Baptists Before the Reformation (part 2)

Mark 13:31 says, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."

The four theories of Baptist origins that were presented in the last post are:

A. Apostolic succession
B. Anabaptist kinship
C. Possible baptistic congregations within the Roman Catholic church
D. English Separatist decent

All four all four have some strengths and weaknesses yet all four are open for debate. I will echo E. T. Hiscox words “The greater part had never been connected with Roman hierarchy, while many had, separated themselves from the false, that they might enjoy the true Church of Christ.

The important element is not succession but possession."*

Keneth H. Good writes, “E.T. Hiscox states that the claim of an unbroken, visible succession going back to the apostles is ‘groundless, and doctrinally useless.’ The marks of a genuine Baptist church are to be found 'not in succession, but in possession.'”**

“Possession of what?” one may logically ask. The possession and practice of the apostolic truth and teaching found in the New Testament are the marks of a biblical Baptist church.

We have studied these truths in the acrostic BAPTISTS:

Biblical Authority

Autonomy of the Local Church

Priesthood of All Believers

Two Ordinances: Baptism and Communion

Individual Soul Liberty

Saved Church Membership

Two Offices: Pastor and Deacon

Separation of the Church and State

While they do not cover all truth found in the completed Revelation of God they serve well to articulate the substance of biblical Baptists.

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. (Mark 13:31)

Next post: Baptists and the Reformation

*Principles and Practicises For Baptist Churches, by E.T. Hiscox (P.497) Kregel

**God's Blueprint for a Church, by Kenneth H. Good (p.122) RBP