Anabaptist - Legacy

Legacy

Common Anabaptist beliefs and practices of the 16th century continue to influence modern Christianity and Western society.

• Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice – the authority of the Scriptures
• Freedom of religion – liberty of conscience
• Separation of church and state
• Pacifism or nonresistance
• Separation or nonconformity to the world
• Voluntary church membership and believer's baptism
• Evangelistic zeal
• Priesthood of all believers

The Anabaptists were early promoters of a free church and freedom of religion (sometimes associated with separation of church and state).{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" | The origins of religious freedom in the United States is traced back to the Anabaptists When it was introduced by the Anabaptists in the 15th and 16th centuries, religious freedom independent of the state was unthinkable to both clerical and governmental leaders. Religious liberty was equated with anarchy; Kropotkin traces the birth of anarchist thought in Europe to these early Anabaptist communities.

According to Estep:

Where men believe in the freedom of religion, supported by a guarantee of separation of church and state, they have entered into that heritage. Where men have caught the Anabaptist vision of discipleship, they have become worthy of that heritage. Where corporate discipleship submits itself to the New Testament pattern of the church, the heir has then entered full possession of his legacy.