The church was persecuted for the first few hundred years. It was only when Christianity got adopted by the Roman empire when credobaptism was mentioned as a capital crime, meaning that underground credobaptist sects were around between the Apostles and the Anabaptists. I was giving evidence that credibaptism was practiced between the time of the Apostles and the time of the Anabaptists.
Where were these credobaptists outside of the Roman Empire? How come Christianity in Armenia, Persia, Ethiopia, and everywhere else had the same beliefs and practices as Christianity in the Roman Empire?
The Persian Empire continued to persecute Christians even as Christianity had already received official toleration under Constantine, even as Christianity had become the official religion under Theodosius. The Sassanids continued to persecute the Church.
Where were these secret credobaptists?
Where were the credobaptists in India? Armenia? Persia? Ethiopia? And everywhere else Christianity had already long been established long before Rome even made Christianity legal, let alone the official religion of Rome.
You quote what you say is a person named Gundulphus, however the source I can find states that these remarks come from Gerard, bishop of Cambray and Arrus, speaking of a group led by a certain man named Gundulphus. (
Western Baptist Review, volume 4); providing the same source you provide.
And from that source,
"
Mr. Stennet relates from Dr. Allix, a passage concerning one Gundulphus and his followers in Italy; divers of whom, Gerard, bishop of Cambray and Arras, interrogated upon several heads in the year 1025: and among other things, that bishop mentions the following reason, which they gave against infant baptism; "because to an infant, that neither wills nor runs, that knows nothing of faith, is ignorant of its own salvation and welfare, in whom there can be no desire of regeneration or confession; the will, faith and confession of another seem not in the least to appertain." Dr. Wall, indeed, represents these men the disciples of Gundulphus, as Quakers and Manichees in the point of baptism, holding that water baptism is of no use to any:" - John Gill,
The Divine Right of Infant Baptism: Examined and Disproved
As is usually the case in this kind of narrative, the appeal is always to find an individual, or even a group, somewhere that opposed the baptism of infants, and then to prop it up as evidence of a secret, underground lineage of Christians who believe "as I do", most famously obviously being Landmarksim, and this is really just another version of that.
I find it significant that time and again whenever a Landmarkist, or Landmarkist-like narrative is attempted, there is always a piecemeal, cherry-picked set of "proofs", little attention being paid to the broader context of the individuals and groups. No attention is paid, for example, that a group opposed the baptism of infants because we are dealing with out-and-out heretics. Heretical not just because they deny the meaning and significance and application of Baptism; but heretics because they deny the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. It's not an accident that frequently the charge of Manichaeanism is found, for example against groups such as the Cathars, the Bogomils, the Paulicians, et al.
Or, in addition, claims are made of certain groups which are never cited, for example that the Waldenses refused the baptism of infants; a claim that is made all the more strange considering that the Waldenses themselves willingly embraced the Reformed tradition of the Reformation, hence the Waldensian Church is a Protestant church within the Reformed tradition of John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli. I am unable to find anything which would suggest that the Waldenses ever denied the efficacy of Baptism, or denied Baptism to infants. In fact, originally the Waldenses were simply lay preachers, but because they engaged in lay preaching without the permission of the local clergy, it brought them into conflict with the clergy. The Waldenses were not some long lost group of secret Christians who practiced credobaptism; they were a lay preaching movement that took issue with the excesses of the medieval Western Church, arguing in favor of Christian simplicity. They show up at a time in the history of Western Europe where these sorts of reactionary movements against Ecclesiastical excesses were becoming more frequent. Just look at St. Francis of Assissi; though where Francis and the Franciscans obtained favor from Rome, and the Waldenses didn't can probably be attributed, in part, to the fact that even though the Waldenses received a blessing from the Pope to preach, they were told to do so only under the authority of the local clergy, which they ignored; Francis on the other hand and his movement remained in good standing with church authorities. On the other hand, whether or not a movement received sanction or condemnation seemed somewhat whimsical, based upon the particular circumstances and the particular individuals involved and their temperament.
Landmarkism, or its various permutations, is consistently rejected by serious historians and academics; regardless of the religious beliefs of said historians and academics. It is rejected because it lacks the weight of evidence and substance. It relies on cherry-picking data, making claims that cannot be backed up and verified, and seeks to weave a narrative connecting dots throughout history completely regardless of whether there is basis to do so. Do we have groups and individuals who rejected infant baptism? Sure, but are there reasons for rejecting it all the same? No. Is there a line of connectivity between them? No.
I mean, I get it. How romantic would it be if one was part of some secret society of clandestine underground True Christians surviving against all odds. But, that's just not a thing. It's never been a thing. Because, again, we have persecuted Christians outside of the Roman Empire, and we know what their beliefs and practices were and are. And they believed and practiced just like their Christian brothers and sisters within the Roman Empire.
-CryptoLutheran