Early Anabaptism in Global Perspective
Session 4
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 • 8:30–10 a.m.
A. Papers: Commerce, Empire, and Diplomacy in the Early Modern World
Second-Generation Anabaptism and the Dutch Global Empire: Capitalism, Colonialism, and the Slave Trade
Mary S. Sprunger
The last decade has seen a reckoning on the part of the Dutch regarding their role in colonial exploitation and violence, as well as their great complicity in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Dutch scholars have been trying to fit the Mennonites into this new narrative, with sobering results. I will share the state of knowledge on that topic for an English-language audience, including my own contributions.
Thus, this paper will synthesize what we know about Mennonite involvement in the Dutch colonial project—starting with the United East India Company—and the slave trade and put it into the context of the early seventeenth century. The paper will also look for evidence of Mennonite critique of empire. In the Martyrs’ Mirror, van Braght mentioned as one of the dangers facing his people “that shameful and vast commerce which extends far beyond the sea into other parts of the world.” Most warnings were against the consumption of exotic products procured through overseas trade, or concern about the dangers sailors faced on long overseas voyages from which many never returned. There was also prohibition among Mennonites about use of armed ships or the violence required to keep up the flow of goods from Asia. Was there any critique of the trade itself, of colonial domination, or of financing the transportation of enslaved people? Some of this will be based on my own work in primary sources, while also drawing heavily on brand new material by Dutch scholars.
Mary S. Sprunger is Professor of H istory at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She attended Bethel College, Kansas (BA), and received her PhD at the University of Illinois. She has published numerous articles on the intersection of social, economic, and religious history in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Netherlands, focusing especially on Amsterdam Mennonites.
“Simple Before Men”: Benedict Brechtbühl as a Champion of Swiss Mennonite Migration to Pennsylvania in the Early Eighteenth Century
Brendan Jordan
In a 1711 letter to the Dutch Committee of Foreign Need, pastor Benedict Brechtbühl, discouraged by the current prospects for Swiss Anabaptist resettlement, wrote that he did not yet “know of any place where I can live with my little flock.” Six years later, Brechtbühl would lead a substantial emigration of these exiles to the English colony of Pennsylvania. Mennonites in seventeenth-century Switzerland faced severe persecution and hardships, resulting in a diaspora that spread throughout Europe. The Palatinate served as a temporary respite from the punishments instituted by the Canton of Bern, but troubles persisted in wars, natural disasters, and ongoing intolerance. Brechtbühl, a devout Mennonite from Switzerland, collaborated frequently with the Committee for Foreign Need in Amsterdam as Swiss refugees sought a more permanent home that allowed for the freedom of religious practice and economic stability. Historians who have outlined the story of Swiss and Palatine Anabaptists migrating to Pennsylvania point to the appeal of William Penn’s offer of religious toleration, but questions persist in the narrative. What made Pennsylvania the better option compared to the Netherlands? Were there other factors—outside of the promise of religious freedom—that made the colony a comparatively better choice? Why was Brechtbühl the one to lead them? How did he arrive at such a respected position in his life? Why did he feel compelled to rise to the given challenge?
In this presentation, I will address these questions and challenge the prevalent notion that he and those who migrated with him were purely motivated by religious toleration. By evaluating Benedict Brechtbühl and the sociocultural landscape surrounding him, I will determine the other factors that played a part in encouraging him and his flock toward Pennsylvania. I will achieve this by using primary sources in the PRINT (People, Religion, Information, Networks, and Travel) digital database. Correspondence between Brechtbühl and the Dutch Committee for Foreign Need highlight the complex nature of the decision to secure a permanent home, aiming to safeguard their future generations and achieve greater independence and autonomy.
Brendan Jordan is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, having earned two bachelor’s degrees in history and anthropology. Within the PRINT Migration project, his work primarily revolves around the Anabaptists, conducting research, and producing transcriptions in the Dutch language. Additionally, he contributes to the onboarding of volunteers, assisting them as they navigate the transcription process.
Anabaptists Condemned to Mediterranean Galleys: Diplomatic and Theological Responses
Edsel Burdge Jr.
In 1714, the Bern government sent four Swiss Täufer leaders to the galleys of the King of Sicily. Sentenced along with them was Christian Liebe, an evangelist of the Schwarzenau Neu-Täufer. This action on the part of the Bern officials garnered international attention, as the Dutch and Palatine Mennonites, Radical Pietist Nicholas de Treytorrens, Bernese Radical Pietists, the Dutch States General, and even an English archbishop worked for their release. All this played out against a general pogrom against the Swiss Täufer in Bern, where at least forty others were incarcerated. One of the prisoners wrote a Send-Brief to his coreligionists. In 1716, three of the prisoners were released. (Two had died in captivity.) This paper will narrate the sequence of events around this incident of Anabaptists condemned to Mediterranean galley labor, as well as examine the theological content of the Send-Brief.
Edsel Burdge Jr. is the Research Associate at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. He is the editor of volume 3 of Documents of Brotherly Love: Dutch Mennonite Aid to Swiss Anabaptists, 1712-1784 (Ohio Amish Library, 2023) and coauthor with Samuel L. Horst of Building on the Gospel Foundation: The Mennonites of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and Washington County, Maryland, 1730–1970 (Herald Press, 2004). He holds an MA degree in history from Villanova University.
B. Papers: Anabaptism and Identity in the Contemporary World
Peace Spirituality of Mennonites: A Socio-Historical Study of the Javanese Mennonite Church and Its Relationship with the Islamic Community in Java in the Decades 1940 to 1990
Teguh Karyanto
This paper discusses the Islamic-Christian relationship in Java by pointing to the role of Javanese Mennonite spirituality in its relationship with Islam in Java. Christianity in Indonesia has a close relationship with the history of colonialism, giving rise to the “social identity” that Christianity is a colonial religion. Local culture tends to be viewed as negative and contrary to the gospel. Culture is considered a ritual that is contrary to the Bible and is of a nature spiritism. The climax of the Christian-Islamic relationships in 1942 was so bad that some Muslims perpetrated violence against the Mennonite Christians of Java. The violence left a traumatic burden on Muslims and Christians. But Mennonite spirituality, namely, Glassenheit (yieldedness), the value of radical discipleship, nonviolence, and peacemaking praxis, met with Javanese philosophy and the cultural values of Memayu Hayuning Bawana, Memayu Hayuning Baraya such as rukun (harmony), ngajeni (respect), sopan (polite), nrimo (accepting), wiyata (discipleship) became the entry point for the restoration of the Islamic-Christian relationship. The encounter produced the spirituality of Mennonite of Java, which will be discussed in this presentation.
Teguh Karyanto is a pastor in the GITJ Synod (Javanese Mennonite Conference) and was the synod’s secretary from 2017–2022. He is also a lecturer and board member of Wiyata Wacana Pati Seminary, Central Java, Indonesia, and a member of Mennonite World Conference’s Global Anabaptist Higher Education Network. He focuses on the sociology of peace through the study of church history. His recently authored book, BMGJ Oikumene Praktis atau Utopis?, describes the Mennonite encounter with the ecumenical movement in Indonesia.
Toward a Latino/a Anabaptist Theological Tradition: Contemporary Latino/a Reception of Early Anabaptist History and Theology
Luis Tapia
Although most Latino/a Anabaptists in Latin America and the United States may not have read the Spanish translation of Harold Bender’s The Anabaptist Vision (1944, Spanish translation published in 1994), the predominant Latino/a understanding of the sixteenth-century Anabaptist movement and its theological characteristics have been permeated by it. Due to the limited and outdated Anabaptist scholarship available in Spanish, most academic and popular works that describe early Anabaptism follow Bender’s perspective without presenting any historiographical or theological alternatives. Thus, Latino/a Anabaptists in Latin America and the United States embraced an Anabaptist identity that was always mediated by Bender’s North American Anabaptist tradition, which has been questioned on several historical and theological fronts. This paper aims to disclose the limited North American mediation of early Anabaptist history and theology that Latino/a Anabaptists have received and highlight different elements from the current scholarship on early Anabaptist history and theology that could offer different paths toward the construction of an autochthonous Latino/a Anabaptist theological tradition for today
Luis Tapia Rubio is a PhD candidate in theology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Chile and a master of divinity degree from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana. Tapia is an adjunct professor at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and at Seminario Bíblico Anabautista Hispano (SeBAH; Hispanic Anabaptist Biblical Seminary). He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Echoes of the Anabaptist Spirit: Exploring Parallels between Sixteenth-Century Beliefs and Contemporary Faith in Meserete Kristos Church
Kebede Bekere
Henok T. Mekonin
The Anabaptism of the sixteenth century was shaped by the world and context of that time. The first believers in Anabaptism, during the Reformation in Western Europe in the early 1500s, negotiated their existing reality and worked out a life and way of living their faith in response to the world in front of them. As we look forward to the celebration commemorating the birth of the Anabaptist movement in Zurich, Switzerland, it is critical to examine how Anabaptism has grown and evolved globally over the past 500 years.
This paper aims to properly explore (1) the similarities between early Anabaptists and the Meserete Kristos Church (MKC) believers in Ethiopia, (2) how the early Anabaptist teachings, practice, and lifestyle reached the Meserete Kristos Church believers and were embraced in the African context, and (3) if the similarities might have significant impacts on the relationship between the Mennonite churches in North America and the MKC in Ethiopia.
Among the similarities, the paper will mainly focus on the choice to suffer/be persecuted for their firm, uncompromising conviction about the supremacy of God’s Word regardless of the consequences they might have faced. Studying the Word of God by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and discerning the accuracy through the fellowship of believers, commitment to obeying God’s message revealed through his Word, and readiness to pay any price for living out God’s Word stands out as a significant similarity between early Anabaptists and MKC believers. As the state and mainstream Christian churches persecuted and society ostracized the early Anabaptists in sixteenth-century Europe, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the communist government, and other faith groups have been persecuting the MKC believers in Ethiopia. They were also discriminated against in society due to their radical faith and practices.
We believe that as the largest single Mennonite church in the Global South, the reflection on the persecution of Anabaptist believers in Ethiopia due to faith is one of the pieces of evidence that illustrates the global reception of the early Anabaptist theology and practice. In addition to its academic value, the paper will inspire Anabaptist faith communities to remain faithful to their roots and prepare to challenge the pressure from the postmodern host society to compromise their faith.
Kebede Bekere is a lecturer at Meserete Kristos Seminary in Ethiopia. He has written books on peacebuilding, marriage and family, pastoral care and counseling, and trauma healing in local languages. His research is in religious peacebuilding, cultural violence, nonviolence, diversity management in the church, and healing historical trauma. He graduated from Addis Ababa University and holds an MA in Pastoral Counseling from Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, Virginia. He has coauthored or authored a book chapter and three journal articles.
Henok T. Mekonin holds a master’s degree from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Elkhart, Indiana. An ordained minister, he works at AMBS as a global leadership collaborative specialist, jointly supported by AMBS and Mennonite Mission Network, to provide leadership for a partnership with Meserete Kristos Seminary. He is originally from Ethiopia and currently lives with his wife, Misgana, and their two daughters in Goshen, Indiana.