11. Menno on Church Discipline Besides the practice of infant baptism the absence of scriptural church discipline in the state churches marked a principal point of difference between Menno Simons and the representatives of the state-church Reformation. That every person born within a given state or province should without his knowledge or consent be made a member of the Christian

12. Menno Simons' Doctrine on the Incarnation of Christ Menno Simons held a peculiar doctrine on the Incarnation: Christ did not obtain His human nature from a sinful child of Adam. God through the Holy Spirit prepared for Him a body (Heb. 10:5). Mary was truly His mother; He is called "the fruit of Mary's womb” in a similar sense

13. Menno Simons' Attitude Towards the Münsterites The Münsterite sect rejected infant baptism but differed from the Mennonites on other fundamental points: Under the leadership of John of Leyden , the "second King David" who was to rule until Solomon (Christ) should take possession of the kingdom, they established themselves in the city of Münster in northwest Germany. Not only

14. The Batenburgers and the Davidites After the capture of Münster the Batenburgers perpetuated Münsterite principles and practices. They derived their name from a former burgomaster of Steenwijk, John Theodor of Batenburg , the illegitimate son of a Netherlands nobleman. The two leading principles of John of Leyden, namely that of establishing the kingdom of God through the sword, and

15. Adam Pastor Roelof Martens, who is better known by the name of Adam Pastor , of Dorpen in Westphalia, was about 1530 priest at Aschendorf. The date when he cast his lot with the Obbenites is unknown. He served the Church as a minister and was ordained an elder or bishop by Menno Simons and Dirk Philips, probably in

16. A Letter of Menno Simons to a Timid Believer The following letter is addressed to Menno's wife's sister, Margaret Edes. Most beloved sister, whom I sincerely love in Christ! From your dear husband's letter I understand that during all the winter you have been visited with sickness and affliction, which I very much regret to hear. But it is

17. Menno in Wüstenfelde. His Death. His Place in the History of the Reformation. Soon after Menno had left Wismar he seems to have settled in Wüstenfelde ("the desert field") near Oldesloe in the county of Fresenburg between Hamburg and Lübeck in Holstein. It is not definitely known just when he with his family first came to this place. Here