethics taught by Jesus (especially emphasizing the Sermon on the Mount) and baptism for those who make a mature (adult) commitment to be disciples of Jesus.

So are you saying the denomination does not believe in salvation through faith alone? If so, what else is required?

 

[WayneinMaine]

So are you saying the denomination does not believe in salvation through faith alone? If so, what else is required?

Well first off, there is no "Anabaptist" denomination, just as there is no "Protestant" denomination. There are Hutterites and Brethren and Amish and Mennonites represented by hundreds of different groups. There is also no one founder of the movement whose works can be pointed as authoritativly defining their beliefs and practives - they have no John Calvin or Martin Luther. Their most prolific writer (prolific only because he was not martyred early in the movement, like most if its leaders) was Menno Simons, and he did not write systematic theologies in the manner of the Protestants nor did he speak for the entire movement.

Most modern descendents of the Anabaptists will now claim to believe in salvation by faith alone – having imbibed Protestant theology as they assimilated into American culture. But at their roots (and still represented by such groups as the Old Orders and the Hutterites) they would reject the idea of salvation by faith alone or more especially the centrality of personal salvation as the theme and objective of the Gospel. Even the more assimilated groups attach a lot of “doing” to salvific faith, such that they are often accused of “works righteousness” (observe the woman's head covering, for example). At the very least salvific faith is demonstrated outwardly by a distinct lifestyle and values and by works of charity – without which claiming to have faith is meaningless.

Central to Anabaptism is discipleship – following after Jesus, obeying His teachings. For them the Good News (gospel) was precisely what Jesus said it was: the kingdom of God is at hand – God’s rulership among men (to paraphrase) is being established by our Lord. Responding to this good news by following Jesus one will see and participate in that kingdom – eternally. Salvation means being redeemed – removed from the temporal clutches of sin and transformed into the likeness of our Lord to emulate Him in love, service and even suffering. The central themes of the New Testament are drawn from the words of Jesus in the Gospels and relate to the kingdom and discipleship, not personal salvation through faith. Even the most evangelicalized of Mennonites retains some of that in their refusal to bear arms against their national enemies in their serious attempt to actually put into practice the Sermon on the Mount.

 

[MeirDavid]

hai friend

I tend to say that "I will believe in god"

 

[SearcherKris]

liberal UCC/UM..

Hi, would you mind spelling out what UCC/UM is? I grew up Baptist, switched to non-denominational, and I am now very interested in the teachings of Anabaptist, but I'm having a hard time finding a congregation.

I live a modern lifestyle, but lean more toward the spiritual and Biblical teaching of Anabaptist than the typical protestant church.

Thanks

 

[MrJim]

Hi, would you mind spelling out what UCC/UM is? I grew up Baptist, switched to non-denominational, and I am now very interested in the teachings of Anabaptist, but I'm having a hard time finding a congregation.

I live a modern lifestyle, but lean more toward the spiritual and Biblical teaching of Anabaptist than the typical protestant church.

Thanks

UCC/UM is "United Church of Christ" / "United Methodist"~~I used them as examples of the direction a sect of the Anabaptists ("MCUSA") is headed.

PM sent about the rest of your post...