Anabaptists
Years: 1525 - 2057
Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin anabaptista, from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά- "re-" and βαπτισμός "baptism") is a Christian movement that traces its origins to the Radical Reformation.
Anabaptists are Christians who believe in delaying baptism until the candidate confesses his or her faith.
The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the movement.
Schwarzenau Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are considered later developments among the Anabaptists.The name Anabaptist, meaning "one who baptizes again", is given them by their persecutors in reference to the practice of re-baptizing converts who already had been baptized as infants.
Anabaptists require that baptismal candidates be able to make their own confessions of faith and so rejected baptism of infants.
The early members of this movement do not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that since infant baptism is unscriptural and null and void, the baptizing of believers is not a re-baptism but in fact their first real baptism.
As a result of their views on the nature of baptism and other issues, Anabaptists are heavily persecuted during the sixteenth century and into the seventeenth by both Magisterial Protestants and Roman Catholics.
While most Anabaptists adhere to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, which precludes taking oaths, participating in military actions, and participating in civil government, some who practice re-baptism feel otherwise.
They are thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites and some historians tend to consider them as outside of true Anabaptism.
