An Outline of Baptist History

Sos -Q- The opposition to infant baptism became so strong that the Zurich Council appoin- ted a public disputation on Jan.17, 1525 AD. Grebel, Manz, Hatzer and Blaurock represented the radical Anabaptist party. The Council decided in Zwingli's favor and issued an order in consequence. This order stated that parents should have their children baptized at once on pain of being banished. At another Council meeting held Nov. 6, 1525, the Zwinglians brought forth the argument which Pedo-Baptists later used freely. The argument was that the Abrahamic covenant centinued in the new dispensation from the Old Testament and that baptism replaced circumcision. The Anabaptists, however, argued that there is no command in the New Testament to baptize infants. Vedder says, ''Zwingli reproached the Anabaptists for being separatists; to which they made the unanswerable reply that, if they were such, they had as good a right to separate from him as he did to separate from the pope." p.83 On Nov. 30, the Council made a statement to the effect that the Anabaptists, having expressed their views without any hindrance, had been overcome by the Zwinglian movement. They stated that the Anabaptists had been annihilated and infant bap- tism had been established. However, they were not so sure of their ground although their statement sounded strong, for they added this grim warning: ''Whoever shall act contrary to the erder shall, as often as he disobeys, be punished by a fine of a silver mark and if any shall prove disobedient we shall deal with him further and punish him according to his dessert without further forgiveness. "' What happened when the Anabaptists refused te obey the commands of the Council? Grebel, Manz, Blaurock and others were thrown into prison because they would not retract. They were leaded with chains and kept several months. Felix Manz was released for a time. On March 7, 1526, it was decreed by the Zurich Council "that whosoever rebaptized should be drowned, and this action was confirmed by a second decree of Nov.19.'' Manz was found guilty of Anbaptism. The sentence was carried out. On the way to the place of execution, Bullinger, a hostile historian writes, ''His mother and brother came to him and exhorted him to be stedfast; and he persevered in his felly, even to the end; when he was bound upon the hurdle and was about to be thrown into the stream by the executor he sang with a loud voice, 'into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my Spirit’ and herewith was drawn into the water and was drowned. Before these persecutions, Zwingli stands condemmed by the bar of history. Theugh not a persecutor, he stood by approving, by silence, all that was done. (3) The Teachings of the Swiss Anabaptists. As in the case of many of the preceding groups, the testimony of their opponents is one of the main sources of learning the teachings of the Swiss Anabaptists. Fragments of their writings, however, do remain. Their Confession of Faith issued in 1527 is the first document of its kind known to be in existence. A study of their cenfession of faith will reveal the fact that the Swiss Anabaptists believed in the baptism of believers only, communion for only the baptized, a pure church discipline required, and they forbad Christians to be magistrates or take an oath, saying the latter was sinful. These last two positions are held to- day by many of the Friends.