Including Organized Seventh-day Baptist Churches and
Prominent Authors and Defenders of the Bible Sabbath.
J.
Lee Gamble and Charles H. Greene
1. EARLY CIVILIZATION OF THE BRITISH
ISLES
It may not be uninteresting or unimportant
to note that the earliest known inhabitants of these isles were not so rude and
uncivilized as is sometimes supposed. That the Britons were of Asiatic origin
seems to be supported by the testimony of Theophilus, bishop of. Antioch, (A.
D. 160), and by the similarity between Druidism and the rites of Baal and
Ashtoreth worship as practised in the East. Certain traditions indicate that
Britain may have been settled by a Trojan colony some time after the fall of
Troy, and took its name from the leader of that colony. There is evidence that
the British Isles were known in the time of King Solomon, and that before their
conquest by Julius Caesar they were as civilized as the Greeks who fought about
Troy. The Britons were versed in poetry and music, mathematics, geometry,
astronomy, philosophy, psychology, geography, rhetoric, metallurgy,
agriculture, navigation, and a form of writing, now all but lost, by which
their sacred mysteries were preserved from generation to generation. The island
was divided into a number of petty kingdoms which were always at war with one
another, except in case of great common danger, or when one kingdom developed
unusual strength ; then an arch-king, called "Pendragon", ruled over them
all while the danger lasted, or while his strength endured. This was the
condition of England when Julius Caesar discovered the islands, B.C. 55.
George Smith shows that their religion
"bore some resemblance to that professed by the Hebrew Patriarchs before
the giving of the law ;" that they had "clear and correct views of
the divine unity, nature, and attributes:" that they "seemed to have
fully believed, and clearly taught, the doctrines of a divine superintending
Providence;" and that in many other
points they approached, in doctrine and
worship, the standards of the Old Testament Scriptures. (Smith's "Religion
of Ancient Britain;" pp. 35-54.)
Hence, to say the least, they were not in a
condition unfavorable to the reception of Christianity.
II. EARLY PLANTING OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE
BRITISH ISLES
That Christianity was established in Britain
between the years A.D. 51 and A.D. 61, either by the Apostle Paul himself or by
converts made by him during his Roman imprisonment, is the testimony of many
credible historians. Gildas the earliest British writer of history, born A. D.
520, says of the introduction of Christianity into the islands: "Meanwhile
these islands, stiff with cold and frost, and in a distant region of the world,
remote from the visible sun, received the beams of light, that is, the holy
precepts of Christ - who is the true Sun, and who shows to the whole world his
splendor, nor only from the temporal firmament, but from the height of heaven,
which surpasses everything temporal - at the latter part, as we know, of the
reign of Tiberius Caesar, by whom his religion was propagated without
impediment." Comparing this with the previous passage, the events
mentioned appear to be limited by the 'meanwhile' to a period between the
defeat of Boadicea, A.D. 61, on the one hand, and on the other to events not
far distant - such as the defeat of Caractacus, A.D. 51. Therefore the
testimony of Gildas is to the effect that the gospel was preached in Britain
before the year 61. (Yeowell, p. 22.)
TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS
Irenaeus, A.D. 78, says that the church in
his time was spread throughout the World; and especially mentions the churches
in Germany, Spain, Gaul, and Britain. He adds: "There is no difference of
faith or tradition in any of these countries."
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea. A.D. 325-340,
in showing that the Apostles who first preached the gospel to the world could
be no imposters or deceivers, names many countries in which they labored, and
then adds particularly, that "some passed over the ocean to those which
are called the British Isles."
Chrysostom, A.D. 398, mentions "The
Britannic Isles" as having felt the power of the Word, and says: "To
whatever quarter you turn - to the Indians or Moors or Britons, even to the
remotest bounds of the West, you will find this doctrine.
Theodoret, A.D. 423-460. especially
enumerates the Britons as one of the nations converted by the Apostles.
DID PAUL PREACH THE GOSPEL IN BRITAIN?
The credit of introducing Christianity into
this region has been claimed not only for Paul, but also for Peter, Philip,
John, Simon Zelotes, and Joseph of Arimathea; but the most of the church
fathers, and other authorities, favor the mission of St. Paul.
Clement of Rome A.D. 96, says: "St Paul
preached in the East and West leaving behind him an illustrious record of his
faith, having taught the whole world righteousness, and in having traveled even
to the utmost bounds of the West."
Jerome, A.D. 392, says : "St. Paul,
having been in Spain, went from one ocean to another." "His diligence
in preaching extended as far as the earth itself." "After his
imprisonment he preached in the western parts."
Venantius Fortunatus, A.D. 560, says:
"St. Paul passed over the ocean to the Island of Britain, and to Thule,
the extremity of the earth." (Ireland)
Many similar testimonies might be given to
the early planting of Christianity in Britain, and that this was done by the
Apostle Paul between his first and second imprisonments.
MORE MODERN HISTORIANS
In addition to the authority of the
historians of the nine first centuries, the interested reader may find the
subject ably discussed and defended in the learned works of Archbishops Parker
and Ussher ; Bishops Stillingfleet, Lloyd and Burgess; Camden, Cave, Gibson,
Godwin, Nelson, Rapin, Roberts, Rowland, Soames, and others.
Bishop Stillingfleet, in his
"Antiquities of the British Church," spoken of as the most complete
and learned work on the subject, containing a full account of the early
ecclesiastical history of Britain from the first introduction of Christianity
to the conversion of the Saxons, while rejecting many of the traditions
respecting the British church, yet believes in the visit of St. Paul to this
country. (Yeowell, p. viii.) With this view agree the authors named above.
Dr. Hales, however, author of
"Primitive British Church" (1819), differs from the other learned
antiquarians, ancient and modern, as to Paul's preaching in Britain; and the
introduction of Christianity into this island he refers to Bran, father of
Caractacus, during the apostolic age. There is neither need nor time to
introduce here this interesting story. Nor can we more than simply refer to the
Welsh "Triads" and "Genealogy of the Saints," the earliest
historical writings relating to the Britons, both testifying to the preaching
of the gospel and the founding of the Christian church in the British Isles
early in the first century, either by Paul or by converts to Christianity made
by him in his Roman Prison.
George Smith, after summing up the evidence,
given in part in the preceding lines, says: "We can not avoid saying that
many accounts, supported by a much less amount of evidence, are generally
regarded as Portion of undoubted history." (Religion of Ancient Briton, pp
130, 131.)
We need not doubt, therefore, that
Christianity was planted in the British Isles centuries before the advent of
Augustine,(A.D. 596), the first papal missionary to these islands, sent out by
Pope Gregory the Great.
III. THE SABBATH IN THE BRITISH ISLES
There are many reasons for believing that
the British Church was a Sabbath-keeping church from the first, and for several
succeeding centuries; in fact, the Sabbath-keepers have continued in unbroken
succession from the first introduction of Christianity down to the present day.
1. The first proposition is certainly true,
if the church was founded by the Apostle Paul or his immediate converts.
2. Many church fathers testify that Sunday
had not displaced the Sabbath as late at least as Socrates, the church
historian who wrote about the close of the fifth century that, with the
exception of Rome and Alexandria, "all the churches throughout the whole
world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath-day." (Socrates:
"History of the Church," p.289. London. 1880.)
3. In the biography of Augustine who came
from Rome
A.D. 596, to convert the heathen Saxons, we
are told that he found the people of Britain in the most grievous and
intolerable heresies, "being given to Judaizing, but ignorant of the holy
sacraments and festivals of the church." That is to say, they kept the
Bible Sabbath and were ignorant of the Roman
"Sunday-festival." (Mrs. Tarmar
Davis : "History of Sabbatarian Churches," p. 108. Phila 1851.)
Watson, (Annals, p. 136), says: "Rome
through Augustine did more mischief in one year toward the subverting of the
Christian church and See of Britain than had the Saxon pagan done one hundred
and fifty years before."
4. The Easter controversy indicates the hold
which the Sabbath had upon the British Christians. If we remember that
Christianity came to Britain from the Eastern church rather than from the
Western, it will help us to understand this discussion.
Dr. Schaff says: "The observance of the
Sabbath gradually ceased in the West. Yet the Eastern church to this day marks
the seventh day of the week, excepting the Easter Sabbath, by omitting fasting
and by standing in prayer:" (Church History, p. 37. 1859.)
Gibbon (1854, vol. 1. Pp. 515 - 517),
writes: "As for the observance of Easter, others in other parts of Asia
vary in the month, but hold it on Saturday."
John Price, in "The Ancient British
Church," (pp. 90, 94. Note), says: "The original difference (about
Easter)was that the Western church, followed herein by the churches of
Jerusalem and Antioch and Alexandria, observed Good Friday either on the 14th
of the month Nisan, if it fell on Friday, or, if not, on the next Friday; and
Easter on the following Sunday. The Eastern church did not do that way."
and then he adds, "There is, however, an unfair insinuation that the
British Christians were Judaic in their observance of Easter day, in a letter
of Pope elect, John (A.D. 634), to the Scoti; and in Aldhelm's Epistle to
Geruntius." This "insinuation," far from being unfair, is rather
the more a true statement of the Sabbath observance of the Celtic church, which
even celebrated its Easter or resurrection festival on the day which the
Scriptures point out as the one on which the Saviour rose from the grave,
(which was "late on the Sabbath." Matt. 28:1-4).
Peter Heylyn, in speaking of the early
church in Britain observing its Easter on some other day than Sunday, says:
"Which they certainly had not done had the Lord's day obtained amongst
them that esteem which generally it had found in the Western church."
The British-Celtic church observed Easter on
the seventh day of the week until A.D. 664, when Rome triumphed in the
controversy through the action of Oswald, king of Northumberland, whom the
Catholics convinced of their succession from St. Peter, "the gate- keeper
of heaven." Oswald thought he had better be on good terms with Peter, else
he might not get inside the golden gate! Thus Sunday began to be hallowed in
Northumberland.
Colman the Culdee, rather than submit to
this decision, took his monks and retired to Iona and then to Ireland.
(O'Halleron's "Hist. of Ireland," p . 195.)
Yet after all their plans to establish
Sunday as the Sabbath, it appears that Christians generally, and in England and
Scotland particularly, kept the seventh-day Sabbath until the 13th century.
("The Sabbath-day: Remember to keep it holy," p. 6: William Stillman.
1843.)
In the further study of this subject we will
consider the various geographical divisions of these islands:
1. IRELAND
We believe the Sabbath was observed here
because:
1. Ussher says that the church in this
island was established "statim post passionem Christi" - soon after
the passion of Christ; and therefore before Sunday was thought of.
2. The constant enmity between Ireland and
ancient Rome prevented any kind of friendly intercourse. The doctrine of Christ
came not from thence here, but from the churches in Asia. (O'Halleron's
"Hist. of Ireland," pp 146-174.)
3. O'Halleron further says in this
connection (p 172), "In the Present reign (Dermond, A.D. 528), and for
nearly a century preceding it, Christianity was in the most flourishing
condition in Ireland. They received it from Asiatics. These last, in many
instances, adhered more closely to the Jewish customs than did the Roman
Christians."
4. There is ample evidence that St. Patrick,
"the Apostle of Ireland," never had any connection whatever with
Rome, and that he was a Sabbath-keeper. The establishment of the
Sabbath-keeping community on the island of Iona, under the headship of St.
Columba, was manifestly the result of Patrick's preaching. Like begets like.
5. Celtic Ireland was neither Papal nor
inclined to submit to the papacy, until Henry II. rivetted the Roman yoke upon
them. (Froude's "England in Ireland," p. 17; O'Halleron's "Hist.
of Ireland," p. 19.) In A.D. 1155 Pope Adrian gave Ireland to King Henry
to bring into the Romish fold.
A small remnant of Sabbath-keepers has
persisted in Ireland until this time; a church or society being found there as
late as 1840.
2. SCOTLAND
Prof. Moffat, ("Church in
Scotland," p. 140), says: "It seems to have been customary in the
Celtic churches of early in Ireland as well as in Scotland, to keep Saturday,
the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from labour. They obeyed the commandment
literally upon the seventh day of the week." This is an important
concession from a Princeton professor of church history.
The same author, speaking of the Culdees of
Columba's time, and of the Scottish church of Queen Margaret's time, says:
"Christianity was still taught in Scotland by the church of which Columba
had planted the seeds in Iona, for the Culdees had substantially maintained the
succession." (Moffat, p. 128.)
We know that Columba was a Sabbath-keeper to
the day of his death. We also know that at the time to which Moffat refers the
Sabbath was observed by a majority of the Scottish church; for we are told that
Queen Margaret, in trying to harmonize the Scottish church with the rest of
Europe, found "her next point of complaint against them was that they did
not reverence the Lord's day, but that they held Saturday to be the
Sabbath." (Skene's "Celtic Scotland" vol 2, pp 348,349.) To this
fact of history the Encyclopaedia Britannica bears testimony. (Article: St.
Margaret. vol. 15 p. 544.)
It seems therefore unquestionably
established that Scotland kept the Bible Sabbath from the very first on down to
as late, at least, as 1069-1093. And it was not until as late as A.D. 1203
"that Scotland bowed the neck to Rome and relinquished the faith of her
fathers, - and with it the Sabbath.
This end was accomplished through the
impious ruse of the mysterious roll commanding Sunday observance under severest
penalties, said to have fallen from heaven upon the altar of a saint in
Jerusalem. (See Lewis' "Sabbath and Sunday" pp 197-202.) And yet for
all this, as late as A.D. 1557, we find Sunday classed with "other
festival days" of the church; for a meeting of barons and nobles was held
in Scotland that year, when it was thought expedient "that in all parishes
of this realm the Book of Common Prayer be read on Sunday and other festival
days publicly," &c.
In Frank Leslie's "Popular
Monthly" for Nov., 1897, is an article on "Fisher Folks of
Scotland," in which it is said that among the fishermen of Scotland of the
present time "Sunday is strictly kept as a day of rest; no boats go out
after Saturday morning." The writer thinks this is because they fear they
might be kept out on the water over Sunday. But is it not rather a remnant of
the old Sabbath-keeping principles and practices of Scotland?
3. WALES
There is much evidence that the Sabbath
prevailed in Wales universally until A.D. 1115, when the first Roman Bishop was
seated at St. David's. The old Welsh Sabbath-keeping churches did not even then
altogether bow the knee to Rome, but fled to their hiding places "where
the ordinances of the gospel to this day have been administered in their
primitive mode without being adulterated by the corrupt church of Rome."
(J. Davis' Baptist History, Ch. I.)
Vavasor Powell, (1617-1671), was one of
several commonly called "first reformers of the Baptists in Wales,"
who were successful in quickly gathering many followers at Caerleon and its
vicinity. Joshua Toulmin says of Powell: "His sentiments were those of a
Sabbatarian Baptist." (Neal's "History of the Puritans," 2,
274.) Thomas Armitage, (Baptist History," pp600, 601), states that Powell
and his churches were not in the Baptist Association. Toulmin's statement
furnishes the reason. This writer also says he gathered "above twenty
distinct societies consisting of from two hundred to five hundred
members."
Dr. Lewis in "Sabbath and Sunday,"
p. 159, says there is no trace of Sunday legislation in Wales before its union
with England in A.D. 1282. All this is convincing evidence of the ancient and
continued Sabbath-keeping principles of the Welsh people. They were
Sabbath-keeping Baptists.
4. ENGLAND
The history of the Sabbath in England proper
leaves no doubt that the seventh day was originally observed, and for
centuries, and that in this part of the Island, as in other parts, the banner
of Sabbath truth has never been without brave defenders.
NOT DIFFERENT FROM IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.
What has been said in general about Ireland
and Scotland is equally true of England. The Christians of Britain were of the
same character as those of Scotland, at least before the coming of Augustine.
Lanrentius, Melitus and Justus, when making to Augustine their report of the
Christians of Great Britain, said they "had found by conversation with them
that the Scots do not differ from the Britains." (Venerable Bede, II. 4,
p. 118.)
Since the church in Scotland was a
Sabbath-keeping church, and the Britons of the southern part of the island were
not different from them, [Later correction - (i.e. the Scotch people). The
Scotch people here referred to were the people now called Irish. This does not
weaken the force of the statement however as will be observed by the quotation
from Moffat on page 27 of this book.Refer to subheading - 2. Scotland] it
follows that they also observed the Seventh-day as the Sabbath. (Moffat, p.
140, as already shown, testifies that Scotland kept the Sabbath as late as the
eleventh century.)
ALWAYS DIFFERENT FROM ROME.
England was always different from Rome and
not dependent upon it. James Yeowell, ("Chronicles," p. 109), in
speaking of exemptions from the Roman patriarchate and others, mentions certain
ancient MSS. in the Bodleian Library, and then says :-"In which MSS.
neither England, Scotland, nor Ireland is reckoned as depending on the Roman
patriarchate: altho it is as certain there was a complete and absolute Church
settled in this island long before these MSS. were (or can be supposed to have
been) drawn up, as that there was one at Rome itself."
That the British Church was different from
that of Rome we may learn from the fact that when the Roman missionary to the
heathen Saxons inquired of the Pope how he was to behave toward the Bishops of
France and Britain, the Pontiff, answered him:- "We give thee no authority
over the Bishops of France, for we ought not to deprive the Bishop of Arles of
the authority which he hath received from us. But all the Bishops of Britain we
commit to thee." (Lloyd's "Church Gov't," p. 80.)
And in "Burgess Tracts," pp 253,
254, we have this:- "It appears that these northern churches were shut out
from her (Rome's) communion, and were called the schismatics of Britain
andIreland for no other reason than that they would not receive Rome's
attentions, nor submit to the authority by which they were imposed." They
certainly would not have been called "schismatics" if they had been
in doctrine and faith like the Church of Rome.
Burgess further says :- "In our country
the authority of the Pope was unknown during the six first centuries - was not
acknowledged by the Saxon princes, tho submitted to by some of the sovereigns
subsequent to the conquest, and was not admitted by those who were nearest in
succession to the Saxon kings."
It is apparent that the Anglo Saxons in
their early settlement of Great "Britain" were many of them
Seventh-day Baptists. (See Winebrenner's "History of all Religious
Denominations," p. 96: ed. 1853)
As Rome was in the observance of Sunday at
this time Britain was "schismatic" in that she still held to the
doctrine of the early Church, both as to the Sabbath and other things.
Bede (book 3, chapt. 4.), says of Columba
and his disciples, that, "having no one to bring them the Synodal decrees,
by reason of their being so far away from the rest of the world they therefore
practised only such works of piety as they could learn from the prophetical,
evangelical and apostolical writings."
What further or better testimony is needed
to prove that the British Church for at least six centuries kept the Sabbath of
Jehovah, and practised Scriptural baptism? Happy the Church universal if she
had followed such "apostolic succession."
SUNDAY REGARDED SIMPLY AS A FESTIVAL
In all Saxon laws, beginning with A.D. 688,
Sunday is spoken of as a "festival;" and not the least reference is
made to any divine law or sacredness.
In A.D. 878 Alfred had a Sunday law under
the head:- "Of working on a 'festival.'"
King Edward, A.D. 959-975, enacted:-
"Let the festivals of every Sunday be kept," etc.
In A.D. 1017 - 1035 Canute, King of Denmark,
became King of all England: his Sunday law reads, "let every Sunday's
festival be held from noon of Saturday till noon of Monday."
Henry VI., A.D. 1448:- "All manner of
fairs and markets in the said principal feasts, and Sundays, and Good Fridays,
shall clearly cease," etc.
During the Puritan supremacy, A.D. 1640 -
1660, Sunday was called the "Lord's day," and the laws were strict
and explicit; but previous to this date Sunday was simply a "festival
day" without divine authority; and the "Book of Sports," by
James I., in 1618, and by Charles I., in 1633, shows the way in which the day
was regarded - held simply by expediency and by human authority only. (The
above quotations are made from Dr. A.H. Lewis' "Sunday Legislation,"
1902, pp 73-115.)
THE WALDENSES IN ENGLAND. 1070-1315
Mr. George Molyneaux, a resident of Milford
Haven, Wales, says :- "All the Christian Church were seventh-day observers
during the early centuries. Sunday is from Rome and was but slowly pushed into
the British Church." This is certainly a true statement; but while the
Sabbath was being gradually crowded out of the Establishment, a new lamp was
being lighted whose brightness was to shine with splendor, tho the bearers
should change, until the time of Charles II. And then, changing again, it was
to blaze up once more; and then, tho burning very low, the ancient light still
shines with an ever steady clearness and brilliancy.
The ancient Waldenses had now spread
themselves over nearly all of Europe, and in the time of William the Conqueror
(1070), and his son, William Rufus, it appears that the Waldenses and their
disciples out of France, Germany, and Holland had their frequent recourse and
did abound in England; and had, about A.D. 1080, generally corrupted all
France, Italy, and England." (Crosby's History of the English Baptists,
2:43,44.)
Toward the middle of the twelfth century a
society of Waldenses made its appearance in England, coming originally from
Gascoyne, where, "being numerous as the sands of the sea, they sorely
infested France, Italy, Spain, and England." (Lewis: "Sabbath and
Sunday," p. 211.)
In the thirteenth century the Waldenses had
spread abroad through twenty-two countries of Europe, Britain being one.
(Benedict: p. 31.) There was not among them all perfect agreement in
sentiments; yet that they were opposed to the pretensions and innovations of
Rome, and that they clave only to the text of Scripture, is admitted by all.
That they "despised the feast of Easter, and all the festivals of Christ
and the Saints," is also generally admitted. (Benedict: 1813; 2: 412,413.)
"Purchase's Pilgrimage," a sort of
universal history published in London, England, in 1625, says that they
"keep Saturday holy, nor esteem Saturday fasts lawful; but even on Easter
they have solemn services on Saturday, eat flesh, and feast it bravely like the
Jews." (Lewis: Sabbath and Sunday, pp. 216, 217.)
By A.D. 1260 these people had increased to
at least 800,000 - some say, Upwards of 3,000,000. So there was no lack of
Sabbath light even in these early times. (Benedict: 1848, p. 31.) Having upheld
the Sabbath truth for nearly three centuries, until A.D. 1315, the Waldenses
seem to have been merged into the Lollards.
THE LOLLARDS IN ENGLAND
The Lollards were followers of John
Wyckliffe, and were the adherents of a religious movement which was widespread
at the end of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, and
which, to some extent, maintained itself on to the Reformation. (Brit. XIV.
Article, "Lollards.") The first official use of the word appears in
1387, when the Bishop of Winchester issued a mandate against five of these
"poor preachers," as they were called, to suppress them.
The movement took its name from Walter
Lollard, a German preacher, who in the reign ofEdward III., about the year A.D.
1350, came to England. He was called by Peter Perrin "A Waldensian
Bard." Benedict, (History, p. 307), says he was "a man of great
renown among the Protestants of that day in Germany; and was so eminent in
England, that, as in
France they were called Berengarians from
Berengarius, and, Petrobrussians from Peter de Bruys, so also did the
Waldensian Christians for many generations bear the name of this worthy man,
being called Lollards."
Benedict (History, p. 308), further says:-
"They now abounded; more than half of the nation became Lollards; yea they
covered all England. In 1389 they formed separate and distinct societies
agreeable with Scripture. In these churches all the brethren were equal, each
could preach, baptize, and break bread. They were united in opinion as one, and
were called "Bible men," since they allowed no office not enjoined in
the Word of God. Their hostility to the hierarchy, and their, numbers, aroused
their enemies to adopt severe measures. In the year 1400 a law was passed
sentencing Lollards to be burned to death. In Norfolk they abounded, and there
they suffered severely. Still the "Bible men" increased, and became
dangerous to the Church. They are said to have numbered 100,000." Henry
VIII., while in conflict with the Pope, relieved and encouraged the Lollards in
his kingdom; and this led their persecuted brethren from all parts of Europe to
flock to England in great numbers, to enjoy religious liberty, and to
strengthen the cause of true religion.
That these people were immersion Baptists,
and generally refused to baptize infants, is admitted even by their enemies.
Benedict (p. 308), says of Walter Lollard:- "He was in sentiment the same
as Peter de Bruys, who was the founder of the Petrobrussians of France."
The Lollards were like the Petrobrussians, and these were Sabbath keepers.
Dr. Allix ("Ecclesiastical History of
the Ancient Piedmont Church," p. 162), gives evidence of their
Sabbath-keeping principles; he refers to a Romish priest who said he handled
"five questions against the Petrobrussians which bare a great resemblance
to the belief of the Cathari of Italy." That the Cathari did retain and
observe the ancient Sabbath, is certified by their Romish adversaries. Dr.
Allix quotes a Roman Catholic author of the twelfth century concerning three
sorts of heretics - the Cathari, the Passagii, and the Arnoldistae; and says of
this Romish writer: "He lays it down as one of their opinions that the law
of Moses is to be kept according to the letter, and the Sabbath ought to take
place."
Bishop White, in speaking of Sabbath-keeping
as opposed to the practices of the Church, says:- "It was thus condemned
in the Nazarenes and in the Cerinthians, in the Ebionites and in the
Hypsistarii. The ancient Synod of Laodicea made a decree against it; also
Gregory the Great affirmed it was Judaical. In St. Bernard's time it was
condemned in the Petrobrussians. The same hath then and ever since been
condemned as Judaish and heretical." (Treatise on the Sabbath p. 8)
Dr. Hessey says :- "The Lollards, at
the beginning of the fourteenth century, entertained a strong antipathy to
Saints' Days, and extended it even to the weekly Festival of the Resurrection"
- Sunday. (Brompton Lectures p. 95)
"Studies in English History," by
Gardner and Spedding, (1881, p. 296), says: "The Lollards * * * Could not
overlook the injunction contained in the Fourth Commandment * * * here were
most positive words of Scripture * * * and the clear tendency of Lollard
teaching was to carry out the Scripture command to the letter." The
"Sabbath Memorial" for January, 1882, alsobears testimony to the same
effect.
With all this testimony before us we cannot
doubt that the Lollards were Sabbath-keepers, observers of the seventh day of
the week, the Sabbath which God himself enjoined at the beginning of creation,
and which he has never repealed. It is clear also that as early, at least, as
A.D. 1389 they were formed into regularly organized churches - "separate
and distinct societies agreeable to Scripture." Thus the succession of
Sabbath witnesses is maintained unbroken from the first century down to the Reformation.
In A.D. 1530, one of the pastors of the
Waldenses, George Morel, published the Memoirs of his church. He said there
were then 800,000 professing the Waldensian faith. This can well be believed
when one considers the host of martyrs that furnished; and that in 1315 there
were 80,000 in Bohemia alone. (Benedict, p. 80. Wn. Jones' History of the
Christian Church, p. 440.)
THE ANABAPTISTS IN ENGLAND
About the time of Luther's Reformation,
early in 1520, certain of the old evangelical Baptists of Germany were called
"Anabaptists," because they rebaptised all who entered their
communion. That they had a comparatively pure creed, and were faithful in their
testimony against the corruption of the Romish Church, is admitted by all. That
they were immersion Baptists, the very name indicates; and that they were
observers of the seventh-day Sabbath will be presently shown.
About the year 1565 they made their
appearance in England, which had always been a cave of Adullam and a city of
refuge to those who were persecuted for righteousness sake. These Anabaptists
lasted as such for a little over one century, and then they were merged into
some of the other evangelical churches. As further evidence that they
flourished in England, the "Broadmead Records: Historical Introduction,"
p 53, states that "In 1568 the Dutch Anabaptists held private Conventicles
in London, and perverted many."
In 1525 certain fanatics of Munster,
Germany, thought to set up the kingdom of Christ on earth, "taking heaven
by storm." These people ran to wild extremes, and cast much discredit upon
the cause of true religion. The true Anabaptists, however, had no lot nor part
with these ranting visionaries, yet they were unfortunately classed with them;
and this was used as a pretext for renewed persecution.
Many, if not all, of the Anabaptists
observed the seventh-day Sabbath. Dr Francis White (Treatise on the Seventh
Day, p 132), says:- "They who maintain the Saturday Sabbath to be in
force, comply with the Anabaptists."
Russen (On Anabaptists, London, 1703, p.
79), speaking of heresies, says:- "Under this head I could conclude some
of them under those of Anabaptists, who have been inclined to this personal
reign of Christ, and have embraced the seventh-day Sabbath."
In "Sabbath Redivivum," by Cawdrey
and Palmer, London, 1562, it is said:- "It seems the Anabaptists, who
usually cry down the Sabbath either as antichristian or ceremonial, began to
see the necessity of a Sabbath; and will rather return to the old Sabbath with
the Jews than have none at all."
James Ockford, whose book on the Sabbath was
"sharply confuted with fire," in 1642, was called an Anabaptist.
Thus the Anabaptists, who were clearly
Sabbath-keepers, took the torch from the Waldenses and Lollards, and carried it
for about a century in England.
It may be asked, What became of the
Sabbath-keeping Waldenses and Lollards? Benedict (History of Baptists, 1848, p.
79), in speaking of these people in connection with the Reformation, says:-
"The multitudes who lay concealed in almost all parts of Europe hailed
with joy the dawn of that day which should relieve them from the persecuting
power
of the despotic heads of the Roman Church.
But soon the found themselves in their expectations mistaken, became entirely
dissatisfied with some of the principles on which the Reformation was
conducted, and so far as their voice could be heard they entered their decided
protest against the Protestants, and believed - that the Reformation needed
reforming. But at length these afflicted Waldenses were ready to submit to almost
any condition for the sake of gaining new friends and protectors; and one
company after another became associated by way of correspondence, as an
incipient measure, and in the end were amalgamated with the Reformed or
Protestant party. (Benedict, 1848, p. 83.)
"The Baptist Cyclopedia" (1881),
states the case thus:- "In 1530, according to Du Pin, the Waldenses united
with the Reformers, and were persuaded to renounce certain peculiarities which
heretofore they held, and to receive doctrines which till then had been foreign
to their creed. This new arrangement harmonized the reformations of the twelfth
and sixteenth centuries, and probably removed Baptist doctrines from the
valleys of the Piedmont. This ancient community is now Presbyterian, and had its
delegate in the recent Pan-Presbyterian Council in Philadelphia,"
However, in spite of this great defection,
many remained faithful; and from Reformation times until the present day, the
British Isles have not been without organized Seventh-Day Baptist Churches.
IV. ORGANIZED SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST
CHURCHES
Thus far we have endeavored to show, and
think we have done so, that Christianity was planted in the islands of Great
Britain in the apostolic age; that it was Sabbath-keeping in character; that
for some six centuries, at least, the Sabbath prevailed in these islands, and
that, on down to the Reformation, Sabbath advocates and adherents abounded in
unbroken and persistent succession.
We now come to the subject of organized
Seventh-Day Baptist Churches.
A.D. 1558.
Chambers' Cyclopedia states that "many
conscientious and independent thinkers in the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603)
advocated the seventh-day."
A.D. 1552.
The Sabbath Recorder of June 11, 1868,
says:- "In 1552 many in England were known as Sabbatarians.
A.D. 1545.
Dr. Samuel Kohn, chief Rabbi of Budapest,
Hungary, in a recent work (Sabbatarians in Transylvania, 1894, pp. 8,9) says:-
In Bohemia Sabbatarians sprung up as early as 1530. Such Sabbatarians, or
similar sects, we meet about 1545 among the Quakers in England. Several leaders
and preachers of the Puritans have re-transferred the rest day from Sunday to
Saturday; and the Christian Jews who arose in England and partly emigrated to
Germany, and settled near Heidelberg, believed, indeed, in Jesus, but they also
celebrated the Sabbath and regarded the Jewish laws in reference to meats and
drinks."
A.D. 1536
Both Robert Cox and Dr. Hessey trace the
origin of the Seventh-Day Baptists of England to the time of Erasmus
(1466-1536), who wrote of Sabbatarians in Bohemia early in the Reformation.
Descendants of the Waldenses in Bohemia and Holland formed material for
Sabbath-keeping Churches, which appeared with the dawn of the Reformation.
(Lewis: Sabbath and Sunday, pp. 317-320)
A.D. 1389.
We have already noted that Benedict (History
of Baptists, p. 308), speaks of "separate and distinct societies" of
Sabbath-keeping Lollards as early as A.D. 1389.
From the multiplicity of testimony we cannot
but be confident that there were organized Sabbath-keeping Churches much
earlier than any definite date which can be fixed by historical documents.
Existing records and accounts take us back no further than about 1617 A.D. From
that date until the present we have learned more or less of something like
thirty-two Seventh-Day Baptist Churches in England, Scotland and Ireland. But
our information in many instances is very meagre; of very few do we know the
exact date of organization; of many we simply know that they were in existence
as early as a given date, or that they were alive as late as a certain time; of
a few we have been unable so far to discover any date, altho the evidence of
their existence at some time is quite clear.