New Covenant House is a common purse Christian community. That means we hold everything in common. We are also Anabaptist. For us, baptism is when we voluntarily make a public confession of our faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, infant baptism, which is not voluntary, has no meaning. Water baptism, likewise, has no meaning. Baptism is strictly a spiritual act of surrender to the teaching of Christ.
Anabaptism originates in the so-called Radical Reformation which rejected not only the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Church, but also the State’s authority over them much like modern day Christian Anarchists. Anabaptists were severely persecuted in Europe and many found refuge here in the United States. Today, we meet them as Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites among others.
Anabaptist faith was first made official in the Schleitheim Confession so named after the Swiss municipality where it was first made public. It contains six Articles besides the principal one about baptism. The other six deal with excommunication (shunning), centrality of the meal (communion), separation from the world, role of the Pastor, nonviolence (serving in military, law enforcement, public office), swearing of oaths.
No comments:
Post a Comment