What is Anabaptism?
History, Beliefs & Modern Anabaptist Groups
A Christian movement born in 1525 from the Radical Reformation, recovering believer’s baptism, nonresistance, and the visible discipleship of the pre-Constantinian church.
What is Anabaptism?
Anabaptism is a Christian movement that began in 1525 in Zürich, Switzerland, recovering believer’s baptism, nonresistance, and the visible discipleship of the early church. Anabaptists hold that baptism follows personal faith, the Sermon on the Mount is binding on every Christian, and the church is a voluntary, regenerate community separate from the state.
When did Anabaptism start?
Modern Anabaptism began on January 21, 1525, in Zollikon, Switzerland, when Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock — the first known adult baptism since the early church. Anabaptists themselves saw the movement as a recovery, not an invention: a return to the practice of the New Testament and the pre-Constantinian church.
Are Anabaptists Protestant?
Anabaptists emerged during the Reformation but are typically classified as the Radical Reformation — distinct from the Magisterial Reformation of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. Whereas Protestants generally retained infant baptism, state-church partnership, and just-war doctrine, Anabaptists rejected all three. Many consider Anabaptism a third stream of Christianity, neither Catholic nor Protestant.
A working definition of Anabaptism
Anabaptism is a Christian movement that emerged in 1525 from the Radical Reformation in Zürich, Switzerland. Anabaptists hold that baptism is for those who personally confess faith in Christ (not for infants), that the Sermon on the Mount is binding on all Christians (including its commands to love enemies and refuse the oath), and that the church is a voluntary, called-out community separate from the civil power of the state.
The name Anabaptist — Greek for “re-baptizer” — was given by their opponents, who saw adult baptism as a second baptism. Anabaptists themselves rejected the term: they held that infant baptism was no baptism at all, and that they were simply restoring the New Testament practice (Acts 2:38; 8:36–38).
For nearly five centuries, Anabaptism has been carried forward by groups that share these convictions to varying degrees — including the Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Brethren in Christ, Bruderhof, and Church of the Brethren. Together they number roughly 2.6 million worldwide today.
Etymology & meaning
The word “Anabaptist” comes from the Greek ana (again) and baptizō (to immerse, baptize), literally “one who baptizes again.” It was a hostile label coined by Catholic and Protestant authorities in the 1520s and was, at the time, a capital offense: in 1529 the Imperial Diet of Speyer revived an ancient Roman law (the Codex Justinianus, originally aimed at the fourth-century Donatists) making rebaptism punishable by death.
Anabaptists themselves preferred to be called simply Brethren (German Brüder) — or, in the Dutch-speaking lands, Doopsgezinde (“baptism-minded”), the term Mennonites in the Netherlands still use for themselves today.
History: the Radical Reformation
By 1523, a group of young Zürich reformers — Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and others — had concluded that the Reformation under Huldrych Zwingli had not gone far enough. Zwingli was reforming doctrine but leaving infant baptism, the state-church partnership, and the sword in place. The young radicals believed Scripture demanded a complete return to New Testament practice: a regenerate, voluntary church baptized on confession of faith.
On the night of January 21, 1525, in a private home in Zollikon just outside Zürich, George Blaurock asked Conrad Grebel to baptize him. Grebel did. Blaurock then baptized the others present. It was the first known adult baptism since the early church — and the modern Anabaptist movement was born.
Within weeks the movement spread through Switzerland, southern Germany, Austria, Moravia, and the Netherlands. Within months, persecution began. Felix Manz was drowned in the Limmat River on January 5, 1527 — the first Anabaptist executed by other Protestants. Michael Sattler was burned at the stake later that year, and his wife drowned. By 1530, conservative estimates put the death toll at over a thousand.
The movement’s fortunes were nearly destroyed by the Münster Rebellion (1534–35), in which a small apocalyptic faction seized the German city of Münster and tried to establish a violent “New Jerusalem” by force. Münster failed bloodily, and for centuries opponents used it to defame the entire Anabaptist movement — even though figures like Menno Simons, Pilgram Marpeck, Conrad Grebel, and Michael Sattler had repudiated armed force from the start.
Menno Simons, a Dutch Catholic priest who joined the Anabaptists in 1536, became the leading post-Münster voice for peaceful, biblical Anabaptism. The largest modern Anabaptist family — the Mennonites — bears his name.
Free course: Radical Reformation History
A complete video course on Anabaptist history by Dean Taylor — from the 1525 origins through the persecution, the migrations, and the modern Anabaptist world.
Core Anabaptist beliefs
Historic Anabaptism is held together by a recognizable set of convictions — sometimes summarized as “believer’s baptism, biblical pacifism, and the gathered church.” Below are the ten doctrinal pillars that shaped the movement from 1525 forward and continue to define it today.
Believer's baptism
Baptism follows a personal, conscious confession of faith in Christ. Infant baptism is rejected because Scripture only records the baptism of believers (Acts 2:38, 8:36–38, 16:31–33). The name "Anabaptist" (re-baptizer) was given by opponents who saw adult baptism as a second baptism; Anabaptists themselves regarded infant baptism as no baptism at all.
Bercot on baptism Early church & infant baptismDiscipleship (Nachfolge Christi)
Salvation produces a new life that visibly follows Christ in obedience. The Christian life is not just believing the right things but doing the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21). The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) is taken as binding on every believer.
Anabaptist view of salvationNonresistance & enemy love
Christ's command to love enemies (Matthew 5:38–48) precludes participation in war, capital punishment, lawsuits, and lethal self-defense. Anabaptists historically refused military service even under threat of death.
In Guns We TrustSeparation of church and state
The church is a voluntary, gathered community of believers — not a territorial institution backed by civil power. Anabaptists were the first Reformation group to insist on full church-state separation, centuries before it became politically mainstream.
Christians & politicsThe two kingdoms
The kingdom of Christ and the kingdoms of this world operate by different ethics. Christians may not "use the sword" to advance the kingdom of God or even to enforce civil order on unbelievers.
The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside DownCommunity of goods (sharing)
The early church practiced economic sharing (Acts 2:44–45, 4:32–35). Anabaptists revived this — most strongly among the Hutterites, who hold all property in common, and more loosely among Mennonites and Brethren who emphasize generous mutual aid.
The ministry of serving othersSimplicity & separation from the world
Plain dress, plain speech, and refusal of worldly amusements grow from a desire not to be conformed to the present age (Romans 12:2). Today this looks different across groups — visible plainness in the Amish and Old Order Mennonites, internal simplicity in mainstream Anabaptist groups.
Gospel Simplicity: Why Anabaptism?Church discipline (the Ban)
Members who persist in unrepentant sin are lovingly excluded from communion until restored. The goal is restoration, not punishment (Matthew 18:15–17, 1 Corinthians 5).
Menno-ProtestantsThe oath
Christ said "Let your yes be yes" (Matthew 5:33–37, James 5:12). Anabaptists refused all oaths — civil, military, or judicial — distinguishing themselves from every other Reformation group.
Let your Yes be Yes — RomansA regenerate, voluntary church
Membership requires a credible profession of faith, repentance, baptism, and willingness to be accountable to the body. The church is not coterminous with the population of a Christian nation — it is a "called-out" people (ekklēsia).
Early Christians on salvationThe Schleitheim Confession (1527)
Drafted primarily by Michael Sattler at a meeting of Swiss Brethren in Schleitheim, Switzerland, on February 24, 1527, the Schleitheim Confession is the earliest Anabaptist statement of faith. It was hammered out under intense persecution — Sattler himself would be tortured and burned at the stake within four months.
The confession contains seven brief articles:
- Baptism — given only to those who have repented, believe their sins are forgiven through Christ, and walk in the resurrection of Christ.
- The Ban — church discipline for restoring straying members, exercised in private first, then publicly only if necessary.
- Breaking of bread — communion is for baptized believers united into one body in Christ.
- Separation from the world — believers must withdraw from the works of darkness, including ungodly assemblies and the use of unrighteous weapons.
- Pastors — the office is filled by men of good report among believers, supported by the congregation.
- The sword — ordained by God outside the perfection of Christ for the punishment of evil. Christians do not bear the sword themselves; they neither serve as magistrates nor go to war.
- The oath — refused absolutely, on the basis of Christ’s words in Matthew 5:33–37.
The Schleitheim Confession became the doctrinal touchstone of nonresistant Anabaptism. It directly shaped the later Dordrecht Confession (1632), still subscribed to by many Mennonite and Amish congregations today. (Watch Dean Taylor’s lesson on Sattler and the Schleitheim Confession.)
Key Anabaptist figures
The first generation of Anabaptist leaders almost all died as martyrs — most before the age of 40. Their writings, preserved by hidden communities and later printed in places like Holland and Pennsylvania, still shape Anabaptist theology today.
Conrad Grebel
A young humanist scholar in Zürich who, with Felix Manz, performed the first adult baptism in modern history on January 21, 1525, in Zollikon. Often called the "father of Anabaptism." Died of plague in 1526.
Dean Taylor’s lessonFelix Manz
Co-baptized with Grebel at Zollikon. On January 5, 1527, the Zürich city council had him drowned in the Limmat River — the first Anabaptist martyr executed by other Protestants. His mother and brother stood on the bank singing as he died.
Dean Taylor’s lessonMichael Sattler
A former Benedictine prior who left the monastery and joined the Anabaptists. Drafted the Schleitheim Confession (1527) — the first Anabaptist statement of faith. Burned at the stake in Rottenburg the same year, with his tongue cut out. His wife was drowned days later.
Dean Taylor’s lessonMenno Simons
A Dutch Catholic priest who converted in 1536 after his brother (an Anabaptist) was killed. Became the most influential systematic teacher of peaceful Anabaptism, distinguishing it from the violent Münster movement. Mennonite groups bear his name.
Dean Taylor’s lessonPilgram Marpeck
A mining engineer turned Anabaptist leader in Strasbourg and Augsburg. Wrote influential treatises distinguishing Anabaptism from spiritualism (Schwenckfeld) and Lutheran sacramentalism. Notably died of natural causes — rare for a sixteenth-century Anabaptist leader.
Dean Taylor’s lessonJakob Hutter
A Tyrolean hatmaker who organized Anabaptist refugees in Moravia into communal-living settlements (Bruderhöfe). Burned at the stake in Innsbruck. The Hutterites still practice full community of goods today, mostly in the U.S. and Canadian plains.
Dean Taylor’s lessonDirk Philips
A former Franciscan friar who became one of the most rigorous Dutch Anabaptist theologians. His Enchiridion (1564) systematized Anabaptist doctrine for centuries.
Dean Taylor’s lessonJakob Ammann
A Swiss Mennonite elder in Alsace who in 1693 split from the main body over stricter church discipline — particularly the practice of shunning (Meidung) and insistence on plain dress. His followers became known as "Amish." Most emigrated to Pennsylvania in the 18th century, where their descendants remain the most visible Anabaptist community in the world today.
Dean Taylor’s lessonPersecution & the Martyrs Mirror
For the first century of the movement, being baptized as an adult was a capital offense across most of Europe. Estimates of Anabaptist martyrs range from 2,500 to over 5,000 in the period 1525–1660, though the true number is unknowable because executions were often swift and unrecorded. Anabaptists were drowned (a deliberate mockery of their baptismal practice), burned, beheaded, hanged, and starved in prison.
Their stories were collected and printed in the Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians, compiled by Thieleman J. van Braght and first published in 1660. At over 1,200 pages, it remains the most important book in many Anabaptist homes after the Bible itself.
Persecution drove Anabaptists into exile waves — first to Moravia, then to the Netherlands and northern Germany, then to Russia (under Catherine the Great’s 1763 invitation), and finally to North and South America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The pattern of migration is why today’s largest Anabaptist communities are scattered across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Manitoba, Paraguay, Mexico, and the African Great Lakes. (Watch the full Anabaptist history course for the complete story of the persecution, the migrations, and the survival of the movement.)
Modern Anabaptist groups
Anabaptism is not a single denomination but a family of related movements descending from the 1525 origin. Here are the largest historic groups, with rough membership counts (Mennonite World Conference, 2024).
Mennonites
Named after Menno Simons. Found across roughly 80 countries. Spectrum runs from plain "Old Order" Mennonites (horse-and-buggy) to highly assimilated mainline groups. The largest Anabaptist family.
Dean Taylor’s lessonAmish
Split from the Swiss Mennonites in 1693 under Jakob Ammann over stricter church discipline. Best known for plain dress, German dialect (Pennsylvania Dutch), horse-and-buggy transportation, and rejection of modern technology in the home.
Dean Taylor’s lessonHutterites
Maintain full community of goods (collective ownership). Organized into colonies (Bruderhöfe) on the prairie. Three main branches: Schmiedeleut, Dariusleut, Lehrerleut.
Dean Taylor’s lessonBrethren in Christ
Originated among 18th-century Pennsylvania Mennonites influenced by German Pietism. Combine Anabaptist church order with Pietist warmth and Wesleyan holiness emphases.
Dean Taylor’s lessonBruderhof
A 20th-century recovery movement (founded 1920 in Germany by Eberhard Arnold). Practice full community of goods modeled on the early church and Hutterites. Open to outside visitors and converts.
Dean Taylor’s lessonChurch of the Brethren / German Baptists
Originated 1708 in Schwarzenau, Germany, blending Anabaptist baptism with Pietist warmth. Practice trine immersion (three-fold dipping) and feet-washing.
Dean Taylor’s lessonCompare side-by-side: Anabaptist vs. Mennonite vs. Amish — what’s the difference? →
What the early church (Ante-Nicene fathers) believed
The Anabaptists explicitly modeled themselves on the pre-Constantinian church — the Christians of the first three centuries, before the emperor Constantine fused church and empire in AD 313. On the central Anabaptist convictions, the early Christian writers are remarkably unified.
The Historic Faith’s complete library of Ante-Nicene Christian writings makes this connection visible chapter by chapter. For a guided tour, see church fathers’ commentary on Scripture — you can read the Bible side-by-side with what the earliest Christians wrote about each passage.
Read the full case: The Early Church Was Anabaptist — 30 direct quotes from the Ante-Nicene Fathers showing every Anabaptist conviction was already taught before Constantine →
Common misconceptions about Anabaptism
“Anabaptists were violent revolutionaries”
The Münster Rebellion (1534–35) is invariably brought up to discredit the entire movement. But Münster was a brief apocalyptic outbreak by a fringe of perhaps a few hundred people, repudiated immediately by the mainstream. Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Michael Sattler, Pilgram Marpeck, Menno Simons, Dirk Philips, and Jakob Hutter all taught and lived nonresistance, even unto death. The vast majority of Anabaptists died refusing to defend themselves with violence.
“Anabaptists are just Amish”
The Amish are one branch — about 380,000 people. The total Anabaptist family is roughly 2.6 million, of whom only ~15% are Amish. Most Anabaptists today look like ordinary Christians: they drive cars, hold professional jobs, send their children to public schools or Christian schools, and live in cities and suburbs.
“Anabaptism is a denomination”
It’s a movement and a theological tradition, not a single denomination. Mennonites alone are organized into dozens of distinct conferences worldwide. Add the Amish, Hutterites, Brethren in Christ, Bruderhof, Church of the Brethren, and various smaller groups, and you have a family of churches with overlapping convictions but separate institutional histories.
“Anabaptists reject the Old Testament”
No — Anabaptists hold the entire Bible as authoritative. They simply read the Old Testament through the lens of Christ’s teaching: when Jesus says “you have heard it said... but I say to you” (Matthew 5), Anabaptists take that as the final word for the Christian, even when an earlier covenant permitted something different.
What we mean by Anabaptism — and what we don’t
Anabaptism is sometimes used today as a label by people who share little with the 1525 movement except admiration for Mennonite ethics. To be clear about what The Historic Faith means by the word, here is what we hold and what we don’t.
It is not whatever the present culture calls it
Anabaptism is a specific recovery of New Testament Christianity that began in Zollikon on January 21, 1525. Its convictions are fixed by Scripture, by the Schleitheim Confession (1527), and by the witness of the Ante-Nicene church — not by the changing concerns of the surrounding culture. We do not use “Anabaptist” as a baptismal name for whatever today’s politics happen to prize.
It is not optional or merely symbolic
The Anabaptist convictions — believer’s baptism, nonresistance, the refusal of the oath, the gathered church, church discipline, separation from the world, and plain living — are not historical curiosities for academic study. They are live, binding convictions for the regenerate church. We do not treat them as romantic ideals, and we do not soft-pedal the harder ones.
It is not a tribe by birth
Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, and Brethren are descendants of the 1525 movement, but Anabaptism is not an ethnic identity. It is a conviction-based recovery of New Testament Christianity. Anyone of any background can become Anabaptist through repentance, believer’s baptism, and accountability to a regenerate church. The Anabaptist tradition belongs to whoever submits to its Lord.
It is not a contemporary political program
The Sermon on the Mount governs Anabaptists’ relation to violence, possessions, oaths, and enemies. It does not make Anabaptism a left-wing or right-wing program. We refuse the sword on principle — which sets us apart from every political faction that requires it. We are not “progressive” in the modern sense, and we are not “conservative” in the Christendom sense. We are pre-Constantinian.
What we do mean
Anabaptism, as The Historic Faith teaches it, is the recovery of the Christianity the Ante-Nicene fathers taught and lived. Bible-grounded. Christ-centered. Voluntary. Regenerate. Peaceful. Separate. Simple. Accountable. The same faith that produced Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Hippolytus, and Cyprian — recovered in 1525 by Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and Michael Sattler — carried forward today in the Anabaptist family of churches and the millions who continue to ask: what does it look like to follow Jesus the way the first Christians did?
See the case in detail: The Early Church Was Anabaptist — 30 direct quotes from the Ante-Nicene Fathers →
Frequently asked questions about Anabaptism
What does "Anabaptist" mean?
The word "Anabaptist" comes from the Greek anabaptizō, meaning "to baptize again." It was a derogatory label given by opponents in the 1520s who saw adult baptism as a second baptism (since the candidates had been baptized as infants). Anabaptists themselves rejected the label, holding that infant baptism is no baptism at all because Scripture commands belief and repentance to precede baptism.
When did Anabaptism start?
Modern Anabaptism began on January 21, 1525, in Zollikon (just outside Zürich, Switzerland), when Conrad Grebel baptized George Blaurock — the first known adult baptism since the early church. Within weeks the movement spread through Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Anabaptists themselves saw the movement as a recovery, not an invention — a return to the practice of the New Testament and the pre-Constantinian church.
What do Anabaptists believe?
The historic Anabaptist core: (1) believer's baptism on confession of faith, (2) discipleship — visibly following Christ in daily life, (3) nonresistance and enemy love (no participation in war), (4) full separation of church and state, (5) the church as a voluntary, regenerate community, (6) refusal of the oath, (7) economic sharing and simplicity, and (8) church discipline (the ban) for restoring sinning members.
Are Anabaptists Protestant?
Anabaptists emerged during the Reformation but are typically classified as the "Radical Reformation" — distinct from the Magisterial Reformation of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. Whereas Protestants generally retained infant baptism, state-church partnership, and just-war doctrine, Anabaptists rejected all three. Many Anabaptists today consider themselves a third stream of Christianity, neither Catholic nor Protestant.
What is the difference between Anabaptists, Mennonites, and Amish?
Anabaptism is the broad 16th-century movement; Mennonites and Amish are two of its modern descendants. Mennonites trace their name to Menno Simons (1496–1561), a Dutch Anabaptist leader. The Amish split from the Swiss Mennonites in 1693 under Jakob Ammann over stricter church discipline (the ban) and stricter separation from worldly culture. All Amish are Anabaptists; all Amish are also "Mennonite" historically — but not all Mennonites are Amish.
Why were Anabaptists persecuted?
Both Catholic and Protestant authorities saw Anabaptism as a triple threat: religious (rejecting infant baptism overturned the church-state social order), political (refusing the oath and military service made them seem disloyal), and social (community of goods looked dangerously revolutionary). The 1529 Imperial Diet of Speyer reactivated an ancient Roman law making rebaptism a capital offense. Estimates of Anabaptist martyrs run from 2,500 to over 5,000 in the first century of the movement.
What is the Schleitheim Confession?
The Schleitheim Confession (1527) is the earliest Anabaptist statement of faith, drafted primarily by Michael Sattler at a meeting of Swiss Brethren in Schleitheim, Switzerland. Its seven articles cover baptism, the ban, communion, separation from the world, pastors, the sword, and the oath. It is the foundational doctrinal document for nonresistant Anabaptism.
Were the Anabaptists violent? What about Münster?
The Münster rebellion (1534–35), in which a small apocalyptic group seized the German city of Münster and tried to establish a "New Jerusalem" by force, has been used for nearly five centuries to discredit all Anabaptists. But the Münster radicals were a fringe — repudiated almost universally by mainstream Anabaptist leaders like Menno Simons, Pilgram Marpeck, Conrad Grebel, and Michael Sattler, every one of whom taught nonresistance. Münster was the exception that proves the rule.
How is Anabaptism connected to the early church?
Anabaptists explicitly modeled themselves on the pre-Constantinian church. The early Christian writers (Justin, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, and others before AD 325) taught believer's baptism, refused military service, rejected the oath, practiced economic sharing, and lived as a separated community — the same convictions Anabaptists recovered in 1525. The Historic Faith's library of Ante-Nicene writings makes this connection visible chapter by chapter.
How many Anabaptists are there today?
The Mennonite World Conference reports roughly 2.1 million baptized members of historic Anabaptist denominations across about 80 countries. Counting Amish (~380,000), Hutterites (~50,000), Brethren in Christ (~30,000), and other smaller groups, the total Anabaptist family is approximately 2.6 million worldwide. The fastest-growing Anabaptist communities today are in Africa (especially Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the DRC) and parts of Asia.
Can someone become Anabaptist today?
Yes. Most Anabaptist churches accept new members through profession of faith and adult (believer's) baptism. Some groups (Mennonite Church USA, Brethren in Christ, Bruderhof) actively welcome converts; others (Old Order Amish, Old Order Mennonites) historically grow primarily by birth. The Bruderhof and several Mennonite mission churches have particularly active inquirer programs for those exploring Anabaptism.
What is the Martyrs Mirror?
The Bloody Theater, or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians (Dutch: Martelaarsspiegel), compiled by Thieleman J. van Braght and first published in 1660. It is a 1,200-page collection of accounts of Christian martyrs — both early-church and Anabaptist — who died for their refusal of violence and infant baptism. After the Bible, it has been the most important book in Anabaptist homes for nearly four centuries.
What are Anabaptists called today?
The historic Anabaptist family today goes by many names: Mennonites (the largest branch), Amish, Hutterites, Brethren in Christ, the Bruderhof, and various "Beachy," conservative, and independent Anabaptist fellowships. Many kingdom-minded believers in this stream now also describe themselves simply as Kingdom Christians — emphasizing the conviction rather than the ethnic or denominational label.
Continue learning at The Historic Faith
The Historic Faith is itself an Anabaptist ministry. Below are deeper resources we’ve produced — videos, courses, music, primary-source libraries — for anyone who wants to understand Anabaptism from the inside.
What Is Kingdom Christianity?
The kingdom vision the Anabaptists recovered: Jesus as King now, the Sermon on the Mount as the kingdom’s law, and the church as a colony of heaven — with the courses and sources to explore it.
The Early Church Was Anabaptist
30 direct quotes from Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Athenagoras, and others showing every Anabaptist conviction was already taught before Constantine.
Anabaptist vs. Mennonite vs. Amish
Side-by-side comparison of beliefs, history, dress, technology, and church practice across the three branches of the historic Anabaptist family.
What Is an Anabaptist? (quick answer)
A concise answer with primary sources: where the name comes from, what Anabaptists believe, and how the movement connects to the early church.
Radical Reformation History (course)
A complete free video course on Anabaptist history by Dean Taylor — from 1525 to the modern era.
Anabaptist Perspectives
Hundreds of videos exploring Anabaptist theology, history, and practice from contemporary Anabaptist teachers.
Zollikon: where Anabaptism began
The story of January 21, 1525 — the first adult baptism in modern history.
David Bercot
Author of Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up? — introducing modern Christians to the lost beliefs of the early church.
Dean Taylor
President of Sattler College and Anabaptist scholar focusing on the Sermon on the Mount and Christian peacemaking.
Ante-Nicene Library
Read the Christian writers Anabaptism is rooted in — Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian — in full and free.
Church fathers’ Bible commentary
Read every chapter of the Bible alongside what the earliest Christians wrote about it.
Laudate Mennonite Ensemble
A cappella Mennonite hymnody — the unaccompanied four-part singing tradition central to Anabaptist worship.
Hope for the Wondering Amish
Pastoral teaching for Amish and conservative Anabaptists asking deeper questions about faith.
Free Bible courses
In-depth video courses on Anabaptist theology, the Sermon on the Mount, early church practice, and more.
Audio Bible
Listen to Scripture with verse-by-verse highlighting, interlinear Greek/Hebrew, and patristic commentary on every chapter.
Your Anabaptist questions, answered from the sources
Direct answers to the questions people actually ask about Anabaptists — each built from Scripture, the early church writings, and Anabaptist history, with every citation linked. New answers appear here as we publish them.
- What is an Anabaptist?
- Are Anabaptists Protestant, Catholic, or Neither?
- What is the difference between Anabaptists, Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, and Baptists?
- Why were Anabaptists persecuted?
- What is believer's baptism in Anabaptist teaching?
- Why do Anabaptists emphasize the Sermon on the Mount?
- What is the Anabaptist view of the kingdom of God?
- Should Christians vote? Early church and Anabaptist perspectives?
- What is conscientious objection for Anabaptist Christians?
Go deeper: The complete Baptism study hub → · What Is Kingdom Christianity? → · 766 early Christian beliefs, indexed →