Anabaptist (Mennonite / Amish)

Believer's baptism only - rejecting infant baptism, baptizing on personal confession of faith.

Their basis
In the New Testament baptism always follows repentance and belief - 'Repent, and be baptized' (Acts 2:38); the Samaritans were baptized 'when they believed' (Acts 8:12); disciples are made, then baptized (Matt 28:19). An infant cannot repent or believe, so infant baptism is no true baptism; hence they re-baptized adults, which gave them their name.

Scripture answers
Here they largely recover the plain New Testament pattern: faith precedes baptism, and every clear baptism in Acts is of one old enough to believe (Acts 16:31-33; Acts 18:8; Rom 6:3-4; Col 2:12). Those who baptize infants appeal to household baptisms and covenant continuity (Acts 16:15; 1 Cor 1:16), where honest believers split. The caution for Anabaptists is not the practice but making baptismal timing a wall of fellowship dividing them from other true believers.

Acts 2:38Acts 8:12Acts 16:31-33Acts 18:8Rom 6:3-4Col 2:12Matt 28:19

In fairness: They have a genuinely strong biblical case - the earliest, clearest examples are all believers' baptisms. This was a real recovery of apostolic practice, and many died for it.

Nonresistance and pacifism - refusing to bear arms, go to war, or use force even in self-defense.

Their basis
Jesus said, 'Do not resist the one who is evil... turn the other cheek' and 'love your enemies' (Matt 5:38-44); He told Peter, 'all who take the sword will perish by the sword' (Matt 26:52); His kingdom 'is not of this world,' so His servants do not fight (John 18:36). The disciple follows the crucified, non-retaliating Lord.

Scripture answers
Jesus' call to personal non-retaliation and enemy-love is clear and binding, and the church has too often ignored it. Yet Scripture also affirms that governing authority legitimately 'bears the sword' as God's servant against evil (Rom 13:1-4), John did not command soldiers to leave the army but to be just (Luke 3:14), and Cornelius the centurion is commended without being told to resign (Acts 10:1-2). So an absolute rule binding every believer against all force may reach past what the text settles - this is ground where faithful people honestly differ.

Matt 5:38-44Matt 26:52John 18:36Rom 13:1-4Luke 3:14Acts 10:1-2

In fairness: They preserved Jesus' radical enemy-love and refusal of vengeance when Christendom baptized its wars - a real prophetic witness the wider church needed to hear.

Separation from the world and nonconformity - Amish plain dress, the Ordnung (community rules), and rejection of modern technology and worldly culture.

Their basis
'Do not be conformed to this world' (Rom 12:2); 'Come out from among them and be separate... touch no unclean thing' (2 Cor 6:14-17); 'friendship with the world is enmity with God' (James 4:4); 'Do not love the world' (1 John 2:15). A holy people must be visibly distinct.

Scripture answers
The call to nonconformity is real, but Scripture roots it in the heart and holiness, not in a fixed code of dress or a frozen level of technology. Jesus prayed not that we be taken out of the world but kept from evil in it (John 17:15-16). Paul warns that man-made rules of 'do not touch, do not taste' have an appearance of wisdom but no power against the flesh (Col 2:20-23), and the kingdom is 'not eating and drinking but righteousness' (Rom 14:17). When the Ordnung becomes a boundary of salvation, it binds consciences where God has left them free.

Rom 12:2John 17:15-16Col 2:20-23Rom 14:171 John 2:152 Cor 6:14-17

In fairness: Their witness against materialism, hurry, and self-indulgence, and their deep community and simplicity, are a genuine rebuke to a compromised, worldly church.

Shunning / the ban (Meidung, Bann) - excommunicating and socially avoiding the unrepentant, sometimes for breaches of community rules.

Their basis
Jesus: if he refuses the church, 'let him be to you as a Gentile' (Matt 18:15-17); Paul: 'do not even eat with such a one,' 'purge the evil person from among you' (1 Cor 5:11-13); 'have nothing to do with him' (2 Thess 3:14; Titus 3:10). Discipline keeps the church pure.

Scripture answers
Church discipline is biblical and loving - but its stated goal is restoration and the person's salvation, not punishment: hand over 'that his spirit may be saved' (1 Cor 5:5), and once he repents, 'forgive and comfort him, lest he be overwhelmed' and 'reaffirm your love' (2 Cor 2:6-8). A rigid, lifelong shunning that severs parents from children and forbids all contact - especially over Ordnung breaches rather than grave unrepented sin - can invert the purpose. Restore the fallen 'in a spirit of gentleness' (Gal 6:1).

Matt 18:15-171 Cor 5:51 Cor 5:112 Cor 2:6-8Gal 6:12 Thess 3:14-15

In fairness: They take holiness and church discipline seriously in an age that abandoned both; the practice itself is straight from the New Testament - it is the severity and scope that can overreach.

Refusal to swear oaths - declining to take legal or civil oaths.

Their basis
Jesus: 'Do not swear at all... let your ‘Yes’ be yes and your ‘No’ be no; anything more comes from evil' (Matt 5:34-37); James repeats it: 'do not swear... let your yes be yes' (James 5:12). A truthful person needs no oath.

Scripture answers
A fair reading - Jesus does forbid the manipulative, loophole-swearing of His day and calls for simple, transparent truthfulness. Yet God Himself swears an oath (Heb 6:13-17), Paul solemnly calls God as his witness (Rom 1:9; 2 Cor 1:23), and an angel swears by the Eternal One (Rev 10:6). So the target is frivolous and deceptive swearing, not sworn testimony before rightful authority - making it an absolute ban may go a step beyond the text.

Matt 5:34-37James 5:12Heb 6:13-17Rom 1:92 Cor 1:23

In fairness: They honor Jesus' demand for plain, reliable truthfulness in a culture that games its promises - the heart of their conviction is exactly right.