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?
Letter
These are sad times in which we live; nay, truly, there is more danger now than in the time of our fathers, who suffered death for the testimony of the Lord. Few will believe this, because the great majority look to that which is external and corporeal, and in this respect it is now better, quieter and more comfortable; few only look to that which is internal and pertains to the soul, and on which everything depends, “for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16:26.These times are certainly more dangerous; for then Satan came openly, through his servants, even at noon-day, as a roaring lion, so that he could be known, and it now and then was possible to hide from him; besides, his chief design then was to destroy the body: but now he comes as in the night, or in the twilight, in a strange but yet pleasing form, and, in a two-fold way, lies in wait to destroy the soul; partly, to trample under foot, and annihilate, if this were possible, the only saving Christian faith; partly to destroy the true separated Christian life which is the outgrowth of faith. Ps. 91:5,6.He reveals himself on the one hand as an angel of light, 2 Cor. 11:14,15, as a kind, pleasant, yea, even divine messenger, with humble countenance, downcast eyes, plain garb, and living in seclusion from the throng of the worldly-minded, even as the holiest people, yea, the martyrs of God, formerly did. His words are modest, trembling, and full of contrition—seemingly coming from deep meditation, inward fear and apprehension, lest he might speak amiss or untruthfully. Meanwhile, and before one is aware of it, he seizes hold and tears like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, robbing the innocent lambs of Christ of their precious faith, which, he pretends to be of small importance, but without which faith it is impossible to please God, Heb. 11:6, nay, without which we, according to the words of Christ shall be condemned, Mark 16:16; for (says Paul), whatsoever is not of faith is sin, Rom. 14:23.It grieves us to the heart that we must live to see these times, and therefore speak in this wise. O Lord, strengthen our faith! help thy weak, trusting lambs, that they may not be led into error, nor moved from the foundations of the most holy faith.On the other hand, through his instigation, the world now reveals itself very beautiful and glorious, more than at any preceding time, in a threefold pleasing form—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.5 Almost all men run after her, to worship her as a queen supreme; but all are deceived thereby; yea, many who have drunk of the poisoned wine of her lusts from the golden cup of her iniquities and deceptions, die a spiritual death.As the first design is aimed at the faith, so this is directed against the true Christian life. Here lies great danger. Who shall escape these snares? He that would at no time be taken unawares by it, must indeed be cautious and watchful. But our very flesh 9seems prone to it. Here must be fasting, watching, praying, and calling upon God for help; otherwise, there is no escape.Many of the ancients who supposed that they had been circumspect and observed their duty, were deceived hereby6; some were lulled into a careless sleep, so that they paid no heed to themselves or to their vocation; others were brought to despair of the divine truth; others were drawn away totally from God; some died a spiritual death; others died both spiritually and bodily; and some have plunged themselves helter-skelter into the abyss of the disfavor of God, to be punished by him soul and body and forever.These things which we tell you are no riddles or blind speeches, for we speak the truth, or the word of God must be false; but as the word of God cannot lie, what we have said is certain and infallible since God in his word bears witness of it, yea, declares it emphatically and abundantly. Other histories that make mention of this, we pass by in silence and dismiss them altogether, because we do not hold them in equal estimation with the holy Scriptures. It was the world and its lusts that of old caused all the great calamities of which we have spoken; and not only this, but it has also caused thousands who live in the various cities, countries, kingdoms, empires, yea, on the face of the whole earth, to mourn, weep and wail, on account of their natural misery as well as on account of their experiencing the wrath of God in their souls because of the magnitude and enormity of the sins perpetrated by them.It certainly was through worldly lusts that the old world perished; that Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim, and Admah were consumed, overthrown and totally destroyed by fire from Heaven; that in forty years, through serpents, fire, and other plagues, the wanton and lustful people of Israel perished to the number of over six hundred thousand in the wilderness; and that the mighty maritime cities, Zidon and Tyrus, whose ships were trimmed with embroidered, silken sails from Egypt; whose rowers sat upon benches of ivory; where incalculable riches were bought and sold, and, from carnal incentives, almost inconceivable arts practiced were reduced to a heap of stones and so leveled to the ground, that the fishermen stretch out their nets to dry on the rocks upon which these cities stood. Gen. 7; Matt. 24:37,38; Luke 17:26,27; 2 Peter 2:5.—Gen. 19:24,25; Is. 13:19; Jer. 50:40; Hos. 11:8; Amos 4:11; Luke 17:28,29; 2 Pet. 2:6; Jude 7.—compare Num. 1:2,3,46 with Num. 14:22,23. Also Num. 11:1 and 16:31–35; 21:6; Jude 5.—Is. 23:4,5; Ezek. 27:26–28; 28, the whole chapter.I will not now speak of Jerusalem, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and other mighty licentious and luxurious cities, which, with all their inhabitants who had in this respect sinned against God, have borne his wrath, and felt, to their destruction, the plagues of his afflicting hand; for this would consume too much time.7 O awful judgments of God! O pernicious worldly-mindedness! O corroding and cankering luxury, that draggest after thee such a train of unspeakable miseries! Help, Lord, that our souls be delivered from all these dangers.But what danger would there be if none but the open enemies of God and his holy truth were guilty in this matter? What harm could be done if they alone, and no others, would arouse and call down upon themselves the wrath of God? For then every pious and serious soul would beware of their example as of a savage beast, venomous serpent, or deadly basilisk. But now such is the state of things that many commoners and such as are not total strangers to religion or the worship of God; who, as they say, would fain be saved; and who, therefore, though they are not truly enlightened, glorify and praise God and his word with their mouth, show nevertheless (to the seduction of the simple) that the world is their dear friend, yea lies nearest to their heart, since most of their works are directed to its service, that they may thereby partake of its glittering but deceptive reward.Hence arises that shameful and vast commerce which extends far beyond the sea into other parts of the world, Ezek. 27, but which, notwithstanding, cannot satisfy those who love it, but, on the contrary, brings great danger, that that which has already been gotten, may be lost, others defrauded, and they themselves, both in soul and body, stripped and robbed of their possessions.Numerous large, expensive and ornamented houses, country-seats of splendid architecture and provided with towers, parks magnificent as a paradise, and other embellished pleasure-grounds, which are seen on every hand, indicate this in no small degree. Dan. 4:29,30.The wearing of clothes from foreign countries, whether of foreign materials, uncommon colors or of strange fashions as obtain in the course of time according to the custom of the openly worldly-minded (which are as changeable as the moon), and which custom is followed by many humble and seemingly plain people, confirms greatly what we have before said. Gen. 35:2; Zeph. 1:8; Is. 3:16–24.The giving and attending great dinners, lavish banquets and wedding-feasts (though one may never be found in taverns or tippling-houses), where everything is in profusion, and where the beneficent gifts of the Lord which should not be used otherwise than with great thankfulness, and of which a portion naturally belongs to the poor, are squandered and consumed without the least necessity, even by those who are considered sober and temperate, is an incontrovertible evidence of a sensual and wanton heart; and proves also that those who have much to do with these things, cannot be exculpated from living after the flesh; for which carnal life certainly has no promise of salvation, but, on the contrary, 10many severe threatenings of the wrath and displeasure of God, nay, of eternal damnation, are recorded in the blessed leaves of the word of God, which contains nothing but the truth. Esth. 1:3–8; Dan. 5:1–3; Luke 12:19,20; 16:19.O how different is this from the life of a true Christian, who has forsaken himself and his lusts! How great the step that is between their walk and that of the holy martyrs, who delivered up, not only their carnal desires, but also their bodies and lives, unto death for the Lord’s sake! But how great a difference will also be between the two classes afterwards! When the former, having had their good things in this life, shall be shut out from the true, heavenly riches, but the latter, because they, from love to God, renounced and abandoned their possessions, which might have led them into sin, be admitted to the true enjoyment of the heavenly riches and pleasures, and that for ever and ever! Mal. 3:18.Here shall obtain what is recorded concerning the end of the luxurious rich man and that of poor Lazarus: that the rich man, when he saw Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, while he himself was in hell, received this answer to his doleful lamentation: “Son, remember, that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” Luke 16:25. Appropriate is also here Wis. 5:1,2.Nevertheless, these and similar evil examples are constantly presented to our eyes, and they are the more pernicious and dangerous for the reason that some worldly-minded people pronounce them to be non-essential, unimportant for either good or evil, and therefore, allowable; while it is the same with them as with the fruit from the tree of knowledge, which stood in the midst of Paradise, and was pleasant to the eyes, but deadly in the use, for whoever ate of it, had to die, Gen. 2:17; or with the apples which grow in the land of Sodom, on the border of the dead sea; which possess a beautiful red appearance, but contain, as some have written, only dust and ashes, and are inedible, nay, even deleterious to health. Bijb. Naemb. edition 1632, fol. 881, col. 2, concerning the name Sodom, ex Philippo Melanchthone. Also Bernh. Bredenb. in Tract, super Siddim. Also H. Buntung, Itinerarium sacræ scripturæ, edition 1642, lib. 1, pag. 62, col. 2, etc.O that Satan would show himself, as he really is, and that the world, too, might come forth without disguise or mask; then certainly no one possessing reason would allow himself to be deceived by them. For in Satan nothing would be seen but deadly snares, traps, and murdering daggers for the soul, poisoned arrows wherewith to destroy everything good in man, through unbelief, apostasy from God, impenitent obduracy, and despair; which are followed by a train made up of the fears of hell and horrors of damnation. In the world men would perceive nothing but vanity, mingled with much vexation, sorrow, grief and misery, and this in such abundance, that if as many tears could be wept over it, as there is water in all the sea and all the rivers, yet the weight of the true sorrow that springs from them it could not be adequately expressed, for they draw after them not only temporal but also everlasting miseries.But, O how lamentable! all this is hid under a beautiful appearance. Satan appears to be a prince or king, and the world a noble princess or queen. The servants and servant-maids who follow them as pages and maids of honor appear as cavaliers and ladies, reveling in joy and delight; though, as regards the soul, they are poor and deformed, yea, meaner than beggars, and without the true joy which delights the upright soul in God.There is, therefore, great danger of being deceived. O, ye upright children of God, be on your guard.9 Let your simplicity be coupled with prudence. Your faith as well as your life are the objects aimed at. If Satan gains the mastery over you, your precious faith, which has been commended to your keeping as dearly as your soul, is ruined. If ye are overcome by the world, it will soon put an end to your Christian and virtuous life, without which latter the best of faith is of no avail. Care, therefore, my dear friends, equally well for both, for the one is as important as the other. Faith without the corresponding life, or the life without the faith, can, will, and may not avail before God. They are like two witnesses, who must agree, and of whom the one cannot stand or be received without the other.Knowing, then, that we must care for both, there remains nothing for us but to do it; however, this work must certainly not only be begun, but also finished, according to the example of the steadfast martyrs of God; with which finishing, whether it be brought about naturally or violently, according as liberty or persecution brings about we must comfort ourselves, since it is certain that the crown is not to be found in the beginning or in the middle, but at the end.10But as necessary as it is to finish well, so necessary it is also to begin well, and, having begun, to go on well; for without a good beginning and a good progress it is impossible to attain to a good end.We speak to you, then, most beloved in the Lord, who have begun with us; received the same faith with us; and with us as a token of this have been baptized.Surely, we have made a vow to the Lord, which we cannot recall, as David sings: “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High.” Ps. 50:14.We have, through faith, received Christ, the Son of God, as our Prophet, Priest, King, Shepherd, 11Friend, and Bridegroom; and in this we must go on and grow stronger. This, Paul teaches us, saying: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught,” etc. Col. 2:6,7. Hereby we have come from the darkness of ignorance to the true light of knowledge, which we are commanded to keep in perpetual remembrance. In this direction tend the words: “But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;” etc. Heb. 10:32. In short: “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” Phil. 3:16. “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 5:20. “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Verses 24 and 25. Is. 40:30,31; Phil. 4:13.
We would now commend you, beloved brethren and sisters, to the Lord and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Our work, which has been done for your benefit, is now finished in this respect; that you may make good use of it, is our friendly desire. Remember us always in your prayers, until we depart this life; Phil. 1:23, that God may be gracious unto us now and in eternity. We hope, on our part, to do the same for you. O that God would grant that we all, without one missing, might behold one another, face to face, in the kingdom of God! 1 Cor. 13:12.Meantime we rejoice in the salvation of the Lord; for it sometimes seems to us, as if Heaven had come down upon earth; or that we were ascending from earth to heaven, 2 Cor. 12:1–12, etc.; or that we, who are still among men, held communion with God and his holy angels; or that eternal heavenly joy and glory were offered to us; nay, that we had a foretaste of those things which mortal eye hath never seen, nor ear heard, nor heart experienced, in this life.11We walk no longer upon earth with our thoughts; nevertheless, we are still encompassed by a cloud of earth, a body of clay, a heavy load of the soul. O, that we were free from it, and that our soul, liberated from this load, might return to God in heaven, her true origin! like a freed dove which has been confined in a strange place, returns to her nest and abode. But we must wait for this until the time which God has appointed comes.Let us be patient together, then, most beloved in the Lord, till the day come, which, if we remain faithful unto the end, will assuredly bring us that which we here wait for in hope. Then the tears, which we, sighing and longing for the highest salvation of God, have wept here, shall surely be wiped away from our eyes; then shall we no longer see through a glass, darkly, but face to face; then shall the heavenly be shown us no longer in thought or in spirit, but it shall be given us, and we be made participants of it, by experience alone, in truth and in deed. O great and precious subject! We can go no further: our reason cannot comprehend it; our earthly tongue cannot express it!Yours very affectionally in the Lord,Th. J. van Braght.[5]Dort, July 25th, 1659.
Bio Note
[†] Thieleman Jansz van Braght (1625–1664), Dutch Mennonite minister at Dordrecht and compiler of The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians (1660). ↩︎
Endnotes
[1] Waterlanders—one of the major Dutch Mennonite (Doopsgezinde) streams in the 16th–17th centuries.Waterlanders (Dutch Mennonite stream)Origins & geography.Named for Waterland, the low-lying region just north of Amsterdam (Monnickendam, Edam, Purmerend, Volendam). They emerged by the mid-1500s as a distinct, urban-leaning wing of Dutch Anabaptism.Ethos in one line.Pastoral, conciliatory, and city-savvy: rigorous on discipleship and nonresistance, but milder than Flemish/Frisian Mennonites on discipline and social strictness.Key distinctives.Nonresistance & believers’ baptism fully affirmed.The Ban (excommunication) used more sparingly; stress on admonition, repentance, and reconciliation.Cultural posture: more open to education, printing, trade, and a plain-but-not-uniform dress ideal.Theology: Christ-centered piety with a humanist breeze; some later Waterlanders were friendly with Remonstrants/Collegiants.Leaders & texts.Hans de Ries (1553–1638): Waterlander elder and theologian; co-author of the 1580 Waterlander Confession (with Lubbert Gerritsz), widely used among North Holland Mennonites.Galenus Abrahamsz (1622–1706): Amsterdam Waterlander minister; emblematic of the more irenic/latitudinarian turn (the “Lamist” side).Relations inside Mennonitism.Often contrasted with the Flemish and Frisian (stricter) and the Old Flemish (strictest) on discipline, shunning, and world-avoidance.In Amsterdam the liberal Lamist (Waterlander) and stricter Zonist blocs sparred through the 1600s, then united in 1801, a prelude to broader Doopsgezinde consolidation in the 18th–19th centuries.Where they were in 1659.Flourishing in Amsterdam and North Holland as prosperous merchant-artisans with meetinghouses, printing, and charity networks; advocating pacifism and a moderated use of the Ban while trying to hold the line on holiness amid rising respectability—exactly the tension van Braght was warning about. ↩︎
[2] The Flemish Mennonites (Vlaamsche Doopsgezinden) in the Dutch Republic.Flemish MennonitesOrigins & setting.Descended from Anabaptists who fled Flanders to the northern Netherlands (16th c.), the Flemish formed a powerful, city-based but strict stream of Dutch Mennonitism, with strong centers in Dordrecht, Amsterdam, and North/South Holland towns.Ethos in one line.Devout, disciplined, and separation-minded: champions of classic Mennonite nonresistance and rigorous church order.Core distinctives.Ban & Meidung (avoidance): Used firmly. Excommunication could entail social and sometimes household “avoidance” until repentance—hotly debated with other Mennonites.Marriage discipline: Pressure toward endogamy (marrying within fellowship); mixed marriages often triggered discipline.Plainness & humility: Suspicion of luxury, ornate dress, and showy houses; pastors warned about wealth dulling zeal.Nonresistance & oaths: Refusal of military service and oath-swearing; distance from state office remained the norm.Confessional center: Heavily associated with the Dordrecht Confession (1632), which later shaped many Dutch, German-speaking, and North American Mennonites (including Amish).Leaders & texts.Thieleman J. van Braght (1625–1664), minister at Dordrecht, author-compiler of Martyrs Mirror (1660)—a Flemish voice calling a comfortable church back to martyr-blood seriousness.Earlier evangelists like Leenaert Bouwens helped form Flemish discipline patterns; later urban ministers defended the Dordrecht line.Internal branches.Flemish (mainstream strict).Old Flemish (Huiskoopers), the strictest wing—fissile on questions of wealth, buildings, and social conformity.Tensions with Waterlanders (more conciliatory) and Frisians (strict, but with their own traditions) produced recurring micro-schisms and reunions.Where they were in 1659.Influential, prosperous—and worried about that prosperity. Flemish pastors preached against worldliness, upheld discipline, and promoted the 1632 Dordrecht norms. Van Braght’s 1659 exhortation (“Of the Greater Danger…”) reflects this mood: greater danger from subtle compromise than from open persecution.Why they matter.The Flemish line provided the durable confessional backbone and the disciplined congregational culture that traveled far beyond Holland—into the Lower Rhine, Prussia/Danzig, and, eventually, North America. ↩︎
[3] The Huiskoopers:Huiskoopers (Old Flemish Mennonites)Name & origin.Huiskoopers literally means “house buyers.” The nickname comes from a flare-up in Franeker (1586) when a Flemish Mennonite elder bought a house under disputed terms. The faction that backed the elder were dubbed Huiskoopers and became known as the Old Flemish; their opponents were called Contra-Huiskoopers (the Young Flemish). (Academia)Ethos.Stricter than mainstream Flemish: firm use of the ban (excommunication) and avoidance, strong separation from worldly luxury, plainness, and close discipline in marriage and community life. (Same theological core: believers’ baptism, nonresistance, refusal of oaths.)Spread & labels.From the Franeker split, Old Flemish/“Huiskoopers” communities spread through the Netherlands and into East/West Prussia (Vistula delta; Danzig area). Later usage of the nickname especially stuck to the Danziger Old Flemish; related offshoots included the Groningen Old Flemish. (Wikipedia)Quick timeline.1586: Franeker house-purchase controversy → split: Old Flemish (Huiskoopers) vs. Young Flemish (Contra-Huiskoopers). (Academia)1600s: Old Flemish communities consolidate and migrate; the stricter Old Flemish identity persists alongside other Dutch Mennonite streams. (Wikipedia)If you want, I can stack them side-by-side with Waterlanders and (mainstream) Flemish in a one-screen comparison chart for quick teaching notes. ↩︎
[4] Dordrecht (city & confession)The place.Dordrecht (South Holland) was a key Mennonite center in the 1600s. Th. J. van Braght ministered here; its congregational culture leaned Flemish (strict discipline, plain living, nonresistance).The document (1632).At a ministers’ conference in Dordrecht in 1632, Dutch Mennonite elders adopted the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (18 articles). It became the most influential Dutch-Anabaptist confession—later carried into Prussian/Vistula delta communities and widely used in North America (many Mennonite and Amish bodies treat it as a doctrinal touchstone).Core emphases (signature Mennonite notes).Believers’ baptism upon confession of faith.Church discipline: the ban and measured avoidance (Meidung) for unrepentant sin.Nonresistance and refusal of oaths (Matt. 5): no bearing of the sword, no swearing.Separated, humble life: warnings against luxury and worldliness.Lord’s Supper as a memorial for the gathered, disciplined church.Footwashing commended as an expression of humility in some communities.Why it mattered in 1659.Van Braght’s call—“the greater danger” of subtle compromise in peaceful times—echoes the Dordrecht program: keep faith and life together, guard discipline, refuse the sword, and resist respectability’s drift.Not to confuse with:The Synod of Dort (1618–19) and its Canons are Reformed/Calvinist; the Dordrecht Confession (1632) is Mennonite/Anabaptist—different assemblies, different traditions, same city. ↩︎
[5] Thieleman Jansz van Braght (often abbreviated Th. J. van Braght) was a seventeenth-century Dutch Mennonite minister best known as the compiler and editor of The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians (first published 1660).Van Braght lived from 1625 to 1664 and ministered in Dordrecht, the Netherlands—a major center for Mennonites. His Martyrs Mirror was intended as a distinctly Anabaptist counterpart to John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Where Foxe highlighted Protestant martyrdom under Roman persecution, van Braght focused on those who rejected infant baptism, oath-taking, and the sword—people he called the “Defenseless Christians.”The work spans from the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts to early Anabaptists like Michael Sattler, Dirk Willems, and Hans Bockler, presenting them as heirs of apostolic non-resistance and a life of purity. It’s richly illustrated—especially in the 1685 edition with copperplate engravings by Jan Luyken—and has become a devotional epic within Mennonite and broader peace-church tradition.Historically, van Braght’s tone mixes scholarship and pastoral lament: he quotes early fathers, Roman edicts, and chronicles, but frames them as spiritual encouragement for believers to “follow the footsteps of Christ” in suffering rather than to glorify violence. His theology is saturated with biblical literalism, moral seriousness, and martyr spirituality—a kind of quiet, radiant defiance that defines early Mennonite identity.If you like, we can explore either (a) van Braght’s theology of non-resistance and church purity, (b) his historical sources and editorial methods, or (c) the Martyrs Mirror’s later influence among American Mennonites and Baptists. Each path reveals how a single book came to embody an entire community’s conscience. ↩︎
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