[rainmaker]

Originally posted by ChuckElias

The "ana" means "again". Anabaptists were one of the first groups in America to re-baptize people who had been baptized as infants. They felt that baptism was symbolic, a statement of one's faith. Since an infant was unable to make that statement, they re-baptized believers as adults.

You want to put those two groups in the same breath, Juulie?

Well, when the topic is the mechanics of baptism, they belong in the same breath, don't they? There are a lot of differences, but some similarities, such as the "meetinghouses", the conscientious objection to war, the non-recognition of holidays (which Quakers used to practice until about the time that the Jehovah's Witnesses were beginning), and even, for some Quakers, the belief against the Trinity. Today, Quakers are a motley crew, like many mainline denominations that range from liberal-humanist to conservative-evangelical. But there was a time when we were as sectarian and anti-worldly as the Jehovah's Witnesses. The only real theological difference between the sectarian periods of the two groups is the equality of the person of Jesus Christ with the person of God the Father -- Quakers have been mostly of the conviction that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were in substance and person equal with God the Father, and the JW's have never believed that. They see the Trinity as a statement of polytheism and thus blasphemy. Jehovah's Witnesses also elevate the Bible (their version) much higher that the Quaker view, but this isn't as determinant to faith as the issue of Jesus and His death and resurrection.

Is there a way to move this to the General board? It is most certainly off-topic. Unless we start talking about the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. That's very basketball related, and an issue among Quakers and JW's.