Anabaptist Martyr in Antwerp, Belgium
Andries Langedul was arrested while seated on the porch reading the Bible just after a preaching service was held at his home. Along with two others he was beheaded on November 9, 1559, at the Steen prison in Antwerp, being "put to death as lambs of Christ for the slaughter."
It should be noted that this concept was a radical one and is the basis of much of the persecution which the Anabaptists were to
suffer in the centuries ahead. Indeed one historian says, "These propositions entailed the dissolution of the whole structure of
medieval society."' Another historian evaluates the movement based on this principle as "the spiritual soil out of which all nonconformist sects have sprung." The same historian adds that
it is the first plain announcement in modern history of a programme for a new type of Christian society which the modern world, especially in America and
England, has been slowly realizing-an absolutely free and independent religious society, and a State in which every man counts as a man, and has his
share in shaping both Church and State.'
The early Anabaptists or Mennonites laid great stress on the ethic of the Sermon on the Mount. Their belief was that this ethic
