The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1961

l•chru,,ry. 196 1 T By F rnncie Mi ller, Medina, Ohio ( \ s a. Junior in ll ig1r chool Francie wrote t1tis article for Sociology Class a1td won. n,t ''A ' r1radl' on it . For 1ter Senior year s1te has bce1i c1iosen, preside·ut of the Girl 's Leader Club . She is <1 n1en1bcr of tile First Baptist Chttrch of .Il1edina an,d preside1it of the Se'tiior Young People's Society . . Po,~tor Ht:lser sent i t in , 1trgi1ig 1.ts t o pitbllisli i t, eve1i i f , as lie recognized, all will not agree H'ltlt all Iler views of Baptist 1i isto,·y. Wli e11. s1tcli great 1nen as Dr. J. M. Carroll does teach it that tt ay. site ccrtai1ily sJio1<ld be allowed to do so, and be e1ico·u.raged to continue to study Jurther. \\"c ·ongratulate 11er!) 'll1e l11stt)1·~· t)l lc1J)ti ' t ._ lcga11 ,,·itl1 tlll') f1r,t eh1l1·el1 nt fTe1~11 ale111, ft lllltlt\li l)~ ,.l1 ri~t <lt1ri11g· IIi t"'ilrtl1l, 111i11i~tr,,. c111(l 11,l l1c1d an ll ll l)1•0 i,t."11 li 11r 'or c11111· r lie~ .. i11c tl1l1" fltlfilli11p: Ili 1)ro1)l1ec).... ' ,,·ill l l1iltl 111,· el1t11·ch a11d tl1c gate . ..... of 11 11 ~11c1ll 11ot J)re, .. ,1il agai11 t it. ·· l\lc1ttl1e,,· 16 :1 ... . 111 1 ite of the l)itte1·e~t oppo itio11 a11d p , 1· ecl1- tio11-.: . apti :-.t cl1111· ·}1e a1·e found • 111 ~, ·er3" age. · · ...... i~l~-na111e ' ' ,,·er e aiven to the follo,,·e1 .. f J e ll h1·i t down th1·ol1gl1 t h e ce11tu1.·ie by their en e- 111ie... : tl1 fir t were ' ' hri ·tian , ' ' ,,·hich the di ciple we1·e called at ... 11tioch. ...\ ct 11 :.;.;6. In the fifth ce11tl11·J~. theJr ,ver e called ' ' na– Bapti t meani11g r ebaptizer . ./,..,.ear the begi1111ing of the i'"teenth centu1·3~. tl1 · ... 11a · wa dropped and to-cla:"'" r emai.J.1 Bapti t, the di - ti11gl1i hi11 o- 11a1ne of tl1e f ore1"11nner of ,,hri t. and belie, 1 er of all 1 ew T e tament doctrine. lrnder the l eadership of tTohn the Bapti t and the miracle-worl{ing po,,e1· of hri t, plu the preaching of the Twel, .,e Apo._ tel ; the Chri - tian religion pread mightily al– thot1~l1 it left a l)looc1~r trail l)ehind it of e,Tere per ·ec11tio11 h)'" J ews and (-}e11tile. alike. ~hri. tia11. ,ver e pl1lJliclJ'" ,,,,l1ipped. clragged b)- their heel th1·ol1gh the t r eet their limb. cli jointec1 110 e and ear ct1t off eJ-e dug out ancl mel ted l ead pol1recl o,,,e1· their bodie ; l1t1t t iU the e mar·t}-ri .. ecl hri tian . tood firm i11 their r eligiou co11, 1 iction . During the third and f Ol1r th cen .. turie three , ·ital change from the teachi11g. of hri t a11d Hi apo - tle had their beginning : 1. 'ht1rch go"'.rernment changed ; pastor a t1med at1thoriiy not O"i,,,.en them by Chri. t. 2. hange from ' ' .. piritual r e, birth' ' to Bapti mal r Puirth.' 3. Change from ' ' belie,,.er. ' bap– ti m' ' to ' ' infant bapti~m. ' ' The change were graclttal and were t h e fir ·t eriou cnt1rc11 er – ror • cau ing manJ'" irregular churche . I THEIR HI TORY K0,,.erthel , th ,vo11derft1l g-1·0,,.. tl1 of h1·i tia11it)r alar111 d the J)a~,111 lead 1· of the R o1na11 }: m– pir : c111d o :rale1·il1 the e111per- r , e11t ot1t a lirect 01~der of more avage p er ect1tio11. Thi order fail d o on1pletely in it p111·po e of topping~ the gro,vth of h ri - tia11it~y· that eight yea1" later, thi a1ne emperor pas ed anotl1e1· r e– alling the fir t and ac tl1ally granted toleratio11 or p ermi ·s1on to ljve the r eligion of ,le u hri t. In the year .D. 313, ou tan- tine became the n ew empero1-- of the Roman Empire. He i ued a. call in, 1 iting all ch urche to end r epre e11tative. to form a council. The Bapti t churche called by many other name , refused the in– vitation but the irregt1lar chu rche accepted; tht1 a Hierarchy wa formed uniting church antl tate. Thi organization d ethroned Chri t a h ead of the h1.1r che and en– throned emperor 011 tantine. The hri tan (Bapti t . ) whi ch de- clined to r e })011d to thi actio11 n ev– er at that time 11or an)~ time later, e11ter ed the IIiera1, hy of t l1:) atb – olic d e1101nination. n e of the fir t l egi. lati,re enactment of t h i p e1"– iod wa the ·01npul or)"' la,v of in– fant bapti m. By thi la,,· two vital Te\\' T e ta1nent la~T wer e re- voked : 1. B eliever Bapti 111 2. Volt111tary p er anal obe(1ience i11 ta1)ti n1. ~ ro1u the ixth to the eveu– tee11th ce11tt1r}T a p e1"iod of abot1t t,vel,re ht111drecl year wa a time know11 a t h e ' Darlc ere. . ' Dt1r– i11g t h at time the trail of loyal h1--i. tia11ity wa l argely ,va h ed a,, 1 a} 1 i11 it o,vn bloocl. That ,va a terrible p e1"iod of per ect1tion a11d 111a11J'" p eople at that time hacl only part of the 11 or .A.~ ew Te tame11t writte11 in manl1 c1·ipt 011 parch · me11t or ~kin C! <11,.eat effort ,v~1--e made to d e troy what crjptl1re 111anu c1·ipt the p er ecuted po - ~e. ed. 11 example of the bitter., ne of 1 h r i tian per ecution was rJ O 1111 1~ tt 11ya11 ,,rho . J) e11t t,velve }~ea1\' i11 jail . \Vhile co11fi11ecl there, he ,,T1'ot0 JJilgr,ir11 JJr·ogress the 1no t celebrated and vvidely circu– lated 1Jook in the wo1--lc1 n xt to the Bible. In the . ixteenth ce11t11ry the Pro– t e tant chl1rcl1e be()'an to come out of t h e Roma1 atholic church. They ,vere called Protestant be– cau e they prote ted again t the error. of atholici m. Baptist are not Prote tant since they clid not come out of the Catholic Cl1t1r ch. In 1611 t .he King Jame \.,.er ion of the Bible appeared. Keve1· be– f orce vvas the Bible extensively giv– en to t h e peopl e. When the Puritans settled l\las- acht1 ett in 162 they were de– termined to wor h ip Goel acco1·ding to their 0"'\\111 con cience and to prevent everyone el e from wor- h ippi11g Him according to hi be– lief. Roger Williams was d enounced h ere as a di turber of the peace, becat1se he dared to t each that the civil magi trate' power extended onl}' to the bodie and goods of men. For thi teaching, h e was bani hed from the colony and wan– dered through the for e t fo1· four– teen wintry week without bread and bed and for a wh ile wa forced to live among the Indian . Ile and John Cl arke, a Bapti t p1"eacher, 01--ganized a colony of their o,vn in the territory now known as Rhode I l andJ where they built a ' ' shelter to per on di tre ed of con- cien ce. ' ' They f 01.1nded a tate ,vith out a king, a hu r ch ,vithout a bi hop ; the corner- tone of the n ew community being, ' 'the princi– pal of ab olute r eligio11s liberty combined with p erfect civil democ- 1·acy. ' ' 11 thi su ffering wa not fruit- l e . t the t ime of the R e, ..oltition., Bapti t in Virginia ,,er e wie!ding a mighty influ e11ce beca11.·e they \,rer e ver y patr iotic and a t h e war– cloud darkened, they agreed to pro– n1ote the common cau se on con– diti o11 that t h ey be allowed to wor- hip God in their own wa)·; that