Chapter 17 16. Anabaptists

Every generation has its own monsters. We have the "Red Party". Fathers were socialists. Grandparents have Molly Maguire. Great-grandfathers had Jacobins. The ancestors three hundred years ago were no better than they are now. They have Anabaptists. The most popular "Compendium of World History" in the sixteenth century was a "Book of the World" or chronology written by Sebastian, a soapmaker and teetotaler who lived in the city of Ulm; Published in 1534. Sebastian knew the Anabaptists.He married the daughter of an Anabaptist family.He differed from their beliefs because he was a staunch free thinker.But about them, he wrote: "They taught nothing but love, faith, and the crucifixion, patience and humility in any affliction, genuine help for one another, calling each other brothers, and thinking that all could be shared."

They should be praised succinctly, but they have been hunted like wild animals for a hundred years, and the cruelest punishment in the bloodiest age has been imposed on them, which is a strange thing. But there was a reason, and to understand it one must remember something from the Reformation. The Reformation actually solved nothing. The Reformation brought two prisons to the world instead of one, created an infallible book to replace a certain infallible man, established (rather attempted to establish) the rule of the black priesthood instead of the white one Priest. After half a century of struggle and sacrifice, such meager results have indeed disheartened millions.They had hoped for a thousand years of social and religious stability, and were not at all prepared to deal with persecution and economic slavery.

The reformers were about to take a big risk, but something happened.They fell into the gap between the pier and the boat and had to struggle desperately to stay out of the water. They are in a dire position, having left the old church, and their conscience forbids them to join the new faith.Officially they no longer exist, but they are still alive and breathing.Since it is their duty to continue to live and breathe, they want to save the wicked world from its ignorance. In the end they survived, but please don't ask how. Stripped of their old relationships, they must form a new organization and find a new leader.

But how could any sane person care about these poor lunatics? As a result, a prescient shoemaker and a hallucinatory and hysterical midwife take on the roles of seers.They begged, prayed, babbled, and the rafters of the black meeting-house trembled to the praise of the pious, until the village bailiff had to come to see the indecent disturbance. Then, several men and women were arrested and imprisoned, and the village and town councilors began a so-called "investigation". These people neither go to the Catholic Church nor reverence the Protestant Church of Scotland.So ask them to explain who they are and what religion they believe in.

To tell the truth, the position of those poor councilors was a real embarrassment, for the prisoners were the most unfortunate of all heretics, and were scrupulous about their religion.Many of the most respected reformers were sophisticated enough to allow a little compromise, so long as they lived a decent and comfortable life. But the true Anabaptist is of another kind, who abhors all half-measures.Jesus once told his followers that when they are hit by the enemy, they should turn the other half of their face to let him hit, and those who hold the sword will die by the sword.For Anabaptists, this means a categorical imperative against violence.They murmured endlessly about circumstances changing things, and of course they were against war, but this war was different, dropped a few bombs, used them now and then, just this once, and God didn't mind.

The Holy Decree is, after all, a Holy Decree, nothing more. They refused to be drafted and they refused to carry guns.When they were arrested for pacifism (that is what their enemies called such practical Christians), they always accepted their fate willingly, reciting Matthew 31:52 until death ends their suffering. But fighting militarism is only a small part of their eccentricity.Jesus taught that God's Kingdom and Caesar's Kingdom are so different that they cannot and should not merge.Very good and clear.Accordingly, all good Anabaptists carefully shun state office, refuse to hold office, and spend the time others waste in politics studying the Bible.

Jesus warned his followers not to lose their dignity in quarrels, and the Anabaptists would rather lose their property ownership than challenge it in court.There are other points that keep these eccentrics from the world, but these few examples of eccentric behavior arouse suspicion and disgust among fat neighbors who enjoy life "'s agreeable creed and piety. Even so, if Anabaptists are able to protect themselves from their friends, they can, like the Baptists and many others who disagree, find a way to reconcile with the authorities. As a sect, however, they are suspected of many strange culpability, and well founded.First, they read the Bible meticulously.It's certainly not guilt, but let me finish.Anabaptists study the Bible without prejudice, but it is dangerous to be particularly fond of the Book of Revelation.

Until the fifteenth century, this strange book was still rejected as a bit "hypocritical", but it was very popular with the emotionally prone.Patmos in exile spoke a language perfectly understandable to these hunted wretches.When debilitating rage plunged him into the hysterical prophecies of modern Babylon, all the Anabaptists chanted "Amen" in unison, praying for the new heaven and new earth to come soon. It is not the first time that weak minds have succumbed to the pressure of a high fever.Almost every persecution of Anabaptists was accompanied by an outburst of religious madness.Men and women rushed into the streets naked, announcing the end of the world, trying to appease the wrath of God in grotesque sacrifices.The old hag flashed into the ceremonies being held by other sects, interrupted the meeting, howled harshly, and babbled that the devil was coming.

Such afflictions (to a lesser degree) are of course always with us.Read the dailies and you'll see a woman in a backwoods village in Ohio or Iowa or Florida chopping her husband to pieces with a cleaver because an angel's voice "made her so"; or The sober father, foreseeing the sound of the seven trumpets, killed his wife and eight children.However, this is the only exception.They are easily caught by the local police and will not affect the life and security of the country. But what happened in the beautiful little town of Munster in 1534 was different. According to strict Anabaptist theory, the new kingdom of heaven was indeed proclaimed there.

All Nordic people shudder at the thought of that terrible winter and spring. The villain in this affair was a handsome tailor named Jane Bixzon.The history books call him John of Leiden, because John is the surname of that hard-working small town, who spent his childhood on the dirty Rhine.Like all the apprentices back then, he traveled east and west, running north and south to learn the secrets of his trade. He could read and write only for occasional fun and had no formal education.Many people understand their humble social status and lack of knowledge, and have a sense of inferiority, but he does not.He is young and beautiful, thick-skinned, and loves vanity.

Long after he had left England and Germany, he returned to his native land and started a business in tunics and gowns.At the same time he became religious and began an unusual career as a follower of Thomas Manzel. This Manzel was a baker by trade and a famous man.Manzel was one of three Anabaptist prophets who suddenly appeared at Wittenberg in 1521 to show Luther the true way to salvation.His good intentions were not appreciated, he was cast out of the Protestant castle, and never allowed to appear in the domain of the Duke of Saxony. By 1534, the Anabaptists had experienced so many failures that they put all their eggs in one basket and everything on a bold and massive move. It's no surprise that they chose Westfalen's Munster as their final attempt.The duke-bishop of the city, Franz van Waldeck, was a reckless drunk who had lived in open concubine with six women for many years, and from the age of sixteen had offended all decent people by the depravity of his life.He backed down when Protestantism arose in the city.But he was a well-known liar, and his peace treaties did not give Protestants a sense of security, and life without security was hard.So the residents of Munster held their breath and waited for the next election.This brought about a surprise, the power of the city fell into the hands of the Anabaptists, and the chairman was a man named Bernard Niptorink, who was a draper by day and a seer by night. The bishop took one look at the new prefect and slipped away. That's when John of Leighton enters the scene.He came to Munster as a saint of Jan Mahiz.Mahiz founded a sect of his own and is considered a saint.John, hearing that the just cause had made a mighty sortie, stayed to celebrate the victory, and to clear the diocese of the old bishop's influence.The Anabaptists turned churches into stone quarries, confiscated convents built for the homeless, and burned all books except the Bible.What's more, they drove all those who refused to be anabaptized according to the ritual of Anabaptists to the bishop's camp, and either beheaded or drowned, because they were all heretics, and their death would cause no loss to the society. . This is the prologue. The horror of the drama itself never increases. The upper-class priests who believed in dozens of new creeds flocked to this New Jerusalem.There they meet people who think they have appeal to pious, upright, uplifting people, but are as ignorant as children when it comes to politics and artifice. Munster was occupied for five months, during which time all schemes, institutions, and agendas of social and spiritual revival were tried, and every fledgling prophet was displayed in Parliament. But a small town full of fugitives, plague, and starvation is clearly not a suitable sociological laboratory.Disagreements and quarrels among the various sects undercut the efforts of the army chiefs.At this critical juncture, John the tailor stepped forward. His moment of glorious ephemerality had come. All things are possible among hungry people and suffering children.John began to build his kingdom by copying the old theological forms of government he had read in the Old Testament.The free folk of Munster were divided into the twelve tribes of Israel, and he himself was king.He had already married the daughter of the seer Niptorink, and now he married a widow, the wife of his former teacher, Johan Mahiz.Later, thinking of Solomon, he added two or three concubines.Thus began a sickening farce. John sat on the throne of David in the business district all day, and people stood around listening to the latest orders read by the court chaplain.This came fast and furious, as the fortunes of the city deteriorated and the people desperately needed it. John, however, was an optimist, and he fully believed in the supreme authority of a single order. People complained about being too hungry, and John promised to fix their problem.Then His Majesty the King signed an imperial decree, the property in the city was divided equally between the rich and the poor, the streets were cleared to make vegetable gardens, and all restaurants shared it. So far so good.But some say the rich hide some of their wealth.John told his subjects not to worry.The second decree declared that anyone who violated any of the laws would be immediately beheaded.Note that this warning is not a casual intimidation, because the royal tailor always has sword and scissors in hand, and often performs executions himself. Then came the period of hallucinations, when people fell into every kind of religious fanaticism, and thousands of people crowded the commercial districts day and night, waiting for the trumpet of the Annunciation Angel to blow. Then came the Terror, when the soothsayer, with bloodthirsty amassed courage, slit the throat of one of his queens. Then came the dreadful day of retribution, when two desperate townspeople opened the gates for the bishop's army, and the seers were chained in iron cages, paraded in the country markets of Westphalia, and tortured to death . It's a grotesque epilogue, but one with dire consequences for many simple souls who fear God. From then on, all Anabaptists were wanted.The chiefs who escaped the Munster massacre were also hunted down like hares and executed on the spot.From every pulpit, ministers and priests denounced the Anabaptists, and cursed viciously for their rebellion, who were less worthy of sympathy than wolf-dogs for their attempts to overthrow the established order. Rarely has the campaign against heresy been so successful.Anabaptists ceased to exist as a sect.But there was a strange thing, their minds survived.Picked up by other denominations, dissolved in various religious and philosophical systems, made admirable, it is now part of everyone's spiritual and intellectual heritage. It is not difficult to describe the incident, but it is difficult to explain the reasons. The Anabaptists are almost without exception a class that considers even inkwells a useless luxury. In the past, those who wrote the history of the Anabaptists regarded the sect as a malevolent religious radical.Only now, a century later, do we begin to understand what a role the ideas of these lowly peasants and artists played in the development of a more sensible and tolerant Christianity. However, thoughts are like lightning, and no one knows where the second thunderbolt will fall.What good is Munster's lightning rod when the storm is cracking down over Siena?