History and Emergence of the Mennonite Church

The Mennonite Church is an Anabaptist movement founded by Menno Simons, influenced by the reform movement that happened in the 16th century in the Netherland. Menno Simons, a Catholic priest, was influenced by Protestant and Sakramentarian movements during the reform. The first, the problems with the practice of Menno's Catholic Church are the turn of the bread into the real flesh of Jesus, and the wine into the true blood of Jesus, during the bread wine ceremony. In this regard, Menno stated that the he explored the Bible in depth, and that the bread and wine did not turn into the true flesh and bood of Jesus. According to Bible, he believed that this was a memorial commemorating Jesus' last dinner. Menno consulted this problem with Martin Luther, Martin Bucer, and Heinrich Bullinger, the leading reformers of the time, but he did not receive a satisfactory response. The second problem, Menno heard about those who rejected the practice of infant baptism and practiced adult baptism, and so he noticed this issue. Menno investigated the Bible about it and claimed that all Christianity was deceived, saying that no information had passed on the bible about the infant baptism. Meanwhile, Melchior Hoffmann, one of the representatives of the Anabaptist movement, Melchiorite set up the Melchiorite baptism movement. Because of this, Hoffman was arrested. After Hoffman's arrest, Jan van Geelen, who replaced him, rebelled against the government with the attempt to establish the New Jerusalem Kingdom. However, this revolt was suppressed in a bloody manner and took its place in history in the name of Münster Defeat. In this battle, Menno Simons' s brother Peter Simons died. This incident also was one of the reasons why Menno Simons left the Catholic Church. Menno Simons compared himself to these people who did not refrain from sacrificing their lives for their own beliefs, and realized that it was the time to move on. In 1536, he left the Catholic Church. Thus, Menno started to spread his beliefs as an Anabaptist. The purpose of this study is to explain the emergence of the Mennonite Church and its history.

Keywords

Reform, Anabaptist, Menno Simons, Mennonite Church, Catolic.