Sources for: Are Anabaptists Protestant, Catholic, or Neither?

Correspondence with Pope Innocent I - Chapter 1

…as if anyone could judge that those who begin with an offense of this kind have anything good in them or have done anything right. For we understand that such deeds were never done by our fathers; or rather, they were prevented because no one was given authority to ordain another to take the place of one who was still living. For a false ordination cannot deprive the priest of his rank, since neither can he be a bishop who is wrongly put in another man's place. And regarding the keeping of the canons, we declare that we ought to follow those that were established at Nicaea. To those alone the Catholic Church is bound to give obedience and recognition. And if others are put forward by certain men, which disagree with the canons made at Nicaea and are shown to have been composed by heretics, let them be rejected by the Catholic bishops. For the inventions of heretics ought not to be added to the Catholic canons, because by their hostile and unlawful decrees they are always trying to weaken the purpose of the canons of Nicaea. Therefore, we say not only that these should not be followed, but rather that they should be condemned among heretical and schismatic decrees, as was formerly d…

The Anabaptists

And so the Anabaptists were neither Catholic nor were they Protestant or Reformed. They had a third way, which is definitely the Kingdom way. It was the same conclusions the Waldensians had come to, the Donatists, novocationists, the primitive Christians, what all kingdom Christians have believed through the centuries. One of the early Anabaptist leaders, Menno Simons, where we get the name Mennonites, but we'll talk a little bit more about him later, he expressed it this way. He said," Now perhaps some may answer, our belief is that Christ is the Son of God, that His Word is truth, and that He purchased us with His blood and truth." We were regenerated in baptism, and we received the Holy Spirit.

Why Do Anabaptists Quote Protestants Who Hold Erroneous Doctrines Like Charles Finney, Wesley, Etc?

I totally agree. When I chose Chambersburg Christian Fellowship, we were looking for churches where we could submit to the brothers, submit to the brotherhood and elders. And we went to so many evangelical churches where they condoned just about everything that it was such a breath of fresh air to find Chambersburg. This is also another one from Paul Brown. Why do Anabaptists quote Protestants who hold Aaron's doctrines like Charles Finney, Wesley, et cetera? I thought Anabaptists were neither Protestant nor Catholic. Okay. Question is something that is maybe my pet peeve. You probably weren't aware of that when you asked the question. But yeah, it bothers me when the Anabaptists or any kingdom Christians start quoting Protestants, particularly where the Protestants are in error.

👆Full Video👆 Anabaptists Rediscovering Christ Beyond Institutions

But I'm concerned that many Anabaptists are putting their emphasis on the wrong things and are falling into the very trap that the Reformers and the Catholics fell into. They are defining themselves by human institutions rather than by the call of Christ. But I praise God that these people are still practicing many of the teachings of Jesus. Furthermore, there are many churches who have begun to revive the vision of the Kingdom of God, and there are also many non-Anabaptists who also see that the Catholic and Protestant theological systems are not sufficient.

“How to Answer Catholic and Orthodox Claims – part 1” by Lynn Martin

And they may not be a closed-minded—they may not be closed-minded people, but they have such a strong sense of having arrived that they'll likely be more interested in convincing you than listening to you convince them. However, I think this is really valuable because, I mean, there may be those who are interested in listening, but you may also help evangelicals or Anabaptists who are facing the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox apologetics and help them not to be swept off their feet by the claims that are made by these churches. And in my opinion, in the next decade or so, we're going to see a small but significant number of Anabaptists, young people especially, lean towards these churches, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and maybe Anglicanism as well, which is a Protestant denomination, but has a lot of the same—they don't claim

Separation from the World: Lessons from Early Anabaptists

And it's not a matter of the church so much to deal with it. The church deals with heresy. I mean, the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church have dealt with what they called heresy, but they really didn't punish bad behavior with the ban or anything. They didn't put them out. Okay? They left that up to the civil government. The ban is not used in their churches, and so the supper is not truly kept. They don't follow Christ's order to first teach and then baptize. They abolish the cross of Christ by not living uprightly. So this is why these folks are saying, "We can't go to the Roman Catholic churches, to the Lutheran churches, to the Zwinglian churches and so on. We can't go to them because of these things. We have to be separate from them." And then we have what I would just call garden variety, wickedness, and fleshliness.

Who is Right? Catholics and Orthodox? Protestants? Someone Else? - Lynn Martin

and Protestant. And I think that very few people are aware that today there's a third option, there's a third way other than the Catholic way or Catholic and Orthodox way, because they're very similar churches in some ways, um, and the Protestant way. And I think few Christians realize that, um, many churches have been keeping alive the original faith that the apostles taught. Um, but my question is, how are Christians supposed to know about the third way, which I'm going to call the Anabaptist faith today? For the most part, Anabaptist churches aren't, um, creating books, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc., that are aimed toward other Christians to help them understand why—why we're Anabaptist and what our

What's the Kingdom of God? What is Kingdom Christianity?

But I praise God that these people are still practicing many of the teachings of Jesus. Furthermore, there are many churches who have begun to revive the vision of the Kingdom of God, and there are also many non-Anabaptists who also see that the Catholic and Protestant theological systems are not sufficient. Instead, they see that God calls people to be part of a kingdom governed by the principles of heaven. These are the people who are called Kingdom Christians. If what you heard in this video challenged or inspired you, please be sure to like and subscribe so that you can see more videos about the Kingdom of God.

Anabaptists & Early Christians: Congregational Church Origins

And it's interesting, the first Anabaptists, a number of them were very well read in the early Christians. A Pilgrim Arpeck would be an example. He quotes the early Christians back to the Catholics, who are trying to quote them to uphold the Catholic position, and he quotes the early Christians back to them. Look, you know, you can proof-text the early Christians like you can the Bible. But for the most part, they were just trying to follow what they saw in the New Testament, which were congregational churches. And yeah, it's what we see in the earliest works of the early Christians as well. Now, these are congregational churches that work together. Join us in earnestly contending for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

"Sacred Roots: Q&A on Anabaptists’ Understanding of the Sacraments" by Dean Taylor

And I was just talking yesterday with my two Catholic young men about this. But it's so focused just on salvation in these ancient churches. Just like it's this grace that you get to be saved. And it's apart from anything else. And it's so Gnostic. Whereas we are saying there's so much more here. There's so much more that happens. And then out of that, the importance of living that out in our lives in this incarnational grace is such a powerful reality. And I think the Anabaptists, in many ways, have understood that in such powerful ways. And maybe as a fruit, right?

Menno-Protestants 2 - David Bercot

I really don't know all the ones that they're listing, but they did go on to explain who they're calling an Anabaptist. So anyone who uses the name Mennonite, Amish, or Hutterite, yeah, they're automatically included in the worldwide Anabaptists. But they're also including the Church of the Brethren and the Brethren in Christ. Now, my guess is there are very few Brethren in Christ people who would call themselves Anabaptists. I mean, there might be a few, but I would say very, very few. It is in their history. They started off as Anabaptists, but then they took on Protestant theology and thought that would make the combination of the two would make the perfect church. Well, over time, the Protestant has pretty well stamped out the Brethren in Christ.