March 25 - Conrad Grebel - Anabaptist John 16:2

Anabaptist History

March 25 1525 Conrad /Konrad Grebel arrived in St. Gall Switzerland and had the gall to call for the need for repentance and baptism. Over the next months, he baptized 500 people - mostly people who had already been baptized as infants. Rebaptizing people was seen as heresy.

Today it may seem unremarkable to baptize adults, but when people started baptizing adults in the 1500's church leaders were furious. Those who believed that baptism should only be done when people had a full understanding of the meaning of baptism were labelled Anabaptists. 

Konrad Grebel, who founded Baptism with Felix Manz, lived in this house from 1508 -1514 and from 1520-1525

In a weird twist, Anabaptists were persecuted and sometimes killed by drowning! 

Conrad Grebel is often called "The Father of Anabaptists" because he was the first in recent history to baptize an adult. Although he died an early death, he left many followers. Whom did he baptize?

Reflections on Conrad Grebel 

When I think about the persecution of the early Anabaptists, it brings to mind  when Jesus (Yeshua) shared with His disciples "There will come a time when people who kill you will believe they are doing God's will." 

To me, it seems preposterous that baptizing adults would be seen as blasphemous. Would these people have killed John the Baptist who baptized Jesus as an adult or Philip who baptized the Ethiopian?

Paul wrote, "We don't fight people, but powers and principalities." Sometimes people do horrible things and later shake their heads wondering how on earth they could have believed that they were doing the right thing.

In The Bondage Breaker, Neil T. Andersen cites many examples of how a spirit can take over the Central Nervous System of a person and cause them to do many unusual things. Things that are detrimental not only to themselves but to others.

I wonder: 

Did any Anabaptist persecutors ever have a similar experience to that of Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus when they finally had their eyes opened to what they were doing?

Prayer to Remain Non-Condemnational

Abba, Father, protect us from evil powers and principalities that would twist our minds or cause us to take actions against You and others. Help us to remember your laws and the words of  Christ who warned us repeatedly not to judge or condemn others. 

Thank you for showing us You will forgive us if we are mislead like Saul. 

Thank you for loving us all.  ~ Amen

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Thank you for stopping by,

Want to find out more about this topic?

Here are some of my sources:

• Read about Conrad Grebel on the Christianity.com website.
• Read about Konrad Grebel on Britannica.com website

Do you have some other sources you would recommend? Please drop me a note in the comments below.

Thanks! I really appreciate hearing from you!

Su