SCHLEITHEIM

Anabaptist Tuesday

 The Schleitheim Articles 

  1)       Adult baptism. 

  2)     The Ban – excommunication for sinners.   

3)      Communion was a remembrance of the Last Supper. No mystery. 

  4)      Separation from the world, the church was holy and the world was evil.

  5)      Ministers must live ethical lives. 

  6)      Non-violence and pacifism.   

7)      No swearing of oaths.

One of the early leaders of the Swiss Anabaptist movement was Michael Sattler. He was a Catholic priest who came to read the Bible, and he left the Roman church. He was the main writer of the above articles. The Swiss Brethren ( as they were called ) met in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and agreed on the document on February 24, 1527. Every one of these articles brought the community at odds with the state and the church. For example, in saying that the Lord’s Supper was an act of remembrance, the group was saying that the bread and cup did not literally turn into the body and blood of Jesus during the Mass. In article six, they said they would not fight for the King or the state. Baptism of babies was for tax purposes, and when the Anabaptists did not baptize their babies it was an act of treason.

In the celebration of 500 years of Anabaptism, we are trying to define if we are still Anabaptist . Does it mean the same thing as what it meant for the people of the 1520’s ? There was disagreement among the various Anabaptist groups, just like today. Some Anabaptist groups today  continue to practice the ‘ban’. Some keep away from the ‘world ‘, while others see their ministry within the ‘world ‘. Is baptism the core belief that makes us Anabaptist ? Young adults are delaying the decision of baptism because rituals, such as baptism do not hold the same meaning or value as they did before. And what role does the Sermon on The Mount ( Matthew 5-7 ) play in our daily lives ?

Michael Sattler died for the faith he expressed at Schleitheim. He was arrested in May 1527, and put on trial for most of the seven articles. He was found guilty and was brutally tortured, and eventually burned at the stake. His wife was also killed and a few other Anabaptists in the area. The authorities really feared that these beliefs were a real danger to church and society. It is a miracle that people continued to take these new beliefs, and live them out.
( There is a movie on Sattler’s life called the “Radicals ” )

In the love of Christ, and in memory of those who held to their faith.

Fred Redekop

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