The History of the Baptist Church
Baptism in the early church
The practice of adult baptism was a common one in the early church, as it had been in Judaism. Jews regularly baptized those who wished to join the Jewish faith. The word comes from the Greek meaning to immerse or dip. Jesus himself never baptized anyone, but was baptized by John as a symbol of his identification with those who sinned. After his ascension his followers baptized those who believed in him. It cannot be known for certain whether this was always be total immersion or not. It was done at all levels of society as a public sign of a persons faith. The practice even affected those in the emperors palace. The persecution of Christians under Diocletian, in the early 4th century, began when he ordered members of his own family to defile their baptismal robes as described by Lactianus and mentioned by Jackson.
Early Medieval Period
By this time in Christianized parts of the world baptism was no longer usually fro adult converts or by total immersion. Instead it would be sprinkling of water upon infants born into families that were already at least nominally Christian. The sprinkling, rather than immersion, may in part have been for purely practical reasons the font was easier to build than a full sized baptistry. Deansley writes about baptisms usually taking place just before Easter or Pentecost, but also, if it was not felt that an infant might survive, then even midwives being asked to baptize infants. It had become no longer necessarily about a faith experienced, but instead a faith to be expected to grow.
The Reformation
Over the centuries the church continued with it sacred task, but over such a great expanse of time differences occurred. The church spilt into Western and Eastern parts when the Roman Empire split. Hierarchies developed, and in Western Christianity these wee headed by the Pope, the bishop of Rome. There were various rumblings and worse of discontent among those who felt , for whatever reason, that the church had moved away from what it was meant to be. The culmination of this was the Reformation, generally considered to have begun when Martin Luther nailed his theses, or subjects to be considered, to that church door in 1517. He is quoted as having said I simply say that true Christianity had ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it the bishops and scholars. He also said, perhaps for famously, when brought before the Diet My conscience is fast bound to the Word of God. Here I stand. I can do no other. A few years later he completed a translation of the Bible into German so that it was available to everyone who could read that language. The pretensions of the Roman Catholic Church to have special knowledge were no longer valid.
As Ninian Smart points out the printing press was a great aid to the Reformation. Not just Bibles could be printed, but smaller pamphlets which could be circulated in every market place. And so the movement spread. It could be argued that in part it was a political movement, but in general it was fired by a love of God and the belief that salvation could come only from Him. However in 1555, at the Peace of Augsburg, it was agreed that the local prince or ruler , should decide the religion of his subjects - Cuis region eius religio or Of whom the rule of him the religion. The result was that within Germany at least , both Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism could co-exist.
Anabaptist Beginnings.
For the most radical reformers this was not nearly enough. They believed faith was a matter between individuals and their God. They went back to the Bible and decided that for them infant baptism was no longer right because they believed that only adults could fully comprehend their faith and so enter the waters of baptism in a valid way, what is known as believers baptism. They were given the title Anabaptists or Rebaptizers. This was later shortened to the form we now have or Baptists. They were considered to be trouble, because this emphasis upon personal faith meant they were often going against the state. This idea of the state controlling its peoples religion was an old one. Jackson describes how the roman state would decide which gods should be worshipped. Jews were allowed to continue to worship as they always had done because Judaism was seen as the religion of the country according to Jackson, but as soon as Christianity spread through the empire and became a distinct entity it was breaking the law. Both Catholic and other Reformers found their ideas difficult to contend with. It was a people movement , for although there were some trained theologians among their number, often it was lay men who took on leadership roles. Barraclough says, speaking later of America, that enthusiasm and dedication made up for any theological limitations they had. Both sides opposed them according to Smart a favorite way of disposing of what were seen as trouble makers, was to drown them, an ironic death considering their beliefs.
There were other responses however. In Munster in the 1530s , under the leadership of minister Bernard Rothmann, the church managed to convince the local town council to take up their beliefs. This success led to an influx of Anabaptists into the area, an d gradually communism became the norm and even polygamy was introduced as described by Barraclough. This Anabaptist rule did not last long , coming to an end in 1535 after a successful siege by the prince bishop.
Thomas Mnster
Thomas Mnster ( c1488 1525) was one of the earliest Anabaptists. He believed not jus tin religious reform, but a whole new age to come with an emphasis on social and economic reform. Having first become a Catholic priest he became a member of the Lutheran church and later a pastor. He went on to become the chaplain for a peasants revolt which was finally suppressed at the battle of Frankenhausen, where upon he was tortured and finally killed , still only a young man. Friedmann and Werner actually query his Christianity so varied was he in hi side as from time to time , as well as the way in which he expressed them , often quite crudely, despite being a person with good education. He was influenced by Nicolas Storch to embrace the idea that the Bible was secondary to direct revelation. Between 1521 and 15222 he drew up The Prague Maniofesto this was about starting a new church, which he described as the church of the spirit of the fear of God. He produced 4 versions of this , some aimed at the peasants and others, in milder language, aimed at the scholars of the church. Luther thought him the devil incarnate according to George , who also quotes the Communists as seeing him as a forerunner of Marxism. Whoever is right the people flocked to hear him. He saw no difference before God in priests and laity this was something that would strike at the authority of the church. He radically revised the form of worship as it had been for hundreds of years and so created the evangelical order of church.
Menno Simons
He was another important early leader and also at one time a Roman Catholic priest. Simons( c 1496 1561) has been called the regenerator of the Anabaptist movement, according to Menno Simons net. In 16th century Holland he was the most important of the movements leaders. He wrote prolifically and his works, so unlike those of Thomas Mnster, served to unite the peaceful members of the Dutch Anabaptist group .His theology was Christ centered. He took as his watch word Pauls word to the church at Corinth recorded in I Corinthians 3 v 11 No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Christ Jesus. His followers took for themselves the name Mennonites a name carried to America, when a group of Swiss followers migrated there. Other Mennonites, with their knowledge of land drainage, were able to obtain land in eastern Europe where many Mennonite groups stayed until the late 19th and 20th centuries when they were forced to flee .Many went to North America both to Canada and the United States and became the basis for the large numbers of protestants there..
Early English Baptists.
Stephen Wright, writing in 2006 about early English Baptists covers the turbulent Stuart period. He found however that the group itself had left behind little documentation. It tells something of the persecution they were under that he pieces together their story using the versions given by hostile witnesses, court reports and various letters, often ones of complaint. However B.R. White states that the name Anabaptist was sometimes used as a generic term for anyone whose beliefs were felt to be different in some way from the mainstream.
Wright carefully records how individuals such as Thomas Helwyn and also John Smyth, were able to develop their particular British understanding of the meaning of baptism as they met with other like minded English people , and also as they studied the scriptures. They wanted to base their model of church upon what they believed was the model in the earliest years of the New Testament Church. They saw this as congregational , that is each fellowship was independent in its governance and within each church the believers helped each other to a deeper faith. It was the fact that they also held that religion and state should be separate that worried other Christians, who felt that links between the government and churches was part of the divine plan which held the state together.
In the Church of England at the time the Archbishop , William Laud , was bringing about a number of changes and making Anglicanism into High church. He was totally opposed to churches without bishops, even making this the subject of his thesis when a student according to his biography in the Encyclopedia Britannica. The communion tables rather than the pulpits were to be what was important in his churches, He prepared lists of clergy who were divided into either orthodox ( to be promoted) or Puritan ( to be suppressed ). This in turn led to more and more people turning toward reformed groups such as the Baptists. According to John Andrews when hymns as well as psalms began to be widely used in the 17th century it was Baptists who were in the forefront.
Baptist Denominations
Soon after the Reformation Baptists found that they fell into two camps the Arminian believers, also known as General Baptists, who held that Christ died for all the others were influenced by Calvinistic ideas and were known as Particular Baptists. They held the Christ was Savior only to the elect. Most modern day Baptists are descended from the second group, but Calvinist ideas are not necessarily strongly held within such modern day churches. In the United States of America there are several Baptist groups, but by far the largest is the Southern Baptist Convention.
Most Baptist churches around the world belong to the Baptist Alliance who hold an Annual World Congress. They describe their task as Networking the Baptist family to impact the world for Christ and their mission statement reads -
The Baptist World Alliance is a global movement of Baptists sharing a
common confession of faith in Jesus Christ, bonded together by Gods love to support, encourage and strengthen one another, while proclaiming and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to a lost world.
Influential Baptists
One of the early Baptists with great influence was Englishman William Carey ( 1761 1834). Undergoing believers baptism in 1783 and becoming a pastor in 1786, he devoted much of the rest of his life to taking the gospel into India as described by D.W.Bebbington. In 1792 h published An Enquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use means for the Conversion of the Heathen. His argument was that the great commission given by Christ to the early church still applied to all Christians. Consequently the Baptist Missionary Society was founded in the same year the first foreign missionary society to come out of the Evangelical Revival. In 1793 he and his family sailed for India and he was soon joined by others. As well as starting schools and a college, he even worked towards the banning of widow burning, but his greatest achievement was possibly that he taught and encouraged the Indians to spread the gospel among their own people.
In the 20th century Martin Luther King Junior 1929 -1968, a Baptist minister, was greatly influential in the United States. He became a prominent leader in the Afro-American HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiAfrican-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_(1955E280931968) o African-American Civil Rights Movement (19551968) civil rights movement. In 1955 he led the HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiMontgomery_Bus_Boycott o Montgomery Bus Boycott Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama and in 1957 was a founder of the HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiSouthern_Christian_Leadership_Conference o Southern Christian Leadership Conference Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which he was elected as president. In 1963 he led a civil rights HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiMarch_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom o March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom march on Washington, also th etime whne he made his famous HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiI_Have_a_Dream o I Have a Dream I Have a Dream speech , raising raised public awareness of the civil rights movement. He died , assasinated , but not before he had had enough influence to bring about very necessry change.
Jim Elliot was another American Baptist who sought to bring about change, in his case to the Auca indians of Equador as decribed by his wife Elizabeth. Again he died for his beliefs, in his case murderd by ht every people he sought to help, but by his actions influenced many young people to consider what it was the God ws asking them to do with their lives.
Also in th 20th century Billy Graham, another Baptist minister, had huge global influnce with his world wide campaigns, urging people to take up a new life as Christians. According to the Billy Graham Organisation, as reported by William Franklin Graham, 215 million people have heard his message in 185 countries.
The Baptist Church in America
Geoffrey Barraclough describes the Baptist church in America as Beginning modestly on the eastern seaboard, but a group which soon became a dominant force, especially in the southern states. By the time of the American Revolution to be a Baptist was no longer to be part of a misguided and persecuted minority, but to be respectable At one point even the President of Harvard became a Baptist, though he was ousted soon afterwards in 1654 , according to Barraclough, so perhaps the position wasnt quite as respectable as it seemed.
According to Janette Bohi the Baptist ideology appealed mostly to those of the lower middle class. Unpaid and untrained ministers would gather around themselves several like minded families. Then at some later date this group would set off into the untamed west. By 1855 there were about one million American Baptists.
The big event in 19th century America was of course the Civil War. In the years prior to the conflict, the various Protestant denominations were involved in revivals which crossed over denominational barriers. There would be large camp meetings where the idea of a personal encounter with God was put forward strongly. The idea that God was present in America was the link between religion and politics. The various ministers of the denominations did not always totally agree on doctrines, but were still able to work alongside each other. The basic facts of their trust in Gods word in the Bible and the faithful way in which the Sabbath was observed were a defense of Baptist orthodoxy and were values they passed on to their many converts.
A negative way in which the Protestant churches came together at this time was against what they saw as a common enemy The Roman Catholic Church. In 1830 for instance the American bible Society was urging members to unite themselves against the possibility of Catholic influence in the American west. Meanwhile the American and Foreign Christian Union, according to Buhl, was trying to diffuse and promote the principles of religious liberty.
When the Civil War finally broke upon the country the churches were split as to whether or not they should support slavery. In the north the seminarians became abolitionists, but in both north and south Baptists fought for what they believed was the right.
The Baptist Church Today
Baptists essentially follow a congregational way of organizing themselves. Although they may share beliefs and a common history, there is often considerable difference in the way individual churches conduct themselves. Some will be very out going into the community, while others are retreating into their inner sanctum. In one there will be very lively worship and in a neighboring church the meeting will be of a more somber nature. The majority will belong to some organization, either local or national, which also belongs to the Baptist Alliance. The organization had in September 2008 157, 632 churches registered with more than 37 million members this latter figure an increase on the previous year by almost 635 ,000 and it is likely that in each congregation there are also those who attend on a regular basis without becoming actual members. Baptists are in general opposed remain opposed to state intervention in their activities and also to ecumenism when it comes to mean church unity. They are nevertheless usually happy to join in joint activities with other Christians so that they can work together to witness to the power of God in the world and in individual lives.
The Baptist Missionary Society continues its work of church planting and development in 34 countries as well as working at such things as disaster relief, education and as a provider of heath services. Its mission statement is -
As a Christian mission organization we aim to share life in all its fullness with the worlds peoples by enabling them to know Christ alleviating suffering and injustice, and improving the quality of Life with people as our primary agents of change - motivating, training, sending and resourcing them.
Conclusion
It would be hard today in some ways to describe a modern day Baptist as being very different from other main stream Christians. Baptist Today describes them as those people who are Baptists and who are -
Committed to Faith in Christ, Authority of Scripture, Missions,Evangelism, Priesthood of Believers, Freedom, and Christian Integrity
Baptists believe that each of these factors can be validated from scripture. Faith in Christ John 11 v 25- Jesus said to her (Martha) I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies.
The Authority of Scripture. When Paul wrote to the people of Corinth he wrote with authority What I am writing to you is the Lords command. I Corinthians14 v 37. He goes on to tell his readers that there would be negative consequences if they ignored it.
Missions and Evangelism - Acts 1 v 8 where the risen Christ tells his followers -You will receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria , and to the end of the earth.
The priesthood of believers. This idea was present in the Old Testament in passages such as Isaiah 61 v 6 where the prophet spoke of Israel as being priests of the Lord and it is a concept taken up by New Testament writers too as when Peter says -
You also, like living stones, are being built into spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Freedom, that is freedom to choose for ones self whether or not to believe and practice as a Baptist not having it dictated as the state religion for instance. Romans 10 v 9- If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Christian Integrity - remaining true to thee beliefs and letting them motivate life. In Hebrews 10 v 23 the writer exhorts his readers - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for h who promised is faithful.
These are all tenets of belief held by those early Baptists. The church has moved on in time as well as geographically and in number, but such beliefs continue to be valued by their modern day descendents wherever they may be found.
Categories:
0 comments:
Post a Comment