Are Anabaptist Trinitarians?

  • Thread starter Thread starter thephilosopher6
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

thephilosopher6

Guest
Most sources list Anabaptist baptism as "doubtful’, meaning that each case has to be investigated carefully as to whether or not a baptism in an Anabaptist church is valid or not. Why is this? I thought Anabaptist were Trinitarians? I know a few sects during the radical reformation, like the Italian Anabaptist, were Socinians, but it seems today that most Anabaptist are Trinitarian. So what’s the deal?
 
Anabaptists aren’t a single group, a blanket “ok” can’t be given just because they call themselves “anabaptist”
 
As far as I know, modern day Anabaptists, such as Mennonites, Hutterites, and the Amish, are Trinitarian. As to why their baptism would be considered doubtful, I do not know.
 
Yes, I understand this but it seems that all modern day Anabaptist groups are Trinitarians. Correct me if I am wrong.
 
Last edited:
thephilosopher6 said:
Most sources list Anabaptist baptism as "doubtful’, meaning that each case has to be investigated carefully as to whether or not a baptism in an Anabaptist church is valid or not. Why is this? I thought Anabaptist were Trinitarians? I know a few sects during the radical reformation, like the Italian Anabaptist, were Socinians, but it seems today that most Anabaptist are Trinitarian. So what’s the deal?
Click to expand...
Anabaptist is an extremely broad and non-specific adjective. It means any Christian group that repeats baptism. Usually because they reject infant baptism, and they would re- (ana) baptise adults.

Because the term is so broad, no one can say that all or most of them either do or do not have valid baptism.

Also, because most of them accept that baptism can be repeated in adults (whether or not the person was baptised as an infant) an investigation is needed to determine if any attempt at baptism was actually that person’s first baptism, as opposed to a 3rd or 10th or whatever else.
 
Many Baptist repeat baptism of those who were not not baptized as an adult or by immersion, they’re Trinitarians, and their baptism is accepted as valid. So let me clarify, when I say Anabaptist, I mean groups like the Amish and the various Mennonite sects, most of which seem to be Trinitarians.
 
thephilosopher6 said:
Many Baptist repeat baptism of those who were not not baptized as an adult or by immersion, they’re Trinitarians, and their baptism is accepted as valid. So let me clarify, when I say Anabaptist, I mean groups like the Amish and the various Mennonite sects, most of which seem to be Trinitarians.
Click to expand...
And as I said, each one has to be evaluated individually. The moment you say “groups like…” you are asking too broad a question.

Also, you say “seem to be Trinitarians.” Yes. Exactly. Some are true Trinitarians. Some are not.

Sometimes each act of baptism must be evaluated individually because some of them readily re-baptise. If someone has a video of a baptism, that doesn’t prove that it was the first baptism. It might be the 5th or 6th time for the same person.

There is no one-answer-fits-all here.
 
Well which groups are not Trinitarian? I don’t know of any Anabaptist group that is non-Trinitarian.
 
I don’t know about the SDA in other neighborhoods, but locally (and according to The Essential Catholic Survival Guide, they baptize by full immersion and in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Stupid me thought that was acceptable.

My bad.
 
Last edited:
I am trying to answer your question. The answer does not change.

Each community must be evaluated and a decision made.

Each one is different.

You are describing a very diverse group.

There is no single answer to your question which applies to all of them.

No matter how many times you repeat the question, you cannot cause the answer to change. There are different answers that apply to different groups within the very broad category of “anabaptists”
 
po18guy said:
Seventh Day Adventists are re-baptizers, but are absolutely trinitarian and the Church accepts their baptisms in the case of converts. Sadly, the reverse is far from true.
Click to expand...
First, the Church does not “accept their baptisms” but only accepts some of their baptisms. If a person has been baptised 6 times, the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth time is not a valid baptism.

Secondly, because of the diversity even within their own defined denomination, not all of their first baptisms are valid. Each local community must be investigated by the local bishop to determine if it practices valid baptism or not.
 
Anabaptists originally were rebaptizers because they did not believe in infant baptism. They are no longer rebaptizers and have there own Christian Sect that is Trinitarian.
 
What about Moravians, why are they doubtful? They have infant baptism, and they are Trinitarian and even use the Nicene Creed. They’re basically Lutherans under a different name and trace themselves a little farther back.
 
thephilosopher6 said:
What about Moravians, why are they doubtful? They have infant baptism, and they are Trinitarian and even use the Nicene Creed. They’re basically Lutherans under a different name and trace themselves a little farther back.
Click to expand...
Because, apparently, whatever practices count as “Moravian” in that particular diocese might not match exactly with what is called “Moravian” in some other part of the country. Their internal laws are not as strict as Catholics.

This is exactly why I keep repeating that each community must be investigated by itself to know the answer.
 
thephilosopher6 said:
What about Moravians, why are they doubtful? They have infant baptism, and they are Trinitarian and even use the Nicene Creed. They’re basically Lutherans under a different name and trace themselves a little farther back.
Click to expand...
I know of one Moravian minister who always attempts baptism “in the name of the Creator Redeemer Sanctifier.”

EDIT: I do not know if she does this on her own or if it has broader approval. It’s been several years and I don’t even know if she is active or retired.

In no way would her attempts at baptism be valid.

By the way, when I looked at their official webpage, Moravians say that they do not re-baptise.
 
Last edited:
From an Anabaptist’s point of view, its probably similar to a Catholic annulment.
 
thephilosopher6 said:
Well which groups are not Trinitarian? I don’t know of any Anabaptist group that is non-Trinitarian.
Click to expand...
Depending on how you define “Anabaptist”… If you simply define it as anyone who holds to Credo-baptism, and thus would “rebaptize” someone who had been “baptized” as an infant… Then the Oneness Pentecostals would be a non-Trinitarian group / heresy who would be Anabaptist.

However, I, like you, would see Anabaptists as those in the Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite traditions.
 
Augustinian said:
Anabaptists aren’t a single group, a blanket “ok” can’t be given just because they call themselves “anabaptist”
Click to expand...
“Anabaptist” was not something they called themselves, it was a nickname given to them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top