[JFR]
To conclude our study of the Trail of Blood, I thought
it would be a good idea to take a look at those who
were included in the trail. I want to take a closer look
at some of the groups that came down to us through
history.
I use the work of By Dr. Thomas Cassidy, Pastor,
First Baptist Church, Spring Valley, CA. His work is
entitled In Defense of Biblical, Historical
Christianity, copywrite 1995. I use this with his
permission.
[Cassidy]
In Defense of Biblical, Historical Christianity
There is much confusion today caused by reading
histories of Christianity that were written from
decidedly different perspectives. It seems that many
historians have written very biased histories of those
early Christians that were considered enemies of the
historian's "Church." These biased "histories" have
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caused much confusion regarding the true doctrines
that were held by our Christian forebears.
The following is a defense of our forebears gleaned,
not from the biased writings of their enemies, but
from their own writings. Most of the names used to
identify these early Christians were given to them by
their detractors in an attempt to identify them with
men, rather than with the Lord Jesus Christ.
It must be understood that all who went by the names
below were not always orthodox, but within the
ranks of theses historical movements, the true
churches of Jesus Christ were present, and the "faith
once delivered unto the saints" was preserved for us
today.
THE MONTANISTS
In most church histories the Montanists are classed
as heretics (as were all groups that tended to hold
doctrines that did not agree with the writer of the
history book, most of which were either Catholic, or
liberal Protestant). However, a careful study of their
beliefs and practices reveal they were orthodox, and
a part of our Baptist heritage.
Montanism was the first general stand against the
drift away from church purity and spirituality. The
Montanists were named because of the preaching of
a man named Montanus. He had been a priest of the
pagan cult of Cybele but was converted to Christ
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about 150 A.D. Montanism began in central Phrygia
(now called Asia Minor) in a town called Ardabau,
but its teachings quickly spread to Europe and
Africa.
Montanism was found in Rome, and Lyons, France,
in 177 A.D. Montanus began preaching in 156 A.D.,
and gathered many followers, including two women
of prominence, Maximilla and Priscilla. Soon after
the apostolic age, great changes began to occur in
many of the churches. Some of these changes were:
a drift toward ritualism; the rise of a clergy class; a
lack of spirituality, and a developing laxity in
discipline and church membership standards.
Montanus began preaching in 156 A.D., and
gathered many followers, including two women of
prominence, Maximilla and Priscilla. Soon after the
apostolic age, great changes began to occur in many
of the churches. Some of these changes were: a drift
toward ritualism; the rise of a clergy class; a lack of
spirituality, and a developing laxity in discipline and
church membership standards. He was an enemy of
worldly philosophy and religion.
Apart from emphasizing the ministry of the Holy
Spirit, the Montanists held the following beliefs and
practices:
➢ a regenerate church membership;
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➢ believers’ baptism, by immersion only, and re-
baptized those who came to them from the
"established" churches;
➢ holiness of life, opposing second marriages, laxity in
fastings, and flight in persecution;
➢ church discipline, their creed stated, "Against a
mortal sin the church should defend itself by rightly
excluding him who committed it, for the holiness of
the church was simply the holiness of its members."
➢ They believed in Trinitarian theology;
➢ the complete Word of God, accepting all the
Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments;
➢ premillennial eschatology, looking for the soon
return of Christ to set up His millennial kingdom on
earth.
➢ These chiliastic views were also held by Justin
Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian.
It may be that the unpopularity of the Montanists
contributed to the demise of premillennialism in the
early years of the church. The Montanist churches
were not popular with the "established" churches, so,
much of what was said about them was unkind, to
say the least.
Recent historians in general have sided with the
opponents of Montanism, and several charges have
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been laid against them. The most common charge
was that the Montanists were "ancient holy-rollers."
[JFR]
Dr. Cassidy writes that the Montanists were accused
of misrepresentation of the Holy Spirit, with
Montanus claiming to be the Holy Spirit. Several
historians of the “established” churches have laid
various accusations of false doctrine against the
Montanists. Dr. Cassidy writes that even many
accusations of false doctrine were leveled at the
Montanists, there is no proof offered to back up the
accusations.
[Dr. Cassidy]
The preaching of the Montanists had far ranging
results. Tertullian was a noted convert to Montanist
ideals, who helped to refine those teachings and left
a legacy in North Africa (Tertullianists) which would
later give rise to the Donatists.
Several church councils were called against the
Montanist movement, and it was finally officially
condemned by the "established" churches. The
influence of this movement may be seen in the
Novatian schism, the Donatus schism, and through
its contacts in Armenia and the rise of the Paulicians.
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(Dr. Cassidy quoted from Dr. J. W. Griffin’s work
(an ABA publication) A Manual of Church History:
Volume II. )
THE NOVATIANS
The Novatians were named because of the leadership
of a man named Novatian (?-258 A.D.). Novatian
was saved in about 250 A.D., from a pagan
philosophical background. Because he became very
ill and expected to die, he was not scripturally
baptized, but received "clinic baptism." There is no
record that after his recovery he was baptized
correctly. This lack of a record does not prove that he
was not properly baptized, only that there is no
record of it. Novation was ordained to the ministry of
the church at Rome by the Pastor, Fabian.
The edicts of Decuis Trajan (250 A.D.) brought
severe persecution to the churches. When those who
had denied Christ and sacrificed to pagan idols and
the "genius of the emperor" sought readmittance to
church membership, a great controversy began.
Two views were popular.
The view of strict discipline held that such people
could never again be fit for church membership
because of the nature of their apostasy, although the
possibility of receiving God's forgiveness was not
denied.
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The second view was that of loose discipline,
believing that such people could be restored to
church membership following public confession of
their sin and a period of probation.
One of the forerunners of Novation was the Roman
pastor Hippolytus who was a disciple of Irenaeus and
was martyred by being drowned in the Tiber River.
He was an advocate of strict discipline and caused a
schism in the church of Rome.
Novatian was a strong advocate of the strict
discipline viewpoint, and upon the death of Fabian in
250 A.D., Novatian rivaled the popular Cornelius
(who held to the loose discipline viewpoint) for the
vacant position of Pastor.
When the people chose Cornelius, Novatian
withdrew from the church, taking a large group of
people with him.
The division was bitter, and a number of false
charges were spread about Novation to discredit him.
It has been said that the reason for this great division
was Novatian's ambition for personal power, and that
when he was not selected to be the pastor, he formed
a rival church out of spite. Historical records show
that the issue was over church discipline, and that in
fact Novation was chosen pastor by the withdrawing
group against his wishes.
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The doctrines of the Novatians are well recorded by
their own writings. They stood for: the purity of
church membership, believing that a church should
separate itself from all apostasy, impurity, and
worldliness.
They practiced rigid church discipline, the re-
baptism of apostates; baptized by immersion only,
without great ceremony, on church authority (as
opposed to the authority of a man), of mature
believers only. These doctrines led to the first real
and lasting division among the ranks of
Christendom. The Novation churches would no
longer accept the baptism of the "established"
churches.
The separation occurred in 251 A.D. The greatest
charges brought against the Novatians is the
assertion that Novatian was not scripturally baptized.
To this I [Dr. Cassidy] would answer: Novatian's
teaching concerning baptism was that baptism was
by church authority and was to be performed by
immersion only. He practiced "rebaptism" of all who
came from the "established" churches. This suggests,
to me at least, that he was correctly baptized,
although no evidence has survived to this day.
Even if Novatian was never scripturally baptized, he
taught that the authority for such baptism was with
the church concerned, not with the actual person
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administering it. Thus, Novatianist baptism would
not have been invalidated.
[There is] a continuation of them up to the
Reformation and the rise of the Anabaptist
movement. Great numbers followed his, i.e.,
Novatian's, example, and all over the empire Puritan
churches were constituted and flourished through
200 succeeding years. Afterwards, when penal law
obliged them to lurk in corners and worship God in
private, they were distinguished by a variety of
names and succession of them continued until the
reformation.
THE DONATISTS
The Donatists were named (again, by their enemies)
after Donatus, who died in 355 A.D. He was a north
African pastor and one of the leaders of the schism
that began in Carthage in 311.
A large group in the church protested at the
ordination of Caecilianus as Pastor. This ordination
was presided over by Felix of Aptunga, a man who
had
wavered
badly
during
the
Diocletian
persecutions. Both Felix and Caecilianus were
considered to be "traditores" - men who had
surrendered the Scriptures to be burned in Imperial
persecutions.
The protesting group ordained Majorinus as their
pastor, then, following his death shortly hereafter,
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they ordained Donatus in 316. Donatus at first
appealed to Emperor Constantine, but to no avail.
The Emperor ordered their suppression - a move
which fired them into a great separatist movement
which covered the whole of North Africa and lasted
until the Moslem conquest of that region.
The doctrines of the Donatists were very similar to
the Novatians in that they believed in church purity;
separation of church and state; scriptural baptism;
independence of the local churches; and freedom of
conscience.
By the end of the 4th Century, their teachings had
spread abroad to Italy and Spain.
The Donatists were often also called Puritans and
Anabaptists.
THE BRITONS
The old British churches were of great antiquity,
originating around the close of the apostolic age, and
remaining isolated from the mainstream of religious
change. With the impending collapse of the Roman
Empire, Britain was abandoned, and its Roman
garrisons sent home to Rome in 410 A.D.
The churches, along with much of the population,
were soon pushed back into Wales and Western
Britain by the invading Saxons around 449 A.D.
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Patrick was born in Scotland in 387, his father was a
deacon in the local Briton church. In 403 Patrick was
kidnapped and taken into slavery in Ireland. In 410
he escaped from Ireland and returned home. In 432,
Patrick returned to Ireland with 12 men to evangelize
the Irish. Many were converted and baptized under
his ministry. He died in 465, on the mission field, in
Ireland.
The issue over the date of the Resurrection
demonstrates that the Britons received their
Christianity from Syria, possibly from the
Montanists, and not from Rome. They rejected
Catholic
baptism,
and
obviously
practiced
congregational rule.
Although these ancient churches were consigned to
obscurity, they still played a role in subsequent
events.
THE CELTIC CHURCHES OF IRELAND
These churches came about largely through the
efforts of Patrick who preached in Ireland from 432
until 465. It is interesting that between 544 and 565,
these Celtic churches in Ireland were revived through
the ministry of the Welsh churches, which were the
remnants of the old churches of the Britons, largely
through the preaching of such men as "Saint" David.
In 521 a man named Columba was born to parents
belonging to one of these Celtic churches. In 563 he
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began to do missionary work among the Picts in
Scotland. To do this, he established a base on the
island of Iona in the Hebrides group off the west
coast of Scotland (halfway between Scotland and
Ireland).
From this mission station, missionary teams
evangelized Scotland and England, then Normandy,
Friesland, Denmark, and parts of Germany. Columba
died in 597.
Following his example, other mission bases were
founded by missionaries from Iona, including one in
Northumbria on the island of Lindisfarne (holy
island in Gaelic), established by Aidan.
This Northumbrian mission evangelized the Saxons
from the north.
THE PAULICIANS
During the darkest days of the Papal strangle hold on
"Christendom" there existed a group of Bible
believing Christians that stood tall for the faith once
delivered unto the saints.
The Paulician churches were the most maligned of
all the enemies of the Roman system. In 1891 a
Paulician book entitled "Key Of Truth" was
discovered by the Armenian scholar Frederic
Cornwallis Conybeare (1856-1924), and published
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in 1898. For the first time the Paulicians were
allowed to speak for themselves.
The Paulician churches were of apostolic origin,
being planted in Armenia in the first century A.D.-
according to their tradition, by the apostle Thomas. It
is also quite evident that the Montanists, Novatians,
and Donatists were perpetuated in the Paulicians.
Schaff, in his History of the Christian Church
(Volume II, page 92) states,
"In spite of this strong opposition the Novatian sect
... propagated itself in various provinces of the west
and the east down to the sixth century."
"In Phrygia it (the Novatians) combined with
remnants of the Montanists."
"A remnant of the Donatists, as we learn from the
letters of Gregory I, perpetuated itself into the
seventh century." (Volume III, page 153).
In his classic, The Rise and Fall of the Roman
Empire, Gibbon notes that the faith of the Paulicians
stemmed from the first century and was a branch of
Antiochan Christianity. They managed to survive for
such a long period of time largely due to the fact that
Armenia is a very isolated and mountainous region
located mainly in modern Turkey, but also extending
into present day Iran and the old Soviet Union. It lies
between, and to the south of, the Black Sea and the
Caspian Sea.
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The name Paulician did not come into general use
until the 7th century and was applied because of the
emphasis placed by these people on the epistles of
Paul, and their adoption of Pauline names for their
leaders. The Paulician movement rose to prominence
during the 7th century but existed long before they
were called by that name.
…According to their own writings the Paulicians
claimed to have originated with Christ and the
Apostle; accepted the Bible as the sole rule of faith;
recognized only believers’ baptism by immersion;
rejected transubstantiation; rejected ceremonialism;
rejected penance as unprofitable and absurd; had no
hierarchy or clerical office; they were strong
Trinitarians; opposed all image worship (called the
"holy relics" "JUNK"!); believed in holy living….
The greatest impact of the Paulician movement was
seen in its spread into Eastern Europe. The first
Paulician emigrants settled in Thrace about 775.
Thrace is an area which comprises part of Macedonia
(present day Greece), European Turkey, and
Southern Bulgaria. During the comparative respite of
the iconoclastic period, a vast amount of missionary
work was done by Paulician preachers.
The Gospel was preached all over Asia Minor, into
Bulgaria, and as far West as Bosnia…. Paulicians
also found their way into Europe, particularly
Southern France in the Languedoc region, and had a
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profound influence in the revival of the ancient
Christians there. When Bogomils from the Balkan
countries fled to Europe, they met many believers of
like faith - the Albigenses.
THE PETROBRUSSIANS
Peter Du Bruys, who died in 1126, was a student of
Peter Abelard (1079 - 1142) at the University of
Paris. From around the year 1105, he began
preaching in the South of France, doctrines which ran
contrary to the Church of Rome. His converts were
called Petrobrussians by the Catholics.
The chief antagonist of Peter de Bruys was Peter the
Venerable (1092 - 1156) the abbot of Clugny who
listed five "heresies" of the Petrobrussians:
1.
They declared invalid the baptism of any
person before they reached the age of discretion.
They taught believers baptism and practiced
rebaptism of those who joined them from the
Catholics.
2.
They declared Church buildings and
consecrated alters as useless.
3.
They were opposed to the adoration of
images and rejected the use of crucifixes.
4.
They denied transubstantiation.
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5.
They rejected prayers, alms, and good works
for the dead.
In addition, the Petrobrussians rejected the Catholic
use of tradition, teaching the authority and literal
interpretation of Scripture alone as sufficient. They
saw the "church" as being a body composed of
regenerated, baptized people, and rejected the
Catholic doctrines of penance and celibacy.
Peter Du Bruys became extremely popular in
Languedoc where he preached for twenty years. He
was seized and burned, by the Roman clergy, at St.
Gilles in 1126.
THE ALBIGENSES
…The doctrines of the Albigenses, when taken from
their own writings, rather than from the writings of
their enemies, was very baptistic. These people
rejected the Catholic concept of the "Church" and
formed simple congregations with pastors in the
place of leadership….
The Albigenses were some of the most persecuted
people on Earth in their day. The Catholics at first
attempted to "convert" the Albigenses through
ecclesiastical coercion. This failed largely because
the Albigenses knew the Word of God! The Catholic
Councils of Lateran II in 1139 and Tours in 1163
condemned them as heretics….
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…campaigns of terror were conducted in 1215-1218,
1226-1229, and 1232-1233. At the last, the business
of the inquisition was entrusted to the Dominicans,
called "the hounds of the Pope." So widespread and
devastating were these crusades, that the testimony
of Christ was all but exterminated in the South of
France.
Those who did escape fled to Italy and Germany
where they sowed the seeds of the Anabaptist
movement in Europe. Some returned from whence
they came - to Bulgaria, where the Bogomils
continued to exist. The Albigenses were also called
Paterines, meaning "sufferers."
THE WALDENSES
Many so-called historians attempt to fix the
beginnings of the Waldenses with one of their ablest
leaders, Peter Waldo (born 1140, died 1218). This is
in fact not the case.
Two points can be confidently made:
1. The Waldenses are of ancient origin.
An Austrian inquisitor (Catholic) in the Diocese of
Passau in 1260 wrote "some say that it (Waldenses
"heresy") dates back to the time of Sylvester (A.D.
325); others to the time of the apostles."
David of Augsburg said, "They call themselves
successors of the apostles..."
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An early Waldensian document, The Noble Lesson
(written in 1100, 40 years before Peter Waldo was
born!) assigns the beginning of the Waldensian
churches to the days of the Emperor Constantine
under Bishop Sylvester!
2.
The Waldenses are closely linked to the
Albigenses.
The Jesuit, Jacob Gretscher, stated: "…that the
Toulousians and Albigenses condemned in the year
1177 and 1178 were no other than the Waldenses. In
fact, their doctrines, discipline, government,
manners, and even the errors with which they had
been charged show the Albigenses and Waldenses
were distinct branches of the same sect, or the former
was sprung from the later." (Rankin, History of
France, III, 198-202)….
The doctrines of the Waldenses, when seen from
their own writings, are easily discerned.
The Waldenses accepted the whole Bible and
regarded it as authoritative. They were noted for their
love for and use of the Scriptures - in a time when
possessing, hearing, or reading the Bible was
forbidden - by the "Church"!!!
They rejected Rome's claim to be the "true" church
and believed preaching should be the right of every
Christian and denied the right of priest to bind or
loose, consecrate, or bless.
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In a Waldensian document dated 1120, in the twelfth
article, they state: "We consider the sacraments as
signs of holy things, or the visible emblems of
invisible blessings. We regard it as proper and even
necessary that believers use these symbols or visible
forms when it can be done, notwithstanding which
we maintain that believers may be saved without
these signs when they have neither place nor
opportunity of observing them." (Perrin, Histoire
Des Vaudois, I, xii, 53.)
The 7th Article of a Confession of Faith dated 1544
says: "We believe that in the ordinance of baptism
the water is the visible and external sign, which
represents to us that which, by virtue of God's
invisible operation, is within us. ... And by this
ordinance we are received into the holy congregation
of God's people, previously professing our faith and
the change of life." (Sleiden, the General History Of
the Reformation, 347, London, 1689)….
The Waldenses rejected outright this doctrine [the
doctrine of infant baptism] as well as the ideas of
purgatory and prayers for the dead. They believed in
Heaven for the saved and Hell for the lost!
Other Catholic doctrines that were rejected by the
Waldenses were: the veneration of Mary; prayers to
the saints; veneration of relics; indulgences; use of
images, absolution; and oath taking.
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Most of those who would deny the preservation of
the scriptures in the traditional texts of the Old and
New Testaments like to attack the Waldenses
because they played such an important part in the
divine preservation of the Word of God during the
"dark ages" of Roman supremacy.
From their earliest beginnings the churches of
northern Italy had a Bible which was pure in its text.
It was called the "Italic Bible" or the "Itala," which
was produced about 157 A.D., translated from the
Graeco-Syrian text.
This made it quite different from the Latin Vulgate
(official Catholic Bible) which was translated in 386
by Jerome from the corrupted manuscripts, many of
which had been influenced by Origen of Alexandria.
The pure New Testament text was preserved
throughout the dark ages in the Byzantine
manuscripts, as well as in the Waldensian Bibles in
their vernacular. In the 14th and 15th centuries the
Jesuits translated Jerome's vulgate into Italian and
French, "to shake out of the deceived peoples' hands,
the false heretical translations of a sect called
Waldenses."
An edition of the Waldensian 'Olivetan Bible' was
influential in the translation of the English Geneva
Bible - the Bible ultimately replaced by the
Authorized Version of 1611.
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David O. Fuller, writing in his book, Which Bible
(Grand Rapids International Publications, 1975, page
212) states: "It is therefore evident that the
translators of 1611 had before them four Bibles
which had come under Waldensian influences: the
Diodati in Italian; the Olivetan in French; the
Lutheran in German; and the Genevan in English.
We have every reason to believe they had access to
at least six Waldensian bibles written in the old
Waldensian vernacular."
[JFR]
Dr. Cassidy writes several paragraphs detailing the
persecutions that fell upon the Waldenses.
Unfortunately, the Waldenses fell far away from the
truth because of the intense persecutions.
Dr. Cassidy concludes the section on the Waldenses
with this statement:
[Cassidy]
Today's Waldenses are modernistic, ecumenical, and
more of a social Gospel organization than a Gospel
preaching group. Their compromise is a clear
warning to all true Baptist churches to avoid the
compromises, no matter how insignificant they may
seem, of the protestants and evangelicals, who would
invite us into their ecumenical associations, and by
so doing, eventually, and gradually, steal away our
doctrine and identity.
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THE ANABAPTISTS
[JFR]
Dr. Cassidy has a large section on this subject, The
Anabaptists. It is not possible for me to present
everything, but I will give some of the highlights.
[Dr Cassidy]
The sect known as the Anabaptists came to
prominence at the time of the protestant reformation,
although they are known to have been in existence
long before that time. A study of the history of the
Anabaptists shows them to be the connecting link
between the ancient and medieval Baptists and the
modern Baptists.
The name Anabaptist means re-baptizer, and is a title
given to this ancient group of Baptists by their
enemies because of their practice of rebaptizing all
who came into their ranks from the Catholic
"Church."
Anabaptist was a title of slander and reproach; the
Baptists themselves would not accept this name
because they counted all Catholic (and later
Protestant) baptism to be unscriptural, thereby
contending that there could be no re-baptism, for
there had been no true baptism at all!
Baptists of the reformation era were called by a
variety of names other than Anabaptist - or
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Wiedertaufer in German. Some of there were:
Catabaptists, meaning literally down dippers or
immersionists. They were also known as Neo-
Donatists or New Donatists, relating the Anabaptists
back to the Donatists of the 4th century. In this
charge history is seen to repeat itself.
The Donatists were to the rapidly expanding Catholic
"Church" what the Anabaptist were to the newly
formed Protestant "Churches" - a thorn in the
side!...They were often identified with the Cathari, a
word meaning pure ones, relating to the purity of life
and purity of church practice by Baptists, even
though this term was not new, but had been applied
to true New Testament churches for 1200 years.
However, it must be noted that all who were called
Anabaptists were not necessarily true Baptists. The
name Anabaptist was a collective term in the day of
the reformation. The practice of branding all non-
conformists with the most odious name imaginable
was not new….
At the time of the reformation, Europe was
undergoing a dramatic political, social, and religious
upheaval - there were many who did not conform.
Since the term Anabaptist was a particularly
detestable one, anybody out of step was likely to be
so called. It is therefore important to differentiate the
several Anabaptists.
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Some of the various kinds of Anabaptists (apart from
the true Biblical Baptists) were:
The Social Anabaptists.
The Anabaptists movement had its roots deep within
the working classes of Europe. Thus, it was easy to
associate the name with the great peasant uprisings
and social unrest of the times.
While no one could deny that true Anabaptists were
involved in many of these events, such as the role of
Baptist patriots in the American Revolution, it is
incorrect to ascribe radicalism as a tenet of
Anabaptism….
…the Anabaptists had an apostolic heritage. They
were called Christians in the first century (Acts
11:26);
Montanists;
Novatians;
Donatists;
Paulicians; Albigenses; Waldenses; Anabaptists; and
today, Baptists.
WHAT DID THE ANABAPTISTS BELIEVE?
The historian A. H. Newman in his church history
(Volume II pages 153-156) enumerates the following
beliefs, practices, and characteristics of the
Anabaptists.
1. Christian Charity. Content with what they had,
Anabaptists believed in, and practiced, true brotherly
love, willingly sharing their worldly goods with
others.
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2.
Regenerate
Church
Membership.
(Regenerate Church Membership. They insisted that
true New Testament churches be composed
exclusively of born-again believers.)
3.
Baptism of Believers. (Baptism of Believers.
They rejected so-called 'infant baptism' and stood for
the baptism of true believers only. Newman
comments, "The earnestness and vigor of their
protest against infant baptism constitutes one of the
most marked features of the Anabaptist movement.")
4.
Separation of Church and State. (Separation
of Church and State. They regarded the State as an
institution outside of and apart from the Gospel of
Christ, whose authority was to be obeyed in all things
lawful, but which had no right to interfere in matters
of conscience.)
5.
Liberty
of
Conscience.
(Liberty
of
Conscience. This was a fundamental tenet of the
Anabaptists very similar to our doctrine of the
priesthood of the believer.)
6.
Rejection of the Magistracy. (Rejection of the
Magistracy. Anabaptists refused to serve as
magistrates. This was because in their day, the
magistracy was the civil arm of the 'church' which
executed (literally) its decrees.)
7.
Rejection of Oath Taking. (Rejection of Oath
Taking. They rejected this practice yet distinguished
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between testimony regarding known facts and
promises regarding future conduct.
8.
Rejection of Military Service. (Rejection of
Military Service. The reason most of our Baptist
forebears refused to take up arms was because most
wars prior to the 20th century were religious in
nature, where force was used to coerce others to
conform.
9.
Rejection of Capital Punishment. (Rejection
of Capital Punishment. Since the kind of capital
punishment most familiar to the Anabaptists was that
carried out against 'heretics' - i.e., Anabaptists - we
can well understand their objections.)
10. The Millennial Return of Christ. (The Millennial
Return of Christ. Anabaptists rejected Augustinian
theology (Augustine, through his book, 'The City of
God,' laid the foundations for the Church of Rome),
so it was natural for them to be Premillennial.)
11. The Free Will of Man. (The Free Will of Man.
Anabaptists believed a man must either choose or
reject Christ as Saviour.)
12. Salvation by Grace through Faith. (Salvation by
Grace through Faith. Anabaptists believed that grace,
received through faith, was the great transforming
agent whereby the sinner is not simply made to
participate in Christ's merits, but enters into the
completed union with Him. They also insisted upon
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good works as the fruit of salvation, not the cause of
it. They would not baptize without seeing this fruit.)
13. Christ-like living. (Christ-like living. Compared
to most Catholics and Protestants, the Baptists were
'ascetics'!!)
14. The Lord's Supper for Church Members Only.
(The Lord's Supper for Church Members Only. They
only admitted baptized believers to the Lord's Table,
and then not before discipline was rigorously
exercised upon the brethren.)
15. Separation From Unbelief. (Separation From
Unbelief. The Anabaptists refused to join hands with
other religious parties, although to some degree at the
beginning of the reformation, the liberty loving
Anabaptists did offer their assistance to that
movement - until it became patently evident that it
was not going to be a return to pure Christianity.
Several Anabaptist pastors debated with the
reformers - until they were executed or exiled!
Newman notes that they "not only [refused] to join
with others in religious acts, but utterly [repudiated]
their right to be regarded as Christian.")
16. Cooperation Among Churches. (Cooperation
Among Churches. When conditions made it possible,
Anabaptist churches cooperated in their common
cause for Christ. Like the Waldenses, the Anabaptists
were characterized by their itinerant preachers.)
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In addition to [this] listing, W.A. Jarrell cites a paper
read before the American Society of Church History,
which adds the following distinctives:
17. The Authority of the Scriptures. (The Authority
of the Scriptures. Anabaptists held the Bible to be the
only authority in matters of faith and practice. An
interesting question is, "Which Bible?" "The
Waldenses translated the Bible into the Romance and
Teutonic languages early in the thirteenth century,
the Baptists retained these versions of the Bible two
hundred years after Luther's version. The oldest
German Bible is of Baptist origin." (J. T. Christian,
page 91). This German Bible is the Tepl Version
from the 14th century which "differs considerably
from the Latin Vulgate, used by the Roman Church,
and resembles the German translations in use from
the introduction of printing to the making of Luther's
translation, which latter shows many signs of its
influence, as does still more a later translation again,
used for a century by those then called Anabaptists
and Mennonites." (Broadbent, page 112). These
Waldensian Bibles were directly related to the
ancient Old Latin translation (150 A.D.) and marked
the 'living stream' whereby God preserved His pure
Word.
18. Salvation Through the Blood of Christ.
(Salvation Through the Blood of Christ. Jarrell
rightly notes that "This demonstrates that they were
not Universalists or Unitarians. Since there can be no
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human blood atonement for sin, they certainly were
sound on the deity of Christ.")
19. Missions. (Missions. The Anabaptists sent forth
a multitude of missionaries. According to W. W.
Everts (as cited by Jerrell), "they were the most
determined colporteurs and missionaries throughout
Europe." "To the Anabaptist the religious life was to
be an active, even aggressive, discipleship. One
feature of this mission outreach was mass baptisms.
At Munster in 1534 there were 1,400 in a week and
at times nearly whole villages would be baptized in
one ceremony." (Anderson, page 50).
In addition to the above, they also believed in the sin
nature of all men, the security of infants, strict church
discipline, and the right of each church to select its
own pastor (local church autonomy).
Conclusion
[JFR]
Dr. Cassidy had much more to say concerning the
Ana-Baptists and the problems they had; I have only
scratched the surface of his work. I will let his
Conclusion to his work stand as the conclusion of our
study of the The Trail of Blood.
[Cassidy]
“From the earliest days of the first century until
today, there has always been a representative people
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who held to the true doctrines of the Word of God,
and thus represented the true New Testament church.
“We, as Baptists, are not protestants, reformed, or
something new that arose in the 16th or 17th century.
We are an ancient people, following the precepts of
the Lord, in a 'trail of blood' that leads from the time
of Christ's earthly ministry down through the ages
until today. That is our Baptist Heritage.
“Think about it.”
(c) Copyright 1995 by Dr. Thomas Cassidy, Pastor, First Baptist
Church, Spring Valley, CA 91977
This work is copyrighted only to preserve the author's ownership of his
work. Any part of this work may be used without the author's
permission. All that he asks is that proper credit be given. (All
quotations are from the Authorized Version)
End of Part 1
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