Defending anabaptists from Trail of Blood heritage..

nzguy · #1 19th September 2008, 04:57 AM

The Trail of Blood heritage is false history? Really? Have a read of this:

The Origin and Perpetuity of the Baptists
The Baptist Examiner

From:http://www.pbministries.org/History/...perpetuity.htm

Proving that Baptists are linked with the Anabaptists, Waldenses, Donatists, Novatians, etc., is not too important. Of course, it is important that Baptists be linked with the church which has descended from Christ, but whether all (or any of) these groups named were the expressions of Christ’s church in their day and age, we do not definitely know.

No doubt some of the churches in these groups were not sound in the faith, just as many churches among Baptists today are not sound. But there is great possibility and strong indication from what history is recorded of them, that these Anabaptists and Waldenses and other groups held to the same truths for which the churches of the New Testament stood. That in some of these groups there were things which are not in harmony with what we believe to be New Testament teaching is not denied. But let us remember that what is recorded in history as being the position of a certain group does not mean that the entire group or even the majority of the group held to such.

Furthermore, let it be remembered that right along side these groups who had some error mixed with truth we do not know that there weren’t other churches that were entirely free from the error and held solely to the truth Today a person could go into a church called Baptist and hear many things which sound Baptists do not believe. If that person were to judge all Baptists by this one church he would have a wrong impression. Now this is exactly what happened in many instances in ages past, no doubt.When someone points to some inconsistency on the part of a certain group, we say, "Prove that all the churches held to that. Prove that there were not other churches standing against this error."

Also, it should be remembered that most history has been written by the enemies of Baptists. Baptists, as a result of persecution, were unable to do much by way of writing. They were too busy seeking a place to worship without persecution to give time to write; and furthermore, they were poor people and unable to buy equipment to print or pay for the printing.

One more fortunate Baptist brother wrote a little tract in which he said: "We that have most truth are persecuted, and therefore most poor; whereby we are unable to write and print, or we would, against the adversaries of truth. It is hard for us to get our daily bread with our weak bodies and feeble hands. How, then, should we have means to defray other charges, and to write and print?" (The Origin of Baptists by S. F. Ford, page 20) .