Anabaptism and Jews

Collective memory and failure

Abstract

It is important to find ways to celebrate the vision, persistence, and remarkable events that led to the faith and church experience we call Anabaptism, while acknowledging the ambiguities of that history. One such complication of Anabaptist history is the relationship with Jews. There is reason to commemorate and possibly even celebrate our shared fate as minorities in a Europe dominated by Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed Christians. Certainly, there is also abundant reason to tell and retell the stories of shame and failure in our relationship with Jews, to offer penitence and seek reconciliation.