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A Light in this dark world

The Lantern, P O Box 1407, Dover, Florida 33527 | 813-764-1220 | www.thelantern.org

September 2010

This episode bringsthe history of thechristian martyrs

who gave there lifefor the cause of theKingdom of God.

Great Martyrs for the Kingdomof God

FELIX MANZ MARTYRDOM

FELIX MANZ

On January 5, 1527 Felix was led from prison

to a boat. On the way he gave praises to God

and preached to the people gathered to watch

him die.One of Zwingli's priests went along, still

trying to convert him. Manz's brother and

mother were there as well, urging him to stand

fast.

Continued on Page 2

FIRST ANABAPTIST MARTYR

Felix Manz was the first Anabaptist to be

drowned in the Limmat River , Lake Zurich by

government of Zurich

Felix Manz wasdrowned as well asother Anabaptists

for taking theBaptism.

Issue No: one www.thelantern.org

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Old Anabaptist drawing

Felix Manz Drowning Ulrich Zwingly
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CONTD FELIX MANZ MARTYRDOM

He was put into a boat on the river

Lammat. His hands were tied, and he was

made to squat down. A stick was stuck

behind his knees and above his elbows to

immoblize him, and he was taken to the

middle of the river.

There, with his mother, brother, and

his fellow "rebaptizers" (Anabaptists)

shouting encouragement, he was tipped

into the lake, a final death by baptism.

He was not horrified nor afraid. His

last words were, "Into your hands, O Lord,

I commend my spirit."

A FINAL WORD FROM FELIX MANZ

Felix sent a letter of encouragement to his

brethren before he died. The full text can

be found in Martyr's Mirror, but here are

some of the more inspiring excerpts.

"My heart rejoices in God, who gives

me much knowledge and wisdom so that I

may escape the eternal and never-ending

death. "I praise you, O Lord Christ fromheaven, that you turn away my sorrow and

sadness; you whom God has sent me as a

Savior and for an example and a light. You

have called me into your heavenly kingdom

already, before my end has come, that I

should have eternal joy with him [i.e., the

Father] and should love him and all his

righteousness without which nothing

avails or subsists. "Alas how many are found whoboast of the Gospel and speak, teach, and

preach much about it, but are full of hatred

and envy. They do not have the love of God

in them, and their deceit is known to all the

world They hate the pious on the earth

and obstruct the way to life and to the true

sheepfold.

"They call upon the authorities to killus, by which they destroy the very essence of

Christianity. But I will praise the Lord

Christ, who exercises all patience towards

us. He instructs us with his divine graces

and shows love to all men which none ofthe false prophets are able to do.

"Here we must observe this difference, that

the sheep of Christ seek the praise of God.

Continued on page 3

"My heart rejoicesin God, who gives

me much knowledge

and wisdom so thatI may escape the

eternal and never-ending death.

Memorial p late in remembrance of Fel ix Manz and o ther Anabaptists executed in the early 16th century "Protestat ion und Schutzschrif t" by Felix
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A FINAL WORD FROM FELIX MANZ (CONTD)

This is their choice, and they do not

allow themselves to be hindered either

by possessions or temporal good, for

they are in the keeping of Christ. The

Lord Christ compels no one to come tohis glory; only those that are willing

and prepared attain to it by true faith

and baptism. "Whenever a person brings forthgenuine fruits of repentance, the

heaven of eternal joys is, through

grace, purchased and obtained for him

by Christ, through the shedding of his

innocent blood, which he so willingly

poured out. With that he showed us his

love. He endues us with the power of

his Spirit, and whoever receives and

uses it grows and is made perfect in

God. Only love to God through Christ

shall stand and prevail, not boasting,

denouncing, or threatening. "It is love alone that is pleasingto God; he that cannot show love shall

not stand in the sight of God. " This Light of Life they havebefore them but those who are

hateful and envious and wickedly

betray, accuse, smite, and quarrelcannot be Christians . By this we

may know those that are not on the

side of Christ. "With this I will finish mydiscourse, desiring that all the godly be

mindful of the fall of Adam, who when

he accepted the advice of the serpent

the punishment of death came upon

him. Thus it shall also happen to those

who do not accept Christ, but resist

him, love this world, and have not the

love of God.

"And thus I close with this: I willfirmly adhere to Christ and trust in him

who is acquainted with all my needs

and can deliver me out of it. Amen."

FELIX MANZ (AD 1498 - 1527

Felix Manz, one of the founders

and first martyr of the original Swiss

Brethren congregation in Zrich,

Switzerland, was born about 1498, the

son of a Zrich canon, acquired a

thorough knowledge of Latin, Greek,

and Hebrew. When Zwingli came to

Zrich in 1519, Manz joined him

enthusiastically and became a regular

attendant at Zwingli's Bible classes.

Differences of opinion soon arose

when he and his associates demanded

the abolition of tithes and interest.

Zwingli hesitated, although he could

not entirely close his mind to the

Biblical basis for this demand (see his

noted sermon on divine and human

righteousness on 24 June 1523). Evenmore ins i s tent ly the Brethren

demanded the abolition of the Mass.

When Zwingli left the decision in this

matter in the hands of the Zrich city

council the Brethren broke with him

and henceforth held their own

meetings in the home of Felix Manz's

mother.

The question of baptism at once

arose. Several fathers refused to have

their children baptized. They were

fined. On 17 January 1525 a public

disputation was held in the city hall of

Zrich to decide the issue, with Conrad

Grebel and Felix Manz representing

the Brethren. Zwingli was pronounced

the victor. In consequence an order was

issued on 18 January threatening those

who would not have their children

baptized within eight days with

banishment from the city. Grebel and

Manz were to desist from their arguing

and submit to the opinion of "my lords

(of the city council)."This the Brethren refused to do.

On 21 January they performed the rite

of adul t bapt i sm and held a

communion service among themselves,

thereby making their break with theZwingli church final and establishingtheir brotherhood as a distinct

Christian body. The movement spread

rapidly through the city and the canton

of Zrich. Felix Manz was among the

most zealous in proclaiming the new

doctrine. He was repeatedly arrested.

He earnestly requested an opportunity

to express himself in writing on the

points in dispute, since it was

impossible to do justice to the matter in

oral debate. But the council refused.

History of Felix Manz (AD 1498-1527 )FROM GLOBAL ANABAPTIST MENNONITE ENCYCLOPEDIA
http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/Z97.htmlhttp://www.thelantern.org/http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/Z97.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/Z86.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G7432.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G7432.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G7432.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G7432.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G7432.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/B3689.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/B3689.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/Z97.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/Z97.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/Z86.htmlhttp://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/Z86.htmlhttp://www.thelantern.org/http://www.thelantern.org/


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The second disputation in Zrich took

place on 20 March 1525. The result

was again negative. The Brethren (14

men and seven women) were

imprisoned in the Hexenturm on bread

and water. On 5 April they managed to

escape. But they were soon captured

and subjected to a severe cross-

examination. Felix Manz testified that

he had never rejected government,

interest, and tithes. If he had taken the

liberty to preach in other pastorates, he

had only done what a disciple of Christ

must do. Capital punishment he had

denounced, as well as the use of the

sword; community of goods he had not

taught, but only willingness to share

with the needy. Two weeks after his

escape from the Hexenturm he had

baptized in Embrach, and would

continue to do so.After his release Manz went to the

Oberland of Zrich, especially to

Grningen. But he did not stay here

long. By the middle of May we find

him with George Blaurock at Chur in

the canton of Grisons, Blaurock's

home. On 18 July he was seized and

taken back to Zrich. The letter which

the magistrate of Chur sent to the

Zrich council on 13 July 1525, states:

For a long time we have had

among us one who calls himself FelixManz. The same has created much

trouble and discord among our people

by baptizing old people and corner

preaching, to such an extent that we

ordered him to leave the city. After this

he returned and did as before,

disregarding the public proclamation in

the church forbidding adult baptism on

penalty of death, loss of honor and loss

of property. Therefore we arrested him

and held him a few days. But because

he is an obstinate and recalcitrant

person we released him from prison

and because he is one of yours we have

sent him to you, with the friendly

request that you look after him and

keep him in your territory, so that we

may be rid of him and our people

remain quiet, and that in case of his

return, we are not compelled to take

severe measures against him.

In Zrich Manz was confined in

the Wellenberg for several months and

then released on 7 October. On the

next day he was already with Grebel

taking part in a meeting of the

Anabaptists at Bezholz. Here they weresurprised by the magistrate. Grebel was

seized, but Manz escaped until 30

October, when he was also put in

prison. At the suggestion of the

magistrate the third public Anabaptist

disputation was held in Zrich on 6

and 8 November in the Grossmnster

of the city. Grebel and Manz were

again the spokesmen of the Brethren.

The outcome was that on 18

November the council sentenced

Blaurock, Grebel, and Manz to prisonon bread, water, and "Mus," forbidding

all contact with the outside, "as long as

my lords should see fit."

This imprisonment was not of

long duration. Soon afterward we find

the three leaders of the Brethren again

in the highlands of Zrich, where they

promulgated their doctrines more

vigorously than ever. They were again

arrested and subjected to a severe

questioning. They held to their faith

and were ready to die for it. Again they

requested permission to present their

case in the matter of baptism in

writing, as Zwingli had already done in

his book, Vom Tauff, vom Wiedertauff

und vom Kindertauff (at the end of

May 1525). Manz expressly stated that

he had never disputed, but had only

testified to his faith; the Scriptures

alone had led him to his position on

baptism; no Christian could strike with

the sword, nor does he resist evil.

The council now resorted to

severer measures. On 7 March the

sentence was pronounced: "Manz,

Grebel, and Blaurock, besides 15 otherAnabaptists including six women, shall

be placed on straw in the new tower on

bread and water until they die and

decay. No one may visit them or have

power to change their condition, be

they well or sick, without the consent of

my lords." Repetition of the offense

would be punished without mercy by

drowning. Sooner than the severity of

the verdict would indicate, the prison

doors were opened. At any rate, by

April 1526 the three Brethren leaderswere assisting their harried brethren in

Grisons and Appenzell

(Contd Page 5 )

HISTORY OF FELIX MANZ ( CONTD)
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In the fall of 1526 it was learned that

Manz and Blaurock were in the region

of Grningen baptizing. To put an endto this activity the council applied the

edict of 7 March, which made adult

baptism punishable by drowning. On 3

December 1526, Manz and Blaurock

were surprised at a meeting of the

Brethren, seized, and taken to Zrich,

where they were placed in the

Wellenberg prison. It was Manz's final

imprisonment. On 5 January 1527 he

was sentenced to death, "because

contrary to Christian order and custom

h e h a d b e c o m e i n v o l v e d i n

Anabaptism, had accepted it, taught

others, and become a leader and

beginner of these things because he

confessed having said that he wanted to

gather those who wanted to accept

Christ and follow Him, and unite

himself with them through baptism,

and let the rest live according to their

faith, so that he and his followers

separated themselves from the

Christian Church and were about toraise up and prepare a sect of their

own under the guise of a Christian

meeting and church; because he had

condemned capital punishment, and in

order to increase his following had

boasted of certain revelations from thePauline Epistles. But since such

doctrine is harmful to the unified usage

of all Christendom, and leads to

offense, insurrection, and sedition

against the government, to the

shattering of the common peace,

brotherly love, and civil cooperation

and to all evil, Manz shall be delivered

to the executioner, who shall tie his

hands, put him into a boat, take him to

the lower hut, there strip his bound

hands down over his knees, place a

stick between his knees and arms, and

thus push him into the water and let

him perish in the water; thereby he

shall have atoned to the law and

justice. . . . His property shall also be

confiscated by my lords."

He was taken bound from the

Wellenberg over the fish market to the

boat. As he was being taken between

the shops he praised God with a loud

voice and cheerfully testified to thepeople that he was about to die for the

truth. Meanwhile the dismal procession

had reached the place of execution. It

was three o'clock in the afternoon. "As

he stood there with the depths of Lake

Zrich below him, the blue sky overhim, and the mountains with their

snowy peaks in the sunshine, around

him, his soul in the face of death

looked out above these. As a preacher

at his side spoke sympathetically to him

encouraging him to be converted, he

hardly heard him; but when he

perceived his mother's voice on the

opposite bank, together with his

brothers admonishing him to be

steadfast, he sang with a loud voice

while he was being bound, In manus

tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum

meum,' and the waves closed in over

his head." He was buried in the St.

Jakobs cemetery in Zrich. The

Ausbund, No. 6, has a song written by

him: "Mit Lust so will ich singen."

While he left no published writings, the

Protestation und Schutzschrift of

December 1524 addressed to the

Zrich Council, attributed to Conrad

Grebel by Egli, Khler, and Bender,has been shown by W. Schmid to have

been written by Manz.

HISTORY OF FELIX MANZ ( CONTD)

River Limmat, where Feliz manz hands were bound and pulled behind his knees and a pole was placed between them Felix Manz
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Brothers and Sisters

in Christ, throughout the history ofchristianity we can

see people who gavetheir lives for the

cause of theKingdom of God.May their blood

speak to us to live alife pleasing to the

will of God.

September 2010

FROM:

THELANTERN

POBox1407, Dover, Florida33527USA. Issue No. One

A Light in the darkness

Taking you to a time when Christians are killed for things which we are taking it for

granted

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