There were, however, as Heinrich Bullinger and his contemporary, Sebastian Franck, point out, numerous divergencies between the various sections of the party.

Many of these recalled other mediaeval heretic sects, e.g.the Cathari, the Brothers and Sisters of the Spirit, the Bohemian Brethren, etc.
For the first few years of its existence Anabaptism remained true to its original theologico-ethical principles.

The doctrine of non-resistance was strictly adhered to.

The Brethren believed in themselves as the elect, and that they had only to wait in prayer and humility for the "advent of Christ and His saints," the "restitution of all things," the "establishment of the Kingdom of God upon earth," or by whatever other phrase the dominant idea of the coming change was expressed.

During the earlier years of the movement the Anabaptists were peaceable and harmless fanatics and visionaries.