Doubtless, the answer to the first question is, "Yes." Several religious groups throughout the world can claim an Anabaptist ancestry. Among them are the Mennonites (named after the 16th-century Anabaptist, Menno Simons); the Hutterites (named after 16th-century Anabaptist Jacob Hutter); and the Amish (named after 17th-century Anabaptist Jacob Amman).

Yet the second question mentioned above is more complicated. In fact, historians have long debated whether the Baptist movement -- which grew up in England nearly 100 years after the Reformation began -- was influenced in any way by the Anabaptists.

This historical debate can be quite complex and nitty-gritty, looking even at indirect influences that the Anabaptists may have had on the later Baptists: For example, one historian has suggested that the Reformed emphasis on church discipline, ...