An Outline of Baptist History

Te Henry held to the supreme authority of Scripture and rejected the authoritati ve claims of tradition and the church. After his death his followers did not retain the name Henricians and perhaps they disappeared or were absorbed by other groups. (3) Arnaldo of Bresica. He too was a student of Abelard. ''The most s erious revolts of the 12th century against the church are directly traceable to his (Abelard's) lecture roem. Here we should note a few things about Abelard, who lived from 1079-1142. He was a French scholastic, a philosopher and theologian. When 38 he privately married Heloise who returned to the house of her uncle, denying the marri age to protect Abelard's position in the church. Abelard wrote on the Trinity a nd was pronounced heretical and condemmedin 1411 by Pope InnocentIII. Political corruptions of the church made an impression on Arnal do of Brescia. He said the bishop had no right to interfere with the government and the church should not own any secular domain. Arnaldo was martyred, his body bu rned and the ashes thrown into the Tiber. "The chief significance of Arnaldo, as regards Baptist history, is that he was the first to proclaim with insistence and eloquence the doctrine of so ul-liberty and the separation between church and state.'' He denied infant baptism an d the mass. (4) Peter Waldo. Peter was a rich merchant of Lyons. He became trou bled about the salvation of his soul, and consulted a learned theologian. He was told by this theologian that there were many "ways" of salvation. He was finally told to sel l his possessions, whereupon he divided his property with his wife who did not share his views. He provided for his two daughters and gave the rest to t he poor. He spent time studying the scriptures and began to talk to others about Christ. He went from town to town witnessing for the Lord. The Archbishop of Ly ons forbade Waldo's preaching. Alexander received the preacher but told him he was not to preach anymore. Up to this time he was a faithful church member, now he decides to preach in spite of the warning. Shortly after he was warned and determined to continue hi s preaching, all of southern France was filled with lay preachers. Peter's followers were known as the Poor men of Lyons, the Valdesians or the Waldenses. Waldo died in th e year 1217. He and his adherents were condemmedby the Council of Verone i n 1183. The Petrobrusians prepared the way for the Waldenses though each were bro ught into existence independently. The Roman writers before 1350 attribute the following "errors" to the Walden ses. a. They held doctrines of Christ and the Apostles without decrees of the chu rch as sufficient instruction for salvation, b. Church singing in Latin was not understood and they were charged with sa ying that Latin singing was "internal clamour."