Spirit and Letter

With the issue of Spirit and Letter, we find that it is a further continuation of the dialog the Anabaptists had with concerns of the Soteirology of the time.

The early Anabaptist had problems with Luther's views of Grace through the Spirit. Luther had introduced Sola Scriptura, "Word Alone" which said that Christianity did not need the traditons of man but should rely on the truth found in scripture. This led to a freedom that had no accountabilty and discipleship was put on the back burner.

The Anabaptist problems with this was that with the opening of scripture into the vernacular anyone could read it but it was the right interpretation through the inner working of the Holy Spirit that was key. The issue of grace and law was at the heart of Luther's theology and the Anabaptist held that these two must be held in tension with each other.

One of the problems was as time progressed the Anabaptists became more legalistic and more rigid as they sought to interpret the scriptures by the rule of the law, the measuring stick in which they measured the fruits that were being produced by the Holy Spirit.