The original Anabaptists were labeled as "Anabaptists" pejoratively, since critics used the term to highlight the movement's perceived obsession with Believer's baptism, or baptism by full-body immersion in water. Neo-Anabaptists can also see a historical parallel to this pejorative sense of the term with American Calvinist theologian and author Kevin DeYoung article for The Gospel Coalition entitled "The Neo-Anabaptists." In the article, DeYoung labeled multiple ministers and theologians he disagrees with as Neo-Anabaptist, including Scot McKnight, Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, and Shane Claiborne. While Bell, McLaren, and Wallis have not been recorded as identifying as Neo-Anabaptist, McKnight and Sider associate with the terminology while Claiborne has voiced support for Anabaptist theology as well as having written for the Mennonite magazine Anabaptist World. Despite his disagreements with them, DeYoung accurately described how such theologians, in their emphasis on "themes of pacifism, communalism, and placing stress on the ethical commands of Jesus," have been the theological products of 16th century Anabaptism which similarly espoused "a strong emphasis on the commands of the Sermon on the Mount...rejected the use of the oath by Christians, opposed going to war, and denied the rights of Christians to use the civil courts." Greg Boyd is often considered a prominent Neo-Anabaptist in American Christianity.
