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Anabaptist theology, also known as Anabaptist doctrine, is a theological tradition reflecting the doctrine of the Anabaptists. The major branches of Anabaptist Christianity (inclusive of Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christians) agree on core doctrines but have nuances in practice. While the adherence to doctrine is important in Anabaptist Christianity, living righteously is stressed to a greater degree.
Important sources for Anabaptist doctrine are the Schleitheim Confession and the Dordrecht Confession of Faith, both of which have been held by many Anabaptist Churches throughout history. (2013). 9781621896357, Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781621896357
Daniel Kauffman, a bishop of the Mennonite Church, codified Anabaptist beliefs in the influential text Doctrines of the Bible, which continues to be widely used in catechesis.
John S. Oyer states that the Old Order Amish have an implicit theology that can be found in their biblical hermeneutics, but take little interest in explicit, formal, and systematic theology. It is easier to find out about their implicit theology in talking with them than reading written documents.John S. Oyer: Is there an Amish Theology in Lydie Hege et Christoph Wiebe: Les Amish : origine et particularismes 1693-1993, The Amish : origin and characteristics 1693-1993, Ingersheim, 1996, pages 278-302. According to Oyer, their implicit theology is practical, not theoretical.John S. Oyer: Is there an Amish Theology in Lydie Hege et Christoph Wiebe: Les Amish : origine et particularismes 1693-1993, The Amish : origin and characteristics 1693-1993, Ingersheim, 1996, page 300. The most important written source of Amish theology, according to Oyer, is "1001 Questions and Answers on the Christian Life". 1001 Questions and Answers on the Christian Life, written by 20 members of the Amish ministry and lay people in various communities, published by Pathway Publishers, Aylmer, Ontario and Lagrange, Indiana, 1992. 1001 Questions & Answers On The Christian Life at amishamerica.com.
The Hutterites possess an account of their belief written by Peter Riedemann ( Rechenschafft unserer Religion, Leer und Glaubens) and theological tracts and letters by Hans Schlaffer, Leonhard Schiemer and Ambrosius Spittelmaier are extant. Ambrosius Spittelmaier at deutsche-biographie.de
In the Anabaptist understanding, Jesus Christ perfectly revealed, lived out, and marked the path back to God. Christians are disciples who have committed themselves to following Christ on that path, yielding to God’s will in all things as Jesus did, not claiming possessions for themselves, speaking the truth in all circumstances, humbly giving way in the face of evil power, living non-coercively, willing to suffer rather than inflict suffering on others. The visible ‘shape’ of Anabaptist spirituality is discipleship, the ‘following after Christ’ ( Nachfolge Christi) in life.
Following after Christ in life will occur in three areas in which humanity is, by its nature, most particularly tempted not to be Christ-like: in the desire to claim ownership of possessions, in the temptation to lie and dissimulate, and in the temptation to coerce by using violence.(2004). 9781570755361, Orbis Books. ISBN 9781570755361
In terms of the authority of Scripture, for example, Anabaptists insisted that the Holy Spirit had to be active in the interpretation of the letter. So, for example, a spiritually enlightened peasant would be a more reliable interpreter of Scripture than was a professor of biblical languages who lacked the Spirit. All the same, with the exception of a few prophetic spiritualists, the Anabaptists read and interpreted the text of the Bible itself in a decidedly practical, non-theological way .... The Anabaptists could not agree that political authorities had any right to decide matters of biblical interpretation or decree matters of faith or practice for the church, thus challenging the close church-state relationship that had been taken for granted by the Protestant Reformers.(2004). 9781570755361, Orbis Books. ISBN 9781570755361
Anabaptists hold that the entire Bible is the word of God, while insisting that the New Testament is the rule of faith and practice for the Church. Anabaptists Hans Denck and Ludwig Hätzer were responsible for the first translation of the Old Testament Prophets from Hebrew into the German language.
The Amish tradition of Anabaptist Christianity uses the Luther Bible, which contains the Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament; Amish wedding ceremonies include "the retelling of the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in the Apocrypha". The texts regarding the martyrdoms under Antiochus IV in the intertestamental section of the Bible (called the Apocrypha) containing 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees are held in high esteem by the Anabaptists, who faced persecution in their history. (2018). 9781493413072, Baker Books. ISBN 9781493413072
The 16th-century Anabaptists were orthodox Trinitarianism accepting both the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ and salvation through his death on the cross.
Menno Simons, the father of the Mennonite tradition of Anabaptism, concluded: "In the same manner the heavenly Seed, namely, the Word of God, was sown in Mary, and by her faith, being conceived in her by the Holy Ghost, became flesh, and was nurtured in her body; and thus it is called the fruit of her womb, that same as a natural fruit or offspring is called the fruit of its natural mother."
The Dunkard Brethren Church, an Anabaptist denomination of the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition, teaches that "Election is of the sovereign mercy of God, enabling us to believe the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, so that we can choose a life of righteousness and service. (John 6:44; John 15:16; 1 Pet. 1:1-2; Col. 3:12; 1 Thess. 1:4-6; 2 Pet. 1:10)"
Historically, certain Anabaptists, like Hans Hut and Pilgram Marpeck, rejected total depravity. Others, shared views akin to Arminians: Hubmaier, Schiemer, and Dirk Philips affirmed total depravity and believed in the restoration of human Libertarianism free will through prevenient grace communicated through the Gospel. Hans Denck and Michael Sattler maintained that God restores human free will through prevenient grace prior to exposure to the Gospel. Schiemer's perspective affirmed total depravity and the restoration of free will through prevenient grace given at birth and later experienced at the age of accountability.
"The beginning of the Anabaptist path to salvation was thus marked not by a forensic understanding of salvation by 'faith alone', but by the entire process of repentance, self-denial, faith, rebirth and obedience. It was this process that was marked by the biblical sign of baptism." After becoming a believer, Anabaptist theology emphasizes "a faith that works."
Anabaptist denominations teach:
Hans Denck wrote:
Obedience to Jesus and other New Testament teachings, loving one another and being at peace with others, and walking in holiness are seen as "earmarks of the saved."
Good works thus have an important role in the life of an Anabaptist believer,
(2025). 9780802871909, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802871909 with the teaching "that faith without works is a dead faith" (cf. ) occupying a cornerstone in Anabaptist Christianity.
(2009). 9781725244634, Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781725244634 Anabaptists do not teach faith and works—in the sense of two separate entities—are necessary for salvation, but rather that true faith will always produce good works. Balthasar Hubmaier wrote that "faith by itself alone is not worthy to be called faith, for there can be no true faith without the works of love." (1981). 9780836112412, Herald Press. ISBN 9780836112412
Rather than a forensic justification that only gave a legal change of one's status before God, early Anabaptists taught that "justification begun a dynamic process by which the believer partook of the nature of Christ and was so enabled to live increasingly like Jesus."
(1992). 9780836131116, Herald Press. ISBN 9780836131116 Riedemann explained this ontological justification in these words:
However, the Lutheran Book of Concord claims that there were certain Anabaptists who taught that it was impossible for someone who had been justified to lose the Holy Spirit. The Concord condemned this view, asserting that those who have received the Holy Ghost may still fall from grace and depart from the divine favor of God.
In 1918, three Hutterite brothers, David, Joseph, and Michael Hofer, and Joseph's brother-in-law Jacob Wipf were imprisoned on Alcatraz for refusal to join the US military. Two of them, Joseph and Michael Hofer, died in late 1918 shortly after their transfer to a prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Bruderhof is another Anabaptist church that is strongly pacifist, believing that personal property is a form of injustice.
According to Harold S. Bender and several of his colleagues, the Anabaptists were "voluntaristic in religious choice, advocates of a church completely free from state influence, biblical literalists, non-participants in any government activity to avoid moral compromise, suffering servant disciples of Jesus who emphasized moral living and who were persecuted and martyred as Jesus had been, and restitutionists who tried to restore pre-Constantinian Christian primitivism".
Schwertler Anabaptists, such as Balthasar Hubmaier, were not nonresistant and supported the government; they even encouraged involvement in government. In light of this, they were not accepted by the mainstream of the Anabaptists as being true adherents of the faith.
Anabaptist Christian denominations that observe the wearing of plain dress, such as the Schwarzenau Brethren Anabaptists, do so because Jesus “condemned anxious thought for raiment” in and . They teach that the wearing of plain dress (without adornment) is scripturally commanded in , , and , in addition to being taught by the early Church Fathers. Indeed, in the early Christian manual Paedagogus, the injunction for clothing to extend past the knees was enjoined. (2020). 9781789693225, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781789693225 With the adjective kosmios (κόσμιος) meaning "modest", uses the Greek word catastola katastolé (καταστολῇ) for the apparel suitable for Christian females, and for this reason, women belonging to Conservative Anabaptist denominations often wear a cape dress with a headcovering; for example, ladies who are members of the Charity Christian Fellowship wear the cape dress with an opaque hanging veil as the denomination teaches that "the sisters are to wear a double layered garment as the Greek word 'catastola' describes." (1996). 9781680992434, Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781680992434
We confess concerning the Supper of the Lord, that it is a sign of divine grace, a seal of the eternal covenant of God, a visible ordinance or ceremony, instituted by Jesus Christ in the congregation of God. It was instituted with bread and wine, the bread broken in remembrance of the death of Christ, the wine received in remembrance of the pouring out of his blood. In receiving it, believing Christian members search themselves to find the true essence to which the Lord’s Supper does point.These exterior ordinances, when practiced in conjunction with the inward realities, "brought one into conformity with the truth of Jesus Christ, whose life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection had so fundamentally altered all of humanity and creation that human beings were now capable of works of loving obedience that revealed the indwelling presence of God in Christ in all people."
In Anabaptist churches of the Conservative Mennonite tradition, seven ordinances are taught, including "baptism, the Lord's Supper, footwashing, marriage, anointing with oil, the holy kiss, and the veiling of women."
Within the Anabaptist churches of the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition and the River Brethren tradition, the Lovefeast is observed, which includes the ordinances of the holy kiss, footwashing and communion, in addition to the sharing of a communal meal.
Baptism shall be given to all those who have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ, and to all those who walk in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and wish to be buried with Him in death, so that they may be resurrected with Him and to all those who with this significance request it (baptism) of us and demand it for themselves. This excludes all infant baptism, the highest and chief abomination of the Pope. In this you have the foundation and testimony of the apostles. Matt. 28, Mark 16, Acts 2, 8, 16, 19.
The Dordrecht Confession (1632) states,
Concerning baptism we confess that all penitent believers, who, through faith, regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, are made one with God, and are written in heaven, must, upon such Scriptural confession of faith, and renewing of life, be baptized with water, in the most worthy name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, according to the command of Christ, and the teaching, example, and practice of the apostles, to the burying of their sins, and thus be incorporated into the communion of the saints; henceforth to learn to observe all things which the Son of God has taught, left, and commanded His disciples.
The concept of believers' baptism drew the main attention of 16th-century Continental Anabaptists, but the mode was also an issue. The majority appear to have taught and practiced baptism by affusion, while a minority practiced baptism by immersion. The writings of Menno Simons seem at times to promote immersion as the proper mode, but his practice was by pouring. Bernhard Rothmann argued for immersion in his Bekentnisse, and Pilgram Marpeck copied this idea into his Vermanung, but weakened the position by accepting pouring or sprinkling as an alternate mode. The mode of baptism was debated by the and the Polish Brethren around the turn of the 17th century, and the arguments for immersion by Polish leader Christoph Ostorodt were incorporated into the Racovian Confession of Faith in 1604. Michael Servetus made a strong case for immersion. The , Swiss Brethren, South German Anabaptists, and were not as concerned about mode, and, while not rejecting immersion, found pouring much more practical and believed it to be the Scriptural mode. As such, Anabaptist denominations such as the Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites use affusion as the mode to administer believer's baptism, whereas Anabaptists of the Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christian traditions baptize by immersion. (2017). 9781493406401, Baker Books. ISBN 9781493406401 (2010). 9780801899119, JHU Press. ISBN 9780801899119 (2010). 9780831697013, MennoMedia. ISBN 9780831697013 (2012). 9780810873650, Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810873650
In the practice of the Apostolic Christian Church, after a seeker receives believer's baptism:
Mennonite theologian J. C. Wenger stated that “There is no exegetical consideration against the observance of feet washing, for example, which would not also bear against the observance of baptism.”
In Anabaptism, the corporate nature (fellowship, unity) of participation is emphasized to a greater degree than other Christian denominations. Pilgram Marpeck wrote, "As members of one body, we proclaim the death of Christ and bodily union attained by untainted brotherly love." Marpeck further wrote, "The true meaning of communion is mystified and obscured by the word sacrament." In connection with the Lord's supper, many Anabaptists stress the rite of feet washing. Anabaptists do not as much emphasize the presence of Jesus in the eucharistic elements themselves, but the "mystery of communion with the living Christ in his Supper that comes into being by the power of the Spirit, dwelling in and working through the collected members of Christ's Body". As such, in celebrations of Holy Communion, "Anabaptist congregations looked to the living Christ in their hearts and in their midst, who transformed members and elements together into a mysterious communion, creating his Body in many members, ground like grains and crushed like grapes, into one bread and one drink."
Anabaptism sees itself as emulating the practice of early Christianity, and in the present-day, a number of Anabaptist congregations have affirmed a theology of the real presence (such as the Chambersburg Christian Fellowship). (2025). 9780415163576, Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415163576
Anabaptist denominations, such as the Mennonite Christian Fellowship, teach the "sinfulness of remarriage following divorce". The Biblical Mennonite Alliance holds that divorced and remarried persons are living in adultery and are therefore in "an ongoing state of sin that can only be truly forgiven when divorced and remarried persons separate."
Anabaptist expositor Daniel Willis, cites the Early Church Father John Chrysostom's explication of Saint Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 11 as the basis for continual headcovering (during worship and in public) among women, particularly Saint Paul's assertions regarding the angels and that women being unveiled is dishonourable so by consequence, Christian women should cover their heads with a veil continually:
The Church Polity of the Dunkard Brethren Church, a Conservative Anabaptist denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition, teaches:
The Church Polity of the Dunkard Brethren Church, a Conservative Anabaptist denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition, teaches that "The First Day of the week is the Christian Sabbath and is to be kept as a day of rest and worship. (Matt. 28:1; Acts 20:7; John 20:1; Mark 16:2)"
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