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Question 6

Dean describes “companies of armed executioners and mounted soldiers” hunting Anabaptists “on the spot…without trial,” and a count lamenting, “The more I kill, the greater becomes their number”; what do you think God was doing in allowing the movement to spread through suffering rather than through protection, and how does that square (or clash) with how we often interpret God’s blessing today?

Another way to ask: Why might God have allowed the movement to grow through suffering instead of protecting them? How does that fit with, or disagree with, how we usually define God’s “blessing” today?

Direct Answer Dean’s narration implies God was sustaining and expanding the church through suffering, not by granting it safety, so that the unstoppable nature of Christ’s work would be obvious. That clashes with the habit of reading “blessing” mainly as protection, comfort, and social approval.

Support from Transcript:

Dean describes escalation: armed groups sent to “hunt down the Anabaptists and kill them on the spot…in mass without trial.”
He calls the policy “unbelievable” and “absolutely ridiculous,” showing how extreme opposition became.
The Count of Alzi laments after 350 executions: “The more I kill, the greater becomes their number,” indicating persecution didn’t stop growth.
Dean repeatedly insists the gospel cannot be contained: “the faith could not be stopped. The faith can never be stopped. And anywhere the word of God is preached, Jesus Christ will raise up his church.”
He notes believers adapted by fleeing to mountains/hills, “farm on the hillside,” scattered yet continuing.

Discussion Follow-ups How do you measure “success” in ministry—numbers, safety, influence, or faithfulness under pressure? What if God’s “blessing” is sometimes endurance and witness rather than protection?

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