Of the Greater Danger There Is at This Time
Th. J. van Braght[†] — Dordrecht, July 25, 1659
Foreword
Dutch Mennonites and Baptists share similarities like believer's baptism, emphasis on scripture (𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎 ), and the priesthood of all believers, but they differ in their views on church authority and community. A key difference is that Mennonites tend to emphasize accountability to God through a close-knit community, while Baptists focus more on individual accountability and "soul freedom". Mennonites also historically have a stronger, more consistent tradition of pacifism and separation of church and state.SimilaritiesBeliever's Baptism:Both traditions believe in baptizing only adults who have made a personal confession of faith, rejecting infant baptism.Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide:Both denominations adhere to the Protestant principles of "scripture alone" and "faith alone".Priesthood of All Believers:Both believe that all believers have direct access to God without the need for an intermediary priest.Congregational Polity:Both generally have a congregational form of church government, where the local church is largely autonomous.
DifferencesCommunity vs. Individualism:
Mennonites: Place a strong emphasis on accountability to God through the community, which influences their church discipline and other practices.Baptists: Emphasize "soul freedom" and individual accountability before God, which is a core tenet of their belief system.
Pacifism and Church-State Separation:
Mennonites:
Traditionally held to pacifism, nonresistance, and a more distinct separation of church and state.
Baptists:
While not always pacifist, their emphasis is on religious freedom and individual liberty in all matters, including the relationship between church and state.
By 1659, the Mennonites of the Dutch Republic were living in what you might call their “quiet century”—after a stormy birth but before the soft prosperity that would gradually dull their edges. The persecution that had burned their founders a hundred years earlier had ceased, but the memory of those flames still shaped their identity.
Here’s the landscape in 1659, just one year before Thieleman J. van Braght published his Martyrs Mirror:
1. Legal status and toleration.The Dutch Republic officially outlawed Anabaptism, but by mid-century, enforcement was lax. Mennonites (often called Doopsgezinden, “baptism-minded”) could meet publicly under certain conditions, pay fines instead of facing imprisonment, and own property. In places like Amsterdam, Haarlem, and Friesland, they had built meetinghouses and developed active trading and artisan networks. They were still tolerated outsiders—not full citizens—but prosperous and increasingly secure.
2. Internal divisions.Peace did not mean unity. The movement had splintered into several streams:
The Waterlanders,[1] more open to education, culture, and business life.
The Flemish and Frisian[2] groups, stricter in dress and discipline.
The Old Flemish (or Huiskoopers)[3] who rejected worldly compromise.Disputes over marriage discipline, ban (excommunication), and the proper use of wealth often produced small schisms. Van Braght himself came from the Flemish branch at Dordrecht,[4] known for its rigorous ethics.
3. Economic and social standing.Many Mennonites had become successful merchants and millers—names like de Hooghe, de Vries, de Wael. They quietly helped finance Dutch trade and shipbuilding, but their refusal to bear arms or swear oaths still excluded them from civic office. It was a paradox: thriving communities, yet perpetually reminded that they were pilgrims.
4. Spiritual climate.Within that uneasy prosperity, ministers worried that wealth and peace were dulling zeal. The memory of martyrs was fading from the younger generation. Van Braght saw this decline of fervor and, in 1659–1660, gathered the old martyr records to awaken conscience and gratitude. The Martyrs Mirror was meant as a mirror indeed—to show comfortable believers the cost of discipleship.
5. Wider world.The Dutch Republic was at its imperial height, sailing to Asia and the Americas. The Remonstrant–Calvinist debates still echoed, and Spinoza was just beginning to scandalize Amsterdam’s thinkers. Against that cosmopolitan backdrop, Mennonites preserved a counter-culture of simplicity and pacifism.
So in 1659, the Mennonites were no longer fugitives, but not yet assimilated. They were a community remembering its suffering past and struggling with the temptations of respectability—precisely the tension that produced van Braght’s monumental book.
Would you like a glimpse into how those same Dutch Mennonites influenced later groups—like English Baptists or the peace churches that migrated to Pennsylvania a generation later?
