Testimony of Historians Regarding
the
Origin of Baptists
The word “baptist” is used in the Bible only as a descriptive surname for John the Baptist, the advance man, or forerunner of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Himself referred to him as “John the Baptist” several times (Matthew 11:11,12; Luke 7:28:33).
Jesus was definitely a Baptist since He was baptized by a Baptist preacher! It is interesting to note that the characteristics of John the Baptist and Jesus have been visible in every group or individual down through history which has maintained the doctrines and distinctives exemplified by their ministries. Some of these characteristics are:
1. Preaching repentance (a change of mind) toward God. “John did baptize ... and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Mark 1:4
“...Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:14,15
“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47
2. Preaching the remission of sin: the right price for sin (the shed blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus) being paid and remitted to the right place (the real mercy seat in Heaven, which required the resurrection of Christ).
"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Matthew 26:28
See also Hebrews 9:22-24 and verses listed with number 1 above.
3. Baptism by immersion after believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. Acts 8:35-39
4. Door-to-door, house-to-house, one-on-one, public, soul winning. Acts 5:42
5. Standing up for right and taking a public stand against sin. Mark 6:16-18; Matthew 5: 27,28
6. Speaking out against false religion. Not compromising the truth. John 4:22; John 8:44
7. Family-oriented. Malachi 4:5,6; Matthew 19:14
8. Independent, local, autonomous, Pastor-led, blood-bought churches; rather than one big, invisible, universal, hierarchical “Church.” Acts 20:28
Many church historians have testified that local churches; which hold the doctrines, beliefs, and practices of today’s Bible-believing, separatist Baptists; have had continuous existence since the days of Christ. This cannot be said of any other type of church, or religious organization.
Let me give you some quotes by historians and religious leaders (all but one non-Baptists) regarding the history of the Baptists:
Sir Isaac Newton said, “The Baptists are the only body of known Christians that have never symbolized with Rome.”
Baptists are not Protestants! Protestants are basically Catholic with a few variations. Baptists never were a part of the Catholic “church.”
Since the Days of the Apostles
Two famous historians of the Dutch Reformed Church, Ypeij and Dermout, said, “The Baptists may be considered as the only Christian community that has stood since the days of the apostles, and as a Christian society has preserved pure the doctrine of the gospel through all the ages.”
Noted Quaker historian, Robert Barclay, says of Baptists, “We shall afterward show that the rise of the Anabaptists took place prior to the Reformation of the Church of England, and there are also reasons for believing that on the continent of Europe, small hidden Christian societies, who have held many of the opinions of the Anabaptists, have existed from the times of the apostles. In the sense of the direct transmission of divine truth, and the true nature of spiritual religion, it seems probable that these churches have a lineage or succession more ancient than that of the Roman church.”
The founder of the Campbellites (Christian Church or Disciples of Christ), Alexander Campbell, who vehemently resisted Baptists during the nineteenth century, wrote, “The sentiments of Baptists and their practice of baptism from the apostolic age to the present, have had a continued chain of advocates, and public monuments of their existence in every century can be produced.”
Early Christians Were Baptists
Lutheran historian, Mosheim, said, “Before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there lay secreted in almost all the countries of Europe, persons who adhered tenaciously to the principles of the modern Dutch Baptists... the origin of Baptists is lost in the remote depths of antiquity...the first century was a history of Baptists.”
John Clark Ridpath, a Methodist by denomination, and considered by some to be the greatest historian the religious world has known, said, “I should not readily admit that there was a Baptist Church as far back as 100 A.D., although without doubt there were Baptist churches then, as all Christians were then Baptists.”
Ulrich Zwingli, a Presbyterian contemporary with John Calvin, said, “The institution of the Anabaptists is no novelty, but for 1300 years has caused great trouble in the church.”
Catholic Cardinal Hosius, president of the Council of Trent from 1545 to 1564, said, “Were it not for the fact that the Baptists have been grievously tormented and cut off with the knife during the past 1,200 years, they would swarm greater than all the reformers... If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and boldness of which a man or any sect shows in suffering, then the opinions and persuasions of no sect can be truer and surer than those of the Anabaptist, since there have been none for the 1200 years past that have been more generally punished or that have been more cheerfully and steadfastly undergone, and have offered themselves to the most cruel sort of punishment than these people.”
Baptists Were Not Reformers
In the book, Crossing The Centuries, edited by William C. King, we find this statement, “Of the Baptists it may be said that they are not reformers. These people, comprising bodies of Christian believers known under various names in different countries, are entirely distinct and independent of the Roman and Greek churches, and have an unbroken continuity of existence from apostolic days down through the centuries. Throughout this long period they were bitterly persecuted for heresy, driven from country to country, disfranchised, deprived of their property, imprisoned, tortured and slain by the thousands; and yet they swerved not from their New Testament faith, doctrine, and adherence.”
Comments from C.H. Spurgeon
Spurgeon said, “History has hitherto been written by our enemies, who never would’ve kept a single fact about us upon the record if they could have helped it, and yet it leaks out every now and then that certain poor people called Anabaptists (Anabaptist was the name given to Baptists before the sixteenth century. “Ana’ means “Again,” but the entire name, Anabaptist, was applied to those who believed and practiced what Bible-believing, separatist Baptists do today,) were brought up for condemnation. [Ed. Note: What Bible- believing, separatist Baptists do today is to re-baptize those who get saved if they come from a church or religion that does not preach the true gospel.] From the days of Henry II to those of Elizabeth, we hear of certain unhappy heretics who were hated of all men for the truth’s sake that was in them. We read of poor men and women with their garments cut short, turned out into the fields to perish in the cold, and anon of others who were burnt at Newington for the crime of Anabaptism. Long before your Protestants were known of, those horrible Anabaptists, as they were unjustly called, were protesting for the ‘one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.’ No sooner did the visible church begin to depart from the Gospel that these men arose to keep fast by the good old way. The priests and monks wished for peace and slumber, but there was always a Baptist or a Lollard tickling men’s ears with Holy Scriptures, and calling their attention to the errors of the times. They were a poor persecuted tribe. The halter was thought to be too good for them. At times, ill-written history would have us think that they died out, so well had the wolf done his work on the sheep. Yet here we are, blessed and multiplied; and Newington [where Spurgeon’s tabernacle was] sees other scenes from Sunday to Sunday. As I think of the multitudes of your numbers and efforts, I can only say in wonder, ‘What a growth!’ As I think of the multitudes of our brethren in America, I can only say, ‘What hath God wrought!’ Our history forbids discouragements.”
In our modern day Satan has diminished the distinctives of Baptists by getting them to create conventions, conferences, associations and fellowships with elected officials. Historically, it is evident that the centralization of authority among churches has always led to apostasy. Satan knows that if he can get a large number of people to follow a particular man or institution, he can easily corrupt them by corrupting the leader(s). Note that Paul withstood Peter to his face when Peter caused others (Barnabas in particular) to practice false tradition (Galatians 2:11-15).
True scriptural Baptists have always been independent of any and all associations and conventions. If you do not attend an independent Baptist church, and you have been saved, I hope you will decide to do so. May God bless you according to your faithfulness to His Word.
Jesus Himself referred to him as “John the Baptist” several times (Matthew 11:11,12; Luke 7:28:33).
Jesus was definitely a Baptist since He was baptized by a Baptist preacher! It is interesting to note that the characteristics of John the Baptist and Jesus have been visible in every group or individual down through history which has maintained the doctrines and distinctives exemplified by their ministries. Some of these characteristics are:
1. Preaching repentance (a change of mind) toward God. “John did baptize ... and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Mark 1:4
“...Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:14,15
“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47
2. Preaching the remission of sin: the right price for sin (the shed blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus) being paid and remitted to the right place (the real mercy seat in Heaven, which required the resurrection of Christ).
"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Matthew 26:28
See also Hebrews 9:22-24 and verses listed with number 1 above.
3. Baptism by immersion after believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. Acts 8:35-39
4. Door-to-door, house-to-house, one-on-one, public, soul winning. Acts 5:42
5. Standing up for right and taking a public stand against sin. Mark 6:16-18; Matthew 5: 27,28
6. Speaking out against false religion. Not compromising the truth. John 4:22; John 8:44
7. Family-oriented. Malachi 4:5,6; Matthew 19:14
8. Independent, local, autonomous, Pastor-led, blood-bought churches; rather than one big, invisible, universal, hierarchical “Church.” Acts 20:28
Many church historians have testified that local churches; which hold the doctrines, beliefs, and practices of today’s Bible-believing, separatist Baptists; have had continuous existence since the days of Christ. This cannot be said of any other type of church, or religious organization.
Let me give you some quotes by historians and religious leaders (all but one non-Baptists) regarding the history of the Baptists:
Sir Isaac Newton said, “The Baptists are the only body of known Christians that have never symbolized with Rome.”
Baptists are not Protestants! Protestants are basically Catholic with a few variations. Baptists never were a part of the Catholic “church.”
Since the Days of the Apostles
Two famous historians of the Dutch Reformed Church, Ypeij and Dermout, said, “The Baptists may be considered as the only Christian community that has stood since the days of the apostles, and as a Christian society has preserved pure the doctrine of the gospel through all the ages.”
Noted Quaker historian, Robert Barclay, says of Baptists, “We shall afterward show that the rise of the Anabaptists took place prior to the Reformation of the Church of England, and there are also reasons for believing that on the continent of Europe, small hidden Christian societies, who have held many of the opinions of the Anabaptists, have existed from the times of the apostles. In the sense of the direct transmission of divine truth, and the true nature of spiritual religion, it seems probable that these churches have a lineage or succession more ancient than that of the Roman church.”
The founder of the Campbellites (Christian Church or Disciples of Christ), Alexander Campbell, who vehemently resisted Baptists during the nineteenth century, wrote, “The sentiments of Baptists and their practice of baptism from the apostolic age to the present, have had a continued chain of advocates, and public monuments of their existence in every century can be produced.”
Early Christians Were Baptists
Lutheran historian, Mosheim, said, “Before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there lay secreted in almost all the countries of Europe, persons who adhered tenaciously to the principles of the modern Dutch Baptists... the origin of Baptists is lost in the remote depths of antiquity...the first century was a history of Baptists.”
John Clark Ridpath, a Methodist by denomination, and considered by some to be the greatest historian the religious world has known, said, “I should not readily admit that there was a Baptist Church as far back as 100 A.D., although without doubt there were Baptist churches then, as all Christians were then Baptists.”
Ulrich Zwingli, a Presbyterian contemporary with John Calvin, said, “The institution of the Anabaptists is no novelty, but for 1300 years has caused great trouble in the church.”
Catholic Cardinal Hosius, president of the Council of Trent from 1545 to 1564, said, “Were it not for the fact that the Baptists have been grievously tormented and cut off with the knife during the past 1,200 years, they would swarm greater than all the reformers... If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and boldness of which a man or any sect shows in suffering, then the opinions and persuasions of no sect can be truer and surer than those of the Anabaptist, since there have been none for the 1200 years past that have been more generally punished or that have been more cheerfully and steadfastly undergone, and have offered themselves to the most cruel sort of punishment than these people.”
Baptists Were Not Reformers
In the book, Crossing The Centuries, edited by William C. King, we find this statement, “Of the Baptists it may be said that they are not reformers. These people, comprising bodies of Christian believers known under various names in different countries, are entirely distinct and independent of the Roman and Greek churches, and have an unbroken continuity of existence from apostolic days down through the centuries. Throughout this long period they were bitterly persecuted for heresy, driven from country to country, disfranchised, deprived of their property, imprisoned, tortured and slain by the thousands; and yet they swerved not from their New Testament faith, doctrine, and adherence.”
Comments from C.H. Spurgeon
Spurgeon said, “History has hitherto been written by our enemies, who never would’ve kept a single fact about us upon the record if they could have helped it, and yet it leaks out every now and then that certain poor people called Anabaptists (Anabaptist was the name given to Baptists before the sixteenth century. “Ana’ means “Again,” but the entire name, Anabaptist, was applied to those who believed and practiced what Bible-believing, separatist Baptists do today,) were brought up for condemnation. [Ed. Note: What Bible- believing, separatist Baptists do today is to re-baptize those who get saved if they come from a church or religion that does not preach the true gospel.] From the days of Henry II to those of Elizabeth, we hear of certain unhappy heretics who were hated of all men for the truth’s sake that was in them. We read of poor men and women with their garments cut short, turned out into the fields to perish in the cold, and anon of others who were burnt at Newington for the crime of Anabaptism. Long before your Protestants were known of, those horrible Anabaptists, as they were unjustly called, were protesting for the ‘one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.’ No sooner did the visible church begin to depart from the Gospel that these men arose to keep fast by the good old way. The priests and monks wished for peace and slumber, but there was always a Baptist or a Lollard tickling men’s ears with Holy Scriptures, and calling their attention to the errors of the times. They were a poor persecuted tribe. The halter was thought to be too good for them. At times, ill-written history would have us think that they died out, so well had the wolf done his work on the sheep. Yet here we are, blessed and multiplied; and Newington [where Spurgeon’s tabernacle was] sees other scenes from Sunday to Sunday. As I think of the multitudes of your numbers and efforts, I can only say in wonder, ‘What a growth!’ As I think of the multitudes of our brethren in America, I can only say, ‘What hath God wrought!’ Our history forbids discouragements.”
In our modern day Satan has diminished the distinctives of Baptists by getting them to create conventions, conferences, associations and fellowships with elected officials. Historically, it is evident that the centralization of authority among churches has always led to apostasy. Satan knows that if he can get a large number of people to follow a particular man or institution, he can easily corrupt them by corrupting the leader(s). Note that Paul withstood Peter to his face when Peter caused others (Barnabas in particular) to practice false tradition (Galatians 2:11-15).
True scriptural Baptists have always been independent of any and all associations and conventions. If you do not attend an independent Baptist church, and you have been saved, I hope you will decide to do so. May God bless you according to your faithfulness to His Word.