- Joined
- Jun 15, 2013
- Messages
- 1,829
- Reaction score
- 40
- Points
- 48
INTRODUCTION
For this series, I am defining "Baptist" as any born-again Christian who practices immersion after conversion.
It's easy to prove that Baptists existed before both Calvinists and Protestants--the Four Gospels and the Book of Acts clearly show that the first Christians were Baptists. Period. The entire New Testament shows that the first Christians weren't Calvinist. Period.
The Catholic Church would later destroy, falsify, and preserve records to show that Catholicism was the first Christian religion, and therefore, NO HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THIS PERIOD CAN BE COMPLETELY TRUSTED.
Just as modern Baptists have been corrupted by Calvinism and modernism, history shows that Baptist groups like the Paulicians, Albigenses, and Vaudois lasted for centuries while being corrupted by some blend of Catholicism and paganism. And since the Catholic Church controlled history, even these records are suspect.
The Church Fathers were an early Christian source of theology, and I want to tell you three deep, dark secrets about them:
1) At a time when communication, organization, and transportation were poor; and when most people couldn't read, the Church Fathers were isolated scholars whom most Christians never met, never heard of, never learned from, and never studied. How did the Catholics corrupt the Baptists so quickly? They didn't--most Baptists never listened to the Church Fathers.
2) Not a single one of the Church Fathers believed the Catholicism of today, Calvinism, Protestantism, or the Orthodox religion of today. Even those Church fathers who were later declared saints or Doctors of the Church were not Catholic. They were scholarly theologians who had found a new religion to play with.
3) The Church Fathers heavily contradicted and even condemned one another--they are not a source of doctrine, and despite their historical importance, the Bible never tells us to listen to them. Then, as now, most Baptists ignored the Church Fathers.
We used a Protestant Church History textbook at HAC (that gave a lot of praise to monasteries). The author could not hide his frustration at the rapid and sudden emergence of Baptist congregations all over Europe as soon as Catholicism lost its grip in an area. Where did these Baptists come from? Were they Catholics who believed the Gospel, and were now able to break away? Were they Baptists who pretended to be Catholics in order to protect themselves? Were they secret Baptist congregations that had met in home churches? We don't know, but we know that they existed before both Calvinists and Protestants.
For this series, I am defining "Baptist" as any born-again Christian who practices immersion after conversion.
It's easy to prove that Baptists existed before both Calvinists and Protestants--the Four Gospels and the Book of Acts clearly show that the first Christians were Baptists. Period. The entire New Testament shows that the first Christians weren't Calvinist. Period.
The Catholic Church would later destroy, falsify, and preserve records to show that Catholicism was the first Christian religion, and therefore, NO HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THIS PERIOD CAN BE COMPLETELY TRUSTED.
Just as modern Baptists have been corrupted by Calvinism and modernism, history shows that Baptist groups like the Paulicians, Albigenses, and Vaudois lasted for centuries while being corrupted by some blend of Catholicism and paganism. And since the Catholic Church controlled history, even these records are suspect.
The Church Fathers were an early Christian source of theology, and I want to tell you three deep, dark secrets about them:
1) At a time when communication, organization, and transportation were poor; and when most people couldn't read, the Church Fathers were isolated scholars whom most Christians never met, never heard of, never learned from, and never studied. How did the Catholics corrupt the Baptists so quickly? They didn't--most Baptists never listened to the Church Fathers.
2) Not a single one of the Church Fathers believed the Catholicism of today, Calvinism, Protestantism, or the Orthodox religion of today. Even those Church fathers who were later declared saints or Doctors of the Church were not Catholic. They were scholarly theologians who had found a new religion to play with.
3) The Church Fathers heavily contradicted and even condemned one another--they are not a source of doctrine, and despite their historical importance, the Bible never tells us to listen to them. Then, as now, most Baptists ignored the Church Fathers.
We used a Protestant Church History textbook at HAC (that gave a lot of praise to monasteries). The author could not hide his frustration at the rapid and sudden emergence of Baptist congregations all over Europe as soon as Catholicism lost its grip in an area. Where did these Baptists come from? Were they Catholics who believed the Gospel, and were now able to break away? Were they Baptists who pretended to be Catholics in order to protect themselves? Were they secret Baptist congregations that had met in home churches? We don't know, but we know that they existed before both Calvinists and Protestants.