77: Why So Many Churches?: Anabaptists in Steel Cages – Part 9

In 1525, a small group of believers in Zurich sparked a movement by rejecting infant baptism and demanding radical obedience to Christ. Their defiance brought brutal persecution—burnings, drownings, and torture. In Münster, some took a violent turn, leading to steel cages that still hang today. Discover how these “rebaptizers,” hated by both Catholics and Protestants, shaped religious freedom, church-state separation, and baptismal practice for generations to come.

Read: https://ready4eternity.com/why-so-many-churches-anabaptists-in-steel-cages-part-9/

https://x.com/Ready4Eternity https://www.facebook.com/ready4eternity

The presence of any advertisements in connection with this content is determined solely by the hosting platform. I have no control over whether ads appear or not. I appreciate your understanding.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I'm Eddie Lawrence and this is the Ready
for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog
exploring biblical truths
for inquisitive Bible students.
Steel cages still hang from a church
tower in Munster, Germany.
Five hundred years ago, they held the

(00:22):
mutilated bodies of men who dared to defy
both Catholic and Protestant authorities.
Their crime?
Refusing infant baptism?
Rejecting political power?
And insisting that following Jesus meant
radical obedience, even to death?

(00:43):
The year was 1525 and Europe
buzzed with religious upheaval.
Martin Luther had already nailed his
thesis to the Wittenberg
door eight years earlier.
Reformers across Europe challenged
Catholic teachings and practices, yet in
the Swiss city of Zurich, a group of

(01:03):
believers later known as Anabaptists felt
the Reformation wasn't going far enough.
These men and women called
themselves simply brethren.
They embraced the reformers call to
return to biblical Christianity.
However, they believed reform was moving
too slowly and compromised

(01:23):
too much with worldly powers.
On January 21st, 1525, these radical
believers gathered at the
fountain in the Zurich City Square.
George Blaurock, a former follower of the
reformer Holdrich Zwingli, approached his
friend Conrad Grable with an

(01:45):
extraordinary request.
He asked Grable to baptize
him as an adult believer.
This simple act defied
centuries of church tradition.
Both the Catholic Church and the emerging
Lutheran congregations
still practiced infant baptism.

(02:06):
Grable agreed.
He baptized Blaurock by
sprinkling water on his head.
The other believers present followed
suit, baptizing each other in turn.
This marked the birth of
the Anabaptist movement.
Initially, these believers used
sprinkling or pouring for their baptisms.

(02:27):
Later they adopted full
immersion as the preferred method.
They believed baptism should follow
personal faith, not precede it.
The other reformers quickly
noticed these adult baptisms.
They coined a
derogatory term for the movement.

(02:49):
Anabaptist, a word
meaning "re-baptizers."
The name suggested these people baptize
themselves again,
invalidating their infant baptism.
The Anabaptist rejected this label.
They argued they
weren't re-baptizing anyone.
Instead, they performed the first true

(03:11):
baptism for believers who had never been
properly baptized as infants.
Despite their protests, the name stuck.
History remembers them as Anabaptists,
though they preferred
Brethren or Christians.
The Anabaptists went far beyond
challenging baptism practices.

(03:34):
They developed a comprehensive theology
that shocked both Catholics and the
emerging Reformed churches.
First, they practiced
radical discipleship.
They believed Christians must follow
Jesus' teachings strictly.
This meant loving enemies, refusing to
swear oaths, and sharing

(03:56):
possessions with the needy.
Second, they demanded complete separation
of church and state.
Unlike other reformers who sought
government support, Anabaptists rejected
all political power.
They refused to hold office, serve in
armies, or enforce civil laws.

(04:17):
Third, they embraced pacifism as a core
Christian principle.
They wouldn't fight
wars, even defensive ones.
Violence contradicted Christ's teachings
about loving enemies and
turning the other cheek.
Fourth, they practiced
radical egalitarianism.

(04:37):
Both men and women could
preach and lead congregations.
This scandalized a society that strictly
limited women's religious roles.
These beliefs made Anabaptists appear
dangerously subversive to both religious
and political authorities.
They seemed to threaten

(04:57):
the entire social order.
Both Catholic and Reformed authorities
moved quickly to crush
the Anabaptist movement.
They declared it heretical and outlawed
Anabaptist gatherings.
The punishment for
joining the movement was death.
The persecution that followed
was brutal beyond imagination.

(05:20):
Authorities burned
Anabaptists at the stake.
They drowned others in rivers, a cruel
mockery of their baptism practices.
Some victims were drawn and quartered.
Others endured torture
designed to force recantation.
Church historian Husto Gonzalez notes

(05:42):
that Anabaptist martyrs probably exceeded
those killed during the three centuries
of persecution before
Emperor Constantine.
This staggering loss
occurred in just a few decades.
The martyrs faced death
with remarkable courage.
They sang hymns while burning.

(06:02):
They forgave their executioners.
Their testimonies, carefully recorded,
inspired future generations of believers.
Not all Anabaptist
groups remained peaceful.
In the German city of Munster, followers
of Melchior Hofmann
created a radical kingdom.

(06:23):
Jan Matisse and John of Leiden led
Anabaptists who gained control of the
city council in 1533.
They expelled all non-Anabaptists and
established what they
claimed was a Messianic kingdom.
The community practiced polygamy and
common ownership of goods

(06:44):
under Biblical justification.
Catholic and Protestant armies surrounded
the city in 1534
leading to a brutal siege.
Munster fell in 1535 and the authorities
tortured the Anabaptist leaders to death.
They hung the leaders'
bodies in steel cages from St.

(07:06):
Lambert's church steeple as a warning.
People later removed their bones, but the
cages hanged from the
church steeple to this day.
This violent episode damaged the
reputation of all Anabaptists, even
peaceful groups who
rejected Munster's extremism.
Despite intense persecution, some

(07:29):
Anabaptist communities survived.
They fled to remote areas where
authorities couldn't easily reach them.
They practiced their faith in secret,
meeting in homes and forests.
Over time, the movement split into
various groups with
slightly different emphasis.
The most famous survivors include the

(07:50):
Mennonites, named after
Dutch leader Minnow Simmons.
The Amish, led by Jacob Ammon, separated
from the Mennonites in the late 1600s.
Both groups migrated to North America,
seeking religious freedom.
They established communities that
preserved Anabaptist principles of

(08:11):
pacifism, simple
living, and adult baptism.
The Anabaptists profoundly influenced
Christianity despite their small numbers.
They pioneered the concept of voluntary
church membership
based on personal faith.
Anabaptists championed religious freedom
and separation of church and state.

(08:32):
They demonstrated that ordinary believers
could study scripture and form
independent congregations.
Today, millions of Christians practice
adult immersion because
of Anabaptist influence.
Many independent congregations trace
their baptismal practices to these brave
16th century reformers.

(08:55):
The Anabaptists paid a
terrible price for their convictions.
Yet their radical commitment to following
Christ, regardless of consequences,
changed Christianity forever.