Who was George Blaurock?

George Blaurock’s name marks Truett-McConnell College’s proposed student recreation center (SRC) – a facility not yet built, but already called the Rock.

Like a rock, Blaurock stood stone stiff in his faith and practice, and that example provides the impetus for his name donning the SRC.

Swiss-born, Blaurock’s early years are a mystery. Even his birth is cited by some historians as ca. 1492. But of the evangelical aspects marking his adult life until his death in 1529, much more is known.

Educated at the University of Leipzig, Blaurock was a Roman Catholic priest until his conversion to Christ and evangelical Anabaptism. Before arriving in Zurich with his wife around 1524, however, the seeds of radical transformation apparently had taken root in Blaurock’s heart and life because he evidently had abandoned the priesthood.

Perhaps attracted by the significant changes and the Reformation already begun in Zurich by Zwingli and others, Blaurock’s search for truth led him in 1525 to Zwingli. Blaurock wanted to consult with him concerning the gospel, but being disappointed turned to Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz for the truth.

These and other men, known as the Radical Reformers, believed the so-called Reformation did not go far enough, as Zwingli was defending, among other things, the baptism of babies, or, paedobaptism.   Continue at Norm Miller