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This book presents selections from writings of the Anabaptist movement which illustrate their distinctive approach to Christian spirituality. The Anabaptists of the sixteenth century were for centuries disparaged as fanatics, revolutionairies and heretics, and ridiculed as the illegitimate 'stephchildren' of the Protestant Reformation. Yet a close examination of their writings reveals a profound concern for Christian discipline, concrete and practicle love for others and devotion to God. Their emphasis on free will, simplicity of faith, the corporate nature of Christian spirituality and the necessity to live according to the precepts and monasticism of the Catholic Church. At the same time, they shared with Protestants their rejection of the penitential system of salvation. Increasingly, contemporary theologians and spiritual leaders are turning to Anabaptist sources for inspiration as they seek to articulate a Christian spiritulaity which places full confidence of salvation in God alone, while committed practice of love on the part of the human being.
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