On Jan. 21, 1525, a young Conrad Grebel scooped up a handful of water and baptized his friend, George Blaurock. Blaurock, in turn, began baptizing the men who were gathered in the home of Felix Manz on this winter’s eve in Zurich, Switzerland. It was an act of Christian faithfulness that would take some of them to their death.
Grebel was the acknowledged leader of this group of young radicals who were challenging the theology and practice of the Roman Catholic Church. A group of them had begun studying the Bible together under the teaching of Ulrich Zwingli, a leader of the Reformation that was occurring not only in Zurich but in communities across Western Europe in the early years of the 16th century.
Zwingli had slowly introduced reforms through his preaching but continued working with the town council to keep their approval. Grebel and his fellow students were impatient with the pace of reform. Among other things, they wanted to abolish the mass and end the practice of infant baptism.
Leadership, and perhaps rebellion as well, came easily to Grebel. He was born into a distinguished local family and grew up accustomed to wealth and privilege. His father, Jacob Grebel, was influential in the political affairs of the city and able to provide his son with a university education. Young Grebel studied in Basel, Vienna, and later in Paris before returning to life in Zurich.
It seems he was a gifted but also temperamental young man. By the time Grebel returned to Zurich his health was poor, his funds depleted and his reputation damaged by a student brawl. In an act that further antagonized his father, he married and began a family. In the face of these challenges, Grebel became an enthusiastic supporter of Zwingli and the evangelical cause.
In 1523 and again in 1524, the Zurich city council heard arguments for and against the reform efforts. One issue had to do with mandatory tithes. This was a kind of taxation on the poor that supported the institutions of the church. Grebel and others argued against it as unbiblical. A second issue was the mass which they also viewed as unbiblical. There was no need to keep sacrificing Christ. The work on the cross was sufficient.
Grebel, Manz and others pleaded with Zwingli to separate himself from the influence of the council and set up a church of true believers, committed to following Christ in everyday life. Zwingli, however, was unwilling to join them. It was too hard to imagine a church that was organized apart from the state.
By spring of 1524 some were beginning to refuse the baptism of infants, as well. After all, how could infants repent of sin? Surely this, too, was unbiblical.
The break with Zwingli and the city council was complete.
In the months after Grebel and his friends baptized themselves in what they viewed as their first true baptism, a growing band of converts met regularly to share a simple Lord’s Supper and affirm their commitment to Christian fellowship. And despite threats and even imprisonment, the movement kept growing.
Sadly, many of these early leaders were put to death as heretics. Grebel, banished from Zurich, succumbed to the plague. Manz was executed by drowning. Blaurock was chased out of the city but was eventually burned at the stake. Each refused to recant or to comprise what they understood to be the call of Christ on their lives.
Valerie Rempel has served as dean of Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary and vice president of Fresno Pacific University. She has degrees from Tabor College, MB Biblical Seminary and Vanderbilt University and has served on a variety of Mennonite Brethren and inter-Mennonite boards. In September 2021, she will begin working as the director of accreditation for The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).
