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Schwarzenau Brethren (the German Baptists or Dunkers) |
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Anabaptism |
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The Schwarzenau Brethren, the German Baptist Brethren, Dunkers, Dunkard Brethren, Tunkers,[1] or sometimes simply called the German Baptists, are an Anabaptist group that dissented from Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed European state churches during the 17th and 18th centuries. German Baptist Brethren emerged in some German-speaking states in western and southwestern parts of the Holy Roman Empire as a result of the Radical Pietist revival movement of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, where people began to read and study their Bibles on their own- rather than just being told what to believe and do.
Hopeful of the imminent return of Christ and desiring to follow Jesus in their daily life, the founding Brethren abandoned State churches and officially formed a new church in 1708. They thereby attempted to translate the New Testament idea of brotherly love into concrete congregational ordinances for all the members.[2] The Brethren rejected some Radical Pietists’ focus on emotionalism and direct revelation, and emphasized early ("Apostolic" or "primitive") New Testament Christianity as the binding standard for congregational practices. Founding and early Schwarzenau Brethren were also in fellowship with other Anabaptists such as the Mennonites and the River Brethren, and influenced by their writings.
As with many other Anabaptist traditions, the Schwarzenau Brethren are divided into Old Order groups (such as the Old Brethren German Baptist) who practice a lifestyle without certain elements of modern technology, Conservative groups (such as the Dunkard Brethren Church and the Old Brethren Church) who preserve traditional theological distinctives while allowing for the usage of modern conveniences, and mainline groups (such as the Church of the Brethren and the Brethren Church) who are assimilated into popular culture and society.[3]
In German-speaking Europe, the Brethren became known as Neue Täufer (New Baptists), in distinction from the English Baptist groups with whom they had no formal ties. In the United States, they became popularly known as "Dunkers", "Dunkard Brethren", or "Tunkers", terms that stem from the German verb tunken (Pennsylvania German: dunke), 'to dip, to immerse'.
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