THREE STREAMS: The Brethren in Christ Theological Heritage (Part 1)

On Anabaptism and its influence in the Brethren in Christ U.S.

Mar 22, 2023

green trees beside body of water — Photo by Karim Sakhibgareev on Unsplash

In an earlier resource on church in the post-COVID era I posed the following question: How can we recapture the importance of a shared identity for our church members as Jesus followers in the Brethren in Christ tradition? At the time I assumed that the best approach was to reinvest in postures of biblical fellowship that put community at the heart of our discipleship journey. While I still affirm that approach, I have come to realize that as a church we are constantly in need of reminders about what our shared identity even is.

What is it (or ought it be) that makes us Brethren in Christ as opposed to any other variety of Christian? This is an important question regardless of how long we have been connected with the BIC, but is particularly important as increasing numbers of us in ministry and those in our congregations come from outside of the denomination that we now consider our spiritual home. For some, both traditional Brethren in Christ practices and distinct doctrinal postures are the focus of our credentialing coursework rather than lived experience. Of course even a lifelong affiliation with the BIC might not mean that one’s discipleship journey has been substantially informed by such values as opposed to widespread trends in American evangelicalism.

Two members of my own Great Lakes Conference recently drew attention to these issues in the pages of Brethren in Christ History & Life. Following a lengthy survey of BIC pastors, Lisa Weaver-Swartz concluded that our “denomination is in deep need of identity work” (“A Giant Bag of Core Values,” 294). In another article Zach Spidel noted that:

“if an outside observer were asked to say which of a group of churches belonged together in the Brethren in Christ Church based purely on the observation of worship style, preaching content, church architecture, the nature of the local liturgy, etc., it would be difficult for that observer to do so. There is not now one consistent ethos that is identifiably Brethren in Christ” (“From Practice to Methods,” 353).

Despite present ambiguity in our congregational identities, we do in fact belong to a denomination, and one with a particular theological heritage at that. This reality lies behind several of Weaver-Swartz’s recommendations, including a need to recapture “collective memory” by developing “cultural resources” to reinvigorate a distinct BIC identity (Weaver-Swartz, 293-295). And that is the purpose of this series of resources that I am titling THREE STREAMS: The Brethren in Christ U.S. Theological Heritage.1 This series is designed as an introduction and overview of the three major theological traditions (Anabaptism, Pietism, and Wesleyanism) that inform the BIC’s statements of doctrine and practice in the hope that we might refocus our attentions towards denominational views that might be taken for granted. This first resource will focus on the Anabaptist movement and how it has shaped the BIC’s theological worldview.

THE ANABAPTISTS

History

The earliest Anabaptists lived in northern Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc.), with some potential predecessors elsewhere on the continent. As is often the case in history, the term “Anabaptism” first appeared as a derogatory label for reform movements that exclusively practiced adult (or “believer’s”) baptism and which existed outside of the official state-sponsored churches of the early modern period.

There is a fair amount of debate about the exact beginnings of the Anabaptist movement(s), namely whether there was a single point of origin or if it emerged from several independent local movements. But a few early developments are as follows:

1525: Swiss Brethren (and former students of Huldrych Zwingli) Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock and others perform adult baptisms near Zürich, Switzerland.
1527: Swiss Anabaptists in Schleitheim publish the Schleitheim Confession detailing their views on baptism, communion, and non-violence, amongst other topics. Felix Manz and Michael Sattler executed for rejecting state church doctrine.
1534-1535: Radical Reformers seize control of Münster, Germany and establish a communal society with an apocalyptic outlook. This movement was violently put down by local authorities and contributed to longer-term suspicion of Anabaptists by Catholic and Reformed magistrates. Many Anabaptist groups viewed this event as a reason to stress nonviolent ethics and separation from worldly government.
1537: Beginnings of Dutch Anabaptism among students of Melchior Hoffman, including Obbe and Dirk Philips, and Menno Simons (after whom the Mennonites were named).
1660: Publication of Martyr’s Mirror, a collection of stories about the deaths of early Anabaptist figures with an emphasis on their nonresistance.
1710: Earliest Anabaptist (Mennonite) communities settle in the Americas near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Theological Views

The broader Anabaptist communities hold views that are somewhat distinct from other branches of Protestant Christianity. In what follows I will largely adopt summaries of major views offered by Anabaptist scholars C. Norman Kraus, Lloyd Pietersen, C. Arnold Snyder, as well as the Manual of Doctrine & Government from the Brethren in Christ U.S.

Christocentric Exegesis: The Bible is not a “flat” book out of which one can select any text for application in any context. Instead, it is a collection of texts whose meaning is most clearly revealed through the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself is the primary interpreter of Scripture, as evidenced in the Sermon on the Mount – his teachings take priority over other passages in the life of the believer and outlook of the church.

Community of Interpretation: The hierarchical religious traditions of the sixteenth century held that biblical interpretation was primarily the task of either religious orders or the universities. Anabaptists, by contrast, viewed the entire community as involved in the act of scriptural interpretation, aided by those with formal training. The entire community was tasked with prayerful Holy Spirit influenced interpretation.

Obedience & Discipleship: For the Anabaptist, Christian discipleship is not primarily a belief in doctrinal systems or practices, but instead an on-going posture of obedience to the commands of Jesus. Members of the faith community are marked by this shared commitment rather than traditional identity markers.

Free-will Community & Believers’ Baptism: In medieval and early modern Europe baptism was closely tied with identity as a subject of the ruling empire. Such a system took earlier ideas about the baptism of children and morphed those into a default action for members of society. Thus, to be a German was to be baptized into the Lutheran church and to not be baptized meant that you were not a German. The Anabaptists determined to practice baptism as a free will response to the teachings of Jesus (rather than a compelled action of the church/state) and therefore limited it to those who had reached an age of maturity to respond appropriately. This belief prompted the earliest generations to become “baptized again” as adults, an action that brought suspicion from religious and governmental authorities.

Nonviolence & Peacemaking: The ethical teachings of Jesus centered around love-of-enemy and were seen by Anabaptists as forbidding the use of violence or coercion in both secular and religious matters. This posture became even more central to Anabaptist identity after the Münster revolt.

Simplicity: Jesus’s teachings also emphasized the dangers associated with accumulation of worldly possessions and Anabaptists took this as a call to simplicity. Involved in this was a rejection of materialism in favor of a community oriented life.

The Anabaptists & the Brethren in Christ

The earliest Brethren in Christ churches were modeled in large part after the Anabaptist vision inherited from their cultural roots among the Mennonites (Keefer, 33). Early BIC churches practiced a degree of separation from the surrounding culture, including non-involvement in government and simple attire. Rejection of violence was also strictly adhered to. They continued to follow Anabaptist views on church membership, baptism, and corporate discipline, although these practices were modified by later influences from Pietism and Wesleyanism.

Elements of this Anabaptist heritage remain in our denominational statements such as the Manual of Doctrine & Government and in our Accents & Issues series (accessible on the BIC U.S. website). For reflection, the following excerpts from BIC U.S. resources echo our Anabaptist heritage, and suggest for us continuing areas for growth in Christian discipleship:

Baptism & Belonging (Accents & Issues):

“Baptism is the sign that a believer is publicly beginning the new life in Christ and is becoming a responsible member of a congregation and denomination. Believer’s baptism is a significant event based on personal belief and a commitment to a lifelong journey with fellow believers and an act of obedience to follow the Lord and love his people.”

Christians & War (Accents & Issues):

“For followers of Jesus, the basic divide is between the saved and the lost, not between two or more political systems. Nations make war with their enemies. In sharp contrast, Christians share the gospel with non-Christians; they love those hostile to God. To kill non-Christians cuts them off from becoming followers of Jesus. Our task is not to take their lives but to give our lives so they can say yes to Jesus.”

Simple Lifestyle (Accents & Issues):

“A simple lifestyle recognizes that our needs are minimal. We are conditioned to want much, and our wants quickly become needs. Yet, true joy and blessing is not in the accumulation of things and satisfying desires, but in Jesus.”

What We Believe About the Bible:

“We believe that the Old Testament should be interpreted through the lens of the New Testament while affirming the integrity of the whole Bible as God’s written Word.”

In response to changes in American culture and the evangelical church subculture, several Anabaptist emphases have been adjusted, challenged, or even neglected across our denomination. The Church has had much discussion about the commitment to non-violence and whether it should include a concern for social justice. The traditional approach of separation has been challenged in our politically polarized world where faith is frequently exploited in the political arena. And the call to simplicity is at risk in a society that increasingly demands more of our wallets and our time in order to remain socially engaged. Some self-evaluation is needed to figure out how well our lives as individuals and churches match the Anabaptist views that are laid out for us on paper and how we might recommit to those views within a twenty first century framework.

Think Theologically