There are many beliefs and different ways of following the teachings of Jesus. One of the ways these teachings are called baptism is used as an entrance to faith.
Baptism is followed by Baptists and Anabaptists and is called ‘believers baptism.’ They both refuse infant baptism and believe baptism is only for adults.
The fact that they have many similarities led people to believe that they are the same. But with these similarities, they also have distinct beliefs that distinguish one another.
Key Takeaways
- Baptists are a group of Christians who believe in baptism by immersion, while Anabaptists reject infant baptism and baptize only adults.
- Anabaptists believe in the separation of church and state, while Baptists hold various beliefs.
- Baptists are more mainstream and well-known than Anabaptists, often seen as a smaller, more radical group.
Baptist vs Anabaptist
The difference between Baptists and Anabaptists is that Baptists believe they cannot control and impose one’s freedom as it is their right. In contrast, Anabaptists do not believe in this and impose rules to be followed by all the sect members.
Baptist is the people who believe in and follow baptism, which is a branch of the Puritans. They do not have one belief as it depends on the groups or the places where they live.
They mingle with other societies and actively participate in their political aspects and military services. Anabaptists are people of the Anabaptism, a revolutionary movement of the sixteenth century.
Like Baptists, they also rejected infant baptism and propagated pacifism. They are the ones who believe that rules of simplicity are to be followed by all the members of the sect and live secluded from the rest.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Baptist | Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|
| Beliefs | They have different beliefs | Their beliefs are that man should first place their belief in the gospel |
| Pacifism | They believe they should not be controlling and that freedom is every man’s right. | They believe that all the members should follow the rules of simplicity strictly. |
| Community | They do not believe in the communal way of living | They believe in the communal way of living by sharing all the properties among the members |
| salvation | Justification by faith is their sole belief | Justification by continuously doing good deeds for the community |
| Modes of living | They live among other communities and societies in cities, etc. | They live secluded from everyone else and continue living in simplicity. |
What is Baptist?
Baptists are the people who believed in baptism that Puritans branched. This group is well known in society as they mingle with people of cities and societies in their neighborhoods.
Since they do not stick to the communal way of living, they often merge themselves with people of cities and metropolitans by adapting to their lifestyles. They are divided into General Baptists and Particular Baptists depending on various factors.
They actively participate in political movements, often winning political and high-status power. So, Baptists are free to run political offices or even participate in wars.
They can also participate in military service. Baptists do not believe that justification of their Almighty has to be done through good deeds and pure works.
They believe that justification by faith is the true way to achieve salvation.
What is Anabaptist?
Anabaptism is a Radical Reformation movement of the sixteenth century, and an Anabaptist is a social group called Swiss Brethren that started the movement during the sixteenth century. They believe a man should first place their belief in the gospel before placing it in God.
They also follow pacifism, not only within themselves but also towards everyone else. Like Baptists, they also reject the idea of the baptism of infants.
Anabaptists believe in leading their life through simplicity. They even refuse to take light energy to guide them as they live secluded from everyone else.
This is also a reason for their unpopularity in society.
Anabaptists are divided into groups named Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites. Among them, Hutterites still use horse stallions for traveling.
Main Differences Between Baptist and Anabaptist
- Baptists and Anabaptists have different beliefs, which sets them apart. Baptists’ beliefs differ from person to person as some follow the anabaptist beliefs while others follow the opposite. Anabaptists believe that a man should always place their trust first in a gospel before baptism.
- Baptist believes that every man has their right to freedom and that it should not and cannot be controlled by anyone. They should be able to choose for themselves. Anabaptists believe that the rules have to be followed by every sect member strictly.
- Anabaptists believe all the sect members must equally share all the properties. This is communal living. But this is not believed or followed by Baptists.
- Salvation in baptism is done through justification by faith. Whereas in Anabaptism, it is justified by continuously doing good deeds for the community.
- Since anabaptists believe in simplicity during living, they live secluded from the rest of the world and have access to only the bare minimum, as in the time of Jesus. On the other hand, Baptists include and merge themselves into nearby societies and cities, actively participating in their way of living.
The conclusion of the two groups is because of their origin. Baptists believe in baptism, a branch of the Puritans, whereas Anabaptism, followed by Anabaptists, was started in the sixteenth century as a Radical Reformation.
- The Anabaptist story: An introduction to sixteenth-century Anabaptism (google.com)
- The Baptist Heritage (google.com)
- No Discipline, no Church: an Anabaptist Contribution to the Reformed Tradition (jstor.org)
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
