WAS THE MAYFLOWER A BAPTIST SHIP?

Since the mid Fifteenth Century when Johann Gutenberg invented printing by movable type (1456) Bibles had fallen into the hands of the common people there was a proliferation of Christian bodies springing up across Europe and in England which were outside the Catholic Church and the Church of England. The King James translation had no small part in the explosion of Baptists in England, across Europe and in America. We Baptists have a spiritual kinship with many of these groups. The people we know as Baptists have not always been called Baptists. They have sometimes been called Dissenters. They have been called Non-conformists. They have been called Separatists. Sometimes they were identified by some religious leader who shared their views such as the Mennonites (followers of Menno Simons) or Waldensians (followers of Peter Waldo). A common term in Europe was the term Anabaptists, "Radical Reformers". The founder of the Anabaptists in Zurich was Conrad Grebel who was born about 1490 and a follower of Zwingli. However, a serious break with Zwingli occurred in 1525 when the Zurich Council issued a mandate restraining Grebel and Felix Manz from holding "Bible study" or "Bible schools". Finally, Zwingli was unable to justify infant baptism from the Scriptures and he broke with his Anabaptist supporters in 1525. The most outstanding of the German Anabaptists was Balthasar Hubmaier. He was a devout Roman Catholic who was baptized by Wilheim Reublin who was an Anabaptists refugeee from Zurich. When Hubmaier fled from Waldshut where troops had been sent to arrest him, he went to Zurich. There he was imprisoned for a time and later banished to Augsburg and later to Nikolsburg in Moravia where he witnessed more than 6,000 conversions in a single year. These groups all held certain civil authority over the Church. They rejected the Divine right of Kings. They insisted on a personal experience of salvation by grace through faith. They insisted on baptism of believers only. They insisted on a regenerate Church membership. They believed that the Church should be governed by the teaching of Scripture. They believed in high moral standards of the Church membership. They insisted on the congregational form of Church government. They felt that the Church had two ordinances: baptism and the Lord's Supper. They insisted that baptism was testimonial and that the Lord's Supper was a memorial and that neither conveyed grace. They also believed in religious liberty for all.

ENGLAND

In 1534/35 Henry VIII declared himself to be the Head of the Church in England. He had become infatuated with Anne Boleyn. He wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Spain, to marry Anne but Rome refused. He then declared himself to be Head of the English Church, divorced Catherine and married Anne Boleyn anyway. This marked the split of the Church of England with Papal authority. Catherine bore a daughter who became known as Queen Mary (Bloody Mary). Bloody Mary took the English back into the Roman Catholic fold for five years. Then her half sister, Queen Elizabeth, overthrew Papal authority again and from that time on (1558) the Crown headed the Church in England.

In 1600 John Smyth was preaching at the Church in Lincoln. He had received the Master of Arts degree in 1593 from Christ College where had had been a student of Francis Johnson. He was elected "Lecturer" or "Preacher" of that city on September 27 by a City Council vote of 8 to 7. In 1602 the Council settled on a stipend of 40 pounds a year plus house house rent for life. That was done on August 1st but the action was annulled by October 13 when he was abruptly deposed because he had "approved himself a factious man in this city by personal preaching and that untruly against divers men of good place". He obviously had criticized some of the leading citizens because of the way they lived their lives and he was deemed to be "non-conformist" in his views. When he was dismissed he was a sick man. He made his way to Broxtowe Hall to the happy home of his prosperous friends, Thomas and Jane Helwys. They took him in, made him welcome and gave him the best room and the best care. While they nursed him back to health, they spent a great deal of t9ime sitting by the fire and talking of the Scriptures. These two men are generally considered the first of the English Baptists.

KING JAMES

In 1603 the year that Roger Williams was born, King James ascended to the Throne of England. While he did some good things he was very intolerant of Dissenters and vowed that they would either conform or that he would "harrie them out of the Land". While Smyth and Helwys were both members of the Church of England, they were both very questioning of the dogma and authority of the Church. They wondered about its structure and meaning and were searching the Scriptures to find satisfaction for their doubts. They had real problems with the idea that the conscience of the people rested on the whim of a King. John Smyth made his way to his home town of Gainsborough. He was not yet a Separatists but was passing through a time of soul searching in his own life. In that town was a Congregational Church which had been organized about 1602. The Church grew rapidly and to avoid the notice of authorities, they thought it unwise to continue to meet together for English law forbad such "conventicles". When the group divided some remained at Gainsborough under the pastoral leadership of Smyth and the remnant removed to Scrooby Manor under the leadership of Richard Clyfton who led the Church for a short while and this is the Church that became the famous Pilgrim Church led by John Robinson, William Bradford and William Brewster.

THE PILGRIM CHURCH

The Gainsborough Church led by John Smyth and Thomas Helwys finally fled England under the severe persecution of King James. The group from that Church who had split away because of the size of it and moved to Scrooby Manor also fled England because of the persecution. Both groups arrived in Amsterdam about the same time in 1608. Both groups became Anabaptists by rejecting infant baptism. For a time they were apparently in fellowship with the Ancient Church pastored by Francis Johnson. They soon learned of the seemingly unending controversy between Johnson and the Congregation. Johnson was a very domineering figure and much of his criticism came from the members concerning his own family. He had married a wealthy widow, Thomasine Boyse, who was beautiful but quite frivolous. Some described her as a "bouncy girle". They felt that she had a taste for extravagant and many times immodest dress including several gold rings. She had money from her first husband to provide these things. One particularly ornate gown had become the topic of Church Discipline as well as an ornate hat. The gown was said to be too daring. The Church demanded that it be brought to the congregation for their judgment as to whether or not a Minister's wife should wear it. Johnson's own brother, George, leveled charges that Thomasine often lay in bed until 9:00 AM, even on the Lord's Day. The group from Gainsborough and Scrooby Manor did not care for the confusion in the church and withdrew. They formed the Pilgrim Church. This Church was made up, almost totally, of people who had been a part of the Gainsborough Church.

The Robinson Group ultimately moved to Leiden (also spelled Leyden) where they remained for a few years. There they experienced much difficulty. Although there was no persecution they suffered economic loss and were grieved to see their children leaving the English language and marrying into Dutch families. Finally, 37 of them journeyed to Scrooby to board the Mayflower for America. Pastor John Robinson went with them to see them off. While Pastor Robinson intended to join them in America, he never did as he died in 1625. These people would forever be known as Pilgrims.

THE JOURNEY

Other Separatist had joined the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and counting passengers and crew there were 102 on Board. While most of them were humble Christians there were some very wayward and lawless people on Board among the passengers and among the crew. Some of the Pilgrim Fathers became concerned about what kind of Government they would live under when they landed. When they arrived at Plymouth, before disembarking, they all adopted the Mayflower Compact. This document was lost during the first year in Plymouth and we can never know exactly what it said. We only know what some who were present remembered about it. The scant information that is known about it simply reveals that it was a document agreeing to live under law and be governed by law because some feared that once in the New World there would be anarchy among the group.

In Amsterdam, both Smyth and Helwys became Anabaptists but they finally went their separate ways over the issue of se-baptism. Helwys returned to England where he founded a Baptist Church in Spitafields just outside the Wall of London. He prepared a little booklet addressed to the King. The basic theme of the Booklet was that in civil matters Christians should submit to the authority of the King but in spiritual matters they should submit only to the authority of Christ. In the Inscription of the Book Helwys said, "The King is a mortal man and not God, therefore hath no power over ye immortall souls of his subjects to make lawes and ordinances for them and to set spiritual lords over them". lHelwys made the delivery personally and was never heard from again after 1612.

COMPROMISE

In America, the Pilgrims began to meet with some Puritan Separatists and they formed the Congregational Church which eventually became the established Church. Therefore, the Pilgrims and their early descendants did the very thing in America from which they had fled in England but there is little doubt that there was a very heavy Baptists influence on the Mayflower. THE DICTIONARY OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA says, "Today, reference to 'the Pilgrims' is to these pious Christians who brought to the new world the first seeds of what would become the United States."

THE MEMPHIS DECLARATION AND OTHER POST-MODERN NONSENSE

Today I reviewed the Memphis Declaration again. It is cynical nonsense. It is hard to say that because of my high respect for some of the signatories. Some of them are good people who, I believe, have been deceived. Others should know better. Some have been bouncing around the Convention for a long time. One has a very serious criminal conviction in his past. I pray that he has repented and I would never dare underestimate the power of the grace of God to forgive and reclaim his life. If he is reconciled to God I would welcome him with open arms but there's also a time to "let a man prove himself". I will never mention his name but he certainly knows who he is and others know too.

Some of the signatories have gone through great crises in their personal ministries and they probably feel that their brothers in the Convention didn't do enough to help them in reclaiming their ministry. That is probably true because they are very committed Christians for whom I have great love and respect. I would only caution that getting involved with a group of schismatics who are parading as unifiers is not the answer.

The Declaration is a very cleverly worded, self-righteous statement that finds little good in the Southern Baptist Convention. It was obviously prepared by a group of self styled watchdogs of the Convention. They have repented of all the sins of our Convention (shades of some church members I have known). In fact, in reading the Statement you would have a hard time concluding that Southern Baptists are anything more than a group of hypocritical rascals and charlatans. They have repented for everything from our "triumphalism" to "arrogance" to a lack of love for those "without Christ" to a lack of "reason" and for our "wickedness". According to the statement, we have misplaced priorities, disrespect for the sovereign grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and have been inattentive to the governance of our Convention. The Statement is basically anti-convention and anti-resurgence. If they want to repent of their own sins, that is their own business but to "repent" for other Baptists is beyond the pale. We don't need any priests. Jesus is our Mediator and High Priest.

The tenor of the whole document is that we should invite the liberals who left us to come back and assume the reigns of our Denomination. Of course, they left of their own accord and the various organizations that they formed are not prospering very well. The graduates of their dinky divinity schools that they have formed are not in great demand. It is like a shrill, distant vituperative chatter that pronounces doom upon the Southern Baptist Convention from those who are just sure that they can run the Convention better than those who have been elected to do so. It is all a part of the crazy quilt of post-modern theology that is more anti-denominational than anything else. It always elevates "love" above truth.

POLITICS

Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are attempting to capitalize on this Post-Modern thought to drag more Baptists into the Democratic party. They have announced the "Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant" for January 30 - February 1, 2008 in Atlanta. At the news conference they were flanked by liberal Baptists from various liberal groups in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Bill Underwood of Mercer University said they would attempt to draw attention away from "the Baptists who have the microphone" meaning conservative Southern Baptists. He said: "North America desperately needs a true Baptists witness." Strangely, no Southern Baptists leaders were invited. The group worries that the Southern Baptist Convention has been "negative" and "exclusionary". This in spite of a Zogby Poll that shows that Southern Baptists have a favorable rating equal to that of other denominations. Of course Bill Clinton's wife, Hilary, happens to be running for President. What a coincidence!!

A KINDRED SENTIMENT

In a February 7 Baptist Press Release, Douglas Baker voiced a kindred sentiment when he said, "It is not enough to trot out the usual statements about the importance of inerrancy and expository preaching". Well, whoever said it was? I have never heard anyone in Southern Baptist life say that. Inerrancy describes our view of Scripture and expository preaching describes a kind of Biblical preaching that is strong in Biblical content and application to the hearers' daily lives. It is the most effective preaching that great Pastors have used for years in the building of great churches. Baptists who have heard that kind of preaching over the years are not easily confused by every wind of doctrine. Baker goes on to declare that "much of what is commonly called the Southern Baptist Convention may well not survive this century". He contends that "theological dust ups" between religious factions are so akin to political conventions that they "rightly dismiss denominations as simply playgrounds for wannabe politicians". The group think of post-modern theology was expressed by Paul Cain of the Vineyard movement back in 1989 when he warned the post-modern generation that they must beware of "old order brethren". At the Vineyard Prophetic Conference Cain said, "You can become the Word". Most Southern Baptists would agree with the prologue of John that Jesus is the Word.

CONFESSION

These people have no time for such things as Confessions of Faith. The Baptist Faith and Message, since 1925 has declared that the Bible is "truth without any mixture of error". That Statement was based on the New Hampshire Confession of 1833. It is not exactly a new concept. The Baptist Faith and Message of 1925 was adopted in the wake of the fundamentalist tidal wave that was unleashed by the Presbyterians at Princeton University in 1910 when faculty members at Princeton lead the General Conference of the Presbyterian Church to adopt the Five Fundamentals. Baptists were never excited about them even though they had no quarrel with them. They saw it as a very limited confession. They disagreed with the Fundamentalists over other things such as baptism and church government. Liberalism had also made its way to America and was undermining many American Churches and Institutions. Southern Baptists felt a need to make our position clear concerning our Baptist Faith. It has never been binding on any local church but it was guide for the institutions and agencies of our Convention. It has been slightly amended but it still serves that purpose.

ORTHODOXY

The Memphis Group condemns us for not reasoning with those who disagree with our Articles of Faith that are "not essential" to Christian Orthodoxy. Who decides what is essential and what is not essential to Christian Orthodoxy? Those who think that we are narrow are as intolerant as anyone with those who disagree with their views. Kenneth Sublet put it this way, "If one of the bits of 'human material' (communicants) decides to disseminate some truth totally based upon the Bible, they are divisive, counterproductive and must be eliminated. Those who would try to do it emotionally are no less violent than those who would burn your body in an oven".

The Memphis Declaration leads off by the condemnation of something they call "triumphalism". What kind of a thing is that? I have been as deeply involved in the conservative resurgence as anybody but I have never witnessed anything like that. We all recognize that we only triumph in Christ. Are we to cast aside II Corinthians 2: 14? Are we to ignore Colossians 2: 15?

The tenor of the entire document was hostile to the Southern Baptist Convention. I would like to suggest to the authors of the document that we may have some problems here and there but there is plenty in the Southern Baptist Convention that gives us cause to rejoice.

BAPTISTS WILL BE BAPTISTS

Yes, we Baptists sometimes have disputes. They can take place in a Sunday School Class, in a Local Church, in an Association or a Convention. We are very individualistic. It is not uncommon for individual Baptists to have an opinion. Someone has facetiously said that "wherever there are two or three Baptists gathered together there are four opinions". It is because we have a congregational form of Church Government. We are not hierarchical. We are not presbyterial. Because of our congregational form of government we are a democracy whose head is Jesus Christ and we look unto Him who is the author and finisher of our faith. Every Church, Association, State Convention as well as the national Convention are all autonomous one of the other. Each Baptist entity has the right to decide what their basis of cooperation will be. The Southern Baptist Convention operates its agencies and institutions in accord with the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000 and we have a right to do that.

WORTH DYING FOR

Southern Baptists today embody the same principles for which Baptists of yesteryear have been willing to die. In 1603, the year that Roger Williams was born, King James ascended to the Throne of England. He didn't like the Baptists. He referred to them as "dissenters" and "non-comformists". He vowed that they would conform or he would "harrie them out of the land". The Baptists didn't conform and he harried them out of the country. A group was meeting at Gainsborough under the leadership of John Smyth and Thomas Helwys who are considered the Fathers of Baptist beginnings in England. They rejected papal authority. They rejected the divine right of kings (for which Helwys died). They insisted on believers' baptism and a regenerate church membership. They insisted on the congregational form of government and Scriptural authority in all matters of religion. They insisted that baptism was a testimonial and that the Lord's Supper was a memorial. They believed in religious liberty for all. The group at Gainsborough had divided because of their size (since their meetings were unlawful in England) and some had begun meeting at Scrooby Manor. Both groups migrated to Amsterdam where they worshipped with the Ancient Church for a time. But, that Church was embroiled in a controversy over the daring dresses that the Pastor's wife wore. So they moved to a small place out from Amsterdam called Leiden (also spelled Leyden) where they founded the Pilgrim Church under the pastoral leadership of John Robinson. This group also contained two laymen who would become famous in America. They were William Bradford and William Brewster. After a time they became discouraged because of financial reverses and the fact that their children were marrying into the Dutch and leaving the English language. Finally, 37 of them journeyed back to Scrooby where they boarded a small ship called the Mayflower. Pastor Robinson went to see them off and he intended to join them later but he never joined them because he died in 1625. This group on the Mayflower were called Pilgrims. Some on the Mayflower joined their group on the way over and before they landed they formed the Mayflower Compact. No one knows exactly what was in the Compact since it was lost soon after they landed at Plymouth but those who remembered generally agreed that the document provided that they would be ruled by law and not by men. Those same principles that inspired and motivated the earliest of Baptists in England are still important to Southern Baptists today.

Yes, there is room for diversity of worship in the Southern Baptist Convention but there are still some basic tenets of the faith that are not negotiable among Southern Baptists and they are embodied in the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000. That is what the resurgence was all about. Many of us paid a high price for the things that we stood for and we have little time for those who constantly want to trash us for what we did - especially those who don't even remember where we came from.