Historians debate about when the Radical, or Anabaptist Reformation started, but what cannot be denied is it started in various regions all within a few years of each other. Just as in the Protestant Reformation, the Lord was working in the Radical Reformation as well. Through various men, and means the Holy Spirit was pricking the hearts of men as they studied into God’s Word. Men like Wilhelm Reublin.

Born in Rottenburg in 1484, we have little knowledge of His younger years until we see he left to go to universities in Freiburg, and the prestigious theological university of Eberhard Karls in Tubinger, Germany. Here he studied alongside the likes of Philip Melanchthon (a contemporary of Martin Luther). The school was founded in 1477 and, from its beginning, has had a profound influence on theology, and studies of doctrine and humanity. So it would stand to reason someone like Wilhelm had a great understanding of biblical theology and doctrine. A bedrock that would serve him well in later years.

He became a pastor as St. Albans Church in Basel, Switzerland in 1521, where he became a Preacher of reform using the Bible as his base to preach repentance and reform to the congregation. His stance on believers baptism and communion was unpopular with the local magistrates and he was expelled from Basel in the later part of 1522. He was next seen to set up a church in a the outskirts of Zurich, called Witikon in 1524. Here he became friends with Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz and participated in their Disputations with Ulrich Zwingli over infant baptism at the Grossmunster Church in January of 1525.

Following the decision of the Zurich city council to expell or arrest members of the fledgling group if they did not recant after 8 days, he fled to Hallau and started a large Anabaptist congregation there with John Brotli. He was able to use that congregation to then travel and preach in other local areas to preach the Word. To go to places like Waldshut, just over the line in Germany, and Rottenburg. He was a very charismatic and learned man of God so he left each area growing in the long forgotten truths of scripture.

Men like Michael Sattler and Balthasar Hubmaier owe their baptisms, and early Christian walk to the knowledge and influence of Reublin. The lasting influence in the southern German/Switzerland churches is undeniably because of his traveling influence in the Anabaptist circles and his fire to preach reform and repentance to the villages, and cities.

Sadly, not much is know about his later years after he had a dispute with the newly formed Hutterites over ownership of goods and money in 1531 when he became ill and it was found out he was holding some money from the rest while others were starving. He lost his renown and left the group. He eventually left the Anabaptist Reformation because of what appears, again, his desire for earthly possessions when it’s recorded he was supposedly trying to get back his inheritance from the magistrates in Rottenburg. Not much is known after that, but it became clear somewhere in the 1530s that Reublin had left the Anabaptist church he struggled and traveled so hard to grow with new, repented believers. Whether he went back to the Catholic church, or through correspondence with Heinrich Bullinger went over to the Reformed church of Ulrich Zwinlgi, only God knows the details and his heart.

One thing has become clear if you look at the life of someone like Wilhelm Reublin, is this: we must always be on our guard to walk righteously before God. The love of this worlds goods, or man’s praise will draw us away in an instant if our focus becomes on ourselves instead of God’s Word and by extension His work. The words of the George Heath should ring in our ears, “My soul be on thy Guard…” and with diligence, and child like trust in Christ we can keep the faith and walk on past those temptations!