The Schleitheim Confession (Brotherly Union)

The letter closes with its own place and date: Schleitheim, St Matthias’s day (24 February), 1527. Yoder’s translation prints “St. Matthew’s Day” and gives the date in a note as February 24; the translation in Estep prints “Matthias’ Day”. The articles are addressed as a letter to fellow believers and state the points on which those present, after earlier disagreement, had become of one mind. The drafting is attributed to Michael Sattler, a former monk who was executed a few months later.

The document is a primary source for what the first Swiss Anabaptists taught, in their own words. The sixth article says that the sword is ordained by God for rulers outside the “perfection of Christ” and that a Christian may neither use it nor serve as a magistrate. The seventh says that Christ forbade his followers all swearing. It is the statement of one meeting, written under persecution, and other groups called Anabaptist did not all hold these positions.