Anabaptists (from the Greek anabaptisein, to rebaptize) was a name given to a Christian sect by their adversaries, because, as they objected to infantbaptism, they re-baptized those who joined their body. The founder of the sect appears to have been Nicolas Storch, a disciple of Luther's, who seems to have aimed also at the reorganization of society based on civil and political equality. Gathering round him a number of fiery spirits, among whom was Thomas Munzer, he incited the peasantry of Suabia and Franconia to insurrection - the doctrine of a community of goods being now added to their creed. This insurrection was quelled in 1525, when Munzer was put to the torture and beheaded. After the death of Munzer the sectaries dispersed in all directions, spreading their doctrines wherever they went. In 1534 the town of Miinster in Westphalia became their centre of action. Under the leadership of Bockhold and Matthias their numbers increased daily, and being joined by the restless spirits of the adjoining towns, they soon made themselves masters of the town and expelled their adversaries. Matthias became their prophet, but he fell in a sally against the Bishop of Munster, Count Waldeck, who had laid siege to the city. Bockhold then became leader, assuming the name of John of Leyden, king of the New Jerusalem, and Munster became a theatre of all the excesses of fanaticism, lust, and cruelty. The town was eventually taken in June, 1535, and Bockhold and a great many of his partisans suffered death. This was the last time that the movement assumed anything like political importance.
In the meantime some of the apostles, who were sent out by Bockhold to extend the limits of his kingdom, had been successful in various places, and many independent teachers, who preached the same doctrines, continued active in the work of founding a new empire of pure Christians. It is true that they rejected the practice of polygamy, community of goods, and intolerance towards those of different opinions which had prevailed in Munster; but they enjoined upon their adherents the other doctrines of the early Anabaptists, and certain heretical opinions in regard to the humanity of Christ, occasioned by the controversies of that day about the sacrament. The most celebrated of those Anabaptist prophets were Melchior Hoffmann, the founder of the Hoffmannists or Millenarians; Galenus Abrahamssohn, from whom the sect of the Galenists were called; and Simon Menno, founder of various sects known as Mennonites.
Menno's principles are contained in his Principles of the True Christian Faith, 1556, a work which is held as authoritative on points of doctrine and worship among the Baptist communities of Germany and the Netherlands. The application of the term Anabaptist to the general body of Baptists throughout the world is unwarranted, because these sects have nothing in common with the bodies which sprung up in various countries of Europe during the Reformation, except the practice of adult baptism. The Baptists themselves repudiate the name Anabaptist, as they claim to baptize according to the original institution of the rite, and never repeat baptism in the case of those who in their opinion have been so baptized. Research Anabaptists
Apocrypha (from the Greek, 'things concealed or spurious') is a term applied in the earliest churches to various sacred or professedly inspired writings, sometimes given to those whose authors were unknown, sometimes to those with a hidden meaning, and sometimes to those considered objectionable. The term is specially applied to the fourteen undermentioned books which were written during the two centuries preceding the birth of Christ. They were written, not in Hebrew, but in Greek, and the Jews never allowed them a place in their sacredcanon. They were incorporated into the Septuagint, and thence passed to the Vulgate. The Greek Church excluded them from the canon in 360 at the Council of Laodicea. The LatinChurch treated them with more favour, but it was not until 1546 that they were formally admitted into the canon of the Church of Rome by a decree of the Council of Trent. The Anglican Church says they may be read for example of life and instruction of manners, but that the church does not apply them to establish any doctrine. All other Protestant churches in Britain and America ignore them. The following fourteen books form the Apocrypha of the English Bible: - The first and second Books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the rest of the Book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus, Baruch the Prophet, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and the Elders, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasses, and the first and second Books of Maccabees.
Besides the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament there are many other books composed in the earlier ages of Christianity, and published under the names of Christ and his apostles, or of such immediate followers as from their character or means of intimate knowledge might give an apparent plausibility for such forgeries. These writings comprise: 1st, the Apocryphal Gospels, which treat of the history of Joseph and the Virgin before the birth of Christ, of the infancy of Jesus, and of the acts of Pilate; 2d, the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles; and 3d, the Apocryphal Apocalypses, none of which have obtained canonical recognition by any of the churches. Research Apocrypha
Atheism is the disbelief or denial of a god or gods. Throughout history the Christian church persecuted those who refuted the existence of a god, making such disbelief a crime punishable by death. Islam similarly punishes Muslims who disbelieve or question the teachings of it's prophetMohammed, with death and non-Muslims with life imprisonment. Research Atheism
Baha'ism is a religion founded in Iran by Baha'ullah with about five million adherents throughout the world. Following the suppression of the millenarian Babi movement Babism in Iran and the execution of its leader, the Bab, in 1850, Baha'ullah declared himself in 1863 to be the new prophet heralded by the Bab. Baha'ullah acknowledged the revelations of earlier prophets such as Jesus and Muhammad, but held that the single identity of God must be re-taught by new prophecy to each generation.
Baha'is believe in the spiritual progression of the world to unity and their ideal is an international community with one language. Baha'i temples are open to the faithful of all creeds. A Universal House of Justice administers the religion, with its centres in Haifa and Akko (Acre) in Israel. There is no clergy or ritual; spiritual practice includes daily private prayer and an annual period of fasting, which ends with the festival of Now Ruz, the Persian New Year at the spring equinox. Baha'is stress the equality of women and the importance of monogamous family life.
Although Baha'is regard the Koran and Muhammad with reverence, to Muslims the Baha'is are heretics who have displaced the Koran from its position as the final and most important revelation; this has led to persecution in Iran since the religion's inception, with renewed force since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Furthermore, the location of the Baha'is world centre in Israel has led to an association of Baha'is with that country and made the Baha'is a target of anti-Semitic sentiment. Research Baha'ism
The book of Mormon is an alleged translation (done in 1830) by Joseph Smith, of a volume found buried in a stone box on Cumorah, a hill near Manchester, New York state. Composed of gold plates eight inches by seven inches, fastened by three gold rings, written in 'reformed Egyptian', interpreted by the aid of two crystals (Urim and Thummim) set like spectacles in a silver bow, it summarised American history from Babel to 420 AD. Its authors were the prophet Mormon and his son Moroni. A travesty of the Old Testament, and of similar size, intended as the bible of the West, it has been identified by unbelievers with an unprinted romance, 'The Found Manuscript' by Solomon Spaulding who died in 1816, copied and communicated to Joseph Smith by Sidney Rigdon. Research Book of Mormon
The Flag of the Prophet or the Sanjak-sherif is the sacredflag of the Muslims. It was originally composed of the turbans of the Koreish captured by Mohammed; but the black curtain that hung in front of the door of Ayesha, one of Mohammed's wives, was afterwards substituted. It is preserved in the seraglio at Istanbul. The carefully-guarded banner unfolded at the commencement of a war is not the real sacredflag, though it is commonly believed to be so. Research Flag of the Prophet
Jyllands-Posten is a Danishnewspaper. The newspaper shot to international fame in December 2005 and January 2006 after publishing twelve caricatures of the prophetMohammed after reports that Danish artists were refusing to illustrate works about Islam, out of fear of fundamentalist retribution. One particular caricature depicted Mohammed wearing a turban which was actually a classical cartoonbomb with a burning fuse, implying the connection between the prophet and terrorists. In December 2005, Louise Arbour the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights appointed two UN experts on racism to carry out a detailed investigation into what she characterized as a 'disrespect for belief.' By the newspaper. Following the publication of the cartoons, Muslims around the world violently protested, many carrying banners calling for the death of those who in their eyes insult Islam. Research Jyllands-Posten
Montanism was a schismatic movement which arose in the Christian church during the 2nd century. Montanus, the originator of the movement, was a Mysian, and about 130 began to make the claim of being a divinely commissioned prophet, the bearer of a fresh influx of the Spirit. He soon gained a large following, and with two women, Maximilla and Priscilla, likewise possessors of the new charism of the Spirit, proclaimed the imminent return of Christ at Pepuza in Phrygia, and demanded a radical transformation of the church's life, for example by fasting, by regarding marriage as an inferior state, and by refusing to absolve from post- baptismal sin.
The spread of Montanism in Asia Minor soon compelled the church to take action. But the condemnation of its tenets only disseminated them more widely: they gained adherents in Italy and Gaul, and in North Africa won over Tertullian of Carthage. A synod at Iconium, in 235, declared Montanism to be a heretical system, and the council of Constantinople in 381 refused to sanction the baptism of Montanism, thereby putting it on the same footing as paganism. By 400 the movement was practically extinct. Research Montanism
Unitarianism is a system of theology. It is a belief that God exists in one Person. Some writers maintain that Unitarianism was coeval with the Apostolic Church. Described as succeeding to Arianism, Arminianism, and Socinianiam, it has undergone, many changes in modern times. Unitarian congregations first arose in Poland and Hungary. Persecution, the martyrdom of men like Michael Servetus in Switzerland, John Biddle and Bartholomew Legate in England, and Francis David in Transylvania, as well as repression in Italy and elsewhere, gave it impetus. After the Reformation many Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists were drawn to it, and Milton, Locke, Newton, and Isaac Watts are said to have favoured it. Among its leaders, James Priestley and James Martineau in England, and Theodore Parker and W E Channing in America are conspicuous. In the USA the name given to the system is Universalism.
With no creed, and opposed to dogma, its modern position in Great Britain has been defined as a belief in the unity of God, in the humanity of Jesus, who is regarded as a prophet superhumanly endowed in progressive revelation and in the immortal hope for all mankind. While believing in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, Unitarians deny the doctrine of the Trinity, the verbal infallibility of the Bible, and eternal torment. They claim to be open to all the revelations of science and evolution, and to all that is implied by the laws of change. Their ministers and congregations are free and independent.
Most of the churches have Sunday schools. The first Unitarian church in London was founded by Theophilus Lindsey in Essex Street, Strand. The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was founded in 1825; a national Unitarian conference was organized at Liverpool in 1882; and there are training colleges at Manchester and Oxford. Research Unitarianism
Abbreviations
Research Anabaptists
