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Baptismal Controversy Between Anabaptists and City Reformers In KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 49 No. 3 Baptismal Controversy Between Anabaptists and City Reformers in the 16th Century Reformation, and Its Significance in the Development of the Reformed Tradition in Theology: Focused on Zwingli’s and Hubmaier’s Writings LEE Seung-Gap, Ph.D. Professor, Historical theology Hanil University and Theological Seminary, South Korea I. Preface Ii. Baptismal Controversies between Radicals and City Reformers Iii. Significance of Baptismal Controversies in the Development of the Reformed Tradition in Theology Iv. Conclusion Korea Presbyterian Journal of Theology Vol. 49 No. 3 (2017. 9), 165-197 DOI: 10.15757/kpjt.2017.49.3.007 166 KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 49 No. 3 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the baptismal controversies between the first Anabaptists and the major city reformers such as Ulrich Zwingli in the early phase of the 16th century Reformation and to explicate the significance that those conflicts implied in the development of the tradition of Reformed Theology. The Reformation opened an era of the most remarkable liturgical revolution in the history of Christianity. As a radical movement, including all the aspects of spiritual, moral, and social renewal, the Anabaptism group contributed to the development of social, economic, and political thoughts, challenging the age of modern Europe, and, especially, as a religious movement, to the development of certain characteristic thoughts of Protestantism, in the sense that they challenged other mainline/magisterial reformers to concentrate their energies on articulating their own views and interpretations in the process of defending their developing positions against the radical voices. In fact, even though they have been called “leftists” of “radicals,” it was true that the Anabaptists tried to establish a radically “true church” upon the apostolic pattern shown in the New Testament as they realized the essence and the actual form of the Church. Accordingly, the controversial struggles that the early Reformed reformers had with the Anabaptists on baptism are to provide crucial resources and insights so that we can discern the essence of the theological issues erupted in the process of the Reformation liturgical reforms and the application of the leading principles such as sola Scriptura, sola Gratia, and corpus Christianum, affirming the sovereignty of God in salvation and the corporate character of the Christian community in the development of the Reformed Tradition in theology. The content of this paper can be summarized, first, to trace the historical development of the early debates on infant baptism between the Anabaptists and the Zurich Reformers, to clarify the theological issues of the baptismal debates through using the conflicting writings of Hubmaier and Zwingli, and finally to reflect upon the controversies’ significance in the development of the theological identity of the Reformed Tradition. Keywords Anabaptism, Liturgical Revolution, Balthasar Hubmaier, Ulrich Zwingli, Reformed Tradition Baptismal Controversy between Anabaptists and City Reformers in the 16th Century Reformation DOI: 10.15757/kpjt.2017.49.3.007 167 I. PREFACE The Reformation opened an era of the most significant liturgical revolution in the history of Christianity. In origin, the questions that the earliest reformers raised against the Roman Catholic Church were focused on ecclesiastical issues, and some of the controversial disputes were especially liturgical in nature. Despite the so-called City Reformers’ attempts to reconcile the differences in the views on the liturgical issues of the age, such as the Lord’s Supper or infant baptism, the Reformation as a movement which had been inspired to recover “true church/rechte Kirche”, could not stop the breaking out of the tragic story of Christianity as “a history of denominational cleavages and prosecutions.” Because the differences in the ecclesiological views played as physical reasons for the denominational divisions of the Protestant body, various efforts to arrive at convergences on liturgical issues have been continued in the table of contemporary ecumenical discussions. It is, thus, understandable that controversies on baptism, one of the most crucial and disputable issues in the liturgical reform of the sixteenth century has been also a major subject in the ecumenical dialogues in the latter half of the last century. In summary, the purpose of this paper is to reexamine the baptismal controversies between first Anabaptists and major city reformers in the 16th century and to explicate their significance in the development of the so-called ‘Reformed Tradition’1 in theology. This study, as the present writer expects, will be used as an attempt to challenge those people with the background of the Reformed tradition to understand the Anabaptists and to learn from each other in the dialogues of healing. The content of this paper can be summarized, first, to trace the historical development of the early debate on infant baptism between the Anabaptists and the Zurich Reformers,2 to clarify the theological issues of the early 1 The term “Reformed” here is used to distinguish the Calvinistic from the Lutheran and Anabaptist traditions. The Reformed tradition finds its roots in the theology of Ulrich Zwingli, the first reformer in Zurich, and John Calvin of Geneva, who in his biblical commentaries, but especially in the Institutes of the Christian Religion, developed a Protestant theology. 2 As Hughes Oliphant Old remarks, considering the reformation movement of the 168 KOREA PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol. 49 No. 3 baptismal debates through using the conflicting writings of Hubmaier and Zwingli, and finally to reflect upon the baptismal controversy’s significant contribution in the development of the theological identity of the Reformed tradition. Anabaptism as a noteworthy part and one of the major movements of radical dissent in the history of Christianity was a spiritual, moral, and social renewal movement in the western Europe of the sixteenth- century. The term “Anabaptists,”3 which means “rebaptizers,” was applied to those radicals who entirely denied the validity of infant baptism and, as a result, were regarded as a heretic group of the “left wing”4 of the Reformation. Regretfully, the great achievements of the reforming giants, such as the likes of Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, overshadowed the works and significance of the marginalized in the Reformation process. Because history tends not only to be judged but also written by winners, the fact that the Anabaptists proved to be losers in that momentous turbulence has meant that their teachings and thoughts should have been disregarded, if not derided.5 It is, thus, not surprising that the increasing number of scholars in the latest century have focused their quests on the beginnings and theological traits of the radical groups in the Reformation, like the Anabaptists. In particular, the early Anabaptists’ teachings on baptism have been unjustly neglected and attacked by other influential city reformers. Even though, or because, the Anabaptists’ teachings baptismal rite at the beginning of the 16th century, we need to look at the early reformers’ different approaches to reforming the baptismal rite. Cf. Hughes O. Old, “Origins of the Reformed Baptismal Rites in the Sixteenth Century,” Reformed Liturgy and Music 19 (Fall 1985), 197. 3 The word, “Anabaptist” is a Latin derivative of the Greek original, anabaptismos(re- baptism). The German word, Wiedertäufer means “one who re-baptizes.” 4 After Roland H. Bainton had coined the term “left wing of the Reformation,” George H. Williams introduced the terminology “Radical Reformation,” referring to reformers who sought to return, without governmental support and assistance, to the “roots”(radix) of Christianity. Cf. Roland H. Bainton, “The Left Wing of the Reformation,” The Journal of Religion 21/2 (Apr. 1941), 124-34. George H. William, The Radical Reformation (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1962). 5 Daniel Liechty, trans. & ed., Early Anabaptist Spirituality: Selected Writings (NY: Paulist, 1994), XV. Baptismal Controversy between Anabaptists and City Reformers in the 16th Century Reformation 169 on baptism challenged both religious and political leaders of the age,6 the reformed leaders like Zwingli and Bullinger as Zwingli’s successor as leader of the Zurich Reformation, and the Lutheran leaders like Luther and Melanchton who participated in the process of debates and establishment of their confession’s responses to Anabaptism, were, finally, very hostile to the radical groups, refuted the Anabaptists positions, and did not significantly attempt to deal fairly with them in their writings. Nevertheless, to say the least, it can be said that the Anabaptists contributed in an ecumenical debate of the age in the vein that they challenged other reformers to concentrate their energies on creating their own views and interpretations in the process of defending their side against the radical voices. Also, even though they have been called “radicals,” the Anabaptists have tried to establish a radically “true church” upon the apostolic pattern shown in the New Testament as they realized the essence and the actual form of the Church, as stated in Scripture.7 Accordingly, the controversial struggles that the early Reformed reformers had with the Anabaptists on infant baptism provide such crucial resources so that we can discern the essence of the
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