The purpose of this book is to shed light on the thought of Dirk Philips, who was a Mennonite leader in the sixteenth century, and to argue that his various doctrines, including his Christology, ecclesiology, soteriology, and anthropology, are interrelated with his view of the visible church. This book explains that Dirk Philips’ view of the visible church is much closer to the ecclesiology of Augustine’s tradition rather than to the ecclesiology of the Donatists’ tradition. Although Dirk Philips had excellent theological abilities and he was a leader who made a significant contribution to the development of the Mennonites camp, he did not receive much attention in the study of Anabaptists, and there has not been much research on this sixteenth-century Mennonite leader. Thus, this book will help you discover a great sixteenth-century leader who has been forgotten in church history. Is it true that the Radical Reformers are disciples of Donatus, that the Anabaptists thought that the failed believers cannot be forgiven because the church is a gathering of pure souls? This book will probe the idea that the Radical Reformation is closer to the ecclesiology of Augustine’s tradition than to the ecclesiology of the Donatists’ tradition.

Extensive descriptions of 61 works.

In this comprehensive volume Thomas N. Finger takes on the formidable task of making explicit the often implicit theology of the Anabaptist movement and then presenting, for the sake of the welfare of the whole contemporary Christian church, his own constructive theology. In the first part Finger tells the story of the development of Anabaptist thought, helping the reader grasp both the unifying and diverse elements in that theological tradition. In the second and third parts Finger considers in more detail the major themes essential to Anabaptist theology, first considering the historic views and then presenting his own constructive effort. Within the Anabaptist perspective Finger offers a theology that highlights the three dimensions of its salvific center: the communal, the personal and the missional. The themes taken up in the final part form what Finger identifies as the convictional framework of that center; namely, Christology, anthropology and eschatology. This book is a landmark contribution of Anabaptist theology for the whole church in biblical, historical and contemporary context.

Dirk Philips was one of the most important early leaders and bishops of the Dutch Anabaptists, later called Mennonites. Although he usually worked in Menno's shadow, in his later years he emerged as an important leader and author of theological treatises.

This series makes available in English the primary works of major Anabaptist figures of the 16th century as well as the writings of other religious thinkers who influenced or shed light on the Anabaptist movement. Contains all the known writings of key Anabaptist leader Dirk Philips (1504-1568) translated into English from Dutch of Philips' original 1564 volume. Includes annotations and introductions making it useful to both general readers and scholars. Philips' treatises make important contributions to the literature of early Anabaptism. He writes about the incarnation, baptism and the Lord's Supper, the sending of preachers, the tabernacle, the new birth, the ban and avoidance, and marriage.

The first book-length analysis of the thought of the first English Baptist