Zurich Anabaptist Disputation

Timeline

1. 1523Zurich Town Hall · Zurich CantonThe Zurich city council convened a second public disputation specifically to consider baptism. Anabaptist representatives Grebel, Manz, and others argued that baptism should be limited to those who had made a profession of faith, that infant baptism lacked biblical basis, and that it was inconsistent with true church membership.
2. 1523Zurich Town Hall · SwitzerlandOn the second day the two sides clashed sharply over New Testament passages on baptism. The Anabaptists emphasized believer's baptism and church discipline, advocating a pure church separated from the "world"; Zwingli held that infant baptism was part of the Christian tradition and that the civic church should encompass all residents.
3. 1523Zurich · SwitzerlandOn the closing day the city council ruled in favor of Zwingli, maintaining infant baptism and prohibiting rebaptism without civic permission. The Anabaptists were declared heretics, and Grebel, Manz, and others were subsequently imprisoned and persecuted. The disputation marked the formal break between the Anabaptist movement and Zwingli's Reformed camp, yet the idea of adult baptism continued to spread in eastern Switzerland and Germany.