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BAPTIST HISTORY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From material by Terry Hamilton 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson 1: EARLY DAYS 30-90 A.D. (Pages 1-5) Exodus 13:3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. Psalm 77:11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center was destroyed by hijacked jets crashing through the twin towers. Five years later, one of the great rallying cries was \u201cWe remember.\u201d It echoes the famous one, \u201cRemember the Alamo.\u201d It behooves us to remember where our distinctives as Baptists come from because some of them are part of our United States Constitution Bill of Rights! When we revere our history, we will hold high its original standards of Scripture and doctrines it teaches! We won\u2019t allow ourselves to be carried to and fro with every word of doctrine. God\u2019s word has reminders\u2014to remember! Remember the deliverance of His chosen people (Exodus 13:3). God\u2019s people need to remember how God, in His strength, brought us out of our bondage to sin. He wants all of us who love Him to love history\u2014His story of how He has delivered His people before and will deliver us as well. Moses pleaded with God to remember His servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 32:13). God\u2019s people need to remember the great heroes of faith, to remind us that God has always used repentant sinners to accomplish His works of grace. The heroes did not stop when the Old Testament and New Testament were finished. He wants us to remember heroes of faith throughout the church age. NOTE: There is a great display of many of these heroes in the halls of Canton Baptist Temple, Canton, Ohio, called the Christian Hall of Fame. This display was laid on the heart of Dr. Harold Henniger while he was recovering from heart surgery. He was reading Hebrews 11, the Heroes of Faith chapter and began to think how great it would be to create a hall of Christian heroes, like the new Football Hall of Fame there had done with great football players. With the help of the great artist and preacher, Dr. Peter Ruckman, many portraits were placed through the halls of early Christians, and as years passed, many others were added. David told us to remember the works of the Lord (Psalm 77:11). God has not died, gone to sleep, or become inactive or impotent since the New Testament was finished. We are to always remember His work\u2014He is ever working today in the church! Stephen\u2019s sermon was all about things his listeners needed to remember (Acts 7). When he was brought before the Sanhedrin council to defend against the charges filed against him, he did not treat the history of the children of Israel as dull, boring, unimportant, or irrelevant. He went back 2,000 years to recall God\u2019s appearance to Abraham (Acts 7:2) and reviewed highlights of the next 2,000 years\u2014pointing out, by the way, how they continually failed to live the way God intended, right up to the day they rejected His Son. Do you know your Bible well enough to share that? Can you recall and rejoice in what God has done for you? Baptist history goes further back than the church of Rome. Before the end of the 19th century, virtually a ll Baptist historians believed those of the early church were Baptists. I remember how the late Dr. Al Lacy pointed this out, perhaps a little with tongue in cheek and humor maybe, by reminding us the forerunner of Jesus was John the BAPTIST, and because Jesus was baptized by him, that made Jesus a Baptist. Some non-Baptists historians, of course, disagreed (a pride issue, maybe). But other non-Baptist historians, reluctantly, maybe, including John Clark Ridpath, had to admit that \u201cthere was a Baptist-type church as far back as 100 A.D. There were Baptist churches then, ad all Christians were then Baptists.\u201d The well-known evangelist Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, \u201cWe believe that Baptists are the original Christians. We did not commence our existence at the Reformation; we were reformers before Luther or Calvin were born; we never came from the church of Rome, for we were never in it, but we have an unbroken line up to the apostles themselves. NOTE: When did the church begin? This side note here bears insertion because there are differing answers to the question. The majority of those I have listened to or read are convinced it began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Others may believe it began just a few days later when the number of believers increased and officers and deacons and the resolution of issues began. The word appears for the first time here in Acts 2:47, so it had to begin soon after the day of Pentecost. By this time there were at least 3,000 members! Days later it had grown to at least 8,000! See Acts 4:4. BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 4 However, it bears worth considering that the church began when Jesus called His twelve disciples and gave them authority to preach and do miracles. Just before He went to heaven, He breathed on them and said, \u201cReceive ye the Holy Ghost.\u201d That was when the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit began. But when Peter made his dynamic answer to Jesus\u2019 question, \u201cWhom do ye say that I am,\u201d Jesus said, \u201cOn this rock I will build my church.\u201d Jesus may have already been building His church with these 12 men. In this experience, He pointed out what that church\u2019s foundation would be. We know the Roman Catholics teach that Jesus was saying He would build His church on Peter and Peter was the first pope. You can not find that supported in any Scripture or anything Jesus said. There is a play on Greek words here. Peter was just a little stone (his name means little stone). Jesus was going to build His church on the truth of Peter\u2019s confession of faith. Given what we know about Peter\u2019s life from then on, I would not want to know MY church was built on someone who denied Christ and cursed and swore (not to mention, Peter was married, and no pope was ever married\u2014the Catholic church taught against it. Baptist distinctives are New Testament doctrines. This is vital! The Baptist distinctives are Bible doctrines found in the New Testament. Why doesn\u2019t every Christian believe them, then? NOTE: Here again, let me digress. It is unfortunate to study Baptist history and learn of the divisions which have come in it through the years. Not every Baptist group uses the King James Bible\u2014that departure began some time ago. Not every Baptist group is independent\u2014meaning those not independent report to some higher group of people who decide which material they should teach and which ministries and missionaries they support. As we get into these distinctives, however, keep in mind they go back to the older, original Baptists. I personally believe those who have digressed from some or all of these distinctives should erase the name Baptist from their church sign, business name, and material, but that isn\u2019t likely to happen. They like the name as an attraction to some who may not know better, perhaps. Biblical authority is the rejection of other forms of authority, be they other churches or books outside of the Bible. It rejects the Catholic church\u2019s authority and the ex cathedra statements of a pope. It does not believe the 95 theses Luther nailed to a church door or John Calvin\u2019s theology (known as the TULIP principles). They totally reject the Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price of the Mormons, along with the teachings of cults like Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, for example. Biblical authority will be covered more in lesson 7. Freedom of conscience is not the freedom to act like one wishes, but to be allowed to adamantly believe and teach what the Bible teaches. Persecution arose from other groups for this reason. Early Christians were persecuted (Acts 4, 5, 8, with Saul of Tarsus being chief among them). The Roman Empire persecuted them. Hundreds of years, known as the Dark Ages, were a period the Baptist Church and people nearly disappeared. Even off-shoots of the Roman Catholic Church (called Protestants) persecuted true Baptist Christians. We still see this today with various forms of Christians, for example, the Islams. We will deal more with freedom of conscience in lesson 8. Separation of church and state\u2014here is a term we have seen really tossed around and misunderstood. The radicals would prefer it to be separation of church from state. The church, to them, has no authority to tell them what kind of morals to promote, what behaviors they can not tolerate in a staff member\u2019s life, and so forth. It is erroneously said by many that the idea was not part of or intended to be any part of the first amendment; it was only part of another writing by Thomas Jefferson. But the early church meant by this that the Roman emperor should not merge the two. They rejected the authority of the pope and the authority of the Holy Roman Empire because it was mandating how they were to operate and what they could teach. They did not believe in various European states aligned with the Lutherans or Presbyterians. They did not believe in the Pilgrims and Puritans starting a Puritan church state which would persecute and banish Baptist believers for their faith. They did not believe in Islamic governments declaring conversion to Christianity was a crime. We\u2019ll get into more in lesson 9. The New Testament local church\u2014local, visible, and autonomous\u2014was the way the first church was organized. Paul\u2019s letters were to churches like this and the kind he began and some he also pastored in. It was not some church followed by watching a televangelist or listening to a radio pastor. Its headquarters was not in Rome under a pope. It is not some universal, invisible church (all believers of all ages, living or dead). Ecumenicalism was rejected. They would not link or support other groups teaching or operating differently enough to affect foundational doctrines or Biblical practices not clearly supported by Scripture. Of course, there was some disagreement because that was part of what being independent was all about. Lesson 10 will cover this more. Regenerate believer\u2019s baptism by immersion was a very divisive yet important distinctive. They realized that infant baptism was taught or that a person became a Christian or got saved by being baptized. They rejected sprinkling or pouring as the mode of baptism. We\u2019ll discuss this in lesson 11. BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 5 Perpetuity of New Testament church means the true, independent Baptist church will always be found somewhere, even if hidden underground, like it was during the Dark Ages. Peter was not its first pope. The church did not go out of existence everywhere any time. It was not resurrected by the Reformation. See lesson 12 for more on this distinctive. The premillennial return of Christ and literal interpretation of prophecy was distinctive in the true church. They rejected the Augustinian theology that the reign of Christ taught in Revelation is a figurative picture of the Roman Catholic Church. They did not believe the church was responsible to bring in the millennial kingdom. Lesson 13 will cover this. All through the church age since the group we read about in Acts 2, there have always been those believers who held to these beliefs and practices. They were called many names through history. THAT is important as we will see in coming lessons. There were, as noted, some variations in beliefs then and there are today. We may not endorse every one of them, but we can identify with those Baptists wo have continued to hold these beliefs and practices. As Jude exhorted us, we must \u201cearnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.\u201d That faith has not been delivered twice, differently, or in any form of compromise or outright heresy. This information should help us with our personal walk with Jesus, family life, and church life. Doctrine IS important (1 Timothy 4:13). Study is more important than memorizing or reading, but we should do all three in earnest (Titus 1:9). We should believe it is important and be able to explain it to some level to anyone who asks the reason for the hope within us (1 Peter 3:15) and not tossed to and fro with everything that comes out claiming to be Christian\u2014or even Baptist! (Ephesians 4:14-15). Our goals should be to spread the gospel and advance religious and civil liberties in America and the world (2 Corinthians 4:3). Now Baptists are not the only ones who will be in heaven, and sadly heaven may be populated with fewer Baptists than many think\u2014because so many rely on having this name attached as if it is their automatic entry of their name in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life. One thing I think we might learn from Acts 19:2 is that it is not about who baptized us as it is why we were baptized. As a saying goes, if you were baptized before you repented and received Jesus as your personal Saviour, you went under the water a dry sinner and came out a wet sinner. Baptismal regeneration is an off-shoot from Roman Catholic doctrine. True Baptists will not recognize anyone as being saved just because they can prove they got baptized. And a person who got baptized before salvation needs to be baptized BIBLICALLY after he really gets saved. BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 6 Lesson 2: EARLY CHURCH 90-476 A.D. (Pages 6-13) Text: Mat 28:19, 20 Introduction: It took persecution to move the early church and its members out of Jerusalem and Antioch. The key person in this persecution was Saul of Tarsus. He first shows up as holding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen and consenting to his death (Acts 7:58-8:1). He really made havoc for a while, but God dramatically got his attention and he made an abrupt about-face when Jesus answered his question, \u201cLord what will You have me do?\u201d (Acts 9:1-6). It is worthy to note that the office of an apostle could not be bequeathed or transferred to another. Anyone claiming to be an apostle today needs to see that and change his title to maybe disciple, pastor, minister, for example. Every apostle except John were martyred in some cruel way. John, the beloved one, has been reported by some to have survived a cup of poison and a pot of boiling oil before he was exiled to the isle of Patmos. We\u2019re going to use this lesson to share how heretics were used by the devil in an attempt to usurp the distinctives of the Baptist church. Many of these names will be less familiar, perhaps. I. The next generation A. Clement of Rome B. Polycarp of Smyrna C. Papias of Hierapolis II. Contending for the faith during Roman persecution A. About the Deity of Christ B. Biblical authority C. Freedom of conscience D. Separation of church and state E. New Testament church F. Believer\u2019s baptism III. Spreading the gospel during Roman persecution A. Briton B. Montanists and Tertullian C. Novatianists IV. Conversion of Constantine and Roman Empire and its consequences A. Marriage of church and state B. Christianity became paganized V. Contending for the faith during rise of state church A. Separation of church and state B. Augustine C. Donalists VI. Spreading the gospel to Ireland Conclusion: As you review this part of history, ask yourself, are you including any pagan beliefs and practices in your life? Is your church doing this? Which ones, if any, do you need to repent of? Do not become guilty of being part of the time when you no longer endure sound doctrine and heap to yourself teachers instead of preachers (2 Timothy 4:3, 4). Be a part of giving to missionaries through what\u2019s often called \u201cFaith Promise.\u201d BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 7 Lesson 2: EARLY CHURCH 90-476 A.D. (Pages 6-13) Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. It took persecution to move the early church and its members out of Jerusalem and Antioch. Jesus had told them to take it first to Jerusalem; they had done well. But He also said Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. God used a key person to get the gospel to the other areas through this persecution\u2014it was Saul of Tarsus. He first shows up as holding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen and consenting to his death (Acts 7:58-8:1). He really made havoc for a while, but God dramatically got his attention and he made an abrupt about-face when Jesus answered his question, \u201cLord what will You have me do?\u201d (Acts 9:1-6). It is worthy to note that the office of an apostle could not be bequeathed or transferred to another. Anyone claiming to be an apostle today needs to see that and change his title to maybe disciple, pastor, minister, for example. Every apostle except John were martyred in some cruel way. John, the beloved one, has been reported by some to have survived a cup of poison and a pot of boiling oil before he was exiled to the isle of Patmos. We\u2019re going to use this lesson to share how heretics were used by the devil in an attempt to usurp the distinctives of the Baptist church. Many of these names will be less familiar, perhaps. Baptists believe there will always be a next generation\u2014a remnant, like with Israel\u2014of believers until the end of the church age. By the end of the apostolic era, they had spread the gospel as far east as Arabia, as far south as Ethiopia, as far west as Rome and perhaps Spain, and as far north as modern-day Bosnia and Serbia. The next generation saw the necessary end of apostolic ministry and authority. The Baptist historian Thomas Armitage wrote in his book, A Heritage of Baptists about the cessation of this office. It has been widely accepted that one mandate to be classified as a true apostle was he had to see Jesus personally. Paul was one of the last\u2014if not THE last\u2014to be given this privilege (1 Corinthians 15:8). They were specially chosen witnesses of Christ\u2019s life and work when He was on earth. In 2 Timothy 2:3, Paul admonished his spiritual son to commit what Paul meticulously taught him to faithful men who could and would teach others. Here, by the way, is where the perpetuity of the local church idea comes from. Let\u2019s look at key players in the effort. Clement of Rome was acquainted with the apostle Paul, Peter, and John and wrote a letter to the church at Corinth to warn about the heathen practice of prostitution and the Temple of Aphrodite. Polycarp of Smyrna was an advocate of the autonomy of the local church, and was burned at the stake during the Roman persecution. Papias of Hierapolis, a pupil of John the apostle, was an ardent premillennialist. Contending for the faith during Roman persecution became more necessary with the passing of time. Paul warned it would happen (Acts 20:29). One of the earliest attacks was any teaching about the Deity of Christ. These men are known as Gnostics. Marcion, an early leader in this movement, was a dualist, believing there were two gods\u2014the God of wrath and vengeance (Old Testament), and a god of love and mercy revealed through Jesus (New Testament). See what John 8:58 and 10:30 say about this. These were the statements of Jesus Himself! Marcion thought Jesus could have nothing in common with the evil, material world so His body was spiritual and not real. John spoke against this in 1 John 4:1-3. Arius denied the Deity of Jesus Christ, and instead taught He was finite and created. We see this perpetrated in the Mormons and Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses even today. Biblical authority has always been a key weapon Satan uses men in promoting. It did not take him any longer in this time than it did in the Garden of Eden, relatively speaking, before three forms of the New Testament existed. There was the original one in Greek, the Syrian Peshito, the most popular translation in Antioch of Syria and other eastern churches; and the old Latin Itala Biblia circulated in France and central Europe. Marcion was an early corrupter of the New Testament. G. A. Riplinger in New Age Bible Versions noted the words of Irenaeus an early church leader he said about it: \u201c[He] and his followers have betaken themselves to mutilating the Scriptures, not acknowledging some books at all, and curtailing the gospel according to Luke and the epistles of Paul they assert that these alone are authentic, and which they shortened.\u201d The most famous corruption of Scriptures is what we know came from Alexandria, under the influence of Clement. He sought to merger the philosophies of two men we\u2019ve heard of a lot: Plato and Philo. One of Clement\u2019s students is BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 8 well known\u2014Origin. He began correcting the Bible, adding and subtracting at will. THIS is the origin of what we well know as the Alexandrian manuscript. Origen denied the account of Adam and Eve, the inspiration of Revelation, the existence of hell, substituting the place of purgatory. Pardon my pun here: The teaching of Origen is the origin of what many cults and religions teach yet today! The line of schooling continued with Pamphilus. He took over Clement\u2019s school when Origen died. When Pamphilus died, his books and writings passed on to Eusebius, historian and bishop of Caesarea. When the converted Roman emperor Constantine died, he sought for copies of the Bible to be made and was supplied with those of Eusebius, then they were given to Jerome, the author of the Roman Catholic Latin Vulgate! You have most likely heard of several of these names of people and their renditions of corrupt copies of the Scripture! NOTE: I encourage you to refer to my series \u201cBible Authority,\u201d which has outlines and comments on this important stand of the Baptists\u2014especially when it comes to the King James Bible. Freedom of conscience in proper context is not the freedom to think how WE want to, but to tune our thoughts and conscience to how GOD wants our thoughts and conscience to operate. It is known also as soul liberty, but many turned it the wrong direction. Marcus Aurelius decreed that the property of Christians was to be given to the informers who turned them in to the Roman government. Thousands of Christians were martyred. Emperor Decius ordered widespread persecution of all who would not worship the emperor and Roman pantheon of gods. Emperor Diocletian devoted his army resources to hunting down and destroying all Christians, many being killed. The massive persecution led them to hide in the catacombs, but also accomplished God\u2019s will of the spread of the gospel to the \u201cuttermost parts of the earth\u201d\u2014the entire known Roman Empire at that time. It\u2019s amazing how a fervent effort of Satan through evil men to squash and stop the spread of the gospel was used by God to do the opposite! See Acts 1:8 and 8:1. Separation of church and state does not mean the church has no authority or right to tell the state how it should govern its people, nor does it mean the state has the right to tell the church what it can teach. That would be nothing less than separation of church from the state! What the principle focuses on is standing against the marriage of church and state. The Roman Empire mandated practices of emperor worship and Roman gods. If Baptists did not stand against this, it would not take much to become part of Constantine\u2019s apostasy, which we will deal with later. The New Testament church was supposed to always be a LOCAL body of baptized believers, not some conglomerate of many churches or ecumenicalism. Just as wicked men desired a unity of religion in the building of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), even today man desires centralization, not just in government, but in the church (religion in general). The Old Testament High Priest and Levites were thought to be the way God wanted things to be in the church. We mentioned Clement of Rome\u2014he attempted in that letter to Corinth to place himself over that small church. And though Irenaeus was a firm proponent of the Trinity and Deity of Christ, he also advocated centralization of church authority. Cyprian of Carthage was apparently the father of the unbiblical doctrine of the universal (Catholic) church, and outside of there and that was no salvation. Believer\u2019s baptism was contested also. NOTE: I am not sure this is authentic, but I was once told that when the group preparing the King James Bible came across the Greek word baptizo and realized it literally meant immersion in water, they feared the wrath of the king and church so much they transliterated the word instead. Well, thankfully, careful Scripture study of other verses leaves no doubt that TRUE believer\u2019s baptism is the full body immersion in water. Only that way can it picture what it is to picture\u2014identifying with the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The practice held on its own for two hundred years. But later the heresy of baptismal regeneration began to be taught. Its origin is likely rooted in the Catholic Church and later extracted to be taught by Alexander Campbell and today by the Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ groups. Justin Martyr wrote, \u201cBaptism brings forgiveness and the pardon of sins; it transplants into a new existence, and without it there is no salvation.\u201d Hermas said, \u201cThere is no other repentance than this, that we go down into the water and receive the forgiveness of past sins. A hundred years later Cyprian of Carthage began to advocate the baptism of infants. Now let us look at the spreading the gospel during Roman persecution. Despite all the best efforts of the Roman Empire to exterminate Christians and despite ongoing corruption of Scriptures and doctrine, true Christianity spread widely in the world. Historians, Baptist and otherwise, wrote of the spread of the gospel to the island of Britain. The works include The Collegiate Baptist History Workbook by James R. Beller, and History of Welsh Baptists by Jonathan Davis. He said, \u201cBefore Briton, as it was called, was conquered by the English in the fifth century she enjoyed a blessed revival and saw scores of her people saved and baptized by missionaries from Antioch and friends of Prudence and Claudia (2 Timothy 4:21).\u201d BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 9 Montanists come from a pagan man named Montanus, converted in the mid second century. Doug Hammett provided extensive information about this early but minor Protestant reformation. This area had been distressed by a drift toward ritualism, the rise of the clergy class, a lack of spirituality, and a developing laxity in discipline and church membership standards. His beliefs and practices spread through Asia, Africa, and part of Europe, and included the distinctives of baptism by immersion, acceptance of the complete word of God, and premillennialism. If anyone came from a corrupted church, he required them to be re-baptized. One of his great converts was Tertullian from Carthage who became a great defender and contender of the faith, including the rejection of infant baptism. His influence and those of the Montanists were later seen in the Novatian movement and the Donatus movement and the Paulicians movement. Novatianists will be the next group we consider. The persecution of Christians under Decius led to the sad renunciation of the faith by numerous Christians. After this persecution, when the ones who had denied Christ sought to rejoin the church, a schism developed in the church at Rome. Cornelius (not the one of Acts 10) advocated restoration upon public confession of their sin. Novatian, eager to protect the purity of the church, was disgusted at easy readmission. When Cornelius was elected as bishop of the church at Rome, Novatian left and started another independent church in Rome. Its premises sound a little like the independent movement among Baptists today: Independence of churches and equality of all pastors in respect to authority. Purity of church membership and free from apostasy, impurity, and worldliness. Baptism of mature believers by immersion. Reprobation of apostates. NOTE: I am not sure what was meant by \u201cbaptism of mature believers\u201d\u2014it would tell me a believer could not be baptized immediately or soon after he received Christ and was saved. Independent Baptists today believe the sooner a new convert is baptized, the better, for if one struggles in the first step of obedience, he likely will struggle worse in the coming acts of obedience. Novatian was eventually excommunicated by the church at Rome and the associated churches were severely persecuted. Still, their influence spread toward France and Asia Minor, lasting until the sixth and seventh century. The conversion of Constantine and Roman Empire and its consequences is one of the most talked about eras of church history. Here was a man who faced a battle against Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge and supposedly saw a vision of a flaming cross in the sky with the superscription, \u201cBy this sign conquer.\u201d He attributed his victory then to the Christian \u2018god.\u201d In a move to consolidate and expand his power by attaching the spiritual power of the growing Christian movement to his imperial power, he issued the Edict of Milan which granted freedom to Christians and adopting Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. He is praised by many historians for \u201clegalizing Christianity.\u201d More than likely, it was a conversion of force rather than by will of a person. Baptists recognize his decisions led to the darkest days of church history. The marriage of church and state became a part of this movement. Constantine, accustomed to the official relationship between the Roman gods and government, merely changed the official religion of the state from paganism to Christianity. Doug Hammett notes the effects. Christianity became a political force. The arm of Christianity now held a sword; its priests were no longer preachers, but politicians. Catholic pastors were paid by the state. They were freed from paying taxes, were paid by tax money of others, and exempt from military duty. Churches were filled with unbelievers. Slaves were granted freedom if they were baptized. Civil observance of Sunday became a law. All his subjects were exhorted to receive the Christian faith. Writing about this, Charles H. Spurgeon said, \u201cWe have ever been ready to suffer, as our martyrologies will prove, but we are not ready to accept any help from the state, to prostitute the purity of the bride of Christ to any alliance with government.\u201d Christianity thus became paganized. When the church and state join like this, other compromises follow. \u201cUnbelieving pagans, who came into the churches to comply with Constantine\u2019s compulsion, brought their beliefs and practices with them. Compromising churches wishing to accommodate their new members Christianized the pagan practices. The pagan mother-child worship was changed to the mother-child worship of Mary-Jesus.\u201d Do you see so much of the Catholic history here?!? Contending for the faith during rise of state church then became needed. False doctrine permeated the church. The Montanists, Novatianists, and Donatists opposed this marriage of church and state. The Donatist preacher Gaudentis said, \u201cGod approved prophets and fishermen, not princes and soldiers, to spread the faith.\u201d J. M. Carroll, who wrote The Trail of Blood, noted, \u201cConstantine, desiring to have all Christians join with him in his new idea of a state religion, and many conscientiously opposing this serious departure form New Testament teachings, he begins using the power of government to compel. Thus began the days and years and even centuries of hard and bitter persecution against ALL Christians loyal to the original Christ and apostles\u2019 teaching.\u201d BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 10 Now we will look at another famous person, Augustine. He became the Bishop of Hippo in North Africa and from that location from Rome became the greatest systematizer what came to become the Roman Catholic Church. His dogma held sway in his day and has continued to be influential in Roman Catholic and Reformed churches. Augustine taught that salvation was by grace alone, but the saved were predestined to salvation. Salvation was only found through church sacraments. The church at Rome was the universal, visible kingdom of God, ushering in the millennium. He advocated infant baptism and that heresy should be suppressed by the civil government, encouraging a magistrate to confiscate land and imprison and execute re-baptizers such as the Donatists. Donatists were another link in the New Testament line of faithful believers. They were also called Anabaptists and Puritans, arising in North Africa as a reaction to the increasing church hierarchy and state church. They objected when a former Christ-denier was named Bishop of Carthage. They refused to recognize the tainted bishop and established independent churches in North Africa. They opposed prevailing doctrinal and ecclesiastical impurity. The Council of Carthage declared that children should be baptized. Along with Augustine, the moderator of the Council of Mela, the declaration was made that those who denied infant baptism were accursed. We conclude this long time with the spreading the gospel to Ireland. By the fifth century, Baptist groups had spread far and wide. The Novatians had churches in Constantinople, in several cities in Asia Minor, and in Egypt. The Donatist churches had spread throughout North Africa. As persecutions arose, believers scattered again. Communities were in the Middle East and the alpine mountains and valleys of Europe. One of the most remarkable stories of the spread of the gospel in this time occurred in Ireland. Patrick was born in what is now known as Scotland, a son of a Christian Briton family. Remember, the gospel had been taken to Britain earlier; independent churches thrived for hundreds of years. Patrick was kidnapped by pirates and taken to Ireland and sold at a slave auction to an Irish chieftain. Like the prodigal son, Patrick herded his master\u2019s swine and cattle in the country of Ireland. In the depths of life\u2019s circumstances for several years, he repented and was born again. He escaped from his master, found a ship, and returned to his father. In that safe place, he trained to be a preacher and began to have dreams of returning to Ireland with the glorious gospel. His family was so overjoyed over his return, they discouraged him from ever reaching that goal. When he was 30, he had another dream, a call to return to Ireland. He enlisted 12 men and returned to the Emerald Isle as a missionary, preaching to the pagans, baptizing them by immersion, and starting local, independent churches. As you review this part of history, ask yourself, are you including any pagan beliefs and practices in your life? Is your church doing this? Which ones, if any, do you need to repent of? Do not become guilty of being part of the time when you no longer endure sound doctrine and heap to yourself teachers instead of preachers (2 Timothy 4:3, 4). Be a part of giving to missionaries through what\u2019s often called \u201cFaith Promise.\u201d BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 11 Lesson 3: The Dark Ages 476-1500 A.D. (Pages 14-21) NOTE: There is no Scripture text here. Introduction: The Dark Ages are also known as the Middle Ages. It was a period of cultural and religious darkness. We might liken it to the silent years between Malachi\u2019s death and Jesus\u2019 birth. I. Characteristics A. Cultural darkness B. Religious darkness II. The early Dark Ages A. Major historical developments B. Contending for the faith C. Spreading the gospel III. Later Dark Ages A. Historical developments B. Spreading the gospel Conclusion: Has your life had a period of \u201cDark Ages\u201d? What is the right way to contend for the faith? Is our influence and spread of the gospel greater than that of the cults? BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 12 Lesson 3: The Dark Ages 476-1500 A.D. (Pages 14-21) The Dark Ages are also known as the Middle Ages. It was a period of cultural and religious darkness. We might liken it to the silent years between Malachi\u2019s death and Jesus\u2019 birth. There was cultural darkness\u2014the term was originally used by the scholar Petratch. The Greek and Roman era was a time of flowering civilization, but after the fall of the Roman empire, it was culturally stagnant. The 1,000 year reign of the Roman Catholic Church was a period of religious darkness\u2014full of priest-ridden, superstitious, dark times, as described by Edward Gibbon in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The early Dark Ages experienced major historical developments. Without a doubt, the collapse of the Roman Empire was the chief factor of the beginning of the Dark Ages. Before the Goths, Huns, and Vandals overthrew it, Rome was destroyed by its own materialism and immorality. Its political will and armies were decaying, so Rome was no match for these barbarians. The only surviving part was the Eastern Empire, headquartered in Constantinople. The dominance of the Roman Catholic Church was the result of the political, economic, and cultural systems collapse. It managed to survive and assume an even greater political power. Politicians controlled the church in order to maintain political control. Literacy and education had little place in the church hierarchy that maintained power through ignorance and superstition of the laity. The paganization of the church, with the prevalence of man\u2019s traditions over God\u2019s word, led to religious practices and persecution of believers who refused to participate in this long slide to heresy. The rise of Islam was seen in this period. The religious vacuum of the Dark Ages offered a perfect time for it. It was founded by a man named Mohammed, who was greatly influenced early in life by Jews and Christians, whom he referred to as People of the Book. He incorporated much of the Bible into his teachings, but dethroned Jesus as God, instead elevating his tribal moon god Al-ilah (shortened later to Allah) to the stature of Almighty God. Islam was propagated by the sword, conquering most of the Middle East, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain. In one of the most decisive battles of world history, Charles Martel, a Frankish general and political leader, defeated the Islamic Moors in the Battle of Tours. It halted the spread of Islam in Europe. In our day, instead of conquering by the sword, Islam conquers by immigration. Contending for the faith was once again the issue for the true church. By the time of Pope Leo I and Gregory I, the Roman Catholic Church had consolidated religious and political power, establishing a wide variety of heresies and practices, based on political considerations and pagan practices and traditions. Infant baptism became official doctrine. Mary (mother of Jesus) was evaluated as the mother of God and additional heresies about her. We know today they include her immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, ascension to heaven, and co-mediator and co-redeemer in heaven. Purgatory was introduced as a place God sentences dead believers to until their sins are paid for. Thus began the practice of prayers for the dead and indulgences. Bible reading by the individual was prohibited. Only priests and the Pope were supposed to interpret Scripture and issue edicts from them. Confession began to be practiced\u2014individuals would confess their sins to a priest and be told to do various deeds as penance for them. And the teaching of transubstantiation came about\u2014the belief that the bread and juice of the Lord\u2019s supper becomes the literal body and blood of Jesus (through some supposed magical incantation). Spreading the gospel was still active, though maybe less noticeable. Montanists, Novatianists, Donatists were brutally and increasingly persecuted by the increasing political power of the Roman Catholic Church. The gospel still continued to be spread in Europe and the Middle East! Ireland\u2014Scotland\u2014England: The Irish churches sent the missionary Columba to Scotland, where he started a Bible school. Another missionary, Columbanus, left Ireland and preached in France, Switzerland, and even Italy for many years. BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 13 Europe: The Catholic Church suppressed not just the education of the Bible, but groups who taught and preached it. But it was still preached by other groups like the Vaudois, Cathari, and Paterines, all who held Baptist beliefs and practices! Paulicians were another group slandered by the Roman Catholic persecutors. A manuscript entitled The Key of Truth was discovered in Armenia and provided unusual insight about this group. Several key people and events are connected with this group. Legend has it that the apostle Thomas planted churches in Armenia in mountainous areas of what is now Turkey, parts of Iran, and parts of Russia. The faith of this group stems from the first church in Antioch. Their name was derived from the frequent citation of Paul\u2019s writings. The group practiced New Testament Christianity on the outer fringes of the Roman Empire, not incurring its wrath until the later seventh century, when a man named Constantine sheltered a Christian deacon who was fleeing Muslim persecution. Constantine was given a copy of the New Testament which resulted in his conversion and ultimately great revival. Constantine was stoned to death by command of Empress Theodora, who later instigated persecution of 100,000 Armenian Paulicians. In the face of this persecution, one leader established the free city-state of Teprice, where they resisted Catholic armies until it was overthrown by Saracen armies. The city had been known as \u201ca shelter to every creed of belief or unbelief, to freedom of conscience before it appeared anywhere else.\u201d (J. W. Griffith, A Manual of Church History) The discovery of The Key of Truth unveiled the Baptist beliefs and practices of this group which suffered persecution from the Roman Catholic Church because it believed and followed the New Testament. They believed in the Old and New Testaments, practiced public Bible reading, and believed every person should have access to God\u2019s word. They rejected infant baptism and baptism of unbelievers, hierarchies, ceremonialism, and image worship. They sent missionaries to Eastern Europe and also fled to them. It is thought that the Bogomils were a part of this group. They continued to spread to Western Europe, called by various names. They could have been forerunners of the Albigenses. They may have influenced more people in more nations than modern Baptists do today. Now we come to the later Dark Ages and highlights from history then. The political influence of the pope was evident when four different men ruled as popes at the same time, under a different political leader. It happened in the eleventh century and again in the late 1300\u2019s and early 1400\u2019s. The Crusades were instigated by popes and monks as an attempt to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. Men were motivated by promises of special indulgences and even salvation to march toward Jerusalem during the periods of the Crusades. They were unsuccessful to liberate the Holy Land from the Islamic rule. But, they helped relieve the crushing boredom of life in the Dark Ages. They enlarged the vision of European survivors, paving the way to the Renaissance and Reformation. The Crusades, though, violated the wishes of Jesus (John 18:36). The Inquisitions began in the latter part of the Dark Ages, developed by the Roman Catholic Church for investigating, apprehending, and condemning heretics. If the heretics refused to recant, they would be tortured and executed. Despite the many efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to blot out all light during the Dark Ages. Baptist groups were quite robust throughout Europe and the Middle East. The Paterines were descendants of the Novatianists, numerous in Milan and Turin in northern Italy. Just like Psalm 112:4 and Hebrews 11:38 say, light arose in darkness even when they wandered in deserts, mountains, and caves. They continued their separation from Catholic heresies of infant baptism and marriage of church and state. The Petrobrussians were named after Peter Du Bruys, a student at the university of Paris and a converted priest who joined the Albigenses, preaching the gospel in southern France. His followers spread to the Netherlands and declared to be heretics because they preached the authority of Scripture, rejected traditions and infant baptism, taught the church was a spiritual body of regenerated believers, rejected using images of crucifixes and prayers and alms for the dead. The Albigenses, named after the town of Albi in southern France were descendants of the Paulicians. They spread from Armenia to Eastern Europe and westward. They also accepted Scripture over traditions, the BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 14 centralization concept of the Roman Catholic church, and infant baptism. Perhaps no other group was more persecuted. \u201cThe Catholics at first attempted to convert the Albigenses through ecclesiastical coercion. This failed largely because the simple Albigensians knew the word of God. Lateran II and the Council of Tours condemned them as heretics. Pope Innocent III initiated at least four crusades against them. He offered heaven to all who engaged in a holy war against them.\u201d (Pastor Hammett, The History of Baptists). The Crusades in southern France were more successful than the Crusades against the Moslems. But, just as believers have done since Acts 8:1, these scattered to Italy and Germany, contributing to the Anabaptist movement. The Waldenses were known as \u201cpeople of the valley\u201d (the Vaudois). They lived for centuries in relative safety in the Pyrenees of France and in the Alps and valleys of northern Italy and Switzerland. They sent out missionaries to Europe. Peter Waldo was a wealthy Catholic merchant in Lyon, France. After his conversion, he realized the Catholic traditions differed greatly from Jesus\u2019 teachings and those of the apostles. He joined this group and formed a group of traveling preachers called \u201cthe poor men of Lyon.\u201d The revival under Peter Waldo brought the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church down on them as well. The Waldenses held to accepting the Bible as the only authority for the Christian life. They rejected the claim of the Roman Catholic Church being the only true church. They rejected infant baptism. They believed in salvation by grace alone, rejecting any works\u2019 ideas of Roman Catholics. They rejected purgatory and prayers for the dead, the veneration of Mary and the saints, indulgences, prayers to saints, and use of images. As with other groups, they were forbidden to preach without a license, excommunicated, and persecuted\u2014 thus again being scattered. The Lollards trace back to Walter Lollard. The Waldenses ended up in Bohemia. Walter Lollard became a pastor there and preached widely in Europe. Revival came to the Waldenses and Albigenses. But, his career was cut short when he was captured and burned at the stake. This group also preached salvation by grace, rejected infant baptism and other traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. One great story about the persecutors involves a monk named Eachard. He persecuted believers in France until he finally understood their position. He became one persecuted himself and burned at the stake. The Lollards also fled to other parts of Europe and to England, where they found great success and influenced and eventually led by John Wycliffe. This man, so well-known, was the \u201cMorningstar of the Reformation.\u201d He also held to the sole authority of Scriptures, denounced the infallibility of the pope, promoted independent churches, separation of church and state, justification by faith, and renounced infant baptism. He was prohibited from preaching by the Bishop of London, so he confined himself to translating the Bible from Latin to English. He strongly believed the authority of Scriptures to mean all people should have a Bible in their language for themselves. NOTE: We see his influence even today in the work of the Wycliffe Bible Translators. Now, let us see applications in this story. Has your life had a period of \u201cDark Ages\u201d? What is the right way to contend for the faith? Is our influence and spread of the gospel greater than that of the cults? BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 15 Lesson 4: Protestant Reformation (Pages 22-28) Text: Rom 1:17 Introduction: The Bible truth that \u201cthe just shall live by faith\u201d sparked the life of Martin Luther and loosened the death grip of the Roman Catholic Church on Western Civilization. The Reformers did not go far enough in separating from the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and continued persecuting Baptists, they were still used by God to prepare the way for Bible-believing Baptists. I. Breaking up the darkness A. Religious influences B. Cultural influences II. Reformation begins in Germany III. Reformation in Switzerland IV. Reformation in England V. Baptist leaders A. In Germany B. In Switzerland C. In Holland D. In England VI. Darkness returns, light retreats VII. Are Baptists Protestants? Conclusion: What has led you to making a salvation decision? Are you grateful for the written and printed word? How much courage do you have to stand for Scripture and witness to others? Do you know why Baptists are not and were not Protestants? Do you have a vision for missions? BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 16 Lesson 4: Protestant Reformation (Pages 22-28) Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. The Bible truth that \u201cthe just shall live by faith\u201d sparked the life of Martin Luther and loosened the death grip of the Roman Catholic Church on Western Civilization. The Reformers did not go far enough in separating from the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and continued persecuting Baptists, they were still used by God to prepare the way for Bible-believing Baptists. The Roman Catholic Church\u2019s death grip on Western Civilization during the Dark Ages gave way as several influences converged around 1500. The disgrace of three or four simultaneous popes supported the rival political factions in both Italy and France resulted in a loss of confidence in the papacy at the same time that selling ecclesiastical offices and purchasing spiritual benefits revolted the consciences of the multitudes. Despite the fanatical persecutions of dissenters by the Roman Catholic Church, the dissenters\u2019 godly living and evangelical zeal continued to touch millions of lives. It kindled a desire to read the word of God. Before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there lay concealed in almost all the countries of Europe many persons who adhered tenaciously to the doctrine of the Dutch Baptists. Despite their best efforts, the Roman Catholic Church could not hold back the flood of influences which shattered its dominance in the Western world and which led to a revival of learning and culture. The Crusades opened up the Western world to the culture of Eastern Europe and Arabic world. The Black Plague killed much of the population of Europe, causing many survivors to look elsewhere than medieval medicine and religion for answers to life\u2019s problems. The Portuguese began a series of voyages from Europe, ultimately leading to the voyages of Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the New World. The Old World has never recovered its glory since. The capital of the Eastern Roman Empire fell to Islamic invaders, leading to the flight of scholars and manuscripts. The printing press was invented. The first book it printed was the Bible! This event doomed the policy of the Roman Catholic Church to keep the Bible away from the people. It not only opened up the classical works of Aristotle and Plato to much of the world, but also the writings of John Wycliffe and others. The hammer breaking up the Dark Ages started its work in Germany. The Reformation began in Germany. Martin Luther studied to be a lawyer, but then entered a monastery. As a lecturer at the University of Wittenburg, he was plagues with doubts about his eternal destiny. His pilgrimage to Rome resulted in his revulsion at the corruption of papal clergy. He was further revolted by the hawking of indulgences. His spiritual eyes were opened when they were drawn to reading Romans 1:17, \u201cthe just shall live by faith. Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the church at Wittenburg. Most were aimed at the indulgences. Luther was now a protester, seeking to reform the Roman Catholic Church. He was given sixty days to recant, but instead said, \u201cUnless I am convinced by Scripture, here I stand. I can do naught else. So help me, God!\u201d His followers grew in number and political power until the pope declared war and began a crusade against Germany. The ten-year crusade ended in the Peace of Augsberg and the Lutherans won legal recognition of their religion. For a while, there was a mutual admiration society between Luther and the Baptists in Germany, but it became apparent that Baptists would not join him on several doctrinal aspects because Lutheran churches retained many Roman Catholic practices. Now the persecution of Baptists by the Lutherans had begun. The Reformation in Switzerland was led by two major leaders. Again, their approach was to reform the Catholic Church. Ulrich Zwingli was a priest in Zurich. He was acquainted with Baptist believers but disagreed with them about infant baptism and marriage of church and state and became an intense persecutor of them. John Calvin studied for the priesthood and law in France and was converted to Reformation beliefs. He was forced to leave France because of his beliefs and fled to Switzerland where he wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion. He pastored and ruled the city of Geneva for thirteen years. He was less Romish and ceremonial than BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 17 Lutherans, but his systematic theology still included Catholic doctrines of infant baptism and marriage of church and state. NOTE: The theology of Calvin about soteriology (doctrine of salvation) has become well-known as the TULIP theory. The Reformation in England came in a most political way. King Henry VIII was a good Catholic and opposed the Reformation. He was married at the age of 12 to Catherine of Spain but became infatuated with Anne Boleyn. He sought to divorce Catherine and marry Anne, and the pope\u2019s refusal to allow it enraged the king to the point of kicking Rome out of England to marry Anne. The pope excommunicated the king, so the king had Parliament pass the Act of Supremacy and created the Church of England, proclaiming him as Protector and Supreme head of the church and clergy of England. The Church of England was a Roman Catholic Church without Rome. The rest of the century saw the pendulum swing back and forth between Protestantism and Romanism. The reign of Queen Elizabeth and the defeat of the Spanish Armada finally established England in the Protestant tradition. Both Protestants and Catholics took delight in persecuting Baptists. Baptist leaders spread out during this period. The Reformation was competing with Roman Catholic edge on how many Baptists could be killed. With the power of government support, Catholics had persecuted Protestants, Protestants persecuted Catholics, and Baptists were obnoxious to dominant Protestant sects. But the invention of the printing press, added to the zeal of the Reformers to spread the Scripture to the people, each resulted in the spread of the Baptists eventually to the shores of America. In Germany the Baptists flourished, much to the dismay of Luther and his movements and German government. In Augsburg, two leaders, Hans Koch and Leonard Meyster were martyred for holding their Baptist views. Still, a Baptist church was started and had over a thousand members in two years. Pastored by Hans Denck, it became a center for training and church planting. He started another church in Strasbourg and Hand Leupold became pastor in Augsburg. He was arrested and tried and beheaded. Five other leaders were killed and every known member was branded with a hot iron and others were ordered out of town. Baptist meetings died out. In Rottenberg, the pastor and 70 members were beheaded. In Salzburg, 18 members were burned at the stake. Another great Baptist preacher in Germany was Pilgram Marpeck, who lost his position as a mining engineer because he refused to expose the Anabaptists in the mines. He preached for nearly thirty years and wrote a widely distributed defense of Bible doctrine of separation of church and state. In Switzerland the Baptists included Felix Manz, Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock, and other Anabaptists, holding regular Bible studies in Zurich. Zwingli and the city council ordered them to conform to infant baptism and cease holding group meetings. The group refused and were sentenced to life imprisonment. A law was passed to provide using capital punishment for anyone baptizing by immersion. Manz escaped but was recaptured and when he refused to recant, he was drowned. IMAGINE! ABUSING the ordinance of baptism like that! Balthazar Hubmaier was another reformer who convinced from a study of Scriptures of the doctrine of baptism. He wrote The Christian Baptism of Believers but was subjected to extreme torture to recant this belief. He was released from prison and repudiated his jail house recant and fed to Moravia and led an Anabaptist revival. Over 12,000 were converted and baptized in three years! He also was arrested and deported to Austria and tried for heresy. He was strangled, his body burned, and his ashes were thrown into the Danube River. Three days later his wife was led to and drowned in the same river. But the Swiss Anabaptist movement continued to thrive and many traveled through Europe. The impact was so large and long lasting that eventually the country became a haven for religious and civil liberty. In Holland Baptists were martyred by decree of the government, stating they should be burned at the stake. One early martyr was Sicke Freerks. At his trial, the criminal issues of salvation and baptism were discussed and publicized, causing a young priest named Menno Simmons to study them from the Bible. He was convinced, converted, and baptized. He pastored two churches in Holland before a price was put on his head by Roman Catholic authorities. He traveled through Holland and Germany, starting churches and writing much. He found refuge from the Lord of Fresenburg, a powerful Dutch noble. Thousands of Anabaptists then moved there, BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 18 seeking religious liberty. He held one doctrinal distinctive not held by most preachers: pacifism. Such was his popularity that many Baptists followed him and that teaching, resulting in the branch called Mennonites. This group drifted, though, into works salvation and now the ties between them and Baptists is merely historical. Jacob Ammann, one of the famous Mennonite preachers, broke from this group and established a splinter group grounded in strict separation from the world system and the group became known as the Amish\u2014second cousins to Baptists. In England during the Reformation era was an inhospitable place. King Henry VIII issued a decree that all who believed in believer\u2019s baptism had twelve days to leave the country. English kings issued acts of pardon which forgave all but most violent criminals. Jails were emptied of thieves and robbers. But murderers and Baptists remained in jail. Joan Boucher, an Anabaptist, was burned at the stake for smuggling Baptist books into the Royal Court. Queen Mary, an arch Catholic, burned many Baptist preachers at the stake, gaining her the infamous nickname \u201cBloody Mary.\u201d She was succeeded by Queen Elizabeth who reestablished the Protestant nature of the Church of England. The religious toleration was followed by intense persecution of independent churches, including Baptist ones, resulting in the flight of many independents to forests and mountains, and some to Holland. Darkness returns, light retreats as global exploration, the printing press, the Protestant Reformation, and other factors obliterated the Dark Ages and enlightened the world with the gospel. England especially was the centerpiece of thriving Christianity. The King James Bible was first published in 1611 and heralded centuries of revival in Europe and the New World. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim\u2019s Progress. It is still the most widely read novel in history. He wrote it in prison in Bedford, England, where he was sentenced for refusing to accept a license from the government for preaching the gospel. The Great Awakening began in England under John Wesley and the Methodists, igniting the Baptist church movement like never before. Missionary activity began there under the influence of William Carey. The most famous preacher in the world of that time and still is the most widely published sermonizer in history was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Remember, we quoted his insistence that the Baptist movement and Baptists are unique in history and not part of Protestant movements. Sadly, hardly a century after Spurgeon died, England and Europe lies in spiritual ruin and darkness. Fewer than 5% of Europeans attend church of ANY kind or name regularly. The fastest growing religion is now Islam. What caused this retreat? Philosophically, the theory of evolution, written by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species, undermined the faith of many church people, who should have heeded Paul\u2019s warning to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:20). Religiously, higher criticism of the Bible and the corruption of the Bible was spearheaded by Wescott and Hort. Here again, Revelation 2:19 warned of men who would do such things to our preserved word of God. Economically, the Industrial Revolution began, followed by the Information Age. We see this in John\u2019s message to the Laodicean church (Revelation 3:17). Europe entered a new Dark Ages period. Are Baptists Protestants? Most hospitals and even branches of the military ask only if one is Jewish, Catholic, or Protestant. Let\u2019s close this study with more from the quote of Spurgeon. \u201cWe have always existed from the very days of Christ, and our principles sometimes veiled and forgotten, like a river which may travel under ground for a little season, have always had honest and holy adherents. Persecuted by Romanists and Protestants of almost every sect, yet there has never existed a Government holding Baptist principles which persecuted others; nor, I believe, any body of Baptists ever held it to be right to put the consciences of others under the control of man.\u201d What has led you to making a salvation decision? Are you grateful for the written and printed word? How much courage do you have to stand for Scripture and witness to others? Do you know why Baptists are not and were not Protestants? Do you have a vision for missions? Can you say as Paul did in 2 Timothy 1:12, \u201cI know whom I have believed\u201d? Can you imagine the courage of so many men we mentioned to take the stand they did for their convictions? BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 19 Lesson 5: BAPTIST INFLUENCES IN COLONIAL AMERICA (Pages 29-39) Introduction: Finally, we reach America, where the Baptists began to flourish as never before in history. The success of the Baptists in America is largely attributable to religious and civil liberty which prevails in our country. It has been exported in the rest of the world. I. Colonial America and the Rhode Island Experiment A. Pilgrims and Puritans B. Roger Williams C. John Clarke II. Baptist churches in America in 1700 A. Massachusetts B. Pennsylvania and New Jersey C. Maine and South Carolina III. The Great Awakening A. Jonathan Edwards B. George Whitefield C. New Lights or Separatists IV. Separate Baptist revival in the South A. A Yankee sees the light B. A team begins in Virginia C. Sandy Creek, North Carolina V. Path to independence A. Virginia B. Isaac Backus VI. Struggle for independence A. John Allen B. Rhode Island, first colony to declare independence C. Baptist preacher and patriot in South Carolina D. John Hart E. Baptist chaplains VII. Struggle for Bill of Rights Conclusion: As you learn the struggle in America at its infancy, consider how the importance of family, faith, and spreading the gospel was in this new nation. BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 20 Lesson 5: BAPTIST INFLUENCES IN COLONIAL AMERICA (Pages 29-39) Finally, we reach America, where the Baptists began to flourish as never before in history. The success of the Baptists in America is largely attributable to religious and civil liberty which prevails in our country. It has been exported in the rest of the world. England did not establish its first permanent settlement in the New World at Jamestown, Virginia, until 115 years after Columbus discovered America. It was founded for political and economic reasons; however, it faded into history and another colony was established far to the north in New England for religious purposes. The Pilgrims and Baptists had a close relationship in England and Holland. They had an independent, separatist spirit, but the Pilgrims, with their Protestant origins, retained those doctrines of infant baptism and marriage of church and state. God\u2019s hand of protection rested on the Pilgrims when they arrived at Plymouth, and all subsequent generations of America owe a great deal to their pioneer and religious spirit. After they proved that the English could settle in New England, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established in Boston by a group of Puritans, who were likewise upset with the Church of England but did not have the separatist tendencies of the Pilgrims. Their governor, John Winthrop, preached the famous sermon, \u201cA City upon a Hill.\u201d The Puritan idea of a city upon a hill did not encompass religious diversity. The Puritans had fled to America for religious liberty for themselves and not for others. The intolerance of Puritans toward Baptists has been noted years later in Supreme Court decisions. NOTE: McCreary County vs. ACLU, 2005; Van Orden vs. Perry (2005). Roger Williams was the first Baptist leader in America and developed an independent spirit early in life. He had a background in law and religion. He became a stenographer and office manager for Sir Edward Coke, a famous lawyer in England. After graduating from Cambridge, he became chaplain to a rich family in Essex, where he developed a dissenting opinion toward the Church of England. Determined to seek liberty of conscience, he left opportunities for advancement in England and sailed with his family to the New World and Boston. The only church allowed in Boston was the Puritan Congregational Church. Everyone had to belong and support it with tithes. Roger Williams preached against these practices, teaching that the state had no control over a man\u2019s conscience. Williams was exiled and his family and followers vanished into the wilderness of Massachusetts. He has been described as the \u201cApostle of Religious Freedom\u201d in a secular school textbook, A History of Our Country. Williams purchased land from local Indians and founded the City of Providence. The people of the city approved the first public document in history which established both government by consent of the governed and liberty of conscience\u2014The Providence Compact. Up to this point, Williams was not a Baptist, though he was likely familiar with Baptists in England. In Providence he became influenced by other Baptists and after he was baptized, the First Baptist Church of Providence was started. Only months later, he voluntarily surrendered his membership but remained friendly to them and their beliefs and ideas of baptism. The Bloody Tenet of Persecution was published by Williams in London and was his foremost statement and defense of liberty of conscience up to that point. His beliefs impacted John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other generations of Baptist preachers in the battle for religious freedom. Again, this era of history had its effect on Supreme Court cases. NOTE: Engel vs. Vitale, 1962; Abington School District vs. Schempp, 1963; Lee vs. Weisman, 1992. Dr. John Clarke was a medical doctor who studied languages and religion in England before migrating to Boston, which was in the throes of religious persecution. Anabaptism was declared a crime and it was illegal to believe or preach \u201cYe must be born again.\u201d When a preacher named John Wheelwright was disenfranchised, disarmed, and banished and when 76 others were disarmed by the Boston Court, Dr. Clarke assumed leadership of them and convinced them to move before blood was shed. From New Hampshire, he and his followers traveled to Providence where Roger Williams convinced him to settle in Aquetneck Islands. The town of Portsmouth was started. The next year, when several believers migrated to the south end of the island, Dr. Clarke went with them and helped them found the town of Newport and Newport Baptist Church. BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 21 Roger Williams tells of a revival conducted by Clarke and other men in the Massachusetts town of Sekonk. Obadiah Holmes, a former separatist Congregational pastor was baptized and became a member of this church. When Clarke returned to minister to William Witter in Lynch, Obadiah went with him and John Crandall. The worst fears of persecution were realized when the three missionaries were arrested for conducting an unauthorized church meeting and practicing anabaptism. Clarke and Crandall were released. Holmes remained in prison longer, released after receiving 30 lashes\u2014the same sentence given to adulterers and rapists. As he was released, he said, \u201cYou\u2019ve struck me with roses.\u201d After that happened, Clarke wrote a tract exposing religious persecution in New England. The title was Ill Newes <\/p>\n\n\n

[sic]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from New England, or, A Narrative of New-England Persecution Wherein Is Declared that While old England \nis becoming new, New-England is becoming old. He convinced the king and other leaders of the need for religious \nliberty in New England, saying, \u201cIt is not Biblical, not Christlike, unnatural, and unspiritual to coerce conscience.\u201d\nBoth Williams and Clarke traveled to England to obtain a charter for Rhode Island to establish religious liberty \nfor the first time in history in an entire colony. Dr. Clarke\u2019s labors took twelve years, but he obtained the charter \nfrom King Charles II. A sentence from that charter is inscribed on the West Fa\u00e7ade of the Capitol building in \nProvidence!\nRhode Island was the first, but not the last colony where Baptist churches in America were started. Not \nsurprisingly, Baptists struggled to gain a beachhead in the home of the Puritans. The First Baptist Church of Swansea \nwas the first one in Massachusetts Bay Colony, started by John Myles when he and his congregation came there from \nWales. This Welsh Baptist church was first of several missionary-minded ones later planted in New Jersey, \nPennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia.\nThomas Gould established the first Baptist church in Boston in spite of constant persecution until the Boston \nCourt granted them permission to meet.\nWilliam Penn, the founder of the colony of Pennsylvania and leading Quaker in America was the son of a Baptist \nfather. His colony became fertile ground for Baptist churches. Thomas Dungan, an Irish preacher, fled the \npersecution of Baptists by Charles II and migrated to Rhode Island, then to Cold Spring, Pennsylvania, starting the \nfirst Baptist church in that colony. Elias Keach, young son of English Baptist preacher Benjamin Keach, started a \nBaptist church in Pennepek. From there he started others in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The first Baptist \nassociation of churches began when five churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware created the \nPhiladelphia Association. \nThe northernmost colony paved the way for the first church in southern colonies. William Screvan, a member \nof the Boston Baptist church, fed up with persecution by Puritans, led a group 60 miles north to Kittery, Maine, to \nstart the first Baptist church in that state. When persecution came in Maine, he and 28 members took a boat to \nCharleston, South Carolina, and started the first Baptist church there. Praise the Lord for these early pioneers who \npaved the way for future expansion! It was rough going, for there were less than 20 Baptist churches in all America, \nonly one of which was in a southern colony. But just 200 years later, the largest non-Catholic group of Christians in \nAmerica was the Baptists! God\u2019s next step in this growth did not involve Baptists at all, though! The 34 Baptist \nchurches in the colonies had little or nothing to do with the start of the Great Awakening. But the event lit the fuse \nfor the explosive growth of Baptist churches thereafter.\nJonathan Edwards, Congregational pastor in Massachusetts, was an unusual combination of theologian and \nrevivalist. Grieved over the dullness of religion, he sought a revival based on two influences\u2014a revival of the \nPuritans\u2019 strict Calvinistic teaching on the grace and sovereignty of God and the necessity and power of immediate, \npersonal, religious experience. His famous sermon, \u201cSinners in the Hands of an Angry God, was used to begin a \nrevival first in his church, then spreading across Massachusetts to Connecticut and New England.\nGeorge Whitefield, a contemporary and friend of the Wesley brothers in England, traveled up and down the \ncountry of England and colonies of America, preaching Holy-Spirit-filled messages of \u201cYe must be born again\u201d to \nlarge crowds never seen before anywhere else. Many Puritan pastors objected to his emotional messages, and many \nBaptists opposed his Calvinistic emphasis on grace and the sovereignty of God.\nPastors and Christians favoring the revivalistic style of Whitefield and results of the Great Awakening, and were \npassionate in their love for the Lord and His Word were called New Sides or New Lights. New Lights separated \nfrom their Old Light churches, resulting in new churches in communities in America. They became known as \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n22\nSeparatists. John T. Christian notes they \u201cwere taught to throw aside tradition and take the word of God only as their \nguide in all matters of religious faith and practice.\u201d\nNumerous Separatists searched the Scriptures and became Baptists. Numerous congregations became Baptist in \ntheir entirety. When the Great Awakening began, the number of Baptist churches in Massachusetts increased from \n9 to 37. The Calvinistic preachers spread the seed; the Baptists reaped the harvest.\nShubal Stearns, born in Boston, was saved during a Whitefield revival and became a New Light preacher. He \nwas impressed with the truth of believer\u2019s baptism, eventually being baptized as a believer and ordained to the \nSeparatist Baptist ministry. Several years later he felt called of God to leave the northern colonies and preach in the \nsouthern colonies which knew little other than the rituals of the Church of England. Stearns, his family, and followers \ntraveled to Opeckon Creek, Virginia and joined a small Baptist church. His brother-in-law, Daniel Marshall, sharing \nStearns\u2019 zeal to preach the gospel, joined him. Stearns was a spellbinding preacher; Marshall was a hard-working \nman who brought to life the dreams and goals of Stearns. A year later, Stearns received a letter from friends in North \nCarolina, asking him to come to a community where there was no Baptist preacher within 100 miles.\nStearns, Marshall, and their families and other followers later traveled through the Shenandoah Valley and across \nthe Blue Ridge Mountains into North Carolina, building a Separatist Baptist church, pioneer cabins, all preparing for \nhis dream to send preachers and start churches all over the South. He preached loudly and emotionally, hard against \nsin and that theme \u201cYe must be born again.\u201d The congregation grew to over 600 members. The Sandy Creek church \nsent out 125 preachers and started 42 churches, stretching to Georgia, to the Atlantic Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay, \nand the Potomac River in a period of only 17 years!\nBaptists played a crucial role in leading the colonies on the path to independence, in the struggle for it, and the \npassage of the Bill of Rights. Colonial Virginia was greatly troubled by the growing number of Separatist Baptists \nwho resisted efforts of the government to enforce Anglican religion upon the citizens. Baptists were fined for not \nattending this state church. When they refused to pay tithes to the state church, their land and goods were confiscated. \nBaptist preachers were ordered to obtain a license from the state church and when they refused, the were arrested \nand put in prisons. Rewards were offered to those who would turn in a Baptist lawbreaker. Infants were taken by \nforce from Baptist parents and baptized.\nJames Ireland, a convert from the Church of England to Baptist theology, and a follower of Shubal Stearns, was \nbaptized and commissioned to the Baptist ministry by Samuel Harris, a fiery evangelist who had started churches in \nVirginia. When threatened with fines and jail by an Anglican priest if he preached in Culpeper, he did his duty to \nGod and was arrested and put in jail. He stood at the window of that jail and preached to the city residents!\nPatrick Henry, a Presbyterian lawyer convinced of the principles of liberty, defended Baptist preachers \nimprisoned in Chesterfield and Fredericksburg. His argument in the Fredericksburg case was, \u201cIf I have rightly \nunderstood, the king\u2019s attorney of this colony has framed an indictment or a crime of great magnitude as disturbers \nof the peace. Did I hear it distinctly, or was it a mistake of my own? Did I hear an expression as if a crime, that \nthese men are charged with? WHAT?!? \u2018For preaching the gospel of the Son of God.\u2019\u201d NOTE: We know Patrick \nHenry most for his famous remark, \u201cGive me liberty or give me death.\u201d\nIsaac Backus pastored the Middleborough First Baptist Church in Massachusetts for 50 years in which he helped \nmarshall in the Revolution, the Republic, and religious liberty in America. \u201cHe is ranked with Roger Williams, John \nLeland, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison as a preeminent figure in establishing the freedom of conscience in \nAmerica. In William G. McLaughlin\u2019s words, he \u2018was the most forceful and effective writer America produced on \nbehalf of the pietistic or evangelical theory of separation of church and state.\u2019\u201d\u2014Ellis Sandoz, in his book, Political \nSermons of the American Founding Era, 1730-1805. His contribution to religious liberty has been noted in Supreme \nCourt decisions. Backus declared, \u201cEvery person has an inalienable right to act in all religious affairs according to \nthe full persuasion of his own mind, where others are not injured thereby.\u201d NOTE: City of Boerne vs. Flores. 1997.\nThe rallying cry \u201cTaxation without Representation\u201d was first voiced in America by Baptist preachers who \nobjected to colonial governments which forced them to pay tithes to the Church of England. Baptists were among \nthe earliest and most vociferous supporters of the Continental Congress and call for independence from English \ntyranny. John Allen expressed their views to the members of the General Court of Massachusetts in his declamation, \nThe American Alarm, or the Bostonian Plea, for the religious rights and liberties of the people, saying, \u201cYou tell \nyour [colonial] governor that the Parliament of England have no right to tax the Americans because they are not the \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n23\nrepresentatives of America; and how will you dare to tax the Baptists for a religion they deny? Are you gentlemen \ntheir representatives before God to answer for their souls and consciences any more than the representatives of \nEngland are the representatives of America? If it be just in the General Court to take away my sacred and spiritual \nrights and liberties of conscience and pay my property with it, then it is surely right and just in the British Parliament \nto take away by power and force my civil rights and property without my consent; this reasoning, I think, is plain.\u201d \nNOTE: Larson vs. Valente, 1982.\nTwo months before the Declaration of Independence, Rhode Island officially withdrew from England, \nrepudiating any allegiance to King George III. The large number of Baptists led the way in demanding freedom. \nRichard Furman, a young pastor of a Baptist church in South Carolina and a well-known opponent of English tyranny \nand the Church of England, was chased out of Charleston by the English. Lord Cornwallis, general of the British \narmy, declared that \u201che feared the prayers of that godly youth Furman more than the armies of Sumter and Marion.\u201d\nJohn Hart as a Baptist farmer, businessman, politician, and patriot who was 60 years old when he became one of \nthe New Jersey signers of the Declaration of Independence even though the British army was lurking in the area. As \nsoon as he signed it, he was forced to flee with his wife, leaving extensive property holdings behind which were \nwasted by pursuing British troops.\nNumerous Baptist preachers served as chaplains in the Continental Army, the most famous one was John Gano \nof the Philadelphia Association of Baptist Churches. He convinced George Washington of the truth of baptism and \nmay have baptized him at Valley Forge!\nWe conclude this study now with the struggle for the Bill of Rights. The miraculous victory of the Continental \nArmy over the British forces was followed by a period in which the new nation struggled through the period of the \nArticles of Confederation, a doomed venture which failed partly because of patriotic fear of a centralized government. \nWhen the Constitutional Convention was called, God blessed the endeavors with the most remarkable constitution \never devised by man, a document which structurally undermined future tyranny by having a system of checks and \nbalances through three separate branches\u2014executive, legislative, and judicial. PERSONAL NOTE: In the last \ngeneration or so, it has been very obvious to many about how certain powerful, rich, and selfish people have been \nusing their money, minds, and methods to unravel this work of genius!\nThe battle raged over the proposed Constitution, however. It had a significant problem of not containing a Bill \nof Rights. The Library of Congress published Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, a series in which \nauthors noted, \u201cMany Americans were disappointed that the Constitution did not contain a bill of rights that would \nexplicitly enumerate the rights of American citizen and enable courts and public opinion to protect those rights from \nan oppressive government.\u201d Justice O\u2019Connor noted, \u201cBaptist and other Protestant dissenters feared for their \nreligious liberty under the Federal Government and called for an amendment guaranteeing religious freedom.\u201d \nNOTE: City of Boerne vs. Flores, 1997.\nVirginia was one of the states which opposed the ratification of the Constitution. \u201cThe Virginia Ratifying \nConvention and James Madison\u2019s constituents, among whom were large numbers of Baptists, who wanted freedom \nof religion secured, expected him to push for a bill of rights.\u201d (Library of Congress article cited.) The leading Baptist \nin Virginia, John Leland, secured a promise from Madison that if Leland would support his bid for office, he would \nsupport a Bill of Rights as amendments to the Constitution. It became the words of the its first amendment!\nAs you learn the struggle in America at its infancy, consider how the importance of family, faith, and spreading \nthe gospel was in this new nation. Wives willingly followed the decisions of their husbands in those days (see \nEphesians 5:22). They set their affections on things above, not on things of earth (Colossians 3:2). They felt the \nurge to spread the gospel to even the native Indians (Mark 16:15). They paid a great price for the freedoms we take \ntoo much for granted now. Are we willing to stand for liberty like they did? To refuse any form of bribery or \npersuasions of the government? The freedom of religion is the foundation and root of all others in the Bill of Rights. \nIf it is severed, all others will die!\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n24\nLesson 6: THE CURRENT ERA\n(Pages 40-46)\nIntroduction: Isaac Backus was right. We covered him in the last lesson. He and other leaders agreed with \ntheir clerical adversaries that religion was necessary for social prosperity and happiness, but they believed the \nbest way for the state to assure the health of religion was to leave it alone and let it take its own course, which, \nthe Baptists were convinced, would result in vital, evangelical religion covering the land.\nI. Baptist expansion\nA. The traveling church\nB. The second Great Awakening\nC. John Peck\nD. Isaac McCoy\nE. Adoniram Judson\nII. Baptist divisions\nA. Anti-mission movement\nB. Campbellism\nC. Slavery\nIII. Enemies of the faith\nA. Rise of cults\nB. Darwinism and the attack on the Bible\nC. German rationalism and English revisionism\nIV. Rise of fundamentalism\nA. Leaving the American Baptist Convention\nB. Leaving the Southern Baptist Convention\nV. Battle for our Baptist heritage and distinctives\nConclusion\u2014Personal comments: The division among Baptists is a sad commentary on the last hundred years \nor so. The desire for notoriety and monetary gain led some to question the King James Bible. In just over 100 \nyears, there have been more versions of our beloved Bible than in 400 years since it first was published. At one \ntime, the largest churches in America were Baptists. Because so many saw the need for holy standards of living \nand separation from the world, they have been labeled legalists. Ecumenicalism\u2019s tentacles reached into the \nBaptist movement through the great meetings under Billy Graham. The charismatic movement also has \nsuccessfully infiltrated the movement with its allures of sensationalism and \u201cword of faith.\u201d Another sad change \nhas been in the area of music. And there are diversities of teachings about many other non-essential issues and \nsubjects. I thank God for keeping the direction of my life from the day I was born, allowing me to meet many \nindependent, fundamental, solid King James Bible only preachers, evangelists, and missionaries. I settled my \nsalvation doubts while a student at Tennessee Temple and was baptized by Dr. Lee Roberson.\nI do not believe those men in the Baptist movement who do not stay with the King James Bible only, have \ndifferent views about prophecy, or other subjects the Bible calls \u201cdoubtful disputations\u201d will go to hell if they \nare wrong, nor will I if I am wrong about them. But sadly, the splitting of so many hairs among us has, I believe, \nmany unsaved people out there wondering if we know what we believe or not, and thus are unwilling to come \nto salvation.\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n25\nLesson 6: THE CURRENT ERA\n(Pages 40-46)\nIsaac Backus was right. We covered him in the last lesson. He and other leaders agreed with their clerical \nadversaries that religion was necessary for social prosperity and happiness, but they believed the best way for \nthe state to assure the health of religion was to leave it alone and let it take its own course, which, the Baptists \nwere convinced, would result in vital, evangelical religion covering the land.\nThe freedom of religion found in our Constitution resulted in two great awakenings and the expansion of \nBible believing, gospel preaching churches, not just Baptist ones, but Congregational, Presbyterian, and \nMethodist churches. Vital, evangelical Baptist preachers covered the land, leaping over the Appalachians, \nspreading across the plains, scaling the Rockies, and reaching all the way to the West Coast.\nDuring the American Revolution, Pastor Lewis Craig of Virginia, seeking to escape the persecution of \nBaptists and horrors of war, led his entire congregation 600 miles to the newly settled wilderness of Kentucky. \nCraig and his helpers started a number of churches in Kentucky, helping to settle the wilderness and establish \nBaptist churches as a dominant church of that territory.\nGod sent another revival starting in the Kentucky wilderness among Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist \nchurches and spreading to the Atlantic coast. Baptists formed the American Baptist Home Missionary Society \nfor the purpose of starting churches on the frontier. John Peck, a former Congregational preacher, became a \nBaptist and was appointed a missionary and started over 30 churches in 14 years.\nIsaac McCoy, a young Baptist preacher in Indiana, conducted meetings in Indiana and Illinois. During \nmilitary service in the War of 1812, he became aware of the desperate situation of American Indians being \nforced out of their lands and succumbing to alcoholism. Realizing they needed churches and schools, he spent \nthe rest of his life advocating on behalf of the American Indians, building churches, starting schools, and raising \nsupport for his simple idea that the Indians should have their own land, not susceptible to land grabs by white \nsettlers.\nAdoniram Judson, still the most famous American missionary in history, was a Congregational missionary \ncommissioned to India where William Carey, a famous Baptist missionary, was laboring. As he anticipated \nmeeting Carey, he studied infant baptism so he might defend the practice to Carey. His study, however, led him \nto the doctrine of believer\u2019s baptism. When he got to India, he was baptized in Carey\u2019s church. His new stand \nagainst infant baptism cost him all of his missionary support as well as an opportunity to serve in India. He and \nhis wife went to Burma and began their ministry, while their friend Luther Rice, likewise a Baptist by now, \nreturned to America to raise support for his friends in Burma. His efforts led to the formation of the General \nMissionary Convention of Baptists, formed to aid Baptist missionaries worldwide. The first president was \nRichard Furman, a preacher from South Carolina.\nJudson\u2019s work began slowly in Burma, and he endured persecution. His faithful endeavors of preaching, \nBible translation, and starting a seminary led to the salvation of many Burmese people. Missionaries were sent \nthroughout Southeast Asia.\nAlthough there were several associations of Baptist churches in America, their relations were harmonious \nand their spirit of liberty and pioneering new works pervaded in most evangelistic churches. But divisions \nerupted and Baptists splintered into other movements.\nThe success of Carey, Judson, and Rice led to a backlash against missions by some Particular Baptists who \nopposed efforts to reach lost sinners. They became Primitive Baptists who opposed soulwinning. This \nmovement has not thrived over the years.\nThe growing Baptist movement in Kentucky was infiltrated by a Scottish Baptist preacher, Alexander \nCampbell, who began teaching that believer\u2019s baptism was necessary for salvation. The heresy led to the \nfounding of two major groups\u2014Disciples of Christ and Church of Christ.\nThe most divisive issue facing Baptists was slavery. A large number of freemen and slaves belonged to \nBaptist churches, attracted to the emphasis on soul liberty. John Leland, an advocate of freedom of religion in \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n26\nVirginia, was a strong opponent of slavery. However, may Baptist preachers and missionaries from the South \nowned slaves. The General Missionary Conference of the Baptist Denomination passed a resolution that it \nwould no longer accept a slave holder to be a missionary. The civil war among Baptists erupted. The Southern \nBaptist Convention was founded, forever splintering Baptist unity. BUT there were greater enemies waiting in \nthe wings outside!\nThe rise of cults began with the heresy of baptismal regeneration, but two major cults also lured Baptists \naway. The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses cult was founded by Charles Russell and later led by Joseph Rutherford. The \nMormons were started by Joseph Smith with his bizarre account of secret golden plates given to him by the \nangel Moroni. Both of these groups teach some of the most outlandish things, one would wonder how they \ncould attract so many. We know it\u2019s because too many believers do not study nor avoid such influences (see \nRomans 16:17 and 2 Timothy 2:15). They are among those described in 2 Timothy 3:1-7.\nThe next enemy came in the person of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution in his book The Origin \nof Species. Its fantastic popularity became ammunition for enemies of the Bible, undermining the faith of many \nChristians. Even Baptists became enamored with the Gap theory and Day Age theory as a way to \u201cprove\u201d \nevolution took place within the Biblical framework (as most suggest happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2). \nNOTE: Even C. I. Scofield, whose teachings about dispensations and covenants many rely upon as being taught \nthrough the Bible, suggested a gap of time when perhaps Lucifer ruled the world and no conflict therefore \nbetween this science and the Bible existed.\nThe Bible came under attack in Germany as scholars began to tear apart the Bible text and cast doubt on its \nauthenticity and authorship. From another direction two British scholars, Wescott and Hort revised the Textus \nReceptus from which the King James Version was translated and produced a more modern text (commonly \ncalled the critical text, ironically), following the flawed scholarship of Origen, Eusebius, and Pamphilus and \ncorrupted manuscripts Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. This Revised Standard Version of the Bible varied greatly \nfrom the King James Version and became the first such work to gain great acceptance and distribution.\nBaptists were the largest non-Catholic denomination in America, but were reeling from internal divisions \nand shocks of the cults, evolution, rationalism, and revisionism. And so, as we\u2019ll note in our conclusion of this \nlesson, that has only continued to grow worse.\nBy this time, most of the major denominations were also losing the battle for the Bible in their seminaries, \nreplaced by liberalism and modernism, distrusting God\u2019s word, and the supernatural, focusing on a social gospel. \nReaction in major denominations was perhaps inevitable. Conferences and publications focused on the \nfundamentals of the faith, giving rise to the term \u201cfundamentalism.\u201d \u201cIt is a sad fact of history that \nFundamentalism ever had to become a major movement. Fundamentalism is simply stating and defending what \nis surely believed.\u201d\u2014James R. Beller, in The Collegiate Baptist History Workbook. NOTE: When Jude first \nbegan to write under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he told us he \u201cgave all diligence to write unto you of the \ncommon salvation,\u201d but instead saw it \u201cneedful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly \ncontend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.\u201d Note his emphatic statement, \u201conce delivered\u201d! It has not \nbeen delivered multiple times, multiple ways! Jude was a half-brother of Jesus. He knew the faith he was urging \nus to contend for.\nNow Baptists struggled to rid their schools and churches of liberalism and modernism. When the efforts \nfailed, new organizations were started. William B. Riley, was pastor of First Baptist Church in Minneapolis, \nMinnesota, and the church grew to the largest in the Northern Baptist Convention. Riley preached long and \nhard, helping to found the World Christian Fundamentalist Association, the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship, \nand the Baptist Bible Union. His efforts failed, he retired and resigned from the Northern Baptist Convention.\nChurches left the Northern Baptist Convention because of its drift into liberalism. Fifty churches started the \nGeneral Association of Regular Baptist Churches and it grew steadily. Other Northern Baptist Convention \nchurches joined the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship. After more years of battle, fundamentalists led by Myron \nCedarholm formed Conservative Baptist Association.\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n27\nThe next well-known group is the Southern Baptist Convention. It also drifted toward liberalism and \npreachers separated to start more new groups. The Southern Baptist Convention witnessed a strong resurgence \nof fundamentalism and internal battles which continue to rage even today. J. Frank Norris was a fundamental \npreacher in Texas, a graduate of Baylor University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was pastor \nof First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, building the largest church in America at the time. It was the beginning \nof the independent Baptist church movement. When Baylor University began teaching evolution, Norris \nattacked those policies. He les initiatives against the liquor industry and horse racing. He accepted the call to \npastor Temple Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, accomplishing the most dramatic and seemingly impossible \nfeat of pastoring TWO large churches so far apart! He started the World Baptist Fellowship and Bible Baptist \nSeminary. Many of the leaders of World Baptist Fellowship, however, broke away and formed the Baptist Bible \nFellowship. NOTE: I believe I heard he once participated in a debate with a well-known preacher or leader of \nthe Church of Christ on the issue of baptismal regeneration and won the debate dramatically.\nJohn R. Rice also graduated from Baylor University and did graduate work at Southwestern Baptist \nTheological Seminary. He pastored a couple of Southern Baptist churches, then left for the same reasons Norris \ndid. He began the publication of The Sword of the Lord newspaper, emphasizing soulwinning, revival, building \nchurches, opposing liberalism, modernism, and formalism. The newspaper became a successful biweekly paper \nfull of sermons and important news articles\u2014something geared for all ages. Dr. Curtis Hutson was its next \neditor in chief and today it is Dr. Shelton Smith. Some minor digressions of Dr. Rice\u2019s views have been evident, \nbut they have never been over fundamental, non-debatable topics. Dr. Rice also compiled his Bible study notes \nin the Rice Reference Bible (King James Version).\nThe Southwide Baptist Fellowship and Tennessee Temple University were started by Dr. Lee Roberson. He \nalso left the Southern Baptist Convention. NOTE: At one time, Temple was known by its key phrase, \n\u201cdistinctively Christian.\u201d There were high standards of dress and church involvement. As a student there, I was \nprivileged to hear some of the greatest fundamental preachers and evangelists in my life. Highland Park Baptist \nChurch and its adjacent property was the site of many dormitories for students and buildings for the operation \nof the school. The sad drift of the church and school came soon after Dr. Roberson retired. Eventually, the \nschool was merged to a less conservative one. One of its professors, well-known for his knowledge of Greek \nbecame a part of the group which put out the New King James Bible. I knew this man well. He taught the \nSunday School class I attended there at the church. I am saddened to know about his role in that era of his life.\nJack Hyles was another product of Texas, graduating from East Texas Baptist College and attending \nSouthwestern Theological Seminary. He pastored several Southern Baptist churches until he was kicked out for \nbeing too conservative. He pastored Miller Road Baptist Church as an Independent Baptist, then moved to \nHammond, Indiana, to pastor First Baptist Church, which then quickly became an Independent Baptist church, \neventually the largest one in America at one time. He began Hyles Anderson College with the generous help of \nRussell Anderson and annually hosted a Pastors School\u2014several days of preaching and teaching sessions.\nDr. Hyles spoke often in conferences and revivals, often with Dr. Curtis Hutson. The annual Sword of the \nLord conferences were part of these men\u2019s outreaches to help preachers and missionaries all over the world. For \nyears this conference has been held in Walkerton, North Carolina, in July.\nFundamentalism became a large Independent Baptist movement. \u201cIn 1969, the nine churches in the United \nStates with the largest weekly attendance were Baptist churches. In 1979, 13 of the largest churches were \nBaptist\u201d\u2014Phil Stringer, Faithful Baptist Witness.\nAs I will note in my closing personal comments here, their dominance slipped with the rise of charismatic \nchurches and seeker-sensitive people. One other trend might explain the loss of influence with churches \ndropping the word Baptist from their names. WHAT could possibly lead them to such a decision?!? Their \nfundamentalist reaction had an unexpected consequence\u2014the fundamentals of the faith, shared by Protestant \ndenominations, but undermining Baptist heritage and distinctives. James Beller in The Coming Destruction of \nthe Baptist People identified two other factors in the loss of our heritage and distinctives: Severing or ancient \nroots by succumbing to the position that Baptists are just another Reformation church and almost exclusive \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n28\nreliance in homes, church schools, and Bible colleges on history books written by Reformation-minded authors \nwho despise Baptist distinctives and disdain historical influences.\nPersonal comments: The division among Baptists is a sad commentary on the last hundred years or so. \nThe desire for notoriety and monetary gain led some to question the King James Bible. In just over 100 years, \nthere have been more versions of our beloved Bible than in 400 years since it first was published. At one time, \nthe largest churches in America were Baptists. Because so many saw the need for holy standards of living and \nseparation from the world, they have been labeled legalists. Ecumenicalism\u2019s tentacles reached into the Baptist \nmovement through the great meetings under Billy Graham. The charismatic movement also has successfully \ninfiltrated the movement with its allures of sensationalism and \u201cword of faith.\u201d Another sad change has been in \nthe area of music. And there are diversities of teachings about many other non-essential issues and subjects. I \nthank God for keeping the direction of my life from the day I was born, allowing me to meet many independent, \nfundamental, solid King James Bible only preachers, evangelists, and missionaries. I settled my salvation doubts \nwhile a student at Tennessee Temple and was baptized by Dr. Lee Roberson.\nI do not believe those men in the Baptist movement who do not stay with the King James Bible only, have \ndifferent views about prophecy, or other subjects the Bible calls \u201cdoubtful disputations\u201d will go to hell if they \nare wrong, nor will I if I am wrong about them. But sadly, the splitting of so many hairs among us has, I believe, \nmany unsaved people out there wondering if we know what we believe or not, and thus are unwilling to come \nto salvation. There are, however, distinctives we must stand for as Baptists. We now move on to them in our \nnext series of lessons. As we conclude our first part on Baptist history and move to Baptist distinctives, our \ndesire as fundamental Baptists should always be to be willing to deny ourselves, take up His cross, and follow \nJesus (Matthew 16:24). We should endeavor to study and defend our faith, always able to give an answer for \nthe reason of hope in us. See 1 Peter 3:15, 2 Timothy 2:15, Jude 3-4. If our church is to be the fundamental one \nGod is pleased with, there should be a missionary emphasis and ministries (Matthew 28:19, 20).\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n29\nLesson 7: BIBLICAL AUTHORITY\n(Pages 47-51)\nIntroduction: Baptist history can\u2019t be separated from Baptist distinctives. Baptist distinctives would be \nincomplete without focusing on how each one played a critical role in Baptist history of contending for the faith, \nspreading the gospel, and advancing religious and civil liberty.\nThe Bible doctrines of Baptists are very similar to some of other groups, like Protestants and Catholics. \nHowever, the do hold significant doctrinal differences with those of Protestants and Catholics.\nI. Baptist distinctives introduction\nII. Biblical authority is the foundational Baptist distinctive.\nIII. What Bible-believing Baptists believe\nA. Scripture inspiration\nB. The Bible is totally true.\nC. The Bible is God\u2019s complete revelation.\nD. The Bible is God\u2019s final authority.\nIV. Comparing other views\nA. Roman Catholic\nB. Protestant\nC. Pentecostal or Charismatic\nV. Historical overview\nConclusion: If we believe these truths, it should follow that we spend time daily in God\u2019s word. Our families\nshould be built on them. Our Sunday School lessons and sermons by our pastor need our focus and attention. \nWe need to apply what we hear to our lives. And again, earnestly contend for that faith and be ready always to \nanswer anyone who questions us about it.\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n30\nLesson 7: BIBLICAL AUTHORITY\n(Pages 47-51)\nNow that we have spent six lessons on Baptist history from the time of Christ until the present, you have \nseen Baptist distinctives in every era. Baptist history can\u2019t be separated from Baptist distinctives. Baptist \ndistinctives would be incomplete without focusing on how each one played a critical role in Baptist history of \ncontending for the faith, spreading the gospel, and advancing religious and civil liberty.\nThe Bible doctrines of Baptists are very similar to some of other groups, like Protestants and Catholics. \nHowever, the do hold significant doctrinal differences with those of Protestants and Catholics. The similar \nbeliefs of Baptists, Protestants, and Catholics are these:\n1. The Bible is the word of God (the Baptists do not accept the Apocrypha as part of it, though).\n2. The deity of Jesus Christ (but Catholics dilute it with the elevation of Mary to Co-Redemtrix).\n3. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ (but Catholics have added other false doctrines about Mary).\n4. The substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ (there\u2019s a variety of belief about the nature or extent of it \namong other groups).\nNow as to our significant doctrinal differences, Baptists hold significant ones on Biblical authority, freedom \nof conscience, separation of church and state, the New Testament church, believer\u2019s baptism, the perpetuity of \nthe church, and the premillennial return of Christ. Baptists also do not agree with teachings of Jehovah\u2019s \nWitnesses, Mormons, charismatics, and other Christian groups.\nBiblical authority is the foundational Baptist distinctive. Other so-called Christian churches and groups will \nsay they believe the Bible, but not the Bible alone, for some add traditions of men. Others also revere other \nbooks as being the word of God (e.g., Book of Mormon and the Koran). Pentecostals look to new experiences \nor revelations they claim are from God. Some even say the Old Testament supports infant baptism and marriage \nof church and state. NOTE: I have become very adamant about the King James Bible being the only final \nauthority in its preservation and perfection in our English language, and have read solidly-written books in that \ndefense. A study of how we got this Bible is intriguing in itself. I do not even like calling it \u201cKing James\nVersion\u201d for that to me demeans it to be no better than any of the other over 100 versions that have made their \nway to the presses and people over the last 100 years or so. The translation team who did the most damage, in \nmy opinion, was not the ones who gave us the New International Version, but those who gave us one they dared \nto call the New King James Version. They stole the name of the one so revered and marketed it the most \ndeceptively. The King James Bible is the only one without a copyright. All others, in order to obtain a copyright, \nwere mandated to have a certain percentage of differences to avoid being prosecuted for plagiarism or copyright \ninfringement! None of them were put together under anything near using the methods the scholars of the King \nJames Bible used. It has also become increasingly important to note the misuse of terminology and \nprecise defining which often happens in Articles of Faith of many churches today when it comes to the phrase \noriginals. We do not have one single original of any part of our Bible! For to adamantly say we believe in \nthe inspiration and authority of the \u201coriginal\u201d can be misunderstood easily to mean only the first time the words \nwere written on any form of parchment and gives rise to assuming that any copy we have found since was not \ninspired. God not only inspired the men to write His words the very first time, He inspired men in the way they \nmeticulously copied and preserved them and ultimately translating them into what we now have in our King \nJames Bible.\nWhat does the Bible say about itself? If what it says about itself in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:21 is not \ntrue, either these men who wrote these statements were insane or they were making God\u2019s word an ego issue. \nIf what Jesus said about it in John 17:17 and other times He referred to the word of God and even quoted it from \nthe copy He had was not true, then He really was not the Word made flesh as John says, He was a deluded \negotist as well. The Bible is supernaturally inspired. The Bible is totally true. If anyone finds anything\u2014\nanything\u2014untrue or contradictory, the entire Bible becomes a target for truth. No one can be sure of anything \nit says about anything. The Bible is God\u2019s complete revelation. Revelation 22:18, 19 are not just warnings \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n31\nabout adding or taking away from the prophecy of that book. There are other passages clearly warning us about \nadding or taking away from the word of God, and changing it comes under the same offense. No other person \nwas inspired to write another book after John finished the book of Revelation. Any person who says he has a \nnew revelation, prophecy, or word from the Lord is a liar. The Bible is God\u2019s final authority as stated in Psalm \n119:89 and God magnifies His word above His name (Psalm 138:2).\nBiblical authority is the Baptist distinctive to hold the most tightly! \u201cThe Catholic view is to make the edicts \nof councils, statements of popes, and traditions of the Church equal with the authority of the Bible. Their church \nproduced the Bible so it has the authority to add or take from it.\u201d\u2014Mike Randall, Our Baptist Distinctives.\nMany Protestant denominations have forsaken this position and have elevated reason, modern science, and \nphilosophy to their sources of authority. Also liberalism has become more of an influence even among many \nBaptist groups.\nAlthough Reformers have used the cry, \u201cSola scriptura,\u201d they too have added doctrines from the Catholic \nChurch.\nThe Pentecostal or Charismatics have been deceived about speaking in tongues, interpreting of tongues, the \ngift of knowledge, and the gift of prophecy.\nGod created man with the need for a final authority. When God completed His revelation, the devil knew \nhe had to produce counterfeits. The fact that mainstream Baptists held to only the Bible being the final authority \nhas cost many persecution or death.\nWhen Constantine declared his entire Roman army Christians, Baptists proclaimed the Bible doctrine of \nfreedom of conscience. When the early church was surrounded by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church \nbeing the only church, the universal one, mainstream Baptists held to the doctrine of the local church. When \ninfant baptism was introduced, or when the worship of Mary was promoted, or when the idea of purgatory was \nsuggested, mainstream Baptists asked, \u201cWhere is that found in the Bible?\u201d That should always be the question \nof any true Baptist believer!\nIf we believe these truths, it should follow that we spend time daily in God\u2019s word. Our families should be \nbuilt on them. Our Sunday School lessons and sermons by our pastor need our focus and attention. We need \nto apply what we hear to our lives. And again, earnestly contend for that faith and be ready always to answer \nanyone who questions us about it.\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n32\nLesson 8: FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE\n(Pages 52-58)\nIntroduction: We will understand the importance of this distinctive by approaching it with many \nhypothetical questions\u2014some of the answers are seen in many places today and show us how terribly this \nfreedom is denied to many. We do not force anyone to believe our Baptist distinctives or doctrines. We do not \npersecute others who do not believe as we do\u2014even about fundamentals that are heaven vs. hell ones. In \nAmerica, we have been spoiled for over 240 years through the Bill of Rights guaranteeing us this right and that \nthe government cannot make a law that inhibits our freedom of religion nor does it establish a religious set of \nbeliefs we must adhere to. Sadly, that is slowly being taken away from us in subtly-worded laws and regulations, \nlicenses; even Internal Revenue Regulations we have considered favoring us are gradually being revised against \nus.\nI. The hypothetical examples\nII. What Bible-believing Baptists believe\nA. Judgment is individual.\nB. Salvation is individual.\nC. Discipleship is individual.\nD. Worship is individual.\nIII. Comparing other views\nA. Infant baptism\nB. Priesthood\nC. Religious toleration\nIV. Historical examples\nA. Donatists\nB. English Baptists\nC. Early Americans\nD. Continuing battles\nConclusion: What really does freedom of conscience mean? Sometimes drawing a line is easier than others. \nAuthorities can be very creative and subtle in their infringement of this right. Even if we are abhorred by the \nfalse teaching of many today, we do not have the right to threaten them with something if they do not change \ntheir minds. That is where the other religions and many forms of government become guilty of such actions in \nmany ways.\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n33\nLesson 8: FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE\n(Pages 52-58)\nWe will understand the importance of this distinctive by approaching it with many hypothetical questions\u2014\nsome of the examples are seen in many places today and they show us how terribly this freedom is denied to \nmany. First there are clarifications we will make about freedom of conscience to show how our stand differs \nwith others. We do not force anyone to believe our Baptist distinctives or doctrines. We do not persecute others \nwho do not believe as we do\u2014even about fundamentals that are heaven vs. hell ones. In America, we have been \nspoiled for over 240 years through the Bill of Rights guaranteeing us this right and that the government cannot \nmake a law that inhibits our freedom of religion nor does it establish a religious set of beliefs we must adhere \nto. Sadly, that is slowly being taken away from us in subtly-worded laws and regulations, licenses; even Internal \nRevenue Regulations we have considered favoring us are gradually being revised against us. It is being given \na new meaning: we have the freedom to preach what we want as long as it does not offend someone else. To \npreach against abortion or homosexuality is a hate crime\u2014we hate people when we preach against what they \ndo. \u201cHate sin but love the sinner\u201d seems more of a challenge to practice today than ever before.\nConsider some legislative examples. Imagine a country where it is a capital crime to convert someone to \nChristianity (to go soul winning). In some countries it is part of the law. Imagine a country where it is illegal\nto own a Bible or start a church. In many Islamic countries, that is in its laws.\nSome suppression of freedom of conscience existed in early America in its earlier years, as we noted in our \nstudy of Baptist history. So now let\u2019s consider some religious examples of limiting freedom of conscience. \nImagine a place where you\u2019d be free to believe what you want to believe as long as you gave preeminence to \nthe religious leader (or emperor). Imagine a world where this religious emperor declared Christianity to be the \nofficial state religion and everyone was ordered baptized whether they believed in Jesus or not. Imagine a world \nwhere the dominant institution was a centralized hierarchy in a church which suppressed the Bible and martyred \nbelievers who did not believe their heresies. Imagine a world where great religious leaders protested against the \ndominant, heretical church, breaking its chains of bondage, and then doing likewise to Baptists who did not \nbelieve like they did. Imagine a country supposedly founded on religious freedom for everyone else but Baptists. \nFinally, imagine a place that mandated every citizen to pay tithes to the established church and did not allow the \ngospel to be preached by Baptists. Baptists have encountered these and other barriers to freedom of conscience, \nas we have seen in the study of Baptist history, and yet the stand they have taken has never changed or \ncompromised.\nWhat does the Bible have to say about it now? For if this distinctive can not be firmly supported by the \nWord of God, we have it all wrong; we need to repent of this idea.\nFirst, it means judgment is individual. We will not stand before God and give an account of anyone else\u2019s \nlife but our own (Romans 14:12; Hebrews 9:27). Second, salvation is individual. There is no such thing as \ncorporate salvation. No one is saved because his parents or siblings are saved. It is a personal relationship. \nGod is not a grandfather. We are commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15) for \nthat reason. Third, discipleship is individual. Here sometimes is where a boundary gets blurred; people tend to \njudge others for how good or mature of a follower of Jesus they are, what beliefs they might have that differ but \nare not essential, what standards they live up to that may be considered worldly or inferior. Just as salvation is \nindividual, so is discipleship. But that does not excuse a mature Christian from exhorting others to be a better \ndisciple. That is one of the jobs of preachers if they are fulfilling their role as the Bible says they should. The \nother two are reproving and rebuking\u2014in a true spirit of Godly love. Fourth, worship is individual. Here again \nwe can easily enter a realm of judgmentalism when it comes to some practices of worship. In John 4:24 Jesus \nsaid we need to worship and in truth. It is up to us to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit, not our flesh or feelings \nto determine what that mode of worship is, and keep in mind of some cultural differences that do exist.\nWhat are some issues, then, that we cannot accept when it comes to freedom of conscience? They are those \nthe Bible does not teach or teaches against. We reject infant baptism because it is not supported with any Biblical \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n34\nauthority or freedom of conscience (an infant has no ability to use his conscience about this one way or another!) \nWe reject the establishment of the priesthood by the Catholic Church. Perhaps they evolved this from the \npriesthood of the Old Testament, but none of them dress like one of those days did! They mixed in their own \ntraditions and teachings and claimed they are Biblical. In 1 Timothy 2:5 we learn there is one God and one \nmediator\u2014not two (such as Mary has been elevated to be). Jesus is our Great High Priest! We are kings and \npriests by being a joint heir with Christ! See Hebrews 4:16; Romans 8:17. The rejection of religious toleration \nhere means the refusal of anyone else being allowed to believe and practice what he believes. Baptists do not \nrefuse to allow even those in cults to believe or practice what they do as long as that practice does not allow \nBaptists to do likewise. Here are some questions on that to consider. Is God tolerant of other religions when \nwe read, \u201cThou shalt have no other gods before Me\u201d in Exodus 20:3. Was He tolerant of other religions in the \nPromised Land? When we read the actions that His people were to take when they met anyone who worshipped \nanother god or practiced the common activities other nations did, we could easily believe He was not one bit in \nfavor of their being left alive. But that was ONLY because God did not want His people lowering themselves \nand corrupting themselves with those ways. He knew complete obliteration, not mercy or trying to get them to \nchange their minds, was not the answer. And as we study the Bible, and the disobedience they responded to \nGod with about these commands, we see that was what happened to them. Now today we are not under that \ndispensation of the law. But in the same way, we must guard ourselves from believing the idea we will bring \nthe world up to our level the more we get into the world and make alliances with them religiously speaking.\nThere were times, yes, when Catholic governments and Protestant governments were tolerant with Baptists \nmore than others. But beware\u2014if a government can grant official freedom or recognition to Baptists, \ngovernments can take it away, and in the most recent years in our country we are seeing less and less subtle \nways they are doing that very thing. They figure if and when we get comfortable and accepting of those \nmeasures, then other stiffer ones will be easier to enforce.\nReligious toleration is \u201cthe allowance of that which is not wholly approved. As applied to religion, the term \nis objectionable; because it presupposes the existence of some human authority, which has power to grant to, or \nwithhold from man the exercise of freedom in matters of religion and this is Popery. Our Creator has nowhere \ndelegated such authority to king, priest, or human organization whatever. It is each individual soul\u2019s inalienable \nright to exercise his judgment without restraint in religious matters, and give expression, freely and fully without \nhuman distinction or interference.\u201d\u2014Mike Randall, quoting Baptist preacher John Q. Adams.\nSo why is toleration so trendy? There is the dominant rise of humanism, a belief there are no absolutes, but \nonly relativism. But that belief is intolerant of any group that preaches absolutes.\nLet\u2019s look at some historical examples now. When Christianity was proclaimed the official religion of an \nempire, a group of believers called Donatists separated from the official church over several issues. \u201cChrist \npersecutes no one; He was for inviting, not forcing men to the faith. Why not permit every man to follow his \nown free will?\u201d a Donatist pastor said. Donatists and their successors were persecuted, imprisoned, and \nmartyred for holding this position.\nThe English Baptist Thomas Helwys wrote a book in which he demanded full religious liberty, challenging \nthe authority of the church. He dedicated the book to King James, the head of the government and church, \nsaying. \u201cThe king is a mortal man, not God, and therefore has no power over the immortal souls of his subjects, \nto make laws or ordinances for them and to set spiritual lords over them.\u201d King James had him arrested and \nplaced in prison where he was kept until he died.\nJohn Bunyan was jailed for preaching without a permit from the state church. During his twelve years there \nhe wrote the most widely read book in history, other than the Bible, Pilgrim\u2019s Progress.\nEarly American battles for freedom of conscience included the ones between Pilgrims and Puritans vs. \nBaptists. Both Pilgrims and Puritans were Congregationalists who opposed the tyranny of the Church of \nEngland. They fled to have liberty to practice their religion in America but did the same thing in their colony \nthat England had done by opposing the disagreeing Baptists. One such famous man was Roger Williams who \ncame to believe baptism only by believers and by immersion, regenerated church membership, separation of \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n35\nchurch and state, and religious liberty for all.\u2014A. A. Davis, The Baptist Story. Williams fled to Rhode Island \nwhere he and John Clarke started the first Baptist church in America and the first state devoted to religious \nliberty for all. His heroic acts of faith and conviction have found their way into Supreme Court decisions\u2014\nJustice Clark, Abington School District vs. Schempp, 1963.\nVirginia was another battleground for liberty in early America. Patrick Henry (\u201cgive me liberty or give me \ndeath\u201d), Thomas Jefferson (the Declaration of Independence), and James Madison (first amendment of Bill of \nRights) were from there. Patrick Henry defended Baptist preachers charged with the crime of preaching without \na license. He was so full of the spirit of liberty he volunteered to work on behalf of Baptists to make the Baptist \nchurch one of Virginia\u2019s established churches\u2014along with churches by other names.\nThomas Jefferson was not a Christian, but still opposed an established church. \u201cThomas Jefferson attended \nthe monthly business meetings of a small Baptist church near his home. When asked his opinion of their \ndeliberations, \u2018Jefferson replied that it struck him with great force and interested him much, that he considered \nit the only form of true democracy existing in the world and concluded it would be the best plan of government \nfor the American colonies\u2019\u201d\u2014Mike Randall. His later coining the famous, misunderstood, and controversial \nphrase \u201cwall of separation between church and state\u201d has been used both ways ever since.\nWe may ask and have been asked, \u201cShould Baptists stay out of politics?\u201d Such a question not only applies \nto running for some public office, but even speaking out in favor or against governmental or political issues. \nThe firm answer we say is NO, our influence guided the founding fathers of the Declaration of Independence, \nConstitution, and Bill of Rights in the first place. For them to extract and exclude them now will only breed a \ndesire for revolution and resistance and ultimately anarchy (Judges 21:25).\n\u201cJohn Leland had come to Virginia from Massachusetts to preach the gospel and work hard for religious \nliberty. He was a neighbor of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. He not only expressed Baptist views of \nliberty of conscience, but rallied the Baptists in support of James Madison as a delegate to the Virginia \nConstitutional Convention and later in his election to the House of Representatives. Madison promised the \nBaptists if he was elected, he would introduce a Bill of Rights in the first session of Congress.\u201d\u2014E. Wayne \nThompson and David L. Cummins, This Day in Baptist History. This is another point made in our study of \nBaptist history. All these battles for freedom of conscience are still alive today!\nThe hardest aspect of freedom of conscience rests on realizing that if a person is wrong with many of his \nbeliefs, he may be on his way to hell. We should not wish for anyone to end up there just because they are \nintolerant of what we believe or attempt to stifle or stop us. What really does freedom of conscience then mean? \nSometimes drawing a line is easier than others. Authorities can be very creative and subtle in their infringement \nof this right. Even if we are abhorred by the false teaching of many today, we do not have the right to threaten \nthem with something if they do not change their minds. That is where the other religions and many forms of \ngovernment become guilty of such actions in many ways.\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n36\nLesson 9: SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE\n(Pages 59-64)\nIntroduction: From early years of Christianity, the marriage of church and state has been found to be irresistible \nby numerous Christian groups. Both Roman Catholics and Protestants have fallen into this temptation. It \nbecomes the biggest problem when groups of other liberties besides the right to believe what one chooses.\nFreedom of religion is NOT the same as freedom from religion, nor is separation of church and state meant \nto mean separation of church from state. The balance on the latter is that the government should not be permitted \nto establish a religion NOR to prohibit ANY exercise of it. The wording of this amendment was meant to be \nvery clear, but it has taken court cases in its favor to sustain it.\u2014Justice Souter, Agostini vs. Felton, 1997; \nMcCreary County Kentucky vs. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, 2005.\nI. Baptist view and belief\nA. Separate spheres of operation\nB. No marriage of church and state in the church age\nC. Future theocracy\nII. Historical examples\nA. Early church, Constantine, the state church\nB. Dark ages\nC. Protestant Reformation\nD. Colonial America and the American Revolution\nIII. Today\u2019s battles\nConclusion: Our personal relationship with Jesus would be a lot more challenged and different if we lived in \ncountries where the Bible and churches is outlawed or severely controlled. In America we must remain diligent \nto earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, spread the gospel, and warn of the dangers of some \n\u201cChristian\u201d movements.\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n37\nLesson 9: SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE\n(Pages 59-64)\nIntroduction: From early years of Christianity, the marriage of church and state has been found to be irresistible \nby numerous Christian groups. Both Roman Catholics and Protestants have fallen into this temptation. It \nbecomes the biggest problem when groups of other liberties besides the right to believe what one chooses.\nFreedom of religion is NOT the same as freedom from religion, nor is separation of church and state meant \nto mean separation of church from state. The balance on the latter is that the government should not be permitted \nto establish a religion NOR to prohibit ANY exercise of it. The wording of this amendment was meant to be \nvery clear, but it has taken court cases in its favor to sustain it.\u2014Justice Souter, Agostini vs. Felton, 1997; \nMcCreary County Kentucky vs. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, 2005.\nBaptists are not anti-government. \u201cWe believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the \ninterests and good order of human society and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, \nand obeyed, except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the \nconscience, and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth (Exodus 18:21; 2 Samuel 23:3; Daniel 3:17, 18; \nMatthew 10:28; 22:21; 23:10; Acts 4:19, 20; 23:5; Romans 13:1-7; Philippians 2:10, 11; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13-\n17; Revelation 219:16).\u201d\u2014Lighthouse Baptist Church Articles of Faith.\nJust as God ordained the family and local church, He also ordained government, each with its sphere of \nauthority (Matthew 22:21).\nSome churches argue that marriage of church and state is found in the Bible. He established a theocracy in \nthe Old Testament, but that was only for His chosen nation, Israel. Many thought Jesus was going to establish \nit when He made His triumphal entry (Mark 11:10). Jesus, however, rejected this idea of His earthly kingdom \nwhen He answered Pilate about it (John 18:36). Nothing in any epistle can be found to support the marriage of \nchurch and state.\nThere will be a theocracy some day, however! When the church age and the following 7-year tribulation \nend, Jesus will return as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16).\nHistory shows examples of the attempts to marry church and state, as we saw in our sections on Baptist \nhistory. It was clearly seen in the Roman Empire and under the rule of Constantine. Roman soldiers were \nbaptized and slaves were granted freedom if they were baptized. Unbelieving pagans brought their pagan beliefs \ninto the church, and the compromising churches accepted them. Those who rejected were oppressed and \npersecuted and martyred. Groups such as the Donatists were opposed to this marriage of church and state.\nThe Dark Ages were characterized by the marriage of church and state as the Roman Catholic Church \ncontinued its grip on society\u2014a time of religious and cultural darkness. False doctrines were established such \nas infant baptism, exaltation of Mary, purgatory, prohibition of Bible reading, confession, transubstantiation\u2014\nall enforced through the arm of the church. Again, Bible believers still contended for their faith. The Donatists, \nPaulicians, Petrobrussians, Henricians, Albigenses, and Lollards were among the groups of believers who \nrefused to accept the trends and teachings of the state church.\nThe Protestant Reformation, though, failed to oppose the marriage of church and state. Luther, Zwingli, and \nCalvin loosened the death grip of the Roman Catholic Church, but continued following unscriptural doctrines \nand practices, including marriage of church and state. Baptists in countries were persecuted once again for their \nrefusal to agree with such teachings.\nJohn Smyth wrote, \u201cThe Magistrate is not by virtue of his office to meddle with religion, or matters of \nconscience, to force and compel men to this or that form of religion or doctrine, but to leave Christian religion \nfree to every man\u2019s conscience, and to handle only civil transgressions (Romans 13:3), injuries and wrong of \nman against man, in murder, adultery, theft, etc., for Christ only is the King and Lawgiver of the church and \nconscience (James 4:12).\u201d\nFrom the beginning, there has been a continual struggle between advocates and opponents of the marriage \nof church and state. The Pilgrims and Puritans did not come for religious liberty, but to establish their own state \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n38\nchurch. Baptists like Roger Williams and John Clarke stood up against them at a great price. \u201cThat it is a much \non their hearts (if they may be permitted) to hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state \nmay stand and best be maintained, and that among our English subjects, with a full liberty in religious \nconcernments.\u201d\nIsaac Backus was another noted preacher against the marriage of church and state. In Religion and the \nFounding of the American Republic, their views are stated: \u201cThis opposition was grounded in the Baptists\u2019 \nreading of the New Testament and also of the ecclesiastical history which demonstrated that state support of \nreligion inevitably corrupted the churches\u2026religion was necessary for social prosperity and happiness, but\u2026the \nbest way for the state to assure the health of religion was to leave it alone and let it take its own course, \nwhich\u2026would result in vital, evangelical religion covering the land.\u201d\nSeparate Baptists also resisted the Church of England in Virginia and the Anglican religion. Baptists were \nfined for not attending the state church, ordered to pay tithes to the state church, and when they refused, their \nland and goods were confiscated. Baptist preachers were ordered to obtain a license to preach, and when they \nrefused, they were arrested and put in prison. Rewards were offered to any citizen who turned in a Baptist or \nQuaker lawbreaker. Infants were taken by force from Baptist parents and baptized.\nBaptist leaders succeeded in defeating such attempts of government to enter into a close, financially \nintertwined relationship with churches. Eventually, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, stating that \nCongress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. \nSuch is nothing more or less than restating the Baptist distinctive of separation of church and state and freedom \nof conscience.\nToday\u2019s battles over separation of church and state involve many conservative Christian organizations \njoining in support of the marriage of church and state as a way to get federal funding for school vouchers. \nBaptists have also opposed this merger of church and state.\nOur personal relationship with Jesus would be a lot more challenged and different if we lived in countries \nwhere the Bible and churches is outlawed or severely controlled. In America we must remain diligent to \nearnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, spread the gospel, and warn of the dangers of some \n\u201cChristian\u201d movements. Let us never forget to be thankful to the Lord for these freedoms in America, lest \nthrough diligence and neglect we lose them (Psalm 103:2). We can decide in the right way to do as Daniel did \nwhen offered the king\u2019s meat (Daniel 1:8).\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n39\nLesson 10: THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH\n(Pages 65-71)\nIntroduction: The word church is used very commonly in our society to describe several different things. It \ncould be a building, a place of worship, or a denomination.\nI. The church in modern usage\nII.. What the Baptists believe\nIII. The local and visible church\nA. New Testament pattern\nB. Greek word for church\nC. Universal or invisible church\nIV. The local church is autonomous.\nA. Denominations are not found in the Bible.\nB. Advantages of denominations\nV. Relevance of local, visible, autonomous New Testament church\nA. Authority\nB. Motivaton\nC. Purity\nConclusion: We need to thank God for our local church if it and its people function according to Biblical \nprinciples. It should be noted for being missionary-minded, earnestly contending for the faith, and supporting \nreligious and civil liberty. Praise God for the Baptist doctrinal distinctive of the local, visible, autonomous New \nTestament church!\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n40\nLesson 10: THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH\n(Pages 65-71)\nThe word church is used very commonly in our society to describe several different things. It could be a \nbuilding, a place of worship, or a denomination. When people say, \u201cLet\u2019s go to church,\u201d they don\u2019t mean, \u201cLet\u2019s \ngo to a building.\u201d When people mention a particular church (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Mormon), they usually \nmean a denomination. These usages of the word do not mean the same thing. The American Heritage College \nDictionary defines it as follows: A building for public, especially Christian worship. The company of all \nChristians regarded as a mystic spiritual body. A specified Christian denomination. A congregation. Public \ndivine worship in a church; a religious service. The clerical profession; clergy. Ecclesiastical power as \ndesignated from the secular. Yes, different people have different meanings. Baptists have a meaning \ndistinctively different from the definition held by others. The Baptist definition of the church says it is found in \nthe New Testament, not the Old Testament. It is local and visible. It is not a franchise of an hierarchical \ndenomination.\nThe articles of faith of the Lighthouse Baptist Church (and Lighthouse Legal Ministry) says, \u201cWe believe \nthat a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of \nthe gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws and exercising the gifts, rights, and \nprivileges in it by His Word; that its offices are pastors (elders, bishops\u2014Ephesians 4:10, 11; Acts 20:26-32; 1 \nTimothy 3:1-7; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Titus 1:5-9; Philippians 1:1) and deacons (Acts 6:1-7; 1 Timothy 3:813); that it \nhas the absolute right of self-government directed by the Holy Spirit and is answerable only to Christ; that all \nmatters of membership, polity, government, discipline, and benevolences, the will of the local church is final \n(Acts 2:41, 42; 1 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22, 23; Colossians 1:18; Acts 20:17,18).\u201d\nThe first Baptist distinctive is Biblical authority. They do not turn to Catholic popes, fathers, or bishops. \nThey don\u2019t turn to the Book of Mormon. They don\u2019t turn to writings of Luther or Calvin for final authority; they \nturn to the Bible.\nDo we find the local church in the New Testament? Absolutely! See Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 \nCorinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1, 2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; and Revelation 1:4 and chapters 2 \nand 3.\nThe Greek word translated church is ecclesia\u2014meaning \u201ccalled out of.\u201d It existed in Greek culture before \nthe time of Christ. It is also translated assembly (Acts 19:41). It was used among the Greeks of a body of \ncitizens gathered to discuss affairs of the state. The usage is found in Acts 19 in the story of how Paul\u2019s \npreaching caused a riot at Ephesus among the defenders of the temple of the great goddess Diana (19:27-29). \nTheir defenders gathered a couple of Paul\u2019s friends and rushed into the theatre (19:29) for the assembly \n(ecclesia) was confused. It was a town meeting, not a church meeting, but the same Greek word was used. The \nnormal use of the word was about an assembly of people. An assembly is not an assembly unless it is assembled \n(gathered together). It is local and visible. New Testament Christians saw no problem with using it to describe \ntheir assembly, then.\nCatholic and Protestant writers talk about the universal, invisible church. The Roman Catholics considers \nitself the universal church. The Apostles\u2019 Creed contains the phrase \u201cthe holy catholic church,\u201d but it does not \nrefer to a specific church, but rather to the commonly held view of the universal church. It fits quite nicely in \ntoday\u2019s emphasis on radio preachers and televangelists who want people from all over to support their ministries. \nThe problem with this view is the only time there will be a universal church, it is described in 1 Thessalonians \n4:13-18 when the believers from all local churches will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we \never be with the Lord. Then it will be in heaven, but not visible on earth.\nOur emphasis on being autonomous means \u201cnot controlled by outside forces, independent.\u201d This definition \nis dear to the hearts of Independent Baptists as explained in the statement of faith quoted above.\nAre denominations found in the Bible? Well, two groups claim they have taken their very name from it: \n\u201cchurches of Christ\u201d in Romans 16 and \u201cchurch of God\u201d in the books of Corinthians. So they both rather \nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n41\nstrongly argue they are the only true church (just like Catholics have said much longer). You won\u2019t find any \nconvention or denominational name in the Bible! Baptists look to the Bible for their faith and practice; all others \nlook to logic, experience, and other man-made justifications and establish their hierarchies on such premises.\nBut there are advantages of having a denomination\u2014but they do not relate to its basic purpose of spreading \nthe gospel. They may have huge buildings, but that was not what Jesus had in mind when He said, \u201cI will build \nMy church.\u201d The church building will not get anyone free entrance to heaven just because they attend or belong \nto it. They usually have good benefit packages for their pastor(s). Independent Baptist churches should do all \nthey can to take care of their pastor(s). But a pastor should never set his sights on taking over a church only \nbecause of the benefits it may offer.\nThe local, visible, and autonomous church should have a form of authority that its members can look up to, \ntrust, and respect, and to lead them (not drive them). If we teach our children what the New Testament says \nabout the local church (1 Timothy 3:15), we are teaching them to respect something they can relate to. Without \na local, visible church to belong to, who can a person talk with if he has a question about Bible teaching that he \nhears elsewhere? Who can he call to visit you or a family member in the hospital, conduct their funeral, marry \ntheir son or daughter, or provide counsel when needed? NOTE: We depend on the same doctor, specialist, \nmechanic service, etc. We normally do not pick one at random every time we need one. The same thing goes \nfor finding a solid, Bible-preaching church and not be floating from one to another.\nGod spent many places in the Bible listing genealogies\u20141 Chronicles is the prominent one. He did this to \nshow us He is interested in the individual. And it is why His design for the church is for it to be a local, visible, \nautonomous place where individual attention is most possible.\nThe church has specific responsibilities, the chief one being the spread of the gospel (Acts 1:8). The first \nchurch did that and saw many get saved (Acts 2:47). Eight thousand, at least, in just days! But God never \nintended them to stay where they were. He had to use persecution to get the gospel spread (Acts 8:1), and as \nwe followed Baptist history, persecution of the true Biblical church has been normal. Sooner or later, it will be \nvery prevalent in the United States as well.\nThe church began sending out missionaries early in its existence (Acts 13:1-4). Every church doing what \nChrist commanded in the Great Commission will only be doing that when they have missionaries to support.\nGod desires purity in His church, too. See Ephesians 5:25-27. Christ\u2019s desire is to sanctify and cleanse it, \nto make it a glorious church without spot or wrinkle, to be holy and without blemish. When doctrine, practice, \nand yes even standards are compromised, the church has lost its purity Christ desires. When a popular radio or \ntelevision preacher is wicked or immoral, people do not easily find out. But when a pastor of a local church is \nguilty of immorality, that congregation should not hesitate to deal with him.\nWe need to thank God for our local church if it and its people function according to Biblical principles. It \nshould be noted for being missionary-minded, earnestly contending for the faith, and supporting religious and \ncivil liberty. Praise God for the Baptist doctrinal distinctive of the local, visible, autonomous New Testament \nchurch!\nBAPTIST HISTORY\nFrom material by Terry Hamilton\n42\nLesson 11: BAPTISM\n(Pages 72-78)\nIntroduction: In this lesson we come to the distinctive from which we derive our name\u2014baptism. It was not \nan early distinctive. In the early church, believers were baptized by immersion like they are today. They did \nnot need to be called Baptists in the early church. Only when false doctrines of infant baptism and baptismal \nregeneration crept in did it become necessary to take their specific stand on baptism. Christ\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(1) Facebook BAPTIST-HISTORY.pdf Facebook BAPTIST HISTORY From material by Terry Hamilton 3 Lesson 1: EARLY DAYS 30-90 A.D. (Pages 1-5) Exodus 13:3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from…
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