First Baptist Church of Newport, Rhode Island 1638

     This comes as a surprise to so many people that it should be reiterated again and again.   I quote:

     "Of the Baptists it may be said that they are not reformers.   These people, comprising bodies of Christian believers, known under various names in different countries, are entirely distinct and independent of the Roman and Greek Churches, have an unbroken continuity from apostolic days down through the centuries.   Throughout this long period they were bitterly persecuted for heresy, driven from country to country, disfranchised, deprived of their property, imprisoned, tortured and slain by the thousands, yet they swerved not from their New Testament faith, doctrine and adherence." - - Crossing the Centuries by W. C. King.

     "We have now seen that the Baptists, who were formerly called Anabaptists, and in later times Mennonites, were the original Waldenses, and who have long in history received the honor of that origin.   On this account the Baptists may be considered as the only Christian community which has stood since the days of the apostles, and as a Christian society which has preserved pure the doctrines of the gospel through all ages...   The perfectly correct external and internal economy of the Baptist denomination tends to confirm the truth, disputed by the Romish Church, that the Reformation brought about in the sixteenth century was in the highest degree necessary, and at the same time goes to refute the erroneous notion of the Catholics that their denomination is the most ancient." --History of the Dutch Reformed Church by A. Ypeij and J. J. Dermout.

     In A. D. 1554 Cardinal Hosius, the president of the Council of Trent, wrote: "If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and boldness of which a man of any sect shows in suffering, then the opinion and persuasion of no sect can be truer and surer than that of the Anabaptists, since there have been none for these twelve hundred years past that have been more generally punished, or that have more cheerfully and steadfastly undergone and even offered themselves to the most cruel punishment than these people."

     The Edinburgh Cyclopedia says:   "It must have already occurred to our readers that the Baptists are the same sect of Christians that were formerly described under the appellation of Anabaptists.   Indeed this seems to have been their leading principle from the time of Tertullian to the present times." --from "The Church That Jesus Built," by Roy Mason, Tampa, Florida.

     Now this leading principle for which this people were called "Anabaptists" meaning "Rebaptizers" is the same principle still held by Landmark Baptist churches today.   They will not accept "alien baptism," and they rebaptize all who join them, who have already received unscriptural baptism by others.   This does not mean only those who have been sprinkled for baptism but those who have been immersed by others as well.   In Tertullian's day, some fifty years after John the Beloved, sprinkling for baptism had not yet even been thought of, yet there were Anabaptists.

Please Pray For Frank Lay
& Robert Freeman.
Their trial starts today at the
Court House in Pensacola, Florida:
 
The following article is from the Pensacola News Journal
for today (September 17).
U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers is to decide whether
Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and athletic
director Robert Freeman defied her court order barring
school officials from promoting prayer at school functions.
 
Rodgers filed the contempt charges against Lay and
Freeman. If she rules against them, they could face fines
or jail time.
 
The divisive issue arose after the American Civil Liberties
Union filed a lawsuit against the district and Lay on behalf
of two students who complained about the decades-old
practice of faculty- and staff-led prayer at Pace High
School.
 
Rodgers issued a temporary injunction Jan. 19 ordering
the district to discontinue the practice. The order preceded
a permanent agreement between the School District and
the ACLU.
 
Lay is accused of violating the temporary injunction by
asking Freeman to bless the food at an athletic banquet
where students were said to have been present.
 
District clerk Michelle Winkler prevailed at a civil
contempt hearing last month. She was accused of asking
her husband to say a prayer at a faculty awards banquet
after she was told that she could only offer a thought for
the day.
     

Faith Promise Mission Conference:
Victory Baptist Church of Milton, Florida will have their annual Faith
Promise Mission Conference Wednesday, September 30 - Sunday,
October 4. Pastor Danny Farley from Houston, Texas and Matt Allan,
missionary to Papau, New Guinea will be the main preachers.
All are welcome!
     

AS OF SEPT. 18th      Yesterday, Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and Robert Freeman were found not guilty of a federal contempt charge for praying over a meal at a school function. To God be the glory!

Letters To The Editor

     Still there have been no letters to the editor.   Folks if you want to respond to something you have read in "Baptist Landmarks" please E-Mail your response to edit@BaptistLandmarks.org   Your response will be printed here.

     I would like to have a cartoon in each issue if possible.   If there is someone reading this paper who can draw cartoons that will cause us to laugh at the foolish things we sometimes do and cause us to think of how we could better serve our Savior, please E-Mail me and let me know.

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