Peter Riedemann’s Hutterite Confession of Faith

The biblical foundations of a Christian communal movement that has stood the test of five centuries.

While in prison from 1540 to 1542, Riedemann wrote to the Lutheran ruler, Philip of Hesse, explaining the Hutterite goal of a renewed community and dispelling popular misconceptions. The Hutterites quickly accepted Riedemann’s confession as their own.

Riedemann creatively weaves together a fresh reading of the Bible with the classical creeds, producing a powerful synthesis of Scripture and tradition on which to base Christian community. His dynamic vision of radical and communal discipleship still challenges believers toward greater faithfulness to the Lord and to each other.

Riedemann’s confession gives theological grounding for the Hutterite understanding of economic communalism and offers practical examples of it. This confession continues to guide Hutterite communities today.

This volume includes an English translation of the 1565 German edition of Confession of Our Religion, Teaching, and Faith, by the Brothers Who Are Known as the Hutterites along with a new history of Riedemann.

This is volume 9 in the Classics of the Radical Reformation, a series of Anabaptist and Free Church documents translated and annotated under the direction of the Institute of Mennonite Studies.