|
|
The Beginning of a New Denomination
Earlier, I stated the Protestant Reformation did not have its origin in Martin Luther. There were others who laid the foundation with their blood and strong stance against the Roman Catholic Church. The reason Luther’s name is so predominant is due largely to God’s own timing. In other words, Luther came when the Church was ripe and primed for a reformation. Dissatisfaction and a hunger for God’s word had reached its peak. Luther’s ability to speak and write to the masses, especially those who the church had deprived of God’s word satisfied this hunger. Many theologians of Luther’s day shared his opposition against the Roman Church. However, they lacked his ability and passion to express their feelings in a way that would have moved the people, let alone raise the brow of the pope. Like him, many believed in: a. God’s predestination and election. b. Salvation solely by grace and not works. c. Rejection of all but two of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. d. The establishment of local state churches free from a centralized authority. e. Separation of religious and political authority within the state. As radical as these were, some still believed Luther did not go far enough. Zurich, Switzerland was the first place this feeling revealed itself through a former priest who asked to be baptized, not according to Rome, but according to his faith in Jesus Christ. The date was January 21st, 1525, just two years after the Diet of Worms. He and those who believed like him became labeled as ‘Anabaptists’ or ‘Again Baptizers.’ I used the term ‘label’ intentionally to point out the fact that these Believers did not give themselves this name. Instead the Reformers placed this title upon them with the specific intention of categorizing them in the same class as heretics, thereby subjecting them to severe persecution. Strangely enough, these Anabaptists had arrived at their convictions through Scripture, just as Luther had stressed and taught. Yet, even he saw them as enemies. I suppose their question to him was ‘Brother Martin, what about Sola Scriptura?’ Meanwhile, in England, a similar movement was about to begin by the hand of King Henry VIII who separated the English church from the Roman Catholic Church. Because Henry’s objection against Rome was limited to the Pope’s sovereignty over state churches, many rightly discerned that his actions were more politically based than anything else. What they saw in this new move was a modified Roman Church and not one truly reformed. In other words, the Church of England (The Anglican Church) was still too much like the Roman Church (The Baptists, Anne DeVereaux Jordan and J. M. Stifle, Hippocrene Books). They wanted total separation of church and state, not a church still tied and controlled by the state. This belief or movement became a major element of what became known as “the Separatist movement” and instrumental in the origin of our denomination. One of the men instrumental in influencing the Separatists in England was a priest named Ulrich Zwingli of Zurich—a contemporary of Luther. He followed the word of God more strictly than Luther (Church History in Plain Language, Bruce Shelley, Word Publishing), and in a sense brought balance. As a matter of fact there was hope the two of them would come together and bring true unity to the Protestant Reformation (Reformation and Revival, Erwin Lutzer, Moody Audio Series). Zwingli rejected everything not prescribed by the Bible. As a result, he stripped away most of the traditional symbols used by the Roman Catholic Church such as candles, statues, music and pictures (Church History). Those Separatists in England who took on this view became known as ‘Puritans.’ Robert Browne, who had come under the influence of the Dutch Anabaptists, organized the first Separatist congregation in 1581. Browne believed the Church consisted of men and women who had made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ. He and his followers replaced the sacrament of infant baptism with the practice of dedicating infants to God and the church. Like the Anabaptists (who had spread to Germany and Holland by now), the Puritans and other Separatists became targets of severe persecution by the Anglican Church. The intensity of the church’s hatred for these groups is seen in an oath taken by none other than King James I who swore, “I will make them conform themselves, or I will have them out of the land” (The Baptists). What was their crime? Simply that they believed in the whole counsel of God without compromise. Eventually, the Anglican Church drove out from England all those who opposed her. While most of the Puritans fled to the New World (Early America) across the Atlantic, many of the other Separatists settled in Amsterdam. One of the men who had left England and became part of the Separatists was John Smyth, an Anglican Preacher. The Anglican Church expelled him for his radical sermons against their teachings, especially those on salvation. One (and perhaps most radical to the Anglicans) view held by him was that the only two offices spelled out in the New Testament were Pastors and Deacons. To add fuel to the fire he stressed that those assuming these offices were chosen by the overall congregation. He further believed in the equality of all Believers within the local church. One other thing that distinguished him from other Separatists was the belief that “there should be no psalm-singing or sermons in the church” (The Baptists). It goes without saying there was not only disagreement between him and the Anglican, but most of the Separatists as well. To further complicate matters, Smyth became involved with the Anabaptists who were there and through their teachings became convinced that infant baptism was wrong. He further concluded the only valid baptism was the one done on the confession of one’s belief in Christ. However, although he accepted these truths, he was not convinced nor prepared to join the Anabaptists’ movement then (A History of the Baptist, Revised Edition, Robert G. Torbet, Judson Press). Therefore, he and those agreeing with him left the Separatists and upon the confession of their faith, Smyth baptized them after he had baptized himself. This took place in 1609. The exact date and month is disputable, but what is not disputable is the fact that this small group is regarded as being the first Baptists. From them would eventually come the Baptist Denomination—another historical milestone in the Protestant Reformation.
In Christ, Minister John Cobb
|