Who first laid claim to the term 'Baptist"?

[37818]

Only the (27) New Testament documents and what they actually teach go to their origins in the first century.

 

[14strings]

The book "Arminian and Baptist" by J. Matthew Pinson might be of some help. Of course it emphasizes the influence of Arminian theology but it also has some good information on the theological development of Thomas Helwys and his separation from John Smyth as well as some information on what they did and when. I got it on Kindle but can't remember how much it costs.

Also I have from Kindle again "St. Paul's Catechism. A Brief and Plain Account of the Baptist Faith" by Thomas Grantham. It's a good book to read to get a feel for the connection between Calvinism and classic Arminianism and the early general Baptists. It mentions a church in Boston, Lincoinshire in 1653, which Grantham joined and was baptized by immersion and then 3 years later became the pastor. In 1660 Grantham and Joseph Wright appealed to King Charles II, which was rejected. Grantham himself spent some time in jail in the 1660's. This book of course is focused on the Arminian Baptists rather than the Particular Baptists.

Thank you for the reference.

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

A little light reading for you...

1). Can someone refer me to an historical account or documentation of any church to come out from or be organized by the congregation led by Thomas Helwys?

British Bios by J. M. Cramp No. 1 - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › british.bios.cramp.1.html
John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and John Spilsbury - Henry Denne - Francis Cornwell, A.M. - Christopher Blackwood - Major-General Harrison - Colonel Hutchinson ...

Jesse B. Thomas, Review of William Whitsitt's Question in Baptist ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › both.sides.contr.7.html
... Helwys and Murton, which are preserved in the Mennonite archives in ... Thomas Helwys or John Murton" (p. 144): that "none of the Anabaptists of ...

John Smyth by J. M. Cramp - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › smyth.john.by.cramp.html
Thomas Helwys was appointed in his place. In the above-mentioned year, before Mr. Smyth's death, the Church published a Confession of Faith, in twenty-six ...

Untitled
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › spencer.hist.soc.circular.let.2013.html
and his subject will be "The Apocalyptic Beliefs of Thomas Helwys." Dr. Early is the Assistant Professor of Theology in the School of Theology at ...

Index forBritish Biographies By J. M. Cramp
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › british.bios.index.cramp.html
John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and John Spilsbury Henry Denne - Francis Cornwell, A.M. - Christopher Blackwood - Major-General Harrison - Colonel Hutchinson ...

A Biographical Sketch of the Baptist Pioneer Preacher, the Rev ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › Thomas_Patient_Bio

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat

Thomas Patient had imbibed the teachings of Thomas Helwys, who had proclaimed the keynote of soul liberty in his ministry at. London, when he declared for ...

Mosheim says "it is buried in the depths ... - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › lorimer.origins.html
... Thomas Helwys and others organized the first General Baptist Church in London, having returned from Holland where they had been baptized by the Rev. John ...

Curtis Whaley - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › whaley.curtis.who.baptist.html
Religious freedom in England did not originate with the Episcopalians or Presbyterians but with Baptists, such as, Thomas Helwys, John Murton and their ...

English Baptist History, Baptist Encyclopedia
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › english.baptist.histy.tbe.html
In 1611, Thomas Helwys, pastor of the English Baptist church of Amsterdam, in Holland, concluded that it seemed cowardly to stay out of his country to avoid ...

Old Baptist Books
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › 1.google.books.links.html


Carter, Thomas W., Centennial History of the Steuben NY Baptist Association and its . ... Whitley, W. T., Thomas Helwys, of Gray's Inn and of Broxtowe Hall, ...

Old Baptist Books
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › 1.google.books.links.html


Carter, Thomas W., Centennial History of the Steuben NY Baptist Association and its . ... Whitley, W. T., Thomas Helwys, of Gray's Inn and of Broxtowe Hall, ...

The Reformation and Baptist Compromise
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › cross.i.k.reformation.bapt.compromise.h...
Written by Thomas Helwys and his congregation, it was printed in 1611 as "A Declaration of Faith of English People," who were at that time still in Holland.

The W. H. Whitsitt Controversy - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › ky.baptists.masters.chp.29.controversy.h...
' We refer also to the Helwys Confession, entitled 'A Declaration of Faith ... It gives us pleasure to announce that Thomas D. Osborne, chairman of the ...

Baptist History Vindicated, Chapter 1
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › bapt.hist.vindicated.1-3.html
Lewis rejected the sprinkling theory, and put it forth as involving his opponent, Thomas ... Helwys' "was the first Baptist church, and the only one then ...

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

2). Can someone refer me to an historical account or documentation of any church to come out from or be organized by the congregation led by John Spilsbury?

British Biographies - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › british.biographies.html
John C. Marshman Father and Son - Early British Missionary Helpers to ... The Funeral Sermon of John Spilsbury Delivered by John Eccles This is a Link ...

British Bios by J. M. Cramp No. 1 - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › british.bios.cramp.1.html
John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and John Spilsbury - Henry Denne - Francis Cornwell, A.M. - Christopher Blackwood - Major-General Harrison - Colonel Hutchinson ...

Wapping Baptist Church
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › brit.wapping.bc.by.dubarry.html
The congregation led by John Spilsbury in the Wapping district of London is the oldest Baptist church which can be directly linked to today's Baptist churches ...

Index forBritish Biographies By J. M. Cramp
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › british.bios.index.cramp.html
John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and John Spilsbury Henry Denne - Francis Cornwell, A.M. - Christopher Blackwood - Major-General Harrison - Colonel Hutchinson ...

It is likely that Barebone knew personally every member of Jessey's ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › bapt.his.vindicated.13-15.html

Here is John Lathrop who was pastor of this Jacob church in London. His church divides, and part of it becomes Baptist by joining with John Spilsbury in 1633; ...

Baptist History Vindicated, Chapter 4
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › bapt.hist.vindicated.4-6.html
whereupon most or all of them received a new baptism. Their minister was Mr. John Spilsbury. What number they were is uncertain, because in the mentioning of ...

Jesse B. Thomas, Review of William Whitsitt's Question in Baptist ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › both.sides.discovery.jtc.html
John Smith was baptized by sprinkling, as also was John Spilsbury, William Kiffin, Roger Williams and the First Baptist church of Providence, and John Clark ...

The Particular Baptists after 1689, By David Benedict
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › particular.bapt.benedict.html
Their minister was a Mr. John Spilsbury. What number they were, is uncertain, because in the mentioning of about twenty men and women, it is added, with divers ...

The Beginnings of English-Speaking Baptist Churches
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › dobbs.early.eng.bapt.hist.html
The pastor of this church was John Spilsbury; and its theology was ... Of John Spilsbury's church the history is more explicit. According to Crosby ...

Rev. William Kiffin, The Baptist Encyclopedia, 1881
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › kiffin.william.bap.encycl.html
John Spilsbury was pastor. From this community a colony went forth in 1640 which formed another church. The new organization met in Devonshire Square. It ...

Baptist History Vindicated, Chapter 1
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › bapt.hist.vindicated.1-3.html
London, 1645). William Kiffin, Thomas Patient, John Spilsbury and John Pearson, four of the most prominent Baptists of those times, wrote an introduction to a ...

Baptists in Massachusetts to 1652
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › massach.hist.by.newman.html
The treatment of John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes, and John Crandall, members ... He wrote a detailed account of his sufferings to John Spilsbury, the first ...

History of the Baptized Ministers and Churches in Kentucky ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › Tarrant_Carter_History_01
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat

Spilsbury, pastor of the first baptist church in. London, says, 'Let the reader consider who haptized. John the baptist before he baptized others, he hims‹ibe.

Henry Dunster, By Albert H. Newman - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › dunster.henry.by.newman.html
... John Harvard. He probably received ordination as a minister of the Church of ... Spilsbury's leadership, of the first Particular Baptist church in ...

History of the Baptised Ministers and Churches in Kentucky, &c ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › tarrant.carter.history.html


Spilsbury, pastor of the first baptist church in London, says, 'Let the reader consider who baptized John the baptist before he baptized others, he himself ...

Jesse B. Thomas, Review of William Whitsitt's Question in Baptist ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › both.sides.contr.4.html
Spilsbury," implying the independent existence of his church in 1638, if not ... Wall and Sir John Flover (the latter, a noted English physician, being ...

William Kiffin By J. M. Cramp - Baptist History Homepage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › kiffin.william.by.cramp.html
John Goodman to London. I attended upon his ministry and found it very ... Spilsbury was the pastor. Two years after that, in 1640, a difference of ...

A Historical Sketch of the Christian Church; or A Miniature History of ...
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › holcombe.bapt.hist.html
... John Wauteriz was burnt at Dort, for being baptized, in 1572. ... Spilsbury. During the reign of Charles First, the Baptists gained so much celebrity that ...

Both Sides - Essay 2, by Jesses B. Thomas, 1897. - OoCities
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › both.sides.contr.2.html

He had some documents such as the records of the Spilsbury and Hubbard churches expressly cited by him, no longer within our reach. He notices fully the ...

Baptist History, Midland Circular Letter, 1832
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › british.baptist.hist.1832.html
In the year 1633, the first particular Baptist Church was formed in London, under Mr. Spilsbury. During the reign of Charles 1st, the Baptists gained so much ...

Baptist History Vindicated, By John T. Christian, 1899
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › bapt.hist.vindicated.7-9.html
The makers of this Confession of 1643 did not affirm the doctrine of church succession or baptismal succession. The view of Spilsbury prevailed, and was put ...

The Boston Baptists by Thomas Armitage
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › mass.boston.baptists.artm.html
John Spur and John Hazel were sentenced to receive ten lashes, or a fine of ... Spilsbury and Kiffin, gives this account: 'I came upon occasion of ...

The Persecution of Baptists in Massachusetts and Obadiah Holmes
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › holmes.ob.massch.persectn.html
Spilsbury, Kiffin and other Baptists in London, is deeply affecting, but ... Holmes then proceeds to state that John Hazel and John Spur, who expressed ...

Untitled
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › rhode.island.providence.fbc.html
... John Clark in Newport, R. I. Both churches have claimed this distinction ... Spilsbury's — remained in their membership in the Pedobaptist Church till 1633. In ...

Jesse B. Thomas, Review of the Question on Baptism, 1897.
baptisthistoryhomepage.com › both.sides.contr.3.html
Dexter, who was an eagle-eyed and chivalrous investigator, did not publish his "True History of John ... Spilsbury's church because of the occupying...

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

3). Can some one refer me to an historical account or documentation of the first church to use the term or address itself as 'Baptist'?

This reply is not about when Baptists were first named Baptists, but about them being the followers of the New Testament Principals of Jesus' Patten that He Revealed about what His churches are and, therefore, those who since the first century have held to the teachings of The Lord's kind of church, regardless of what name they called themselves, or were called by their enemies, etc.

---

WHO ARE THE BAPTISTS?

"I have been impressed more than ever during these changing, and somewhat unpredictable days, with the importance of knowing what you are, and having firm convictions for being what you are. The words of Peter are ringing a fresh tone of urgency in my soul as I observe the appalling indifference that underlies the reasoning and thinking trend of our day. He said, "...Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (I Peter 3:15). Can the slightest trace of conviction be found in the answers with which many respond, when they are asked, "Why Are You A Baptist?" When I ask a man that question, I am hardly impressed with such answers as, "My parents were Baptists," or, "I believe once in grace, always in grace," or worse yet, "The Baptist Church is the nearest to our home."

"If you are a Baptist, you should know why you are a Baptist, and to know why you are a Baptist, you should know who the Baptists are. To know who the Baptists are, you should know where the Baptists began, what the Baptists believe and what the Baptists have done.

I. WHERE DID THE BAPTISTS BEGIN?

"While modern denominations trace their origin to modern founders, the Baptists have existed through all the centuries of Christian history. The Lutherans began with Martin Luther; the Presbyterians began with John Calvin; the Methodists began with John Wesley and the Disciples began with Alexander Campbell. All the modern cults began with modern founders. The Jehovah's Witnesses began with Charles Taze Russell; the Mormons began with Joseph Smith, Jr.; the Christian Scientists began with Mary Baker Eddy; the Seventh Day Adventists began with William Miller; Swedenborgianism began with Emanuel Swedenborg, etc.

"Though many Baptist groups sprang up during the Protestant Reformation, according to Collier's Encyclopedia, the Baptists have "descended from some of the evangelical 'sects' of the preceding age during which the Roman and Orthodox Churches dominated all of Europe and suppressed all dissent." A Catholic, Cardinal Hosius, President of the Council of Trent, (1545-1563), wrote during the early years of the Reformation period, "Were it not that the Baptists have been grievously tormented and cut off with the knife during the past twelve hundred years, they would swarm in greater numbers than all the Reformers." This should convince anyone, that the Baptists are not a by product of the Reformation, and are not even Protestants in the popular sense of the term.

"If the Baptists did not begin with the Reformation, when did they begin? We will let a great American and World historian answer that question for you. John Clark Ridpath, (1840-1900), a Methodist by denominational conviction, wrote, "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 then were Baptists." Yes, all Christians were then Baptists, because the doctrines that Baptists believe and teach today, are the same as those taught by the Lord Jesus Himself, by Peter, John, Paul and all the Apostles. We have not always been called "Baptists." The name is not a self-chosen one. Following what we believe to be apostolic precept and example, the Baptists rejected infant baptism for lack of Scriptural warrant, insisted on a "regenerate membership," and baptism sought intelligently by the candidate as a condition for church membership. For these reasons they were stigmatized as "Anabaptists," "Catabaptists," and sometimes as simply "Baptists;" this was to say, they were "rebaptizers, perverters of baptism," or, as unduly emphasizing baptism and making it a reason for schism, simply "baptizers." We are proud of the name, because it distinguishes our doctrinal position which is set forth in the New Testament, and identifies us with a host of saints who believe the same precious truths and were identified by the same denominator.

"The premise that first century Christians were Baptists, runs counter to the Roman Catholic claim that the first Church was Roman Catholic. To this we need only point out that the first Church was organized by Christ and His apostles, and those apostles became the nucleus of the Church at Jerusalem, not Rome, and James was its leader, not Peter. We also contend that the bishop of Rome did not win primacy over other bishops until the fourth century, and that it wasn't until Gregory ascended the Episcopal throne in 590 A.D. that the Roman bishop began to claim his supremacy over other bishops. Thus, we see that Roman Catholicism dates back to the fourth century at the oldest.

"While we do not contend that only Baptists are going to Heaven, we do contend that the first Church was organized according to principles historically maintained by Baptists, and that Baptists have existed since that day. First called Christians, then by other names down through the centuries until they received the name that has distinguished them from Protestant and Catholic groups alike."

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

This is another stab at your question and it, also, doesn't answer your question directly, but I'm thinking that might be O.K.

3). Can some one refer me to an historical account or documentation of the first church to use the term or address itself as 'Baptist'?

The History of Baptists.
By William D. Nowlin
Fundamentals of the Faith, 1922.

"The following statements by church historians seem to show that a continuity of New Testament churches
can be traced back to Christ and the Apostles by their Doctrines and Practices.

"All our church historians tell us that there have existed, from the apostles to the present time, companies, congregations,
and sects of Christians dissenting from the established and generally accepted forms. As soon as the prevailing churches fell into errors,
because proud, corrupt, and worldly, departing from the simplicity and Spirituality of the Gospel,
then such as continued Godly separated themselves, from the multitude, Worshiped by themselves,
and served God according to their understanding of the Scriptures.

"They maintained the Doctrines and Ordinances of Christ as they understood Him to have Delivered them to His Disciples,
and sought to be His True and Faithful Witnesses in the midst of the prevailing degeneracy.

These "sects" have been called by various names, and have differed somewhat among themselves,
but they have invariably been called "heretics" by the prevailing false churches from which they were separated.

The grandest heroes and martyrs for truth that the world has known are to be found among these despised and persecuted sects.
The reproaches and persecutions which they suffered were all because they sought to maintain the Gospel
and protested against the errors and crimes that were practiced in the name of Religion.

100-200: "Of these sects, there were in the Second Century the Montanists.

200-1000: "From the Third to the Tenth Centuries there were the Novatians, Donatists, and Paulicians.

All these professed to hold to the New Testament as the Only Rule of Faith and Practice,
received none but Regenerated persons into church membership,
rejected infant Baptism,
and practiced Immersion.

1000-1600: In the eleventh and following centuries, up to the time of the Reformation,
the dissenters took on new names, being called Henricians, Waldenses, Albigenses, and other names,
and became very numerous notwithstanding their continued sufferings from persecution.

All these ancient sects, though not known by the name of Baptists,
held the prevailing opinions which now characterize the Baptist denomination.

"Some of our historians, however, are inclined to discover in them a greater resemblance to modern Baptists than are others.

"1. Anabaptists. During the period of the Reformation (1520-1555), there sprang up all over Central and Western Europe
in great numbers those who are called Anabaptists, that is, those who rebaptized,
because they rejected both the baptism of the Romish Church and infant baptism,
and insisted that all who came into the fellowship of their churches should be scripturally baptized.

This name Anabaptist was a term of contempt and was applied by their enemies indiscriminately to nearly all those sects
not in harmony with the leading parties of the Reformation.

It was often given to those who had little or nothing in common with the Anabaptists, and with whom the Baptists have no connection.

"As to the origin of the Anabaptists, church historians differ, but it is probable that, in many instances,
they were the revival of the remains of the earlier sects or at least of their sentiments, which still lingered in many localities.

"Undoubtedly it was the quickened life and thought of the Reformation that brought them again into notice
and resulted in the vast increase of their numbers.

"Anabaptists held to the complete separation of Church and State,
liberty of the individual conscience,
and the Bible as the Only Rule of Faith and Practice.

'They opposed infant baptism;
admitted none but Regenerated persons to Baptism and church-membership;
and practiced Immersion only for Baptism.

"As a result they were bitterly persecuted and outlawed. Nevertheless, they greatly increased in numbers,
and extended over a large part of Europe. They were numerous in Poland, Holland, England, Switzerland, and Germany,
but they centered largely in Moravia, where they were sometimes called Huttites, after one Jacob Hutter,
a leader of great power among them. They were also numerous in Holland, where they were called Mennonites, after Menno Simons,
a great leader in that locality. The persecutions suffered by the Mennonites or Anabaptists of Holland were cruel in the extreme.

"2. Baptists of the Old World. The Baptists of the last Three Hundred Years are the direct descendants of the true Anabaptists of the period of the Reformation; or perhaps, we might more correctly say, the Baptists were then called Anabaptists.

"So we find Mosheim, whose authority is great as a church historian, saying,
"The true origin of that sect which acquired the name of Anabaptist, is hid in the remote depths of antiquity,
and is consequently extremely difficult to be ascertained."

"So also Zwingli the Swiss reformer, and contemporary with Luther, says,
"The institution of Anabaptism is no novelty, but for thirteen hundred years has caused great disturbance in the church."

"Those Christians then who in the time of the Reformation were called Anabaptists,
had a History extending back to within Two Hundred Years of Christ, at least according to the confession of Zwingli himself,
a man who had very few kindly feelings toward the sect.

"Baptists were called Anabaptists by a historian in Kentucky as late as 1784.
John Filson in his History of Kentucky (1784) says on page 301,
"The Anabaptists were the first that promoted public worship in Kentucky."

"This shows that the people whom the Historians called Anabaptists
were the same people who called themselves Baptists."

"(a) Dutch Baptists. Not many years since Dr. Dermont, chaplain to the king of Holland,
and Dr. Ypeij, theological professor at Groningen, received a royal commission to prepare a History of the Reformed Dutch Church.

"This history, though written in the interests of the State Church of Holland,
contains the following generous and trustful statement concerning the Dutch Baptists:

"We have now seen that the Baptists, who were formerly called Anabaptists
and in later times, Mennonites, were the original Waldenses,
and have long in the history of the church received the honor of that origin.

"On this account the Baptists may be considered
the only Christian community which has stood since the Apostles,
and as a Christian society, which has preserved pure
the Doctrines of the Gospel through all Ages."

"Concerning the time when the Anabaptists of Holland and elsewhere
assumed the name of Baptists, we cannot tell.

'It is probable that from the first they disowned the name of Anabaptists
asserting that they did not re-baptize but simply baptised;
for otherwise they would acknowledge infant baptism as Scriptural Baptism.

"It is probable that as enmity began to wear away,
their own name Baptist was gradually accepted by other bodies of Christians.

"It was not until 1626, and after more than a century of persecution, that the Baptists of Holland
received anything like freedom or toleration. In later years the government has sought to make amends by offering them special favors,
but they steadfastly declined any alliance with the State, as their Doctrine of Separation of Church and State requires.

"(b) English Baptists. Early in the Sixteenth Century, Christians holding Baptist sentiments fled from the continent into England for refuge from their persecutors. Some say they were found there much earlier. We know that as early as 1550, Baptists, or Anabaptists, were burned in England, thus showing that they had existed previous to this early date long enough to have acquired considerable importance and to be feared and outlawed.

"During all the period of religious persecution in England, they were objects of special hatred, and suffered more perhaps than any other sect. But though outlawed and persecuted, they have always had a strong hold upon the Religious thought of the nation,
and represent today a long line of noble and illustrious names.

"There are Baptist churches still existing in England that claim to have a History, as Distinct Organizations,
reaching back over a period of more than Three Hundred Years.

con't

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

"(c) Welsh Baptists. The Welsh Baptists have a peculiar history. They do not claim to have had any particular connection with the Anabaptists of Europe, but to have originated from the apostles direct.

"It is impossible in such a summary as this to set forth the reasons that are given to maintain this position;
it must suffice to say, therefore, that the claim made by Welsh Baptists has never been successfully disproved.

When Augustine or Austin, the Roman monk, visited Wales about the close of the Sixth Century,
he found a community of more than Two Thousand Christians living quietly in the mountains,
who rejected the authority of the Roman Church, and so far as can be discovered,
held essentially the same Doctrines the Baptists now hold.

From that day to this, though often persecuted and compelled to hide in their mountain fastnesses,
they have preserved an unbroken and well authenticated History.

"3. Baptists of America. There were Mennonites, or Holland Baptists, among the first settlers of New Amsterdam (New York) in 1626, but they had no influence so far as known. There were Baptists also among the first settlers of New England,
though they were not permitted to form any churches of their own. The first Baptist church of America, it is believed,
which succeeded and perpetuated itself was founded at Newport, in Rhode Island, in 1638.*

"It was formed under the leadership of Dr. John Clarke, a Baptist minister from London, England,
who was driven out of the Massachusetts Colony with many other Baptists recently arrived from England.

"Other churches were speedily formed in Rhode Island, in various parts of New England, on Long Island,
in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina.

"From one cause and another, as the Baptist denomination increased, small bodies from time to time went off from it,
viz., the "Seventh Day," "Six-Principle," "Free Will," "Anti-Mission Baptist," and others.

"Regular Baptists far outnumber all the others combined, and now extend over the whole of the United States;
their growth and progress having been remarkable. In 1740 there were fewer than Three Thousand Baptists in the country.
Fifty years from that time there were about Sixty-Five Thousand.

"From this time on, Religious Liberty being accorded them, their progress was rapid and constantly accelerated.
Recent statistics show that the number is about Nine Million.

"The past few years show an increase in membership of more than One Hundred Thousand per year.

"Cardinal Hosius (Catholic), president Council of Trent, says,
"Were it not that the Baptists have been grievously tormented and cut off with the knife during the past Twelve Hundred Years,
they would swarm in greater numbers than all the Reformers."

"Sir Isaac Newton: "The Baptists are the only body of Christians which have not symbolized with the Church of Rome."

"[Johann] Mosheim (Lutheran): "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."

"Edinburgh Cyclopedia: "It must have already occurred to our readers that the Baptists are the same sect of Christians
that were formerly described under the appellation of Anabaptists. Indeed, this seems to have been their leading principle
from the time of Tertullian to the present time." Tertullian was born just fifty years after the death of John the Apostle.

"Prof. Wm. Cecil Duncan, professor of Latin and Greek, University of Louisiana:
"Baptists do not, as do most Protestant denominations, date their origin from the Reformation of 1520.
By means of that great religious movement, indeed they were brought forth from comparative obscurity, into prominent notice,
and through it a new and powerful impulse was given to their Principles and Practices in all of those countries
which had renounced allegiance to the Pope of Rome.

"They did not, however, originate with the Reformation,
for long before Luther lived, nay, long before the Roman Catholic Church herself was known,
Baptists and Baptist churches existed and flourished in Europe, in Asia, and in Africa."

"Do you think Christ has Made Good His Promise
that "the gates of Hades," or powers of darkness and death,
"should not prevail" against His Church?"

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

With reference to the above;

"(c) Welsh Baptists. The Welsh Baptists have a peculiar history. They do not claim to have had any particular connection with the Anabaptists of Europe, but to have originated from the apostles direct.

"It is impossible in such a summary as this to set forth the reasons that are given to maintain this position;
it must suffice to say, therefore, that the claim made by Welsh Baptists has never been successfully disproved.

this .pdf of this book has some fantastic information, regarding The Welsh Baptists, being begun by Disciples of Paul's ministry:
"HISTORY THE WELSH BAPTISTS,
FROM THE YEAR SIXTY-THREE TO THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY", BY J. DAVIS,
and these same Welsh Baptists can be seen to have prevailed and prospered, until this very day, and they in all likelihood will not have the gates of Hell prevail against them, until the Lord Returns Again, just as Jesus Promised, in Matthew 16:13 thru 19;

13; "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man Am? 14; "And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15; "He saith unto them, But Whom say ye that I Am?
16; "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou Art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
17; "And Jesus Answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona:
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Heaven.
18; "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter,
and upon this Rock I Will Build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19; "And I Will Give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt Bind on Earth shall be Bound in Heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt Loose on Earth shall be Loosed in Heaven."

From pg. 172 of "HISTORY THE WELSH BAPTISTS,
FROM THE YEAR SIXTY-THREE TO THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY", BY J. DAVIS

"We do not pretend that the primitive saints were called Baptists;
all went under the general denomination of Christians
and when they began to file off into parties
they took the names of men by whom they were led.

"It is not the history of a name,
but the prevalence of a principal, of which we are in search."

Principals from Matthew 16:13 thru 19, wherein a saint may find themselves Spiritually "Blessed", just like Jesus said "Simon Barjona" was,
because, "flesh and blood hath not Revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Heaven",
will be when they find themselves having had Jesus Reveal to them that in this passage,
Jesus is the Rock of Ages upon Whom He Will Continue to Build and Edify His church,
because, "other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ", in I Corinthians 3:11,
where the context is in regard to the church there at Corinth being built by Paul
after he laid the Foundation which was in Christ Jesus, in 3:9;

"For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's Husbandry, ye are God's Building.

10; "According to the Grace of God which is Given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, (Jesus Christ)
"and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."

Just as we see in Isaiah 28:14-22; in 16; "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD,
Behold, I Lay in Zion for a Foundation a Stone, a Tried Stone, a Precious Corner Stone, a Sure Foundation:
he that believeth shall not make haste,"

and in 1 Peter 2:4, 6-8; "To whom coming, (when they believed on Jesus) as unto a Living Stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but Chosen of God, and Precious,

6; "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a Chief Corner Stone, Elect, Precious:
and he that believeth on Him shall not be Confounded.

7; "Unto you therefore which believe He is Precious:
but unto them which be disobedient, the Stone which the builders disallowed, the Same is Made the Head of the Corner,

8; "And a Stone of Stumbling, and a Rock of Offence,
even to them which stumble at the Word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were Appointed."


5; "Ye also, as Llively Stones, are Built up a Spiritual House, an Holy Priesthood,
to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices, Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

Jesus' Excellency is Declared, under the metaphor of a Stone, said to be Living, to be Chosen of God, and Precious to Him,
though rejected by men; to Whom the saints are encouraged to come, as Lively Stones Built up, a Spiritual House,
for the exercise of the Holy Office of the Priesthood, by offering up Spiritual Sacrifices Acceptable to God through Christ, 1 Peter 2:4, above,

and it is in the kind of local assemblage in a self-governing body of Scripturally Baptized saints, by The Authority of God,
that Jesus was speaking of, when He said, "upon this Rock I Build My church".

If you have been Spiritually "Blessed", just like Jesus said "Simon Barjona" was,
and you know that the Rock Jesus is speaking of in Matthew 16:18, is Himself, and that when He said He would "Build MY church",
that He is talking exclusively about, Jesus' kind of local assemblage in a self-governing body of Scripturally Baptized saints,
by The Authority of God, then, you are a Bible believer, who takes the Words of Jesus to Mean what He Said concerning those two principals, because, "flesh and blood hath not Revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Heaven"