Wiedertaufe

Wiedertaufe describes the practice of performing baptism again on a person who has already been baptized, commonly as an infant. In the context of the 16th century Reformation, the term is associated with the Anabaptist movement, which taught that baptism should be a personal decision made by a conscious adult believer rather than an infant commitment.

Originating in the early 1520s among the Swiss Brethren and their followers in parts of southern Germany, Wiedertaufe was a key feature of the movement. Adherents argued that infant baptism could not signify a true confession of faith, and they initiated adult baptisms for those who requested admission to the church, often by immersion.

The practice provoked strong opposition from both Catholic and Protestant authorities and was met with persecution, including execution, torture, and banishment. The label Wiedertäufer was used by opponents to stigmatize the groups, while supporters saw rebaptism as a return to biblical practice and church purity. The movement contributed to the formation of later Anabaptist communities such as Mennonites and other pacifist groups.

In modern scholarship, Wiedertaufe is studied as a controversial and formative episode in the history of baptism, church-state relations, and religious liberty. Today most Christian denominations either practice infant baptism or believer’s baptism without re-baptizing those baptized as infants, and rebaptism remains a rare and debated topic in ecumenical discourse.