Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 10 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Radical Reformation History  /  Lecture 8: The Early Swiss Brethren  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 10
The Martyrs’ Synod (Augsburg, 1527) focused on appointing missionaries in twos and threes, demanding “an upright life,” mutual aid, and refusing baptism to anyone unwilling to live that way; if your church adopted even one of those practices this year, which would create the most resistance—and what would that resistance expose about your (and your congregation’s) view of grace, assurance, and what it means to be “born again”?
Another way to ask: The Martyrs’ Synod sent missionaries in small teams, required an upright life, practiced mutual help, and wouldn’t baptize people unwilling to live that way. If your church tried just one of those this year, which would cause the most pushback, and what would that reveal about how you think about grace, assurance, and being “born again”?

Direct Answer Using Dean’s account, the greatest resistance would likely come from requiring an “upright life” and mutual accountability as a condition tied to baptism and church life, because many believers assume grace means minimal expectations and assurance means security regardless of life change.

Support from Transcript:

  • Dean says the Martyrs’ Synod’s purpose was to “appoint missionaries… in twos and threes… to teach, comfort, and strengthen,” showing a mission-first church rather than maintenance.
  • The new congregations “demanded an upright life,” and if a brother sinned “he was to be admonished,” meaning discipline and correction were normal.
  • They also practiced mutual aid: “if he was in need, he should be aided by the brethren,” implying costly community responsibility.
  • Strong boundary: “Anyone who was unwilling to do this should not even request baptism,” linking baptism to a commitment to a transformed life.
  • Dean connects resistance to modern misunderstandings through Hans Dink’s critique of Lutheran justification as sometimes taken to “guarantee the standing… regardless of the character of his life,” and through opponents’ disbelief at real conversion (“They didn’t understand what it means to be born again”).
Discussion Follow-ups If your church required pre-baptism commitments to accountability and mutual aid, what would people fear losing? Would resistance reveal a view of grace that cancels discipleship rather than empowers it?

Jumpstarter 10 of 10
Back Questions Done