Try to imagine if America only had one legal, religious option, which was joined to the state and enforced by the sword. It is in this type of world that Pilgram Marpeck was born in 1495 at Rattenberg on the Inn River in the Austrian province of Tyrol. His parents were Roman Catholic, wealthy, and prominent members of the community. Pilgram enjoyed a high standard of living and a good education at the local Latin school. His status and privilege were confirmed when, in 1520, at 25, he was appointed to the city council, including a one-year term as Mayor. Five years later, the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria appointed Pilgram as mining superintendent in Rattenberg. Marpeck was known as an intelligent, skilled professional engineer.

Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517. By 1521, the seeds of religious dissent arrived in Rattenberg as a reformation-minded Catholic priest named Castenbaur. He denied being a follower of Luther but taught against the abuses of the church and held that scripture, not the pope or church hierarchy, was the final authority for the church. He preached through the book of Romans and taught the obedience of faith and renewal by the resurrection of Christ into newness of life.  In 1522, Castenbaur was arrested and moved out of Rattenberg. But apparently, his message found sympathetic ears because the city council, including Marpeck, directly hired another reformation-minded priest to lead their parish.

The mountain and valleys of the Tirol roiled with religious fervor. Anabaptist ex-monks, preaching salvation by faith, found an audience among the miners Marpeck supervised. As a result, Archduke Ferdinand asked Pilgram to assist the sheriff in prosecuting miners who had become Anabaptists. Marpeck protested, stating this was not part of his job description, but Ferdinand insisted. Anabaptism began in 1525, approximately 155 miles east of Rattenberg, and was first reported among the miners in the spring of 1527. It was this year an Anabaptist named Leinhart Scheimer was arrested in the city for preaching and baptizing over 200 people. In January of 1528, the 27-year-old Scheimer became Rattenberg’s first Anabaptist martyr, beheaded and then burned to ashes.  While Marpeck did not have a direct hand in the arrest and prosecution of Scheimer, he was undoubtedly aware of all that was going on and possibly witnessed it.

This was the turning point for Marpeck. Within two days of Scheimer’s execution, he resigned his office as mining supervisor and began a new life as an Anabaptist. Marpeck left Rattenberg, and his property was confiscated. He went from owning two homes and receiving a high salary to having only a few personal belongings and furnishings that could be loaded into a wagon.  Pilgram’s wife had died earlier; when he fled, he left his daughter behind in the care of guardians. 

Marpeck had finally come to the point where he was prepared to lose wealth, position, and reputation to gain Christ. Pilgram wrote, “He who looks for Christ anywhere except under the cross in patience will not find him.” 

Leaving Rattenberg, Marpeck traveled by river boat and landed about 150 miles northwest to the silver-mining town of Krumau, where a growing number of Anabaptists were finding refuge.  Here, Marpeck met and married a woman named Anna. It seems likely that Pilgram was baptized in Krumau. As a testimony, he writes, “I have been baptized precisely because it is written that the Lord Christ died for our sakes…Therefore upon the foundation of the strong belief and trust in the resurrection, I allowed myself to be buried by baptism into the death of Christ. This faith is the living letter in my heart.” He understood baptism as a reenactment of the death and resurrection of Christ, throwing off the sin that had dragged him down and a re-emergence in the newness of life with Christ.

Marpeck was commissioned into Anabaptist church leadership during the summer of 1528. By this time, Ferdinand had heard that his former trusted employee was now an Anabaptist leader, and he had begun direct inquiries into his whereabouts. Fearing for his safety, Marpeck fled again, this time with his new wife. They traveled 320 miles northeast to Strasbourg, which had embraced the reformation and was more tolerant of religious dissenters than many other places. The trip was fraught with danger from Anabaptist hunters, who were offered a reward of up to 32 guilders, a year’s salary, for the capture of an Anabaptist.

  
In Strasbourg, Pilgram purchased citizenship, which included swearing an oath of loyalty and obedience that had to be renewed annually.  Here, Pilgram found tolerance and the freedom to practice his profession. It is suspected that city authorities were willing to ignore his Anabaptist identity because they valued his rare skills as an engineer. It could also be because he was willing to make some concessions to the authorities, such as swearing the oath to the city council and limiting the number of meetings Anabaptists had in the city. (Marpeck probably never embraced the strict prohibition of oath-swearing as taught by the Swiss Brethren.)

 Perhaps in an overreaction to the emphasis on the Catholic Church’s abuse of the sacraments and church authority, some reformers were falling into a completely internal and individualistic view of Christianity, teaching that with the New Covenant, the Christian life did not need scripture, communion, baptism, congregations, or church leaders. These teachers are known today as “Spiritualists.” Since the Spiritualists also taught the need for a devout and holy life, they and the Anabaptists were, in a sense, competing for the pool of potential adherents disillusioned with the state churches and wanting to live serious Christian lives. Spiritualistic ideas could also be tempting to Anabaptists since renouncing the need for a visible church and church ordinances could be a way to escape persecution.

To refute these ideas and bring stability and unity to the Anabaptist church, Marpeck began to write, publishing his first two books in 1531. Regarding ceremonies, Pilgram taught that abuse did not rule out their proper use. In the Old Testament, the ceremonies were often abused, and they were not abolished but instead restored by prophets and kings. In the same way, Christ was restoring spiritual Jerusalem. Marpeck focused on the incarnation of Christ. In his physical life of teaching, words, ceremonies, and deeds, Christ leads the way to the spiritual Christ. Jesus intended for us to follow his example in obedience.

Christ commanded to baptize and practice the Lord’s Supper until he returned. Scripture also taught that the Holy Spirit was given to each true believer and that the gifts of the Spirit were for mutual encouragement and service. This pointed to the reality of the visible church brotherhood and contradicted the idea of faith as solely individual or private. Marpeck argued for the necessity of Scripture, for without it, how would we know about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection? “Precisely because it is written,” he wrote, “I submitted to baptism.” To abolish outward ceremonies and privatize the faith would improve toleration by the world and remove the cross of suffering of the believer. This is the opposite of what is taught in scripture, and Marpeck pled with his readers not to be swayed by extravagant words and arguments. 

At the end of 1531, he published his third book with the central theme of separation of church and state. Due to his involvement in government over the years, Marpeck had a more sympathetic view of the state than some Anabaptists. He taught that a Christian could serve as an official of the state as long as he did not violate his allegiance to Christ. He held that God appointed the government to be responsible for the material sphere of life. This allowed the church to carry out its spiritual mission. But he denied that the sword could be used to defend the gospel or suppress dissent in the church. He wrote that no Christian has been given a sword to kill because this was contrary to the command and example of the incarnate Christ.  He went on to teach that Christians are obligated by the authority of Jesus’ teaching to obey the government and pay taxes. If governments ignore their divine mandate and oppress people, Christians should follow Christ’s example and suffer without resisting and love their enemies.

Marpeck was gracious with other Protestants, admitting specifically that Lutherans led him to the truth. But he said they were halfway Christians because they refused to enter through the narrow gate and follow Christ without the sword.  The church has its source in Christ, not property. Therefore, using the sword to protect property can never be condoned. This third treatise proved too much for the city officials to overlook, and Pilgram was declared a “Winkelprediger” (a corner preacher) and banished from the city. Three years after they arrived in Strasbourg, Pilgram and Anna were fugitives once more. 

From Strasbourg, the couple traveled to northeastern Switzerland, which was also known for its tolerance and the presence of other Anabaptists. Here, they led a more low-profile life, residing in rural areas and seeking private employment. As a result, the movements of Marpeck become less clear, but we know he continued to write with a vision to unify and strengthen the scattered Anabaptists.

His letters became more pastoral, written as simply as possible for the benefit of the brotherhood. Pilgram had a vision for a loving, responsible, disciplined community of faith. If a congregant did not have love but a contrary disposition, such a person should be regarded as an outsider. But, he clarified, this did not involve seizing property or banishing people from locations as the Protestants were in the habit of doing. He admonished congregations not to practice harsh discipline and advocated for using the ban only when the fruit of evil is clearly evident and when the fruit manifests unbelief.

In some letters, he warned against viewing the Christian and congregational life as a set of rules and laws, while in other letters, he warned about the danger of self-will, pride, and self-assertion. He warned against those who would “boast of their freedom, yet remain servants of destruction. In their invented liberty, which according to the lust of the flesh, they imagine they possess, they live in open offense and scandal to those who have tender consciences…” This liberty is as destructive as legalism, he warned. 

Marpeck, who had previously written about the self-centeredness of owning property, now clarifies that sharing all things in common must be voluntary and not a necessary part of church life. Marpeck never lived communally but appeared committed to living below his means and sharing generously with those in need. 

At the end of 1542, Pilgram was living in the city of Augsburg, again working as an engineer by day and theologian by night. As an engineer, he secured and transported much-needed timber to the city and helped design a new civic waterworks. At night, writing and publication became his primary means of evangelism and edification.

How could a known Anabaptist leader secure such a position? Apparently, the authorities were again willing to look the other way because of the value Marpeck provided to the city.  Also, Marpeck observed Augsburg’s rules that no assemblies would exceed 10-12 people, was willing to swear the civic oath, and agreed not to promote his “sect” in the city. Though repeatedly warned about his work as an Anabaptist, he was never touched. No other Anabaptist leader at that time lived with the stable lifestyle Marpeck enjoyed. He remained in Augsburg until he died in 1556 at 66. 

Pilgram Marpeck was an accomplished professional and important Anabaptist leader. Yet his memory soon faded, and Anabaptist historians did not even know he existed until 1920. One reason may be that all the churches associated with his name disappeared. We can only speculate why, but Marpeck can be thought of as a moderate who tried to strike a balance between the strictly regulated church life and a church life free from moral restraint and accountability. He was also willing to make concessions to the state authorities. Anabaptist churches with more rigid disciplines seemed more apt to survive the fires of persecution. Those with an inadequate congregational process, irregular meetings, and social integration soon lost their distinctives and were absorbed into other church groups.

Regardless, Marpeck was a good theologian on several Anabaptist distinctives, and his writings significantly contribute to Anabaptist thought and doctrine today. In 21st century America, we may not be facing persecution, but we do face significant social pressure to be assimilated into the culture around us. Suppose the Lord tarries and our churches are to survive into the 22nd century. In that case, it will take a passionate faith to follow Christ without compromise regardless of the cost, sound doctrine, and a strong commitment to congregational life. May God give us the vision.

Source:
Walter Klassen, William Klassen. Marpeck. A Life of Dissent and Conformity. Herald Press, Scottdale, PA, 2008.