cybershark5886 said:
Interesting. So where do they stand theologically today? Perhaps a comparison with traditional Baptists would be helpful, so I can see some differences.
God Bless,
~Josh
Mennonites are one several groups that is a historical descendant of European continental Anabaptists. The English Baptists came through a different historical strand, and also came later.
Originally, Anabaptists had great variety in their theology. Several concepts united them, one being a general (but not always) rejection of the concept of a state Church. There were exceptions to this. In Munster Germany an Anabaptist group ended up in a war with the combined armies of Lutherans and Catholics. They Anabaptists got wiped out. Many of the early Anabaptists were Calvinistic. Most rejected the formalism of the state Churches and worshiped in much simpler ways.
When tolerance occurred in Holland, many Anabaptists immigrated to Holland where they underwent some evolution. Before this, they were very loosely organized, and had little denominational structure. In Holland Meno Simons began uniting and organizing Anabaptist and giving them structure and some denominationalism. The varieties of strands merged into a one main strand under Meno Simons. However, splits occured and some became Amish, some Church of the Brethren. The term Anabaptist was dropped in favor of the terms Mennonite, Amish, Church of the Brethren, etc. In Holland, they became Arminian, and the rejection of the state Church became a doctrine now called non-resistance.
Today, Mennonites are still loosely denominational and still has a small degree of variety. They are not actually one single denomination. They have what is called conferences that function as a kind of mini-denomination. Some conferences focus more on dress, such as the conservative conference. Others have become charismatic, such as the Franconia conference. They have many conferences, but I am not familiar with all of them. There is the Atlantic Coast conference, the Lancaster Conference, the General Conference. In any one town here in PA there might be no Mennonites, and there might be two or more conferences. They cooperate and often support the same grade schools, but are still separate. Each conference of Mennonites still functions separately, some conferences still might have their women wear the "covering" at all times. Other conferences have women wear their "covering" only during worship services. Many Mennonites have given up the covering for women completely.
There are also old order Mennonites, who generally remain separate from the more "worldly" Mennonites. The Joe Wengers drive buggies but have electric in their homes. There is another old order Mennonite group, I forget their name, we called them Yonies. They have no electric, and drive buggies. Some of the conservative conference people drive cars, but they are only allowed to paint them black (Mick Jagger would have loved that!)
The thing about the list of denominations, is that it clumps Mennonite in with Quaker. Quaker is an English development not directly related to continental Anabaptism. However, the devlopment resulted in similarities to Mennonites, especially the non-resistance practice. Other doctrinal distinctives of the Quakers are different from Mennonites. Mennonites have no "inner light" theology. They are normally Arminian, but not with an "inner light" concept.
The different Amish groups can be distinguished by the color of their buggies. They have four basic colors. Some are black, some have yellow tops, some have white tops (Nebraska Amish), some have grey tops (Lancaster Amish). Some Amish in Mifflin County Pennsylvania drive black cars.The Amish are different from Mennonites in that the Amish use the "ban." I must admit that the concept of the "ban" seems abusive to me. It even makes the Amish seem cultish to me. Amish at times have a concept called "ordinung." It is some book of rules and laws. I have never heard of any Mennonite group following an "Ordinung." Amish have diversity also. I know of an Amish Church that split over the issue of the men wearing one suspender or two suspenders.
Concerning their similarities and difference with Baptist...
I think it is funny that when my wife was a little child, she thought she was an "anti-baptist." Later she realized the term was "anabaptist."
There might be a lot of similarities between General Baptists and Mennonites. Both are arminian, both have a holiness/pietistical emphasis. Both groups seem eager to bring in "contemporary" methods of worship. In fact, I see more similarities between the General Baptist and the Mennonites, then the Regular (particular/Calvinistic) Baptists. I cannot go to the extent of saying that Baptists and Mennonites are nearly the same. Mennonites have a great variety, so do Baptists. Yet I think some of the Mennonites are very much like some of the General Baptists.