Pentecostal Aspects of Early Sixteenth Century Anabaptism
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PENTECOSTAL ASPECTS OF EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY ANABAPTISM By CHARLES HANNON BYRD II A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham September 2009 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract Early sixteenth century radical Anabaptism emanated in Switzerland during Huldrych Zwingli’s protest against the Roman Catholic Church. Much like Martin Luther, Zwingli founded his reform effort on the Bible being the final arbiter of the faith, sola scriptura, and the sufficiency of the shed blood of Christ plus nothing for eternal salvation, sola fide. Based on these principles both adopted the doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer which recognized every believer’s Spirit empowered ability to read and interpret the Bible for themselves. These initial theological tenets resulted in the literal reading of the Bible and a very pragmatic Christian praxis including a Pauline pneumatology that recognized the efficacy of the manifestation of the charismata. Radical adherents of Zwingli rejected infant baptism as being totally unbiblical and insisted upon the rebaptism of adults, but only on a personal confession of faith, thus the term Anabaptist. Notwithstanding any knowledge of the Anabaptist movement, early twentieth century Pentecostalism had a similar response to a literal reading of Paul with the same results, the manifestation of the charismata. This thesis identifies the similarities between Anabaptism and Pentecostalism notwithstanding the lack of knowledge of the early Anabaptist movement on the part of early Pentecostals. Acknowledgements A great many friends and colleagues, both new and old, have made this dissertation possible. I would like to thank the Marrow Group from Chapel Springs Assembly of God, Dr. Nicholas Tavani, Dr. Randall O’Bannon, Dr. Paul Thee, Rick Bookwalter, and Dr. Scott Cleveland for inviting me to participate in the discussions of our faith that inspired me to begin my graduate education after 27 years. Thanks go to Reverend Dr. Douglas Chapman for proof reading parts of my work and being a mentor. Dr. Mack Holt, my first graduate professor, who, guided me through a very steep learning curve and became a mentor and friend. I greatly appreciate the Open Bible Sunday School class of Chapel Springs Church that provided the first forum for the reading of parts of this thesis. I appreciate the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference and Dr. Geoffery Dipple and Dr. John Roth who encouraged me to read parts of the thesis in the Anabaptist sessions. The help of Lois Bowman, head librarian of the Menno Simons Historical Library Eastern Mennonite University, was invaluable. I am indebted to Dr. William Kay who made the publication of a significant part of the thesis in the Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association. Prof. Rev. Diarmaid MacCulloch, Kt. supported and encouraged the proposed study and guided me through my entrance into the University of Oxford. Dr. Charlotte Methuen patiently tutored me successfully through another sharp learning curve at Oxford. Thanks go to Dr. Allan Anderson for convincing me that my proposal was worthy of development at the University of Birmingham. I am particularly grateful for the supervision of Dr. Elaine Fulton at Birmingham. She also patiently and diligently guided me through the preparation of a difficult subject matter that combined Reformation and Pentecostal history and theology. The greatest of acknowledgments goes to Pat Byrd, my wife of 52 years, who encouraged me in this life long goal. She nursed me through a critical health problem that interrupted the work for a year. Her encouragement to continue became a genuine incentive to bring the project to completion. Her love and devotion cannot be over stated. N.B. American English spelling will be used throughout the thesis. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Luther, Erasmus, and the Foundation of Reformation Radicalism 28 Chapter 2 Zwingli’s Reformation and Anabaptist Radicalism 68 Chapter 3 Restitutio in Integrum: Restoring the Fallen Church 92 Chapter 4 Persecution, Evangelism, and Pacifism 126 Chapter 5 Pilgram Marpeck and Early Pentecostalism 155 Conclusion 225 Bibliography 235 Introduction Out of a total world population of 7 billion there are currently 2.18 billion Christians, of which there are 584 million Pentecostals and Charismatics, representing 27% of Christians globally. 1 According to the Pew Research Center, it’s the fastest growing sect of the faith. The history, theology, and culture of the movement cannot be overestimated. 2 This thesis is not a comprehensive study of Pentecostalism or of the Reformation. It will take cognizance, however, of the social, political, and cultural evolution that was occurring during the advent of each; noting that the impact of each did not occur in a vacuum, but in concert with the conditions of their respective cultures and societies. A discussion of the historical background of each movement will attempt to understand the environments that existed during the development of each; thus making the comparison of similar religious experiences regarding the manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to 1 Corinthians 12-14, relevant to each other. An analysis of early sixteenth century Anabaptist spiritual praxes and theology, a Reformation era religious movement intent on the restitution of the primitive New Testament Church, and the resemblance it had to early twentieth century Pentecostalism, a movement also dedicated to the restitution of primitive New Testament Christianity, will be offered.3 The purpose is to identify those aspects of early sixteenth century Anabaptism that were Pentecostal-like in nature and praxes and coincidentally establish that their respective biblical hermeneutics was, as introduced by Martin Luther (1486-1546) and Huldrych Zwingli (1486-1531), a common source of similarities. Pentecostal aspects are those theological and spiritual praxes that defined early or classical Pentecostalism as Paul described in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Of particular import are the praxes of the 1 Pew Research Center: Religious and Public Life, "Gobal Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population," Pew Research Center, http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity- exec/. 2 Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 1. 3 Restitution refers to what is understood by both movements to be the restoration of the New Testament’s description of the first century Christian movement. The terms primitive church and early church refer to the era encompassing Christianity up until the advent of Constantine when many believed the church to have fallen into apostasy. Apostolic refers to those aspects of Christianity that conform to the New Testament teachings of the Apostles. The terms described above were used by early Anabaptists and early Pentecostals in much the same way. See, Leland Harder, ed. Sources of Swiss Anabaptism: Grebel Letters and Related Documents, Classics of the Radical Reformation (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1985), 276-79, 300-01. Also, Grant Wacker, Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American Culture (London: Harvard University Press, 2001), 71-72. Also, Frank H. Littell, Origins of Sectarian Protestantism (New York Macmillian, 1964), 47-50. 1 manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit particularly, speaking in tongues, speaking in tongues and interpretation, divine healing, and prophecy. Theological aspects include: experiential nature of salvation, dreams, visions, catatonic ecstasy (being slain in the spirit), evangelism, adult baptism, piety, pacifism, separation from the world, eschatological expectation, centrality of Christ, biblical supremacy, the Priesthood of the Believer, and restitution of the primitive New Testament church. Similar phenomena and praxes of early Anabaptism will be analytically compared to those listed above, including those which were not shared.4 The thesis is primarily arranged as a chronological narrative beginning in sixteenth century. As spiritual praxes appear with Pentecostal-like aspects, the similarities will be compared and analyzed. Early Pentecostalism will be defined as the initial Christian movement which appeared in the late nineteenth century that primarily concerned itself with “the experience of the working of the Holy Spirit,” and the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit (the Charismata) according to 1 Cor. 12-14. 5 Early Anabaptism will be defined as the radical movement that emanated from the initial Swiss Reformation that rejected infant baptism and embraced adult rebaptism as well as an experiential understanding of the nature and work of the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 12-14. C. Arnold Snyder has observed that early Anabaptism