World Religions Anabaptists (Amish, Mennonite, Brethren) What do Anabaptists believe? The Five Solas of the Protestant Reformers (mid-1500’s). The first three beliefs in this list are repeated throughout the writings of the protestant reformers. The last two were not necessarily enumerated during the Reformation because the dispute was between the Roman Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity. The Catholic Church would not deny God and Christ but they would not understand their importance in the same way. Consequently, later reformers (1900’s) have added them. They fit within the spirit of the Reformation and are understood within the first three. 1. Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”): The Bible alone is the highest authority. 2. Sola Gratia (“grace alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone. 3. Sola Fide (“faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ. 4. Solus Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King. 5. Soli Deo Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We live for the glory of God alone. However, Anabaptists reject Sola Fide in the sense that we believe the reformers meant it. Anabaptists do not believe in “forensic” or legal righteousness which is Christ’s imputed to us in a legal sense. They believe that Christians must develop a real righteousness of their own in order to prove their salvation. To this, we could respond from Romans 1:16-17, Romans 3:21-26 and Hebrews 11:1-2, 39-40. From the time of the Reformation, the Anabaptist groups in Europe issued a statement of faith known as the Schleitheim Confession (1527). The Schleitheim Confession issues seven articles of faith, they are . 1. Baptism: Baptism should be reserved for those who “have learned repentance and amendment of life, and who believe truly that their sins are taken away by Christ”. They deny the practice of infant baptism and call it the “chief abomination of the Pope”. This is where the name “Anabaptist” comes from. 2. The Ban (Excommunication): Excommunication is practiced toward believers who have fallen into sin. This is done under the teaching of Matthew 18 whereby a believer is confronted twice in private and a third time publically and then disciplined. The purpose of this act is to protect the fellowship of believers in communion, “the breaking of bread, so that we may break and eat one bread, with one mind and in one love, and may drink of one cup”. 3. Breaking of Bread: Communion is understood as an act of fellowship between believers in remembrance of Christ’s body and blood, unlike transubstantiation in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Anabaptists see the purity of the fellowship of believers as important because “For as Paul points out, we cannot at the same time drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devil. That is, all those who have fellowship with the dead works of darkness have no part in the light.” 4. Separation from the Abomination: “For truly all creatures are in but two classes, good and bad, believing and unbelieving, darkness and light, the world and those who have come out of the world, God's temple and idols, Christ and Belial; and none can have part with the other.” Extreme separation from worldly ways is expected, whether they are seen in the world at large, politics, the Roman Catholic Church or the Protestant church. 5. Pastors in the Church: “This office shall be to read, to admonish and teach, to warn, to discipline, to ban in the church, to lead out in prayer for the advancement of all the brethren and sisters, to lift up the bread when it is to be broken, and in all things to see to the care of the body of Christ, in order that it may be built up and developed, and the mouth of the slanderer be stopped.” The Anabaptist idea of a pastor is similar if not identical to our own but differs drastically from the Roman Catholic and Orthodox position of priest, let alone Pope or Patriarch. 6. The Sword: The sword is the instrument of God given to the government under the law. To the extent that governing authorities exercise this instrument correctly it is between them and God. Within the church, only the Ban is used as a form of punishment and discipline. Furthermore, because Anabaptists stress separation from the Abomination, the world, they do not allow church members to participate in civil government which includes the military. 7. The Oath: Believers should not swear an oath because they do not know the circumstances of the future, they should let their yes mean yes and their no mean no. The only being who could possibly swear an oath is God because he knows the future and it is impossible for Him to lie. Anabaptists were historically wary of a large universal church government or a mixing of the church and the state. Modern day Anabaptists, the Amish, Mennonite and Brethren churches, share this common ancestry and wariness of worldly influence. Many of the practices that we may wonder at find their roots in the beliefs of early Anabaptists. Ordnung: Each Amish community forms its own set of unwritten rules regarding how their members are to remain separate from the world. This set of rules finds its root in the rejection of Sola Fide and the consequent need to earn a real righteousness of their own. The rules dictate the degree of freedom that their members have when choosing transportation, dress or appearance, work and style of worship. While “Ordnung” is the Amish word for this set of rule, many other Anabaptists and Christian groups have rules which can approach a dangerous form of legalism. Shunning: This is really just the “Ban” that is described above and is practiced by many Bible churches to various extents. The secular reaction to this practice is very much like we may receive as we try to practice Biblical church discipline. However, the list of rules that must be followed is different for each group or community. While the practice is similar to many forms of Christian discipline, the reason for the practice may vary between restoration to fellowship and punishment. Rumspringa: Essentially, this “running around” period occurs after Amish children have grown out from under their parent’s authority but before they are baptized into the church. Since children are not baptized this is not seen as hypocritical because the church’s rules are for believers. If a child decided to not be baptized and continue in worldly ways they may be allowed to socialize with family and even eat with them. However, if a child is baptized and then goes into a worldly way of life they are shunned under the ban. The Anabaptist Worldview .