identity

Anabaptists: A People of the Book

adminArlan

from Volume 1, April 2016, page # 28

by Frank Reed

The future for the Anabaptist community is linked to Scripture. Both the Mennonite and Brethren churches were birthed out of the Scripture. Our forefathers read and studied the Bible and took it at face value. They honored and obeyed the Scripture. Many of them memorized much of the Bible. In fact the Brethren said, “The New Testament is our only creed.”

The Bible was the prominent factor in both private life in the home and in the corporate life of the church. If the Anabaptist community is to continue to be a spiritual expression of Scripture, it must be the same today. Read more →

Who Is an Anabaptist?

adminArlan

from Issue #1, April 2016, page # 6

by James G. Landis

In 1927, the M.B. Bergey Company in Souderton, Pennsylvania, owned a hosiery mill that manufactured stockings for women.  According to my father, the Bergey company bought the name “Granite Hosiery” from a New York company for $10,000.  Think of it—$10,000 redeemable in one-ounce gold coins worth $20 each.  Those 500 gold coins today are worth $1200 each or $600,000 – for just a name!

Maybe the name “Granite Hosiery” was worth $600,000 because of what it represented.  Maybe not.  But our interest here is: What is a good name to describe a Bible-believing, Bible-practicing follower of Jesus in today’s world?  Is “Anabaptist” a good name to describe such a believer?

So what does the name “Anabaptist” mean to us?  Who is an Anabaptist? First, I shall define who an Anabaptist is by looking at what the historic Anabaptists believed and practiced in the sixteenth century.  Then I will discuss what it means to be an Anabaptist today.
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