Strength to Strength welcomed Dean Taylor for another episode on the Radical Reformation.
In this episode of Strength to Strength, Dean Taylor revisits the Radical Reformation through the lens of the sacraments—Baptism and Communion—and challenges many of our modern assumptions about them. Too often, he argues, the early Anabaptists are dismissed as anti-sacramental. In reality, their vision was profoundly sacramental—rooted in a realized Incarnational real presence that placed Christ Himself at the center, not stopping with mere ceremony or institution.
Drawing from both the Early Church and the Radical Reformers, Dean explores how this Incarnational presence was meant to be embodied in a people who looked like Jesus—not ending in dogmatic definitions or legalistic systems, but in the lived result of putting the teachings of Jesus into embodied practice on the earth. When that living presence fades, he warns, Christianity drifts into abstraction—devout in language, but detached from life. Such a faith, he argues, remains at least partly Gnostic until the real presence of Christ is manifested in a tangible way within the body. History bears witness to the tragic outcome: a faith adorned with piety yet emptied of compassion, capable of sanctifying violence and uniting church and state in complete contradistinction to the teachings of Christ.
Dean does not claim the Anabaptists had the last word on sacramental theology. He acknowledges that each Christian tradition contributes valuable insights and encourages believers to learn from one another outside of sectarian lines. Yet he contends that the divisions of the Reformation often obscured something vital: a living theology of the Incarnation.
An interactive question-and-answer period follows.
Dean Taylor is an author of several books, most notably A Change of Allegiance, which chronicles the journey of him and his wife leaving the U.S. Army to become peacemakers. He is a church historian; his website Radical Reformation attests to his broad knowledge and experience.
A follow-up Q&A was hosted to discuss audience questions: go to Q&A talk.
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This presentation is part of a series called “Sacred Roots: Rediscovering the Ancient Faith.” Be sure to follow the entire series:
AD 0–100 (Apostolic era):
- Talk 1 — “Sacred Roots: Why Study Church History” by David Anderson
- Talk 2 — “Sacred Roots: The Book of Acts: The Kingdom of God Fills the Earth” by Finny Kuruvilla
- Talk 3 — “Sacred Roots: The Book of Acts: Descriptive or Prescriptive?” by Finny Kuruvilla
- Talk 5 — “Sacred Roots: Why ‘Above All’ Matters: Moses, Jesus, James, Paul, Maximilian, and You” by Zack Johnson
AD 100–300 (Ante-Nicene era):
- Talk 4 — “Sacred Roots: Why Study the Early Christians” by David Bercot
- Talk 8 — “Sacred Roots: Practical Distinctives of the Early Church” by David Anderson
- Talk 16 — “Sacred Roots: Canonization of the New Testament” by Philip Hess
- Talk 6 — “Sacred Roots: Gnosticism: The First Serious Threat to the Church” by Stephen Russell
- Talk 7 — “Sacred Roots: Neo-gnosticism: Today’s Most Serious Threat to the Church” by Stephen Russell
- Talk 14 — “Sacred Roots: Nature of the Church: ‘Assembly of the Saints’ vs. ‘Hospital for Sinners'” by David Anderson
- Talk 10 — “Sacred Roots: Beyond the West: How Africa Shaped Christianity” by Anan Twijjukye
300–800 (early Medieval era)
- Talk 11 — “Sacred Roots: Trinity and Christology – part 1” by David Anderson
- Talk 12 — “Sacred Roots: Trinity and Christology – part 2” by David Anderson
- Talk 9 — “Sacred Roots: Development of the Relationship Between Church and State” by Stephen Russell
800-1400 (late Medieval era)
- Talk 15 — “Sacred Roots: Monasticism: Holiness and the Communal Rhythm of Life” by David Anderson
- Talk 13 — “Sacred Roots: Medieval Europe: The Dark Ages, or…?” by Stephen Russell
1400–1600 (Reformation era)
- Talk 17 — “Sacred Roots: Setting the Stage for the Reformation” by Stephen Russell
- Talk 18 — “Sacred Roots: Panel discussion Q&A on church history” by Stephen Russell, Finny Kuruvilla, David Anderson, and Philip Hess
- Talk 19 — “Sacred Roots: The Radical Reformation: A Model for Our Time” by Dean Taylor
- Talk 20 — “Sacred Roots: The Anabaptists, the Sacraments, and the Words of Jesus” by Dean Taylor
- Talk 21 — “Sacred Roots: Q&A on the Anabaptists’ Understanding of the Sacraments” by Dean Taylor
- Talk 22 — “Sacred Roots: Martyrs Only in the Past: What About Us?” by Stephen Gingerich
- Talk 23 — “Sacred Roots: Faith at the Stake: Michael Sattler and the Cost of Discipleship” by Finny Kuruvilla
- Talk 24 — “Sacred Roots: Separation—a Swiss Brethren Article of Faith” by Edsel Burdge
- Talk 25 — “Sacred Roots: How the Reformers Slipped in Soteriology” by Philip Hess