162 – June 11 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

Prayer for Persecutors and Freedom

 

The Separate Baptists in Virginia had divided into two associations for the convenience of the messengers, and on May 14, 1774, the Southern District met in the Banister Baptist Church of Halifax County. There they transacted one of the most important aspects of an associational ministry, a phase that is all but dead among us in these days. For three or four years there had been severe persecutions against the Baptists in many parts of Virginia. Letters were received at their association from preachers confined in prison, particularly from David Tinsley, then in the Chesterfield jail. The hearts of their brethren were affected at their sufferings, in consequence of which they: “Agreed to set apart the second and third Saturdays in June as public fast days, in behalf of our poor blind persecutors, and for the releasement of our brethren.”

 

Those two days of prayer were Saturday, June 11, and Saturday, June 18, 1774, and the saints prayed for the enlightenment of the spiritually blind persecutors and the freedom of their ministers. We ought not to be surprised to observe that during that decade, the Separate Baptists “achieved their greatest growth . . . with 221 churches and unconstituted local bodies with 9,842 members.” Some of the persecutors were converted and became Baptist preachers, and freedom of religion was gained for the whole state of Virginia.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/Cummins) pp. 240.

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66 – March – 07 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY

FREEDOM EXISTED IN NAME ONLY
1638 – Conditions in the Massachusetts Bay Colony had become intolerable for any who held views that tended toward liberty of conscience or baptism for believers only. Isaac Backus stated that the Massachusetts Court ruled that if any group wanted to meet and establish a church they had to first have the approval of the magistrates and the other ministers in the area. If you did not get approval you were not admitted to the “freedom of the Commonwealth”. There was great controversy. The House of Deputies was dissolved and reappointed to suit the ministers. Pastors, men, women and children were banished from the colonies and others were put to death as heretics. Massachusetts made a law that everyone was taxed to pay for the support of religious ministers, even though they had no vote in choosing them. Under this terrible influence. John Clarke, the Baptist preacher, his brother Joseph, and many others moved away to Rhode Island. On March 7, 1638, they entered into a Covenant to incorporate themselves into a body politic, submitting everything to God and following His absolute laws as guide and judge. Backus stated, when they could not find laws to govern themselves in the New Testament, they returned to the laws of Moses and elected a Judge and three Elders to rule over them. On March 12, 1640, they changed their plan of government and elected a governor and four assistants until they came under a Charter from England at a later time. It becomes very clear that any government of men is as fallible as the men who govern, and that the trials and errors of the colonies, endeavoring to set up systems of government to guarantee order and yet give the people governed liberty of conscience, resulted in a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that brought the leaders as well as the people under the law. Our Constitution was not thrown together but was born after much travail by millions of people over hundreds of years of suffering. God bless America.
Barbara Ketay from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 94-95.
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15 – January 15 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

Who is the real slave?

 

1838 – The British Baptist Union wrote to the ministers of the Baptist churches in the U.S. urging them to use their influence to bring about full emancipation. The practice of slavery had been introduced into Virginia in 1619 and was, at first, resisted by the southern colonies. However in time, the tragedy of slavery became the most divisive issue ever to face our nation. Baptist leaders divided severely on the matter. J.H. Hinton, chairman, wrote: “We have not been ignorant that slavery existed in the States, entailed, we are humbled and ashamed to acknowledge, by British influence, authority and example. But we had, until of late, no conception of the extent to which multitudes of professing Christians in your land, by indifference, by connivance, by apology, or by actual participation are implicated in it.” Isaac Backus, who became famous as a Baptist pastor and historian, was raised in the Standing Order of New England (state church). Yet the family owned a slave and an Indian girl apprenticed as a servant. The famed diary of Backus reported the death of a slave of one of the members of the church in Middleborough, Massachusetts in the mid-eighteenth century. Two things were involved in shifting the slave population to the South. The cold winters made slavery unprofitable and the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 made the institution of slavery to be profitably utilized. But we must ever remember that Jesus told us who the real slave is: He said “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. He also said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Dr. Greg J. Dixon; adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 20-21.

 

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331 – Nov. 27 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

He was also a patriot

 

1762 – Martin Ross, who was born in Martin County, North Carolina, was greatly used of the Lord in spreading the gospel, guiding the churches in the proper order, and exhorting them to support their ministers and worldwide missions. He was also a patriot who had answered the call of his country as a soldier in the continental army. He received Jesus Christ as Savior in 1782 and was baptized by Elder John Page. He was licensed to preach in 1784 and was ordained pastor of the Skewarkey Baptist Church in 1787. He was an outstanding church planter and able leader in the Kehukee Association of Baptists even though he ministered in an area of rude and often fierce people. He fell into disfavor with many of his brethren when he wrote a circular letter in 1790 on the subject of “The Maintenance of the Ministry.” There had been such a reaction against the state clergy, who had received their salary from taxation of the people and had become corrupt, that for many years Baptist preachers had preached against receiving anything for preaching the gospel. However, Ross believed that there should be a balanced position based on the scriptures, such as not muzzling the ox. (I Cr. 9:9). The division also involved the missionary and anti-missionary movement among Baptists. Ross of course led the fight for the cause of missions. The Baptist Philanthropic Society began as the first organized missionary work among North Carolina Baptists and expanded under his leadership and continued for twenty-five years, when it became the Baptist State Convention of N.C. What a great debt of gratitude we owe to men like Martin Ross. [This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 649-50. George Washington Paschal, History of North Carolina Baptists (Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards and Broughton Co., 1930), 1:509.] Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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328 – Nov. 24 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

He baptized over 3,000 converts

 

1802 – D.R. Murphy was born in Jefferson County, Tennessee. His father William, had served in the Revolutionary War and was a nephew of the famous “Murphy Boys” who were Baptist ministers during the struggles of the early Virginia Baptists. D.R. was a wicked young man but had a glorious salvation experience, and was          immersed and united with the Mill Spring Baptist Church on Sept. 3, 1832. He began preaching immediately and was ordained in 1834, and then spent the next five years preaching in Tenn. He married Lucy Carter in 1822 and they had ten children, then hearing of the great spiritual needs of the west, he moved his growing family to Missouri in 1839, and began his itinerant ministry. He established a church in Enon, Missouri in April of 1840. In August in the same county he had enough converts to found the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. In July of 1841, he organized the Coon Creek Baptist Church in St. Clair County. In thirty-five years he started thirty churches. When you consider the scattered population his feats were amazing. Families lived in small log cabins with dirt floors, a side door with wooden chimneys, often ten miles apart. Amazingly he baptized over three-thousand believers. In the last seven years of his life Mrs. Murphy became very ill and after her death he remarried a widow, Mrs. L.A. Cedar who labored with him until his death on Aug. 28, 1875 at 73. Her testimony follows. “My husbands death was a most triumphant one. He suffered intensely for four months, and was patient and meek…The last song we sung was, ‘I am going home to die no more…” [R.S. Duncan, A History of the Baptists in Missouri (Saint Louis: Scammell and Company, Publishers, 1882), p. 604. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 643-44.]
Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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197 – July 16 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Baptists chose Liberty over Tolerance

 

The members of the First Baptist Church of Middleborough, Massachusetts, no doubt were sore grieved when their pastor, the Rev. Isaac Backus posted the following notice on July 16, 1759 which read in part, “Whereas by a late Law of this Province it is enacted that a List of the Names of those who belong to each Baptist Society (Church) must be taken each year and given in to the Assessors before the 20^th of July or else they will stand liable to be Rated to the ministers where they live:…” In other words Baptists could get an “exemption” from paying the Congregational ministers salary and the upkeep of their church buildings, if they could prove that they were faithful in their own services.  Backus spent a great deal of time fighting to eradicate state support for the Standing Order churches. He said that it was not only “taxation without representation” but it robbed the Baptists of their property and livestock to pay the tax that Baptists would not pay out of conviction, and also stole money from them that they could use to build their own meeting houses and pay their preachers.  Baptists rejoiced in Jan. 1786 when Virginia passed their act for Religious Freedom.  It said, “…no man shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities.”  There is a vast difference between “Tolerance and Liberty.” Tax exemption is based on the recipient asking for the privilege from a higher authority and meeting certain demands. The other is recognizing that liberty comes from God and demanding from our public servants that they guarantee those inalienable rights as embodied in the First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

 

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: adapted From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 291-92.

 

 

 

139 — May 19 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Uniformity, Conformity, and Dissent

 

Baptists rejected statism

 

The issue of church/state relationship (marriage) has its roots in the age-old struggle of Satan and the Caesars of this world system to “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isa. 14:14).

 

The Act of Uniformity (1662), an Act of the Legislature of England, required all ministers in England and Wales to conform to the Church of England, and in particular to use and subscribe to the Book of Common Prayer, which it decreed to be the only legal service book. Receiving Royal Assent on May 19, 1662, it required that every parson, vicar, or other minister make the following public declarations on or before St. Bartholomew’s Day (August 24) 1662:

 

“I, —-, do here declare my unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything contained and prescribed in and by the book entitled The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Church of England, together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in churches; and the form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating of bishops, priests, and deacons.”

 

The Baptists rejected the whole concept of an established church and its methods of appointment and payment even if they were qualified to receive them. Many of the rejected ministers became Baptists. It was estimated that a total of 1,760 ministers were ultimately ejected, many of these because they had given judgment against infant baptism.

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from:  This Day in Baptist History Vol. I. (Thompson/ Cummins) pp. 204 -205

 

 

 

360 – Dec. 26 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

“…they have increased their number above all sects in the land.”
 
December 26, 1646 – The Presbyterian Parliament in England under Cromwell passed an  ordinance that called for severe penalties against anyone who would “preach or expound the scriptures in any church, or any other public place, except they may be ordained, either here or some other reformed church, as it is already prohibited in both houses of the 26th of April, 1645, and likewise against all such ministers, or others, as shall publish or maintain, by preaching, or writing or any other way, anything against, or in derogation of church government which is now established by authority of both houses of parliament.” It went on to tell how the authorities were  to enforce and punish the offenders. The persecutions were directed mainly against the Baptists because they denied the necessity of infant baptism. Almost every prominent Baptist preacher was sooner or later committed to prison. The troubled times of the civil war gave the Baptists in England an opportunity for real growth. Robert Baillie, one of their enemies said, “…they have increased their number above all sects in the land. They have 46 churches in and about London. They are a people very fond of religious liberty, and very unwilling to be brought under bondage of the judgment of any other.” The Baptists joined in great numbers to Cromwell’s army. Many officers were accustomed to preaching, and both commanders and privates were continually searching the scriptures and praying in meetings. Because of this, many more became Baptists. One of the distinguished leaders, Major General Harrison was a Baptist. Cromwell had him thrown into prison when Harrison became disenchanted with Cromwell’s commitment to liberty. Baptists soon realized that the Parliamentary Party was not a real friend to the Baptists.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 541-42.

346 – Dec. 12 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

Two brothers were immersed and became Baptists
December 12, 1841 – Mr. Robert Haldane died in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was born on Feb. 28, 1764, in London and was trained at Dundee and Edinburgh. James Alexander Haldane, his brother, was born at Dundee on July 14, 1768, and was trained at the same schools and both served in the British navy, and in 1786 they inherited a large estate. Robert Haldane became a great writer and philanthropist, giving $350,000 for charitable purposes within fifteen years and during his lifetime educating 300 ministers of the Gospel at an expense of £100,000. James was also converted to Christ early in life, travelled throughout Scotland as an evangelist, and was ordained in 1799 as an independent pastor in Edinburgh. Robert and James were outstanding men, and “as the Church of Scotland had no use for unauthorized preachers, they worked independently, trained men, building and endowing tabernacles, founding a Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home.” When the reports of Carey in India began to circulate, Robert…devoted £35,000 to the work…” even though it meant supporting Baptist work. Many of the ministers that Haldane supported began to study the subject of Baptism and became convinced to be immersed and became Baptists. Repudiating pedobaptism, both brothers, in time, were immersed, and in 1808 they became Baptists. Robert authored meaningful volumes of which some still are in existence. His Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, is still reprinted in our day. James continued his preaching, without pay, for fifty years until his death in 1851.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 518-20.

340 – Dec. 06 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

He made it clear that all associations are entirely “voluntary”.
December 06, 1821 – The First State convention was formed in South Carolina, “for the promotion of evangelical and useful knowledge, by means of religious education and the support of missionary service among the destitute…and the promotion of the true interest of the churches of Christ in general, and of their union, love and harmony in particular.” And yet again, “The Convention shall recognize the independence and liberty of the Churches of Christ, and consequently shall not in any case arbitrarily interfere with their spiritual obligations.” Denominational colleges were begun rapidly in the states that followed the pattern of establishing state conventions. The first cohesive effort among Baptists began in 1707. It was for the purpose of educating its ministers and the spread of the gospel in the world. The growth of associations was very slow among the Baptist churches for fear of the assumption of power by the associations. It was 60 years after the Philadelphia Association that the Warren Association, of Rhode Island was formed. It was only after assurances from men like Edward T. Hiscox in his Baptist Directory (1866) did the growth of the associations proliferate. He made it clear that all associations are entirely “voluntary”. No church or individual was obligated to unite with them and they “can leave them when they wish.” The research by Robert G. Gardner reveals that in 1780 there were approximately 1066 Baptist churches in America and only 14 Associations, representing 286 churches which were less than 25%. However that was to change drastically when Luther Rice returned from the field from India. The birth of the Triennial Convention for the cause of missions, the development of associations and state conventions became a reality.
Dr. Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 508-10.