An Outline of Baptist History

-8- c. They alone claimed to be the church of Christ. d. Man truly baptized when brought into their heresy. Children do not become holy through baptism, they claimed. e. They did not believe the bread and wine to be really the body and blood of Christ. 2. The Anabaptists of Switzerland. The anabaptists of Switzerland have an obscure origin, "There were before the Reformation, people in Zurich who, filled with errors, gave birth to the Anabaptists. Grebel was taught by them; he did not discover his own doc- trines but was taught by others.'' p. 75 Some maintain that the Anabaptists originated with the Reformation but they have some problems to solve: a. b. The new sect spread rapidly and covered a wide territory. They were numerous, wide spread and indefatigable. The leaders were not inferior in learning and eloquence to any of the Reformation. Their teachings were scriptural, consistent and moderate. They appear fully formed from the first - complete in polity, sound in doctrine, strict in discipline, (1) Ulrich Zwingli. Dr. W. J. McGlothlin states, "Luther's principle reform was the retention in the church of everything which the scriptures did not forbid: Zwingli's was the rejection of all theScriptures did not warrant. On this basis, Zwingli took his stand in opposition to his Catholic opponents. However, he was in bondage to the idea of a state church and believed a Reformation should have back of it the power of the civil magistrate, instead of being a spiritual movement simply." Another leader in the Swiss Anabaptist movement was Conrad Grebel. The son of one of the members of the Zurich Council, he was socially a man of more impor- tance than Zwingli, whose father was a peasant farmer. In eloquence he appeared to have been little the inferior of his leader and he is described by Zwingli him- self as ''most studious, most candid, most learned. '' He was educated in the Uni- versity of Vienna and Paris, Before his conversion his life was wild and dissi- pated. Sometime, however, before 1522, he was converted and from this time on his life was one of perfect rectitude and piety. His views regarding the church were derived from the careful study of the original scriptures, especially of the Greek New Testament. (2) Break between Zwingli and his associates, 1525 AD. There were other men among the Swiss anabaptists who were noted for their ability. For example, George Blaurock who was a former monk and was noted for his eloquence and zeal and known during that period as a second Paul, Felix Manz, a native of Zurich, had a goed education. He was a Hebrew scholar and for a time was an adherent of Zwin- gli until he gave up his early principle of supremacy of the scriptures.