Editing Menno Simons (section)

===Anabaptists===
{{Reformation}}
Menno Simons rejected the Catholic Church and the priesthood on 12 January 1536,<ref name='CathEncy'/> casting his lot with the [[Anabaptists]]. The exact  date of his new [[baptism]] is unknown, but he was probably baptized not long after leaving Witmarsum in early 1536. By October 1536 his connection with Anabaptism was well known, because it was in that month that [https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Menno_Monument_(Witmarsum,_Friesland,_Netherlands) Herman] and [https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Gerryt_Jansz_(d._1536) Gerryt Jansz] were arrested, charged and beheaded for having [https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Menno_Monument_(Witmarsum,_Friesland,_Netherlands) lodged Simons]. He was ordained around 1537 by [[Obbe Philips]]. Obbe and his brother, [[Dirk Philips]], were among the peaceful disciples of [[Melchior Hoffman]] (the more radical of Hoffman's followers having participated in the [[Münster Rebellion]]). It was Hoffman who introduced the first self-sustaining Anabaptist congregation in the Netherlands, when he taught and practiced believers' baptism in [[Emden]] in [[East Frisia]]. Menno Simons rejected the violence advocated by the Münster movement, believing it was not Scriptural.<ref name='Gonzalez'>{{cite book|author=Gonzalez, J.|title=A History of Christian Thought|publisher=[[Abingdon Press]]|year=1975|pages=96}}</ref> His theology was focused on separation from this world, and baptism by repentance symbolized this.<ref name='Gonzalez'/>

{{blockquote|1=For true evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lie dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it dies unto flesh and blood; destroys all forbidden lusts and desires; cordially seeks, serves and fears God; clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it; teaches, admonishes and reproves with the Word of the Lord; seeks that which is lost; binds up that which is wounded; heals that which is diseased and saves that which is sound. The persecution, suffering and anxiety which befalls it for the sake of the truth of the Lord, is to it a glorious joy and consolation.|2=Menno Simons|3=[[s:Why I Do Not Cease Teaching and Writing|Why I Do Not Cease Teaching and Writing]], 1539}}

Menno evidently rose quickly to become a man of influence. Before 1540, [[David Joris]], an Anabaptist of the "inspirationist" variety, had been the most influential leader in the Netherlands. By 1544, the term ''Mennonite'' or ''Mennist'' was used in a letter to refer to the Dutch Anabaptists.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = University of Toronto Press| isbn = 978-1-4875-0551-6| last = Friesen| first = Leonard G.| title = Mennonites in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union: Through Much Tribulation| location = Toronto ; Buffalo ; London| date = 2022-10-27| page = 46}}</ref>
Twenty-five years after his renunciation of Catholicism, Menno died on 31 January 1561 at Wüstenfelde, [[Holstein]], and was buried in his garden.<ref name="gameo"/> He was married to a woman named Gertrude, and they had at least three children, two daughters and a son.<ref>[http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G430.html Geertruydt (16th century)]. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved on 26 October 2012.</ref> Only one daughter outlived him.<ref>{{Cite book | publisher = University of Michigan Library | last = Dosker | first = Henry E. | title = The Dutch Anabaptists | date = 1921-01-01 | page = 170}}</ref>