I call again for readers of this column and members of Every Church a Peace Church to become involved in nonviolent movements against various aspects of the U.S. war machine, the plan to invade Iraq, the supplying of arms to escalate the civil war in Columbia, the one-sided support for Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflagration (work for a nonviolent Palestinian intifada to replace the suicide bombers has begun but needs far more help; support for Israeli and Jewish peace movements is also very necessary -- as is combating anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism among some supporters of the Palestinian movement), the new nuclear build-up and new first strike policy, etc. Events around the country can be found on the websites of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (www.forusa.org), the American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org), the War Resisters' League (www.warresisters.org). But this week's column returns to the history of nonviolence, with a focus on Christian nonviolence.

I have always drawn special inspiration and courage from the history of the 16th Century Anabaptist movement, the Radical Reformation that is the root of contemporary Mennonites, Hutterites, the Brethren in Christ, one of the two major roots of the Church of the Brethren and related Dunker movements, and one of the (neglected) roots of the Baptist movement. Although my frustrations with large sections of contemporary Baptist life (especially in the Southern United States where I live) continue to tempt me to "jump ship" to a purer expression of the Anabaptist heritage (such as the Mennonite Church, USA), as of yet I remain one who tries to renew the Anabaptist/peacemaking roots of the Baptist movement. From the Martyrs' Mirror comes the story of this Anabaptist martyr, Maeynken Wens.

Maeynken Wens was from Antwerp, Holland. She was originally part of the Radical Reformation movement that followed Melchior Hoffman, but never part of the Hoffmanites that became a revolutionary movement in the town of Münster. Later, she attached herself to the renewal movement among Dutch Anabaptists launched and guided by Menno Simons. She dared to read the Bible for herself and then discuss and study it with other believers -- not guided by any official Magisterium or creedal interpretation or authoritative priests. For the authorities of the time matters were made worse because she openly proclaimed the gospel to any who would listen -- an unlicensed, unordained, unregulated, Spirit-filled, Spirit-guided woman evangelist. Sister Wens was arrested for her religious activity, and was tortured in prison for six months. She could have been released, but she refused to promise that she would recant her "heretical" (i.e., Anabaptist) views or would cease spreading the gospel of grace and costly discipleship. Because of her steadfast witness, Wens was sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Catholics and (Magisterial) Protestants alike executed Anabaptists, but the Reformers tended to drown them (in mockery of their "rebaptism" -- failing to acknowledge that these believers did not consider infant Christenings to be baptisms at all) whereas Catholics tended to burn them at the stake. Such burning was the long-preferred method of the Inquisition for dealing with those found to be "heretics" by the Church authorities.

Maeynken was such an effective evangelist that the authorities were afraid that she would convert others by preaching on her way to be executed. To prevent this, the fearful authorities used a "tongue screw," a wooden screw that fastened her tongue to the roof of her mouth.

In order to "teach a lesson" to the next generation, the authorities forced Maeynken's children to witness her horrible execution. Her teenage son, Adrian, fainted. After the ashes had cooled, however, he sifted through the debris of wood, robe, and bones and found the tongue screw. He kept it as a reminder of his mother's faith. She had not been permitted to testify verbally at her execution, but her testimony lived on.

Church authorities still try to silence the radical testimony of women. And political authorities still try to stifle dissent behind slogans of "united we stand" or by intimidation, and even imprisonment or execution, depending on the political authority and how threatened they are by dissent.

The Anabaptists of the 16th C. recovered much of the spirit of the early church's faith and practice, including its peace testimony. The majority of the Anabaptist groups refused military service, refused to own weapons, refused violent self-defense, and would not support capital punishment by serving on juries (and almost all crimes were punishable by death in those days). They did not, except sporadically, organize movements of nonviolent resistance to injustice. Following the Swiss Brethren, most called their form of pacifism "nonresistance" after Jesus' words "resist not evil" in Matthew 5:39. (Biblical students from Clarence Jordan to John Ferguson to Glen Stassen to Walter Wink have all found reason to challenge this translation, however. A better translation would be something like, "Do not resist evil violently," or "Do not resist by evil means." That is the sense captured in Paul's paraphrase in Romans 12:17, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil." In both Matthew and Romans, this negative is followed by positive commands of transforming initiatives for peace. See Matt. 5:38-48; Rom. 12:17-21.)

But by showing courage in the face of persecution, torture, and death, Anabaptist martyrs like Maeynken Wens did pave the way for later forms of more active nonviolence. She and her spiritual kin showed the courage, discipline, and faith needed to renounce violence and persevere in the truth in the face of violence. Her witness to the nonviolent Way of Jesus lives on.

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