Baptist History, Heritage & Distinctives – The Waldenses – Branded, Whipped & Beaten – Baptist Peculiarity SEVEN (continued) – Part 18 in the Series
Thomas E Kresal Admin · 3 hrs March 6, 2020
Baptist History, Heritage & Distinctives – The Waldenses – Branded, Whipped & Beaten – Baptist Peculiarity SEVEN (continued) – Part 18 in the Series
We have the following account of the persecutions of a company of Waldenses who made their appearance in England in the year 1159:
“Toward the middle of the twelfth century a small society of these Puritans, as they were called by some, or Waldenses, as they were called by others or Paulicians, as they were denominated by our old monkish historian, William of Newburg, made their appearance in England.” (Jones Ch. History, p.213)
This latter writer, speaking of them, says: “They came originally from Gascoyne where, being as numerous as the sand of the sea, they sorely infested both France, Italy, Spain, and England.” They were apprehended, and brought before a council of the clergy at Oxford. Being interrogated about their religion, their teacher, named Gerard, a man of learning, answered in their name, that they were Christians, and believed the doctrines of the apostles. Upon a more particular inquiry, it was found that they denied several of the received doctrines of the church, such as purgatory, prayers for the dead, and the invocation of saints; and refusing to abandon these damnable heresies, as they were called, they were condemned as incorrigible heretics, and delivered to the secular arm to be punished. The king Henry II), at the instigation of the clergy, commanded them to be branded with a red-hot iron on the forehead, to be whipped through the streets of Oxford, and, having their clothes cut short by their girdles, to be turned into the open fields, all persons being forbidden to afford them any shelter or relief under the severest penalties. This cruel sentence was executed in its utmost rigor; and, it being the depth of winter, all these unhappy persons perished with cold and hunger.” (Jones Church History, p.213)
Thus we have the record of the sad fate of these- thirty Waldenses, men and women, wdio fled into England from the hands of persecution, only to meet a more fearful doom from the hands of those who professed to be Christians.
NEXT – Peculiarity Seven continues tomorrow
Presented by Thomas E. Kresal from: “Baptist Succession” by D.B. Ray, 1871 Edition, pg. 370-71
Recent Comments