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Concerning baptism, in the 16th century, civil governments viewed infant baptism as the act that made the newly born baby a member of society and a member of the church. Luther, Zwingli, Bucer, and all 16th-century reformers except Anabaptists agreed with the Roman Catholic Church that infants must be baptized. The reasons each of these reformers used to defend infant baptism differed, but they all agreed that those who refused to baptize their infants were heretics and seditious and wanted to overthrow a stable society. Anabaptists used Mark 16:15-16 as a proof text that baptism should follow preaching of the Gospel and faith that saves. According to Marpeck, regeneration (faith, repentance, forgiveness of sins) begins prior to baptism and continues in baptism when the Holy Spirit bears witness with the faith and good conscience of the person being baptized.
Concerning the Lord’s Supper, in reaction to the Catholic view that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ and the Lutheran view that Christ’s body and blood are attached to the bread and wine, Zwingli and Anabaptists held a Memorial view, the idea that in the Lord’s Supper we remember the death and resurrection of Christ. Marpeck rejected the view that the symbols (bread and wine) were literal Christ, rejected the view that they were mere symbols (Zwingli), and said that Christ is present spiritually only as the Holy Spirit or divine nature. Marpeck believed that Christ is spiritually present with his people by the power of the Holy Spirit.