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Question 3

Taylor highlights 12,000 Anabaptists flooding into Nicholsburg—more than double Zurich’s total population; what view of God, the kingdom, and discipleship must have driven that kind of missionary movement under severe persecution, and what does it expose about what we call “revival” today?

Another way to ask: Why would 12,000 Anabaptists risk everything to move and spread the faith while being hunted? What does that say about what we call “revival” today?

Direct Answer The transcript suggests these believers were driven by a kingdom-centered discipleship that expected suffering and still pressed outward in mission; it exposes that “revival” in their world meant costly obedience and expansion, not comfort or safety.

Support from Transcript:

Taylor stresses persecution: “thousands of executions… stakes were burning all along the Inn Valley,” yet “continued to grow,” implying discipleship that didn’t depend on security.
He says “about 12,000 Anabaptists poured into Moravia, into Nicholsburg,” while Zurich’s population was “about 5,000,” calling it “a testimony to the missionary zeal… revivals that were going on.”
From Nicholsburg, the gathered believers “began to share their faith… growing and growing in Austria and these different places.”
After expulsion and extreme hardship, the Austerlitz group immediately sends missionaries: “their zeal and divine grace moved them to send brothers out… especially to Tyrol.”
Taylor repeatedly frames their aim as “to propagate the kingdom of God,” not simply to survive.

Discussion Follow-ups How would we measure “revival” if growth came with displacement, poverty, and martyrdom? What would change if our definition included mission under pressure?

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