Anabaptists in the early Middle Ages?

[Gutti]

I have encountered a claim in a protestant book (a Plymouth Brethen), that anababtists (or Christians who only babtised adult believers) have existed through all of Christian history. Though no name or description of these people or church is given.

Were there babtists/anababtists in the Early Church period (year 100 - 900 or so)? I have come across the Donatists - but these did not have a “bible alone” theology and were not Protestants at all…

Thanks for any insight.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

There have always been these sort of fringe type groups who were heretics of one form or another – gnostics or who reject the Pope, etc. The anaBaptists / IFB claim to have hitched a ride with all of them…and that’s ridiculous, but that’s their claim.

And I can claim that the moon’s inner core is actually made of muenster cheese.

The reality is that throughout the ages you were Catholic – east or west. I asked one guy who told me to my face that he is not a protestant Christian to provide me with evidence of his claim of existing throughout the ages. I said show me just one 9th century Baptist Church. He changed the subject. I no longer entertain these folks as it’s just downright silliness and delusion. Entertain a clown and become part of the circus. Be nice and charitable but understand they are making a false claim. It’s revisionist history.

 

[1ke]

Were there babtists/anababtists in the Early Church period (year 100 - 900 or so)?

No.

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[ahs]

Entertain a clown and become part of the circus.

Pretty much. I know someone who said that the reason we don’t have any historical documents showing any evidence of these groups existing prior to the reformation, is because the Catholic Church controls all the historical documents and they burned all the ones they had to in order to rewrite history.

Hm…so how exactly did the Catholic Church come to control ALL historical documents? Well, that’s easy. It’s the Illuminati!

 

[Lenten_ashes]

I know someone who said that the reason we don’t have any historical documents showing any evidence of these groups existing prior to the reformation, is because the Catholic Church controls all the historical documents and they burned all the ones they had to in order to rewrite history

Must have been that evil, insidious Pope giving the orders to destroy those documents. Or maybe he ordered all the documents to be translated into Latin so that only the RCC could understand what they actually said.

If the CC had so much power, I wonder why the Koran still exists then. Considering all the issues we have had with Islam one would think that entire religion would no longer exist if the Church was as evil and powerful as people seem to think.

 

[GemmasGirl]

As someone who used to be Anabaptist… The simple answer is that they have chosen to portray a lot of early heretical groups-- Cathars, Waldensians, Donatists, ets, as proto-Anabaptist…they weren’t, but it’s easy to just say that the Catholic church ran a smear campaign against them… Not that there’s a micron of evidence for that either.
I still remember the first time I realized what the Cathars actually taught…

 

[historyfan81]

I mean technicly they existed in antiquity as tertulian was an " anabaptist"

 

[Thom18]

I’m not going to say that there weren’t because it would be far more interesting to see someone claiming as much try to prove it.

Remember: in a debate about anything, it is never up to you to disprove someone’s argument. It’s their responsibility to provide proofs for it, and merely saying “There were anabaptists” doesn’t suffice.

 

[niceatheist]

The Cathars weren’t Anabaptists, but there was a wee bit more than a smear campaign waged against them.

 

[JSRG]

I have encountered a claim in a protestant book (a Plymouth Brethen), that anababtists (or Christians who only babtised adult believers) have existed trough all of Christian history. Though no name or description of these people or church is given.

Were there babtists/anababtists in the Early Church period (year 100 - 900 or so)? I have come across the Donatists - but these did not have a “bible alone” theology and were not Protestants at all…

Thanks for any insight.

What you’re describing is called “Baptist Successionism” or “Landmarkism” which was popularized by the book “The Trail of Blood,” published about a century ago. Since a common argument of Catholics is to ask Protestants where in the world their beliefs were for so long if they were correct, the retort in Successionism is to try to point to various groups throughout Christian history as being their predecessors and thus argue the beliefs were always there.

The problem is that when you look at the beliefs of those groups, you’ll find they usually were either too Catholic to count as Baptists (e.g. Donatists) or would be considered outright heretical by Protestants (the Cathars/Albigenses, who believed that the Old Testament and New Testament had different gods!) It’s not an argument that is considered credible by historians of scholars of even Protestant persuasion, but of course lack of credibility has never stopped people from claiming things, as demonstrated by the various flat earthers nowadays.

 

[steph03]

I have encountered a claim in a protestant book (a Plymouth Brethen), that anababtists (or Christians who only babtised adult believers) have existed trough all of Christian history. Though no name or description of these people or church is given.

Were there babtists/anababtists in the Early Church period (year 100 - 900 or so)? I have come across the Donatists - but these did not have a “bible alone” theology and were not Protestants at all…

Thanks for any insight.

Well the Donatists held the belief that the clergy had to have perfect faith and be free of sin to have valid sacraments… I don’t see the anabaptist clergy claiming perfection… (I could be wrong).

The short answer is no. What we encounter today as anabaptists did not exist before in the middle ages or apostolic age. They have taken a few minor points of previous heresies, but those heresies were very very different than the anabaptists we have today. I always find it funny when I talk to an anabaptist and he poins to cathars as being anabaptists… When we look at what they taught… He had to rethink his position.

 

[Dan_Defender]

In Apostolic times children were most likely baptized:
‘And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family .’ - Acts 16:33