March 25 - Baptist Beginnings

March 25 – Baptist Beginnings

All of that upheaval in England created years of craziness for Christians and their churches. Remember, there really wasn’t anything like our ‘freedom of religion.’ Every time someone wanted to do things a bit differently, a hideous period of persecution occurred.

Queen Elizabeth had gotten the Anglican Church back on track, but it was pretty Catholic for some of the more reform-minded folk. The Puritans tried to ‘purify’ the church from within and then there was a group that just decided to separate – they were the Separatists (imagine that).

James I came to rule in 1603 and the reformers hoped for the best since he came from Scotland (where the Presbyterians were in existence) and his mother was Catholic. But, no, he had his mind made up and the Anglican Church wasn’t going to let anyone get away with being different.

John Smyth came from within the Anglican Church, but saw the need for the Separatist church and started one. Things weren’t good at all for this group of believers and they fled to Holland. He hooked up with a Mennonite and soon became convinced that infant baptism wasn’t scriptural. He managed to confuse himself for awhile because he wasn’t sure who would be able to baptize him or any of his church members. Finally, he baptized himself. That didn’t bring him a lot of comfort, so he tried to merge with the local Mennonites. Before they agreed, a small group split away and Smyth died.

The small group moved back to England and were led by Thomas Helwys. He had studied law and began making a lot of noise about religious liberty, even going so far as to send a copy of his small book to the King and writing an inscription telling King James that he was mortal and not God and didn’t have power over the soul of his subjects. Helwys was tossed into prison – and never heard from again.

But, the movement grew. The first group were called the “General Baptists” because they believed, along with the Mennonites that Christ died for all – not just the elect (a Calvinistic doctrine). A group of Puritans created another group called the “Particular Baptists” who believed in adult baptism, but retained Calvinist theology.

The Baptist church was born, with its emphasis on believer’s baptism and separation of church and state.