Anabaptist Story
Book Review: William R. Estep, The Anabaptist Story, second edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975. 250 pages. Paper, $10.95. First edition published in 1963 by Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee.
William Estep, Professor of Church History at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ft. Worth, Texas), summarizes the work of early Anabaptist leaders and their teachings. He surveys a vast array of material, giving short biographies of more than a dozen leaders and summarizing some of their doctrines. The main text is easy to read; references and details are given in 425 footnotes. The bibliography includes 105 books and 56 articles.
After Estep described the first baptism, January 21, 1525, he commented, "This was clearly the most revolutionary act of the Reformation. No other event so completely symbolized the break with Rome" (11). These men and women were no longer trying to reform the old church, but rather creating a new one -- an idea with interesting parallels to believer's baptism itself.
A history book does not necessarily have a theme of its own (apart from the historical developments it claims to report). Themes may develop, though, as the author arranges the material to emphasize certain ideas. Estep does not overtly make a case or present an argument in favor of a particular point until the last chapter. Nevertheless, the events are reported in such a way to give two impressions: 1) noble martyrdom and 2) doctrinal divergence.
Persecution and martyrdom are undeniable facts of the Anabaptist story, but Estep appears to emphasize them to gain the sympathies of the readers. Estep presents the Anabaptists as sincere, pious, zealous, faith-filled, Bible-believing martyrs. Anabaptists may have been all of those, but Estep may be painting them in the most favorable light. He says little about the Münsterites and the militant Anabaptists that caused their own martyrdom; he does not acknowledge that Anabaptist zeal
William Estep, Professor of Church History at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ft. Worth, Texas), summarizes the work of early Anabaptist leaders and their teachings. He surveys a vast array of material, giving short biographies of more than a dozen leaders and summarizing some of their doctrines. The main text is easy to read; references and details are given in 425 footnotes. The bibliography includes 105 books and 56 articles.
After Estep described the first baptism, January 21, 1525, he commented, "This was clearly the most revolutionary act of the Reformation. No other event so completely symbolized the break with Rome" (11). These men and women were no longer trying to reform the old church, but rather creating a new one -- an idea with interesting parallels to believer's baptism itself.
A history book does not necessarily have a theme of its own (apart from the historical developments it claims to report). Themes may develop, though, as the author arranges the material to emphasize certain ideas. Estep does not overtly make a case or present an argument in favor of a particular point until the last chapter. Nevertheless, the events are reported in such a way to give two impressions: 1) noble martyrdom and 2) doctrinal divergence.
Persecution and martyrdom are undeniable facts of the Anabaptist story, but Estep appears to emphasize them to gain the sympathies of the readers. Estep presents the Anabaptists as sincere, pious, zealous, faith-filled, Bible-believing martyrs. Anabaptists may have been all of those, but Estep may be painting them in the most favorable light. He says little about the Münsterites and the militant Anabaptists that caused their own martyrdom; he does not acknowledge that Anabaptist zeal