272 – Sept. 29 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

 

 

His outspoken ways brought great persecution

 Balthasar Hubmaier received the doctorate of theology from the University of Ingolstadt in Germany and entered the Roman Catholic ministry on Sept. 29, 1512.  Through his studies he became disillusioned with what he had been taught and by 1523 was in contact with the Protestant reformer, Zwingli and he was transformed by the grace of God. Later he left Zwingli over believer’s immersion. His outspoken ways brought great persecution down upon him. He like Peter, under pressure, denied the truth, but repented and was able to give a glorious testimony to God’s grace in the flames of martyrdom on March 10, 1528. Three days later his wife Elizabeth, undaunted in her faith, was thrown into the Danube River and drowned. The doctrine that caused our Anabaptist forebears to suffer at the hands of Catholic and Protestant Reformers alike was infant baptism. That wicked heresy was established in the third century as Cyprian consulted with sixty bishops upon the question of whether children were to be baptized on the third or eighth day from their birth? Our forefathers the Donatists, repudiated this falsity. The Reformers, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin continued in this heresy, and also persecuted the Baptists, and other non-conformists over this issue, which they had received from Augustine. [Wm. R. Estep, The Anabaptist Story Nashville: Broadman Press, 1963), p. 49.

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: From: This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson,   pp.  533 – 34.

 

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17 – January 17 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

 

The mode of baptism did count

1525 – Conrad Grebel and his family felt the sting of the edict passed by the city council of Zurich ordering all parents to bring all unbaptized infants to present them for baptism within eight days or face expulsion from the city. Early in 1525 a child had been born to the Grebel’s. Conrad did not baptize his baby because he had become convinced that christening finds no support in the New Testament. Conrad Grebel was from a wealthy and prominent Swiss family, whose father served as a magistrate in Gruningen, just east of Zurich. Conrad also enjoyed many educational advantages. He was saved, and by 1522 was publicly defending the gospel and expressed a desire to become a minister. Falling in with the teachings of Ulrich Zwingli, Grebel also gave himself to the scriptures. Grebel and other young Anabaptists owed much to Zwingli, but they owed more to the Bible. These two loyalties soon came to a head, and it was Grebel who initiated believers baptism on that historic night in January 1525. As such, young Grebel became a champion of the Anabaptist movement. Grebel had only one year and eight months to proclaim the gospel, but in spite of numerous imprisonments and poor health his accomplishments were phenomenal. He preached, visited from door- to-door, baptized those who were saved, and was again arrested and imprisoned in Grunigen Castle. Being brought to trial, Grebel, Blaurock, and Manz were sentenced to an indefinite term of internment in Nov. 1525. They were given a diet of bread and water. Again Grebel was able to escape, but his freedom was short-lived, for he died in the summer of 1526, probably a victim of the plague, but a hero of the faith that lives on even today!
Dr. Greg J. Dixon; adapted from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins Thompson /, pp. 22-23

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334 – Nov. 30 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Zwingli persecutes the Anabaptists

 

1525 – The following proclamation was published against the Anabaptists in Zurich, Switzerland by the Zwinglians: “…we ordain…that…all men, women, young men, and maidens, abstain from rebaptism, and from this time practice it no more; and that they bring their children to be baptized.” It went on to say that whoever refused to obey this public order would be punished by a fine of silver. Five years later harsher penalties were levied, including torture and death. The Anabaptists became the target of such inhuman abuses that defy description from both Rome and the Reformers. William Jones, In his History of the Christian Church wrote, “They were publicly whipped, drawn by the heels through the streets, racked till’ every bone was disjointed, had their teeth beat out, their noses, hands, and ears cut off, sharp pointed spears run under their nails, melted lead thrown on their naked bodies, had their eyes dug out, limbs cut off, ground between stones, broiled on gridirons, cast by heaps into the sea, crucified, scraped to death with shells, torn in pieces by boughs of trees, etc. When Peter Sager was burned, the town records recorded the following: “Paid to Master Garnancie for burning Peter Sager, 20 Shillings; for cords and stake, 10 shillings; for the pains of the executioner, 28 shillings; special watchmen during the execution, 17 shillings, 6 pfennigs; other amounts for twelve wagon loads of fuel and twenty-eight measures of wine for the dance at the court-house, in honor of the Count of Zil.” Our Anabaptist forefathers truly found themselves in a pincer movement between Rome on one side and the Reformers on the other. [This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. pp. 655-56. Joseph Meyer, Baptists Establishers of Religious Liberty (Chicago: Private Printing, 1923), pp. 101-2.]    Prepared by Dr. Greg J. Dixon

 

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