Classics of the Radical Reformation

This anthology provides the best introduction to the core beliefs and foundational principles of Anabaptism. This comprehensive book compiles the writings and statements of thirty-seven sixteenth-century Anabaptists. Selections are arranged under topics such as baptism, the church, nonresistance, Jesus the Word, government, the cross, suffering, discipleship, and relations to other Christians. This is the third volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

The dramatic story of the genesis of the Anabaptist movement, told directly through the letters of its leaders and other primary documents. The 170 letters and documents in this volume portray how Conrad Grebel, a bright young Swiss patriot, became a fervent, influential leader of the sixteenth-century Anabaptist movement. The editor calls the book "a drama with five acts, prologue, and epilogue" with a cast of 107 characters. The main characters are Grebel himself and Huldrych Zwingli, the vicar at the Grossmünster in Zurich. The climax of the drama comes in January 1525 when Grebel performs the first rebaptisms, signaling the founding of a new church and the rejection of the Anabaptists by Zwingli. "These letters and documents are not published for scholars only," states the editor, "but for all seekers and believers." This is the fourth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

The complete works of one of the most significant theologians of the Reformation. This book contains the complete writings of Balthasar Hubmaier, including his discussion of three marks of a true church: water baptism of adults, the Lord's Supper, and fraternal admonition. This is the fifth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

The complete works of a Franciscan friar turned Anabaptist theologian and a founder of the Mennonite church. This book contains all the known writings of early Anabaptist leader Dirk Philips (1504-1568), translated into English from Philips's original 1564 Dutch volume. Annotations and introductions make it useful to both general readers and scholars. Philips's treatises make important contributions to the literature of early Anabaptism; he writes about the incarnation, baptism, the Lord's Supper, mission, the tabernacle, the new birth, church discipline, and marriage. This is the sixth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

Discover the writings of a controversial Dutch leader in the Radical Reformation and an early proponent of Christian pacifism. David Joris (c. 1501-1556) is one of the least understood leaders in the sixteenth-century Anabaptist movement. Yet during his era he was one of the most important Anabaptist leaders in the Low Countries of Europe. Even before the fall of Munster in June 1535, Joris was a consistent advocate of Anabaptist nonviolence, and well into the 1540s he competed successfully with Menno Simons for followers. This is the seventh volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

Discover the writings of a leader in the Radical Reformation who sparred with Martin Luther, calling for change "from below." Although he was not an Anabaptist, the life and thought of Radical Reformer Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (1486-1541) had a strong influence on the Anabaptist movement. In 1534 he joined the faculty at the University of Basel. A professor of biblical studies at Wittenberg, Carlstadt became involved in radical changes that brought him into conflict with Luther. The fifteen tracts translated and edited here by E. J. Furcha represent the first major collection of Carlstadt's writings in one volume. They give excellent insight into his sound Christian faith and exemplary zeal as a reformer of the church "from below." This is the eighth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

The biblical foundations of a Christian communal movement that has stood the test of five centuries. While in prison from 1540 to 1542, Riedemann wrote to the Lutheran ruler, Philip of Hesse, explaining the Hutterite goal of a renewed community and dispelling popular misconceptions. The Hutterites quickly accepted Riedemann's confession as their own. Riedemann creatively weaves together a fresh reading of the Bible with the classical creeds, producing a powerful synthesis of Scripture and tradition on which to base Christian community. His dynamic vision of radical and communal discipleship still challenges believers toward greater faithfulness to the Lord and to each other. Riedemann's confession gives theological grounding for the Hutterite understanding of economic communalism and offers practical examples of it. This confession continues to guide Hutterite communities today. This volume includes an English translation of the 1565 German edition of Confession of Our Religion, Teaching, and Faith, by the Brothers Who Are Known as the Hutterites along with a new history of Riedemann. It is the ninth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

Primary sources reveal that despite severe persecution and expulsion, an underground Anabaptist movement continued to flourish in its birthplace, Switzerland. The story of Anabaptist origins in Switzerland is well known. By contrast, the life and thought of the Anabaptists who continued to live in Switzerland over the last two-thirds of the sixteenth century has remained in relative obscurity. One reason for this is that Swiss Anabaptists after 1530 communicated their ideas by circulating handwritten writings rather than by printing books. This present volume contains a selection of those writings that were being copied and circulated among the later Anabaptists in Switzerland. The text that dominates the present collection, both in terms of length and complexity, is the massive 466-page Codex 628, copied in 1590 and containing a wide sampling of material considered significant by the Swiss Anabaptists at the end of the century. Readers of this volume thus have the opportunity to peruse, in translation, significant archival holdings that document the development of Swiss Anabaptist thought over the course of the sixteenth century. These writings reveal a maturing religious and social movement whose members continued to reflect biblically on their call to discipleship while living in a world that designated all adult baptizer’s heretics and disobedient, dangerous citizens. This is the thirteenth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

This early Anabaptist theologian stood up to the ruling powers, calling for freedom of religion and separation of church and state. During the sixteenth century's tumultuous years of religious reformation and revolution, Pilgram Marpeck consistently but discreetly stood up to the ruling powers, calling for freedom of religion and separation of church and state. Coming from a background of wealth and education, he engaged in the major theological struggles of the Anabaptists for an identity that was built on the Bible and had meaning for the world. This extensive collection of Pilgram Marpeck's writings is the most complete English volume of this popular early Anabaptist's writings. The book includes Marpeck's Confession of 1532 and The Admonition of 1542, the longest and most detailed statement of the Anabaptists on baptism and the Lord's Supper. Also included are sixteen of his letters and the preface to his Explanation of the Testaments. This is the second volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

Writings by and about an early leader in Anabaptism show how the movement coalesced around questions of community, nonviolence, and religious liberty. Both admirers and critics have called Michael Sattler the most significant of the first-generation leaders of Anabaptism. This collection of documents by and about Sattler, with introductions and extensive notes, makes selected primary source material available in English for the use of students, pastors, teachers, and interested readers. It is the first volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

This scholarly biography and collection of writings by and about an early leader of the Hutterites, a pacifist communal Anabaptist group, sheds light on a persecuted religious minority during the Reformation. This comprehensive, annotated collection of Jakob Hutter's letters and related documents begins with an extensive biography of Hutter and his wife Katharina, based on recent archival research. This introduction serves to contextualize the Hutterite movement, a communal and pacifist Anabaptist group that emerged as part of the Radical Reformation in sixteenth-century Tyrol and Moravia. The main text of the book opens with Hutter's eight surviving letters, newly translated directly from the seventeenth-century codices where they have been preserved. As the leader of a scattered, persecuted movement, Hutter wrote pastoral letters of encouragement and admonition to various congregations in Tyrol and Moravia. The second chapter consists of material from Hutterite chronicles that describe Hutter's life and context. Some of these are previously unpublished; in all cases, new translations have been made from the original codices. The third chapter is a collection of reports on government interrogations of Anabaptists who describe Hutter's missionary activity, typically written by a state official during an interrogation process which often involved torture. Chapter four is a compilation of writings by fellow Hutterites written during Hutter's life and in the decade after his death, which show the importance of Hutter's life and teachings. The fifth chapter includes internal correspondence between government authorities trying to suppress the Anabaptist movement. The accounts offer insight into the government's perspective on the significance of Hutter and the Anabaptist communities in his spheres of activity. Additional documents relating to Hutter's death and legacy from both within and outside of the Hutterite tradition are included in a final chapter. This meticulously researched volume, peer-reviewed for inclusion in the Classics of the Radical Reformations series, is a valuable contribution to the scholarship of a volatile and fruitful chapter of church history.

Writings compiled in the sixteenth century provide a glimpse into the spiritual life of one fellowship during the Radical Reformation. Scholars have been fascinated by Pilgram Marpeck and his circle since the rediscovery of the long-lost legacy of their writings, and that interest has not abated. This volume offers another part of that legacy to English-speaking readers, not only scholars but also inquiring general readers who might find theological insight and spiritual depth in the diverse writings that make up this anthology. The didactic poems, passionate meditations, pastoral letters, and confessions in the Kunstbuch open a door into an intimate community. Maler's collection is like an album of photographs taken over a period of thirty years, documenting the life of a family and its friends. In rare detail it records the existence of one kind of Anabaptism, preserving for posterity the personalities and issues, the brilliance and the tragedy that made it what it was. The writing and compiling of the Kunstbuch arose from impassioned attempts to be the body of Christ faithfully and to trust God utterly in the midst of terrifying insecurity. In their faithfulness and trust, Marpeck's people are a cloud of witnesses who have a claim on us today. This is the twelfth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

Diverse primary sources bring out unique characteristics of one branch of the Radical Reformation. The South German/Austrian branch of the Anabaptist family was unique in its mystical origins, spiritualist emphases, fascination with the end times, and communal forms of Anabaptism. These newly translated sources-from influential pre-Anabaptist writings by Jörg Haugk von Jüchsen and Hans Hergot, through writings of Hans Hut and confessions of Ambrosius Spitelmaier in the 1520s, to the experiences of the Hutterite missionary Hans Schmidt in 1590-shed light on this part of the Anabaptist world. The collection includes testimonies of Anabaptist leaders, writings by Protestant clerics, and testimonies and hymns from Anabaptist women including Katharina Hutter and Helena von Freyberg. This is the tenth volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.

The volume brings together early statements of belief from across the Radical Reformation. A representative collection of confessions produced by Anabaptist groups from 1527 to 1660. Included are confessions from the Swiss Brethren, the Marpeck circle, the Rhinelanders, and various Mennonite communities in the north. This collection attends to the earliest phase of Anabaptist and Mennonite confessional writing in Europe, laying bare the foundations that set the stage for later confessional developments. An introduction to each confession provides context. This is the eleventh volume in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.