This week in Christian history: Indian missionary dies, Rochester Revival ends, Zurich bans Anabaptists

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, March 03, 2024

Zurich bans Anabaptists – March 7, 1526

An early 17th century depiction of the martyrdom of Anabaptist leader Felix Manz, who was drowned on Jan. 5, 1527. | Screengrab: www.swissinfo.ch

This week marks the anniversary of when the city council of Zurich, Switzerland, passed a law banning those professing belief in Anabaptism, with the punishment of drowning.

Tensions had been mounting in the city regarding the presence of the group, which advocated for believer’s baptism and rejected the legitimacy of infant baptisms and other Christian sects.

In response, city officials passed a measure that prohibited the “re-baptism” of people, carrying with it a punishment of drowning for anyone found guilty of doing so.

“The city council justified its mandate in that adult baptism was the manifestation of a belief that encouraged people to defy civil authority and abandon their civic responsibilities of paying taxes and serving in the armed forces,” explained World History Encyclopedia.

“Their pacifism, it was claimed, benefited the enemies of Christianity — notably the Turks — and their refusal to take up arms amounted to treason.”

Felix Manz, a prominent Anabaptist leader, would openly defy the new law and, in January 1527, became the first of the movement to be executed by drowning.