A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION אן AMERICA AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. BY DAVID BENEDICT. SIXTH THOUSAND. L NEW YORK: LEWIS COLBY AND COMPANY, 122 NASSAU STREET. 1850. BX6231 INDIANA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by L. COLBY & CO., In the Clerk's Cffice of the District Court of the United States, for the Stereotyped by C. DAVISON & Co., 33 Gold street, New York. 10-29-65 PREFACE TO FOREIGN BAPTISTS, BAPTIST AUTHORS, AND THE BAP- Ir is now seven years since I commenced in earnest my preparation for this continuation of Baptist History. In the prosecution of this long and laborious undertaking I have gone much beyond my original design, and as an unavoidable consequence, the period of bringing it to a close has been protracted far beyond my own calculations and the expectations of my patrons and friends. Foreign Department. An abridgment of what is contained in my first vol., with the addition of such items and facts as I could collect from Orchard's work on Foreign Baptists, and other productions of baptist writers which have been published since my former accounts were made out, was all that I at first proposed under this head. But as I progressed in my` inquiries and researches, for the reasons which I shall soon name, I resolved on a more thorough investigation of the history of the people among whom our peculiar sentiments are found than I had ever before made. Waldenses and kindred communities. I found so many conflicting statements relative to the denominational character of these ancient witnesses for the truth, that I determined, as far as possible, to go back to the original works, from which baptists and pedobaptists have made their quotations in support of their adverse and respective claims. This I have found a laborious task; the result of my examinations is expressed in pp. 60, 61, 72-76. Dr. Wall's maxim in matters of dispute on the baptismal question is full of sound-sense and ought always to be observed, viz.: "It is unwise to deny to an opponent what can certainly be proved, as it creates a suspicion of all else we have to say." Those who contend that "the Waldenses as a whole always baptized their children," and those who maintain that the practice was not known among them, mutually place themselves in an extremely awkward position, since facts in history are continually coming up which most categorically disprove both these statements. I would as soon attempt to affirm or deny the practice of pedobaptism among the Dissenters and Nonconformists of England of all classes for many centuries past, as to establish either of the above theories. The very generic character of the term Waldenses, is overlooked by most writers respecting the wide-spread community to whom it is applied; they view them as we do any sect or denomination of the present time, and do not seem to realize that the people in question were spread over all Europe for many centuries, and were, as Robinson denominates them, the Ante-Lutheran Protestants, who, while they all agreed in opposing the errors and oppressions of the papal power, still differed from each other in their creeds and forms much the same as do the anti-catholics of the present day. Whatever local name they bore, the catholics called them all Vaudois or Waldenses, the same as they now do Lutherans all dissenters from their church in all the east. This view of the diversified character of this great people enables us as baptists to meet our opponents in an open field which we may range all around, and if we can prove, as we certainly can, that any portion of them rejected infant baptism, our main position is established. No writer on our side should lay claim to all who passed under the general names of Waldenses, Albigenses, Patarines, Picards, &c.; the protestants, to be sure, have generally done so, and I have become so ineffably disgusted with their sweeping pretensions in opposition to so many facts of history, and especially to catholic impeachments of the anti-pedobaptist heresy of some of them, that I am sorry to see any of our people follow their example. I have endeavored to exhibit the arguments and concessions of Mosheim in a clearer point of light than our writers have generally done; my comments on the statements of this distinguished historian may be found in pp. 44-49. Dr. Wall, of England, lived among the baptists and had free intercourse with them rela tive to their peculiar views, which may account for his treating them in his writings with more mildness and respect than most authors of that age were accustomed to do; but Di Mosheim does not appear to have had any personal acquaintance with them nor any pred lections in their favor; on the other hand his feelings toward the whole community and their primordial principles, I think it not too much to say, were excessively bitter and severe; he uniformly describes them as a deluded and fanatical people. This being the case, any of his statements which favored their cause must have been the result of the abstract principles of historical veracity. From the accounts of this author, as may be seen in my quotations and comments, the three following points are made exceedingly plain: 1. That there was an intimate connection between the German Anabaptists and the old Waldenses, Petrobrussians and kindred sects, from whom, in his opinion, they descended. 2. That "the origin of that sect which acquired the name of anabaptists by their administering anew the rite of baptism to those who came over to their communion, is hid in the remote depths of antiquity, and is, of consequence, extremely difficult to be ascertained.". 3. That the Waldenses, Petrobrussians, Wickliffites, Hussites and Henricians, were all essentially alike, and all were the denominational ancestors of the German Anabaptists. Thus much for the concessions of the great German historian and distinguished doctor of the Lutheran church. My readers will discover that in my descriptions of the ancient sects, I have selected those who by the general consent of protestant writers, were evangelical christians, and also were distinguished for the extent and duration of their institutions; and the five parties above named will, I believe, be admitted, by all who have but a moderate acquaintance with ecclesiastical history, to have embraced the substance of the dissenting interest for many centuries. I became so much interested in the history of these ancient people, and found such increasing evidence of the extensive spread of baptist sentiments among them, that I very much regretted that my time and limits compelled me to suspend it for the present. Sources of information yet to be explored. Many of our brethren have an idea that with proper attention, there may be found in the libraries of the old world historical facts which will illustrate more fully than has yet been done the affairs of our denomination in the dark ages; my own impression is, that our historians have already dug out most of the facts which are available for us as a denomination, which can be obtained from ancient authors, and that the archives of the old ecclesiastical courts must be examined for additional intelligence. With the exception of those who were destroyed by mobs, by clandestine malevolence, and by local crusades, the martyrs had formal trials according to the established forms of law, which were generally in conformity to the Roman system of jurisprudence. The records of these trials were deposited among the official documents of the tribunals before which the reputed heretics were arraigned, whether of the Inquisition or of the bishops; and the indictments, the interrogatories and the answers of the criminals, indicate the heresies of which they were accused. Detailed accounts of a number of these trials are found in Allix's History of the Waldenses; the author of the Dutch Martyrology gathered much of his information from records of this kind, some of them were in latin, others in the German, Dutch, and French languages. Robinson's story of the existence of a baptist church near Cambridge, about four centuries ago, was obtained from the records of the bishop of Ely, which were in latin. There might be some difficulty in gaining access to the documents under consideration, as they are mostly in the hands of the Roman Catholics; but literary men even in that church are becoming more courteous as literary antiquarians than formerly; great freedom is allowed at Rome and other strongholds of the catholics for researches of this kind. No small amount of literary acquirements would be needful for the investigations I propose; many of the works are in manuscript with all the abbreviations of former years. The Baptismal controversy. This whole article is in addition to my original plan, and is so much beyond what I promised to my patrons; the examination of all the works on my list, and which I have reviewed to a greater or less extent, with the article on Foreign Baptists, cost me a full year's labor more than I had anticipated. Reading men will understand the amount of labor I have performed, however imperfectly it has been done; others will have but little conception of the toil which I have endured. Completeness of enumeration of all works on the subject was my aim; on the baptist side I am confident that but few productions of any considerable size have been omitted; the list of pedobaptist authors, I am conscious, as yet is very imperfect, but I am pursuing my inquiries and augmenting my catalogue by frequent additions. I shall esteem it a favor to have information of any works which are not on my list, on either side great or small.1 Mode of baptism. In conformity to the custom of ecclesiastical writers, I have uniformly adopted this term, although upon the strict principles of philology it is ungrammatical and improper, when any but immersion in administering the rite is employed. The mode of dipping is a form of speech which no one would think of using; pouring or sprinkling may be administered in different ways, and the application may be more or less copious, according to the instruments employed by the administrator, or his notions of propriety or necessity in the case. 1 All must bear in mind that according to my rules of proceeding, as a general thing I omit anonymous productions, unless the authors are well known, and fix on those which are devoted principally to the baptismal controversy. PREFACE TO FOREIGN BAPTISTS. A Strictly speaking, it would be just as proper to speak of the form of a circle, or the shape of a triangle, as of the mode of baptism. The term baptism defines itself, and nothing but pseudo and sectarian criticism would ever make anything else out of it but immersion. So it was viewed by the ancients, and is still by all branches of the Greek Church. They speak as lightly of aspersion or affusion as do the baptists; and this, as my quotations have abundantly shown, has been the opinion of learned men of all parties, countries, and ages. Infant baptism. This expression I have also uniformly used, unless in quoting from others, when infant sprinkling in most cases would be the appropriate language. In all accounts of baptism for thirteen centuries, and at present among the Greeks, the phrase is a proper one. In these and all other descriptions of ecclesiastical affairs, as a matter of courtesy, and to avoid circumlocution, I have conformed to the current language of authors in general. Indifference to ordinances of all kinds. I did intend to have made some comments on this subject in my general remarks, but as they have been omitted, I will in this place merely say that loose views of theology uniformly superinduce a cool and philosophical indifference to baptism in all ways, the Lord's supper, and christian ordinances and duties in general. The old General Baptists in England, sunk down to a low point in their requisitions of candidates for membership in their churches. The same may be said of most of the Mennonites, whether in Europe or America. They required a profession of faith, such as it was, but in process of time all barriers will be broken down, in the wide sweep of a liberal creed; and it will take but a few centuries to do the work.2 Terms of communion. This subject has often been incidentally referred to in the course of my narratives, but facts connected with it, have been exhibited without much comment. I had intended, in my closing remarks, to show that the Baptists as a body, in all ages and countries, have literally adhered to the grand primordial principle of all churches in christendom, national or dissenting: "Nemo ad cœnam admittitur nisi baptizatus." No one is admitted to the Lord's supper unless he is baptized.3 Dr. Wall comes to the same point, as follows: "Among all the absurdities that were ever held, none ever maintained that, that any person should partake of the communion before he was baptized."4 These statements are not only confirmed by the practice of all churches who baptize at all, but their rules of church building, as defined by their oldest divines, are very explicit on the point, as I could show from their writings. The only difficulty with the baptists is, that they differ from most others as to what constitutes a valid baptism. All must admit that they conform to the great law of baptism, as above stated, and that in their peculiar requirements of their communicants they adhere to the letter of the scriptures, and are consistent with themselves. My rules of proceeding on controverted points. When treating on all matters of controversy, or when speaking of all churches, creeds, and forms, I have studiously avoided all terms of reproach or disrespect, so far as my own language is concerned; when quoting from others, I could not always follow the rules which in the beginning of my work I had prescribed for myself, without using undue freedom with their writings. My work is professedly of a denominational character, and one great object, from first to last, has been the defense and propagation of the peculiar sentiments of the baptists, yet even on the baptismal question, I have published nothing of my own writing which I would not have said to any one on the other side. As I most sincerely believe that pedobaptism is an unscriptural institution, and injurious in its tendency, I have used my best endeavors to cut it up root and branch, and would as heartily rejoice to see it banished from the christian church, as I would to see that church universally prevail. Yet I know no bounds to my friendship, fellowship and goodwill, to multitudes who maintain it. While I regard them as most certainly in an error quoad hoc, in this one thing, yet I most cordially agree with them upon almost every other 2 Not long since, I fell into conversation with an intelligent layman, whose sympathies were strongly enlisted on the side of the Unitarian creed as professed by the descendants of the New England Puritans. In answer to my questions on this subject he frankly admitted that there was a growing indifference to the ordinances of religion among the religious community with whom he Was associated; that infant baptism was much more generally neglected than formerly; the same of the Lord's supper, and the outward forms of religion in general. While the cause of evangelical religion suffers from the paralyzing influence of latitudinarian creeds, that of historical literature becomes the gainer. This is especially true of the present race of neologists of Germany; as they have become indifferent to all the dogmas and rites of their ancestors, they throw open all the archives of antiquity, bring everything to the test of a fair and impartial scrutiny, and follow the facts of history wherever they may lead them, whether the doctrines and deeds of old ecclesiastical establishments are approved or undermined. In this way, all the hitherto hidden mysteries of the Munster affair are being fairly examined, and the characters of men whom sectarian bigotry, for three centuries past, has doomed to infamy and disgrace, are about to be presented according to the principles of historical veracity, which they have never before been, and thus far the old anabaptists have gained in credit by the investigations which have been as quoted in Booth's Apology for the Baptists, Boston ed., p. 17. * History of Infant Baptism, Part II., Chap. IX. made. 3 Hornbeckius, |