The Thirty Years War: Radical Pietist, And Anabaptists

By the closing year of the 1600s, life in the German Rheinpfalz region of Europe was still in turmoil. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) had left the population reduced to such an extent it would not return to pre-war levels for nearly a century. The Nine Years War (1688-1697) left Heidelberg, the region’s capital, devastated as foreign armies marched across the territory leaving shortages of food and shelter. The government-controlled churches torn between the major faiths, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist, and the various small sects, including Radial Pietists, Inspirationists, and Anabaptists provided sporadic refuge at a time when faith could offer comfort.
It was into this world Georg Conrad Beissel was born on March 1, 1691. His
This congregation joined other Pietists in leaving the government, churches, earning them the name Radical Pietists. Using the New Testament as a guide, they saw a need for adults to make a confession of faith before receiving baptism. This same idea is central to the Anabaptist movement, a doctrine formed at the time of the Reformation. The Mennonites, and the Amish, who broke with the Mennonites over issues related to church discipline, are Anabaptists. All three of these groups would find a haven in Pennsylvania’s land of religious liberty. While Beissel spent a year with Becker in Germantown, his spirit could find no rest. Beissel, seeking a hermit’s life, traveled in 1721 to the Conestoga region, now the northeastern area of Lancaster
Perhaps at such a remote location he felt pursuit of a contemplative life was possible without distraction. It was not long before his solitude was broken. By the end of the year four men of his Conestoga fold had followed him, and by spring, two young women joined this group now calling their new home the Camp of the