An Outline of Baptist History

-5- (3) Certain sects which have more common agreement with Baptists. a. Paulicians. A man by the name of Constantine received a copy of the New Test- ament from a Christian returning from captivity by the Sarocens. He became interested in the Pauline epistles and sought to restore Christianity to the pri- mitive Pauline form. These people were called Paulicians according to some writers because of their adherence to Paul's writings. Others say that the name came from Paul of Samosota, the deposed bishop of Antioch in 269 AD who became one of their leaders. These people took refuge in the Moham- medan countries where they were tolerated. Gibbon, in the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, p. 398, says they, "protested against the tyranny of Rome and embraced the Bible as the rule of faith and purified their creed from all the versions of Gnostic theology.'' In 690 Constantine was stoned to death and his successor was burned to death. b. Albigenses. Some writers say that these people were found in the valleys of France from the earliest ages of Christianity. They never left any of their writings because of extreme persecution. ''What is certain is, that above all they formed an anti-sacerdotal party in permanent opposition to the Roman Church and raised a continued protest against the corruption of the clergy of their time. ' (Encyclopedia Britanica, Vol. 1, p.528) These people rejected infant baptism and were condemmed for it at the Council of Toulouse in AD 1119. Hindered by the inquisition and abandoned by the nobles of the district, they eventually became more and more scattered, hiding in the forests and mountains and only meeting occasionally. Many of these sects had doctrines which resemble the teachings held by Baptists today. Many of their teachings, however, were absolutely con- trary to what Baptists have held and do hold. "It is impossible to show that any one person, or any one sect for a period of more than a thousand years, consistently and continuously held the entire body of truth that Bap- tists believe the Scriptures teach, or even its vital parts. It is possible that with further research such proof may be brought to light. One cannot affirm that there was net a continuity in the eutward and visable life of the churches founded by the apostles down te the time of the Reformation." During the period of time when these sects were flourishing, Christianity was bitterly persecuted by the Roman Empire. There were ten distinct persecutions, and Christianity had a definite grapple with heathenism. Un- counted thousands of people died in this period. In 323 AD, Constantine made Christianity the state religion. He adopted the title Pontifex Maximus and took over the title of headmaster ef hea- then religions. New, be becomes the head of Christianity. The Church which had been persecuted becomes the persecutor. Augustine said ''many must eften be brought back te their Lerd like wicked servants, by the red of temporal suffering before they attain the highest grade of spir- itual development...the Lord Himself orders that guests be first invited then compelled to His great suffering.'' Burroughs, p.24. The inquisition originated by the Pope and put into the hands ef the Dominicans, became "the most cruel and inhuman tribunal known to history." The death penalty