Sattler College and the Anabaptist Voice

This is a neglected group. I’m very curious how the opening of Sattler College will change the larger conversation, hopefully for the better.

Their blog is a remarkable read. A father of a homeschooled student to be the first class writes of why Sattler, a pacifist, is important to him. Sattler was martyred, in part, for opposing a war with Turkish invaders, as the father explains:

He was killed for, among other things, refusing to hate the enemies of the State. His charge read,

“Ninthly, he has said that if the Turks should invade the country, no resistance ought to be offered them; and if it were right to wage war, he would rather take the field against the Christians than against the Turks; and it is certainly a great matter, to set the greatest enemies of our holy faith against us.”

Sattler replied in his defense,

"If the Turks should come, we ought not to resist them; for it is written: Thou shalt not kill. We must not defend ourselves against the Turks and others of our persecutors but are to beseech God with earnest prayer to repel and resist them. But that I said, that if warring were right, I would rather take the field against the so-called Christians, who persecute, apprehend and kill pious Christians, than against the Turks, was for this reason: The Turk is a true Turk, knows nothing of the Christian faith; and is a Turk after the flesh; but you, who would be Christians, and who make your boast of Christ, persecute the pious witnesses of Christ, and are Turks after the spirit

https://www.sattlercollege.org/blogs/2018/2/21/a-reluctant-fathers-new-hope-how-i-laid-my-fears-of-higher-education-to-rest

Anabaptists are committed to non-violence, much like Martin Luther King Jr. ("Pilgrimage to Nonviolence"). They are pacifists, but they are also usually YEC. They are not fundamentalists, and they are not the religious right. Much like the Lutheran Voice in science (The Lutheran Option), Anabaptists have also been silent. It will be really interesting to see how the conversation adjusts if they find their voice at Sattler.

Even for non-pacifists, would there not be wisdom in a new approach to endless war?

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