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

100 Divergent Riversand, at least in terms of Zwingli 's definition of a sacrament as an oath or pledge, wasthe rite of pledging oneself to the community of believers. In the English separatisttradition there was no objection to infant baptism, but the rite was simple. In theEnglish Baptist tradition, both General and Particular, the term 'sacrament' came tobe replaced by the term 'ordinance', and although believers' baptism was insistedupon, the rite was not regarded as conveying any spiritual gifts. At most it was afaithful response to the gift of faith and the Spirit. This was taken even further by theQuakers, for whom inner enlightenment was all that was needed. Here the Zurichtheology which had stressed the difference between the outward and inward was takento its ultimate conclusion. Only the inward is necessary. The ritual ofbaptism, howeverbasic, can be entirely dispensed with.