Reuniting The Step-Brothers Of The Reformation

Last year a writer at the Gospel Coalition wrote a piece on what the Reformed can learn from the Anabaptists, Listening To Our Anabaptist Brethren. I subsequently wrote a follow-up post of my own, What The Anabaptists Can Learn From Their Reformed Brethren, that flips the question around and points out that contemporary Anabaptists have a lot they can learn from their Reformed brethren.

Today David Fitch posted an article on this topic, sort of, “The Gospel Coalition” and Post-Christendom: Will it be a Coalition or an Expedition? 5 Years Later and expresses a desire as I have that the contemporary Reformed and the various contemporary Anabaptist groups be in dialogue with one another. I commented:

“Such statements however encourage me to believe that Neo Reformed and Neo Anabaptist should be in dialogue together to further Christ’s Kingdom”

Absolutely. While I find blind spots and rigid dogmatism in both the neo-Anabaptist and neo-Reformed camps, they both have important things to teach each other. As someone who holds to many distinctives of both groups I truly hope that these estranged step-brothers of the Reformation era are reunited.

That is truly my hope, although one that I am realistic enough to know is a faint one right now. There is still too much territorial ambition among the remnants of Western Christendom on both sides for a true reconciliation. There is still too much suspicion and a lingering distrust that I believe goes all the way back to  the birth of the Reformation and the subsequent rise of Anabaptism.

I am mulling over writing something more formal on this topic (i.e. book length), something with a title like When Westminster Met Schleitheim, Reuniting The Step Brothers Of The Reformation. What I really hope is that these two groups can learn from each other because they tend to complement each other in certain weak areas. As Christendom breaths its last the time may be ripe for a reconciliation.