Menno Simons

Life

Menno Simons was born in 1496 in Witmarsum, a small village in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. His exact date of birth is unknown. His parents appear to have been peasants. The surname "Simons" is a patronymic (a surname formed from the father's name), derived from his father's name, Simon. In 1524 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Utrecht. He first served in the parish of Pingjum and around 1531 moved to the parish of his home village, Witmarsum.

During his years as a priest, he came to doubt the teaching that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are actually changed into the body and blood of Christ, and he also came to question infant baptism. Around this time, in 1534–1535, some Anabaptists attempted to establish the kingdom of God by force in Münster, Germany, but failed (the Münster Rebellion). Menno regarded such violence as contrary to Scripture. In January 1536 he renounced the priesthood, went into hiding, and joined the Anabaptists. Although the exact date is unknown, he appears to have received believer's baptism shortly thereafter. In October of that year, Herman Jans and Gerrit Jans were executed for having lodged him in their home. Around 1537 he was ordained by Obbe Philips, a leader of the pacifist Anabaptists.

Thereafter, fleeing persecution, he ministered in East Frisia in 1543–1544 and in the Rhineland in 1544–1546. He later settled near Oldesloe in Holstein, northeast of Hamburg, and from there traveled widely. He died on January 31, 1561, at Wüstenfelde and was buried in Bad Oldesloe. The village where he had lived was later completely destroyed during the Thirty Years' War. He and his wife are said to have had two daughters and a son.

Ministry and Achievements

Menno was not the founder of the Dutch Anabaptist movement; he became its leader after the movement had already been underway for several years. After the Münster episode, the movement was in danger of losing its original character because of revolutionary leaders who believed that the millennial kingdom was imminent. At this point Menno stepped forward as a leader, upheld the pacifist position, and regathered the scattered believers. Through his resolute leadership and extensive writings, he established nonviolent Anabaptism as the mainstream of Dutch Anabaptism. His followers came to be called "Mennonites" after him. He is also known to have drawn encouragement from reading the writings of Martin Luther.

He taught that only those with a mature faith, able to confess their belief for themselves, could be baptized and become members of the church. He also emphasized a life separated from the world. Some studies note that he counted almsgiving, or helping the poor, among the marks of the true church. He further held that Christians could serve as magistrates (public officials) provided they lived in obedience to Christ, a view on which he differed from some earlier Anabaptists. Some scholars suggest that this view may have helped him obtain permission to settle in Holstein. His writings were collected in English as The Complete Writings of Menno Simons (1956).

Influence on the Korean Church

The Mennonites have not become a major denomination in Korea, so Menno's direct influence there has been limited. However, regional histories of Korean Christianity mention the relief work carried out during the Korean War by the Mennonite Central Committee, a Mennonite relief organization in Menno's faith tradition. In academic circles, a paper examining his understanding of almsgiving and repentance has been published in the journal of the Korea Evangelical Theological Society. His name frequently comes up in the Korean church in discussions of the infant baptism controversy, the question of baptism by sprinkling versus immersion, and Christian attitudes toward war and military service.

Assessment

Mennonites regard him as a pastor who protected the movement from violent extremism. In his day, Anabaptists were persecuted not only by the state but by both Catholics and Protestants. Even today, churches that practice infant baptism, such as the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Anglican churches, disagree with his rejection of infant baptism. By contrast, denominations such as the Baptists, which baptize only those who have professed faith, stand close to him on this point. He favored a strict application of church discipline in the form of excommunication, that is, expelling members from the church. Fearing schism, Anabaptist congregations in other regions wrote letters asking Menno and the Dutch Anabaptists not to adopt an overly strict position.