Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 4
Dean says the Anabaptists agreed with Catholics and Protestants on core orthodoxy (Trinity, creeds, even Menno affirming the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds); what does their combination of deep continuity and sharp protest teach us about how God preserves truth in the church across messy history?
Another way to ask: What can we learn from the Anabaptists holding to basic Christian beliefs while strongly protesting the church of their day about how God keeps truth alive through messy history?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript suggests God preserved real doctrinal continuity in the church (Trinity, creeds), even while serious corruption and disobedience required sharp protest and reform focused on actually living the faith.
- Dean states the “Orthodox/Evangelical Anabaptists are as Orthodox about the Trinity as a Catholic or a Protestant,” so they “didn’t disagree with everyone completely.”
- He and Stephen highlight creedal continuity: describing themselves within the Apostles’ Creed was “common,” and Hutterite writings went “explicitly through the Apostles’ Creed.”
- Stephen notes Menno “very specifically says, ‘I believe the 12 articles and… the 18 articles,’” meaning the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, and “he quotes from them.”
- Yet their protest was sharp: the church had “lost its concept of how to form the church,” confusing church with state and forming it through infant baptism.
- The core critique wasn’t “dumping the whole faith,” but: “you guys aren’t committed. You’re not living it… Are you willing to commit as an adult and live it out?”