The Anabaptist wrote that reforms abolished “mass and images,” yet “true repentance and Christian love were not in evidence,” calling the changes mostly “external things”; where are we tempted to confuse “correct worship forms” or “right doctrine” with repentance that produces observable fruit, and how would you test whether your Christianity is mainly external?
Another way to ask: They said reforms removed mass and images, but real repentance and love still weren’t showing up, so the changes were mostly external. Where do you confuse right worship or right doctrine with real repentance that shows fruit, and how could you tell if your faith is mostly external?
Direct Answer
The transcript warns that correcting ceremonies and doctrines can still leave people unchanged; the test is whether repentance, love, and “newness of life” become visible and practiced, not merely preached.
Support from Transcript:
The Anabaptist convert said he learned from Reformers that “the Mass and other papal ceremonies… are in vain,” yet saw “a great lack as regards repentance, conversion, and the true Christian life.”
He observed that teaching “based on the Word of God was not carried out,” and “no beginning was made toward true Christian living.”
Even after reforms: “although the mass and the images were finally abolished, true repentance and Christian love were not in evidence.”
He concluded: “Changes were made only as concerned external things,” which pushed him to “inquire further.”
He contrasted that with the Anabaptist congregation where “repentance was in evidence by newness of life in Christ.”
Discussion Follow-ups
Bercot’s narrative suggests a personal audit: is my faith mainly about being correct, or about changed living? What “external things” do we celebrate while ignoring obedience and love?
