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ANABAPTIST - MENNONITE HISTORY
In 1536, Menno Simons (1496-1561), a Catholic priest in
Holland, came under conviction of sin and began studying the
Bible. His repentance and surrender to God resulted in
spiritual new birth. As a converted Christian he renounced
Catholicism and united with the persecuted Anabaptists by
believer's baptism.
A gifted, humble man, Menno Simons ardently studied the
Bible and became a very able teacher during those times of
severe test. The Church called him to serve as minister,
which he accepted after prayerful consideration. He was
powerfully used by the Lord. With the help of other faithful
ministers he brought together the brethren in fellowship and
unity of doctrine and practice. He baptized many people and
helped organize congregations. By his keen discernment and
skillful pen he defended the faith against the errors of
Catholicism, the compromising reformers of Protestantism,
and false teachers among other Anabaptists.
Under Menno Simons' influential labors in Holland, the
Anabaptists became known as Mennonites. Gradually the
Anabaptists who were scattered over Germany, Switzerland,
France, and elsewhere also came to be called Mennonites.
These
early Anabaptist-Mennonites were known by their application
of Christ's teachings in every area of life: pure speech,
modest apparel, diligent business, social and moral purity,
separation from worldliness, and nonresistance in times of
war and in everyday life. Their insistence on experiencing a
change of heart through a true conversion to Christ was the
basis of their whole way of life.
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Theirs was also the faith of the pre-Reformation Waldenses and
other nonconformist groups of the Middle Ages. They were neither
Catholics nor Protestants and they were bitterly persecuted by both
for their independence from the state-controlled churches. Of the
various groups of Anabaptists that sprang up all over Europe, it was
largely the rural Swiss-German Anabaptists who preserved the faith.
Because of intense persecution, they fled their homelands, often
leaving well-established farms and businesses, choosing to obey God
rather than men (Acts 5:29). In time many of them immigrated to
America.
The earliest permanent settlement of Mennonites in America was at
Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1683, almost a century before the New
England colonies became the United States of America. The coming of
the early Mennonite settlers was brought about by personal
invitation of William Penn, an English Quaker, who
sought to fill an extensive tract of land granted him by the king of
England.
Other immigrations to America occurred from 1704 until the French
and Indian War in 1754. There were an estimated three to five
thousand Mennonites in America by the time of the Revolutionary War.
Another migration to America (1815-1861) began after the time of
Napoleon.
Among the Mennonites who fled Europe during times of persecution in
search of promised freedom in the New World were those who were
faithful in maintaining the faith of the apostles. In America they
braved the dangers of frontier life and were confronted by new
challenges. They became known as quiet, God-fearing people, sober
and devout in faith, and industrious and temperate in everyday life.
The Mennonite Church, sometimes referred to as the Old Mennonite
Church, faithfully maintained the high standard of the gospel
through the early history of the united States. A strong
conservatism in doctrine and way of life characterized them in their
communities. In times of war they steadfastly refused to bear arms
and fight, in obedience to the Lord's teaching on nonresistance.
Their consistent stand through the French and Indian War, the
revolutionary War, and the Civil War gained for them the reputation
of being a historic peace church. The power of the Holy Spirit was
evident in their personal lives. They observed discipline as taught
in Matthew 18:15-18. Through careful observance of this principle a
scriptural separation from the world was maintained.
Religion is nothing else but the love
of God and man.
William Penn
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