Part Two
By Dr. Don Boys
© 2000 Cornerstone Communications
It should not be inferred that the Baptists were a small obscure sect during the years preceding the Reformation. Many of the Baptist churches had hundreds of members. In St. Gall, (Switzerland) in 1525, the Baptist church had 800 members and a Roman Catholic witness said, "The number of converts increased so that the baptistery could not contain the crowd, and they were compelled to use the stream of the Sitter River."
In only two years the Baptist church in Augsburg numbered over 1100 members (by 1527). The pastor was Hans Denck. It was common to baptize hundreds of people in a day! In areas of persecution, some private homes had baptisteries built in them! In other places, large tubs were used to baptize people out of doors.
Now remember that all this happened before the Reformation! Do you now understand why Baptists insists they are not Protestants? They did not come out of Catholic church or the Reformation. They were here waiting for them!
Sir Isaac Newton said that it was his conviction that "the Baptists were the only Christians who had not symbolized with Rome." So Baptists were not new-comers on the religious scene. Even Luther (who had no love for Baptists) said, "The Anabaptists have been for a long time spreading in Germany."
Henry VIII came to the throne of England and while he hated the Catholics, he detested the Baptists not because they immersed, for Henry and all English kings during the 1500s were immersed! He hated Baptists because they insisted that babies should not be baptized, and he burned numerous Baptists at the stake.
One Baptist lady, Joan of Kent, was arrested in 1548 and was burned at the stake in April 1549. George van Pare, a surgeon was condemned and was ordered burned and while being tied to the stake, he kissed the stake and faggots that soon consumed him. Those Baptist martyrs paid the purchase price for England's freedom.
Presbyterians took over the Church of England and after 1648, immersion was illegal. Each church was forced to keep a list of births and "baptisms," and the parents of any child not sprinkled were considered Baptists.
In 1648, the Presbyterians got a law passed that punished Baptists as "blasphemers and heretics." Baptists would be jailed if they said that, "Baptism of infants is unlawful, or such baptism is void, or that such persons, ought to be baptized again, or in pursuance thereof shall baptize any person formerly baptized...."
Please remember that these were people who professed to believe the Bible. They weren't persecuting heathen, which would have been wrong as well.
When the Presbyterians long political power ended, immersion returned to the Church of England; however unsaved people (and carnal Christians) liked sprinkling or pouring and that became preferred over the Bible mode of immersion.
Baptists have always held strong opinions, so there has been a tendency to "fuss" among ourselves. Most other denominations have so few convictions that they don't have any reason to do much fussing.
The English Baptists believed they were a separated people and would not permit a young man from one church to marry a young lady from another church.
They disciplined members for backbiting, idleness, not keeping promises, not telling the truth, etc.! What if we did that today? Shouldn't we being doing that today?
© 2000 Cornerstone Communications
