254 – Sept. 11 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

“Grace is not Hereditary, Depravity is”

 

1783 – Rev. Isaac Case began his ministry in Readfield, Maine, and until his death at age 91 on Nov. 3, 1852 his life was spent in the preaching of the gospel. The Revolutionary War being over, the message of Christ expanded along with towns and settlements, so his work was the planting of many Baptist churches in those areas. He established the First Baptist Church of Thomaston and Readfield. They only counted converts that were actually baptized in those days, and he baptized scores wherever he went. In 1904 Dr. A.R. Crane presented a paper at the Maine Baptist Missionary Convention entitled The Baptist Ministers in Maine (from 1804-1904) and listed Isaac Case as one of the most important. He said that he heard him preach in his old age, and considered him to have as much power with God as any man he had ever heard, but couldn’t understand why his grown son never attended church services. Asking Case’s son that question one day, the son said, “Grace is not hereditary, depravity is”. (Rom. 5:12)
[Henry S. Burrage, History of  the Baptists in Maine (Portland, Maine: Marks Printing House, Printers, 1904,), p. 68. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 497-99.]
Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

253 – Sept. 10 -This Day in Baptist History Past

 

He refused the “Test Oath”

 

1866 – Rev. B.F. Kenny, a respected Baptist minister, of Daviess County in Missouri, was arrested on three indictments found against him by a grand jury for the crime of preaching the gospel without taking the ‘Test Oath’. The State Convention had inserted this oath into the new constitution on Jan. 6, 1865, at the close of the Civil War, making it mandatory for pastors to vow loyalty to the state above Christ and His Word. 400 pastors out of the 450 in the state suffered rather than bowing until the act was repealed by the Supreme Court of the U.S. on Jan. 14, 1867. Several of them were imprisoned. Rev. J.H. Luther, Editor of the Missouri Baptist Journal was arrested, held on $1,000 bond, to answer the charge of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ without re-ordination from the commissioner of the state church. Another Baptist preacher was dragged from his home at mid-night, pistol whipped and beaten, and warned to leave the county because he refused to sign the ‘test oath’. [R.S. Duncan, A History of the Baptists in Missouri (St. Louis: Scammell & Co. Publishers, 1882), pp. 926-27. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 496-97.]  Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

 

217 – Aug. 05 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Banished from Long Island

 

1657 – William Wickenden, one of the earlier Baptist settlers in Providence, RI., was fined one hundred pounds and banished from Long Island, New York, by the Dutch Colonial Authorities, upon being informed that he was a poor cobbler, with a large family, and unable to pay.  Wickendon preached the gospel, baptized, and held the Lord’s Supper all against the civil and clerical authority of the state Dutch Reformed Church. [Thomas Armitage,The History of the Baptists ( 1890: reprinted., Watertown,: Maranatha Baptist Press, 1976), 2:748-49] Prepared by Dr. Greg Dixon

 

 

101 – April 11, 1612 – This Day in Baptist History Past

The Last Baptist Executed by Fire

Edward Wightman, the last Baptist to be executed by the fires of the stake at Lichfield outside the St. Mary’s Catholic Church on April 11, 1612. Bishop Neile of Lichfield and his coadjutors, who acted as Royal Commissioners on the occasion, were manifestly “forgers of Lies. “ Thomas Crosby mentions that “many of the heresies they charge upon him are as foolish and inconsistent, that it very much discredits what they say.” What was the real cause of his martyrdom? “Among other charges brought against him were these: ‘That the baptizing of infants is an abominable custom; that the Lord’s supper and baptism are not to be celebrated as they are now practiced in the church of England; and that Christianity is not wholly professed and preached in the church of England, but only in part’ “ Though they found him guilty of many heresies, some of which were probably unknown to him, even by name, the account that he claimed “the use of baptism to be administered in water only to converts of sufficient age and understanding.” Was true.

What kind of man really was Edward Wightman? His son, grandson, great grandson, for two more generations all pastored Baptist churches in America! That is a great tribute to his faith.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: A History of the Baptists, by John T. Christian /A History of the English Baptists, by Joseph Ivimey.