Guido de Brès on Anabaptists and bearing arms

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Reformed Covenanter

Reformed Covenanter

Cancelled Commissioner
In the beginning they talked of nothing but the Spirit and Holiness; they said, it was not lawful for a Christian to be a Magistrate, and that it was not lawful to bear Arms; but after they had brought all under their paw, and in their power, then it was lawful to take the Publick Arms, with the Town-house, and to chuse a Magistrate to their mind, yea, with rejection of him that was ordained of God; and thrust themselves into his place, and to make themselves Consuls and Senators as they have done: there is not need of much speaking, for the world knoweth it.

Guido de Brès, The rise, spring and foundation of the Anabaptists, or re-baptized of our time, trans. Joshua Scottow (1565; Cambridge MA: Marmaduke Johnson, 1668), p. 14.
 
It's too bad that this English translation is just a sliver of the original work. It would be great if the whole thing was translated.
 
Guido's Brother said:
It's too bad that this English translation is just a sliver of the original work. It would be great if the whole thing was translated.
Click to expand...

I am blessed to know about Guido de Brès through Wes, who first introduced him to my knowledge through the PB. Some good stuff.
 
To be historically fair and accurate, this charge would only apply to the radicals involved in the Munster Rebellion, and perhaps a few other minor AB communities, which constituted only a fraction of their overall ranks. In Holland, Anabaptists became known as "the quiet people."

This has been a bone of contention between Dr. R. S. Clark and myself, as he is prone to categorical statements of this nature, rather than making the necessary distinctions.
 
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Phil D. said:
To be historically fair and accurate, this charge would only apply to the radicals involved in the Munster Rebellion, and perhaps a few other minor AB communities, which constituted only a fraction of their overall ranks. In Holland, Anabaptists became known as "the quiet people."
Click to expand...

Elsewhere in his book on the Anabaptists, Guido de Bres notes the different varieties of Anabaptists. If memory serves me correctly, he mentions 16 different groups that he was aware of.
 
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