Abstract Previous studies on the emergence of Swiss Anabaptism focus on the confluence of religious, political, social, and economic factors as explanatory causes. This article, while not disputing such approaches, instead investigates the interpretive constructions that early Anabaptist leader Conrad Grebel applied to his own experiences. Using Stephen Greenblatt's notion of self-fashioning, it analyzes Grebel's extant correspondence to argue that Grebel progressively came to view himself as a persecuted prophet, an identity that fueled his resistance to Zwingli and his reforming zeal. The article closes by suggesting the implications of such an approach for future studies on Anabaptism and on prophecy in the Reformation more broadly.