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\n\nWhy Study Baptist History – (Part 1) To Find Out Where We came From\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Study Baptist History – (Part 1) To Find Out Where We came From<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The predominant trend in religious groups today is to erase all historical distinctives from their beliefs and practices. You must be a private investigator to find out what type of church they call themselves when you get past the community, non-denominational label. You hear statements like we don’t get bogged down in doctrine and history stuff. They say history is really boring and no one cares anything about that. So, we have a generation of Christians that know nothing about what they believe and came from nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am glad I don’t have to guess about my Baptist heritage. History is abundant with people who have made sacrifices aplenty to just have the freedom to worship and practice their faith. Some might say, we don’t have those struggles anymore but have you looked at the way the government has kept the churches closed when liquor stores, abortion mills, and marijuana stores are wide open. There is no way to avoid history repeating itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not a boring venture to understand how we got to the current state of Baptist churches today. Throughout history it has cost a lot to be a Baptist. It is an enduring legacy that we have. From Baptist preachers being arrested for having services as English Baptists for defying Charles II’s orders in England and not being licensed or joining the State Church to Anabaptists in Zurich defying the Council’s order to not baptize believers and have their infants sprinkled for fear of imprisonment and death; it’s all there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, not many of our generation know much and really nothing about the sacrifices Baptist have made even in this country for religious freedom. We also must be careful about who we study about Baptist History. Philip Schaff, not a Baptist had this to say about the initial reporting of early Anabaptist History: “But it is unjust to charge the extravagant dreams and practices of individuals upon the whole body. The Swiss Anabaptists had no connection with the Peasants’ War, which barely touched the border of Switzerland, and were upon the whole, like the Moravian Anabaptists, distinguished for simple piety and strict morality.”[1] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church Vol. VIII (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI),79. During the Reformation it was a derogatory term to call someone an Anabaptist and it labeled them as social outcasts and enemies of the state because of these two aberrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I dare say the majority of Christians today believe Baptists are just another Protestant group that came out of the Reformation when in reality just as many Protestants persecuted and martyred Baptists as the Catholics did. For this reason, among others it is difficult for me to label Baptists as Protestants. When you change the name of your church to a generic label you basically saying we are just another one of those Protestant churches which statement I reject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is much out there for us to learn and these questions need to be asked if we want to have a strong theological basis for our faith. Could much of what we believe be a welcome respite for those struggling aimlessly for some certainty when it comes to solid biblical truths? Are the sacrifices our ancestors made worth it? Are they worth revering and being brought to light as an example of who we are what we believe? Did their beliefs make a difference in their existence as Baptists and ours as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to study Baptist History and not be caught without any historical perspective for what we believe and why we are unique in our beliefs about the church, baptism, church authority, structure. Thank the Lord for pages such as these. Research the sources they give up. Don’t settle for being another generic Christian. Put some teeth into what you believe and know what you believe from a historical and theological perspective. Anything less does not do homage to the sacrifices made, the writings and testimonies our spiritual ancestors have left us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n