The Radical Reformation Tradition: Anabaptists, English Separatists ...

The Radical Reformation Tradition99The great spokesman for the Friends, William Penn, explained, 'The time of theBaptism of the Holy Ghost, Christ's only Baptism, therefore called the One Baptism,has been long since come; Consequently the other, which was John's, was fulfilled,and as becomes a Fore-runner, ought to cease.'51 According to John Fox, whoevercomes into the baptism of the Spirit, comes into the one in which all the other ends,the greater. 52 Justification and sanctification are inward spiritual states they areBaptism in the Spirit - and thus no outward rite is necessary at alLThus, the split between outward and inward, developed by Zwingli and Bullinger,and further separated in the Radical wing of the Reformation, was taken to itsconclusion in the Friends, who saw themselves in the position of the first Christians,prior to Scripture being written down. Their testimonies reveal a particular vocabularyto describe their conversion experience. From a miserable state they passed to aperiodof waiting, in which they eventually encountered Christ. This was followed by a timeof inward and spiritual judgement. Enlightenment, or a 'Disciples state', followed,resulting in the internalization and spiritualization of the work and person of Christ.Christ within becomes the inner light, and God, Christ, Spirit and light becameinterchangeable. As Penn explained:Whatever is to be obtained and enjoyed within, is originally and chiefly ascribableto the Discoveries, Convictions and Leadings of the blessed Light of Christ withinthrough every Generation, however variously the Principle may have dominated:as, the Word of God nigh, Wisdom, Light, Spirit, &c. under the Old Testament;and Light, Grace, Truth, Christ, Spirit, Anointing, Gift of God, &c. under the NewTestament.53The pneumatological/Christological is strongly discernable, though this branch of theRadical Reformation, having its own theology of indwelling and the inner light,abolished the ritual act of baptism.Concluding RemarksThe Radical Reformation developed certain Reformation principles to what the heirsof the Reformation regarded as unnecessary extremes. In the Anabaptist tradition wefind a stress on faith as a conscious undertaking, and therefore the need for thosebaptized in infancy to be (re)baptized. The ritual is stripped to a bare minimum inaccordance with scriptural norms: instruction, confession of faithlcommitment, andbaptism with the triune formula. The mode was not of immediate importance amongstthe Anabaptists, but division on this matter developed later. The ritual was regardedas mandated by Scripture, but rather than conveying grace, was a response to grace,51 William Penn, Reason Against Railing, London, 1673, p. 107, cited by Underwood, ibid .. p. 74.52 George Fox, The Great Myslery of the Greal Whore Unfolded, London, 1659. p. 112, cited inUnderwood, ibid., p. 76.53 Penn, Reason Against Railing, cited by Underwood, ibid., p. 107.