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Chapter 14: Heresies and Persecutions (Continued)
It would seem that the indignities visited by a ruler upon one of his honored subjects, could not be greater than the one which has just been narrated, much less could it be perpetrated by one claiming, as does the pope, to be God's vicegerent upon earth. Raymond VI., count of Toulouse, however, was subjected to a still more humiliating punishment. The Albigenses abounded very largely in the territories of this count, and he extended to them his protection and patronage. He was even charged with having imbibed some of their views. This aroused the indignation of the Catholics against him, and he was excommunicated by the pope. Not long after this one of the inquisitors was assassinated, and Count Raymond was accused of being…
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Chapter 15: Reformation of the Sixteenth Century
"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet-color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE…
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Chapter 16: Waldensean Period (Concluded)
We left off the history of the Waldenses at the close of chapter twelfth, in order to give some account of the heresies and corruptions of the Catholic party, which gave rise to the reformation of the sixteenth century. We are told that when the witnesses “shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them, and shall kill them." (Rev. 11:7) This prophecy had its fulfillment in the year 1686, when the Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont were either all killed or driven to other countries. A continuation of their history is a continuation of the same old story of persecutions, trials and sufferings. If the reader grows tired of…
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Chapter 17: Anabaptists, Or, Baptists
The term Anabaptist was applied to all that class of persons who were known by the more general name of Waldenses. While the name Anabaptist was not so generally used until after the reformation of the sixteenth century, it was occasionally used as early as the beginning of the third century. Literally the word means to baptize again, and was applied to all those Christians who rebaptized those who came over to their communion from the Catholics. These people repudiated the name, however, in its specific meaning, claiming that it was not re-baptism, since the Catholic church, being an apostate church, could not administer Scriptural baptism. After the close of the Waldensean period the prefix ana begun to be left off and the simple name…
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Chapter 18: Baptists in America
The origin of the Baptists in America is not traceable to any one man or set of men. They came here singly and in groups. By comparing their articles of faith a unity of doctrine was discovered and churches were formed. Baptist churches are always formed just in this way. A few individuals, having been previously baptized, and holding membership in some Baptist church, come together and adopt a church covenant and articles of faith, and are then ready to transact business, such as the election of officers for the church, the reception of members, etc., as did the church of Jerusalem just before the day of Pentecost. It has been charged, but very unjustly, that Roger Williams was the founder of the Baptists in…
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Chapter 19: Persecutions in America
The Baptists had hardly got settled in America when they begun to experience persecutions similar to those experienced by their ancestors in the old countries. Massachusetts was at this time under the rule of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the Congregationalists, or Puritans, as they were generally termed, were established by law. In the year 1664, an act was passed containing the following clause: "It is ordered and agreed, that if any person or persons, within this jurisdiction, shall either openly condemn or oppose the baptizing of infants, or go about secretly to seduce others from the approbation or use thereof, or shall purposely depart the congregation at the ministration of the ordinance after due time and means of conviction—every such person or persons shall…
