May 24, 2010 issue
Author explores Anabaptism without clothing of culture
By Mennonite Publishing Network staffStuart Murray wanted to know what a naked Anabaptist looks like.
“Anabaptism has been around for almost 500 years, and for much of that time it has been clothed in Mennonite, Hutterite and Amish traditions and culture,” said Murray, who helps direct the Anabaptist Network in Great Britain and Ireland.
“But what does Anabaptism look like without that clothing? And do people have to become Mennonite to be an Anabaptist?”
His quest for answers led him to write The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith (Herald Press).
“More and more people in Great Britain are seeing Anabaptism as an exciting way to live out their faith,” he said. “They want to know: ‘Where did Anabaptism come from? What are its core convictions?’ And, ‘Do I have to give up my own church tradition to become one?’ The Naked Anabaptist is my effort to provide some answers.”
For Murray, there are seven bare essentials, or core convictions, that make up Anabaptism.
The first is following Jesus as “our example, teacher, friend, redeemer and Lord,” he said. Other core convictions include seeing Jesus as the focal point of God’s revelation; belief in the separation of church and state; finding ways to be “good news to the poor, powerless and persecuted”; a commitment to discipleship and mission; and seeking to live more simply.
Seeing peace as central to the gospel is also a bare essential, he said, but it is not “the center of the gospel — Jesus is the center. As followers of Jesus, we are committed to finding nonviolent alternatives to violence.”
Murray has been “amazed by the lack of interest in Anabaptism that I find among many North American Mennonites today. Maybe this book can help change that a bit.”
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