CHURCH HISTORY LECTURE 15 THE REFORMATION: PERSECUTION OF BAPTISTS (DVD Summary)

Hebrews 11 speaks about the great men and women of God, many of whom were martyrs for their faith.

The AnaBaptists sprang up in many places all over the world and all at the same time in the 1500’s; they had no central leadership; no special connections of any type. The decreasing persecution of the Catholics allowed for this; this was the ‘Pre-Reformation’ flourishing of the Baptists.

Many famous Protestants and Catholics admit that Baptists were in existence long before the Protestant Reformation era: Mosheim (Lutheran historian) admits this; Zwingli (Reformed church leader) attests to it; Hosius (Catholic cardinal) stated it…and many others.

There were all types of so-called ‘AnaBaptists’: pacifists, violent, conservative, liberal, pouring, immersionists, etc.. Some gave all the other Baptists of that era a bad name. So, be careful when reading about what ancient historians say about some Anabaptists…some were borderline heretics, for real.

Munster Rebellion: Anabaptist heretics were leaders of this rebellion and then caused ‘all AnaBaptists’ to be blamed for this uprising…most AnaBaptists were pacifists. They had no central leadership hierarchy; they were all individual congregations.

In the 1500’s, German AnaBaptists were brutally persecuted by Protestants in Germany.

Zwingli, and other prominent Protestant leaders, would employ the ‘Third Baptism’ to the Anabaptist heretics; this was death by drowning!

The AnaBaptists of this time period had great Missionary zeal; though still greatly persecuted they increased greatly in numbers. They typically carried in their coat pocket a small New Testament. They used the printed page a great deal during these centuries which helped increase the number of converts very much.

There was a Baptist Church in Augsburg Germany in the 1520’s that had over 1100 members. Thus, there were indeed Baptists prior to the Reformation! At this church they preached baptism by immersion for believers only. The women wore trousers when being baptized. Hans Dink was the pastor there; he helped translate the German Bible; this Bible was based on ancient Waldense Bibles, not Luther’s Bible.

Hans Hut also pastored in Augsburg; he was tortured by the Protestants and then was burned ‘after’ he had died in the dungeon. You’ve got to really hate someone to do such a thing!...

Hubmaeir was a Catholic priest in the 1520’s who left the Catholics and joined with Zwingli; but then left Zwingli and aligned himself with the AnaBaptists some, but practiced ‘pouring’; and then switched over to ‘immersion’. He came to the truth by ‘degrees’ (little by little, vice all at once). Zwingli tortured him and he recanted, but then soon after recanted of his recantation. Hubmaeir baptized Hans Dink. Hubmaeir’s motto was “Truth is immortal”. He was a great debater. He declared that the persecutors of heretics were wrong because ‘the tares were allowed to grow along side the wheat’.

The Hutterite Brethren’s (AnaBaptists) leader was burned by the Protestants. This group practiced communalism, pacifism, separation of church and state, and baptism by immersion; they all wore about the same clothing.

Mennonites came about in the 1500’s under the leadership of Menno Simons: Protestants were after him. He was an immersionist (practiced dipping). The Mennonites emigrated to America and Canada due to persecution.

In England in the 1500’s, there were Baptists. King Henry called for the removal of all Baptists. Many Baptists were persecuted in London in the early 1500’s. The king complained to Erasmus about all the AnaBaptists despite all the burnings; he even joked that they were running out of wood because of it! Hugh Latimer complained about over 500 AnaBaptists being in one town. King Edward gave freedom to all religious groups, except AnaBaptists. There were 2 Baptists burned under his reign. Joan Bucher (Joan of Kent) was one of them.

Queen Mary burned a preacher and many others.

Queen Elizabeth I was very lenient to Catholics and Protestants, but persecuted the Baptists. She proclaimed that all AnaBaptists should be kicked out of England; this was one of her first proclamations as Queen. She had 2 Baptists burned.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was zealous for going after these Anabaptist ‘heretics’.

King James I was no friend of the Baptists. The last man officially ‘burned’ under king’s orders in England was a Baptist. He had many tortured.

In 1689, England instituted the ‘Toleration Act’, which ended all Baptist persecutions.