Anabaptists v. English the Term

Anabaptists v. English

The term Anabaptists has no clearly defined meaning in Edwardian England (1537-1553). During Edward VI reign, as many as forty different sects were identified as being Anabaptists with most of them originating on the European continent. None of the sects specifically called themselves Anabaptists. Rather, the term was used by non-members as method of identifying sects with similar theological beliefs.

The sects identified as Anabaptists maintained a number of theological beliefs that differed from those of the Church of England. First, the Anabaptists strongly rejected the doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church and most of the views of Protestant Reformation sects. Anabaptists centered their beliefs on the formation of Christian communities similar in style those found in the early New Testament Gospels. Anabaptists eschewed contact with the world outside their individual communities.

Anabaptists also differed from other Christian religions in their belief that infant baptism had no authority in the New Testament. For the Anabaptist, baptism was an act reserved for adults. Baptism for the Anabaptists represented an act of rebirth and signaled the believers' movement toward eventual salvation.

The Anabaptists also rejected the sacrament of the Eucharist (Holy Communion) and viewed the ceremony as merely a memorial service. Consistent with this approach they viewed their congregations as being totally independent and there was no organized clergy. What clergy they had was elected by the congregation. Other theological beliefs rejected by the Anabaptists were the predestination theology of the Calvinists and the belief that Jesus was born of the flesh of Mary.

In England during the reign of Edward VI the Church of England was busily engaged in establishing itself as the official religion of the country. Edward VI followed Henry VIII, his father, as the King of England and was expected to continue the persecutions of the Anabaptists that his father had initiated. Edward continued the ban against the right of Anabaptists to practice their religion in England but he did not promote the physical persecutions that had been part of his father's reign.