Definition of "Anabaptism"

Following somewhat the thesis of Vos and Mellink pertaining to the origin of Anabaptism in the Netherlands, J. F. G. Goeters has recently challenged Rembert's approach and conclusions. He points out that the actual practice of re-baptism, or adult baptism, prior to the Münster catastrophe was minimal and concludes that the early reformatory movement of the German Lower Rhine was a popular movement containing humanistic, Lutheran, and spiritualistic-sacramentarian elements. Anabaptism did not stand at the beginning of this reformation movement, according to Goeters, but entered midstream and helped too clarify concepts. It constituted a radicalization of the spiritualistic-sacramentarian movement.

1968, Cornelius Krahn, Dutch Anabaptism: Origin, Spread, Life and Thought (1450–1600), Martinus Nijhoff, page 185

As an organised movement Anabaptism had its roots in Zurich where Conrad Grebel and others began to demand a more radical reformation than Zwingli. The distinctive features of Zurich Anabaptism were: the acknowledgement of no authority other than the Bible; the true church consisted only of the 'saints' who had undergone spiritual conversion (a conviction which led adherents to support adult baptism, a feature which gave the movement its distinctive name); withdrawal of the 'saints' from the secular community (which meant refusal to take part in government and a refusal to obey man-made laws).

1989 [Addison Wesley Longman], Peter Limm, The Dutch Revolt 1559—1648, 2013, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 135

Anabaptism in South Germany and Austria had a different flavor than the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland. Whereas Anabaptism in Switzerland arose in opposition to Zwingli's slow pace of reform, Anabaptism in South Germany and Austria was shaped by the failed Peasants' War and was influenced by the apocalyptic theology of Thomas Müntzer.

2014, Kate Eisenbise Crell, Cooperative Salvation: A Brethren View of Atonement, Wipf and Stock, page 6