Baptist Briders Are Missing Much by Not Honoring the Reformation
It's true that some Baptists don't consider themselves as Protestants. The doctrines of Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, in Christ alone, and glory to God alone were affirmed by Scriptures themselves way before the Reformation. It was said that Baptists were called Baptists because they baptized people by immersion and told them that the Catholic infant baptism was unscriptural. It didn't take a Martin Luther to rise up and affirm the five Solas. Before that, we already had some pre-Reformation Christian groups which may have included earlier Baptists. However, the lack of successionism may have given way to Baptists becoming Protestants because we have the Reformed Baptist groups.
However, we do have a stubborn bunch called the Baptist Briders. The Baptist Bride doctrine teaches that the Baptist Church is supposedly the only Bride of Christ. They would teach that non-Baptist Christians are supposedly part of the family but not part of the Bride. They have the successionism issue that says John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus caused it. This is foolishness because John the Baptist was called as such because he was a baptizer. He wasn't the founder of any said denomination. This makes it no less erroneous than the Roman Catholic claim that Peter himself is the first Pope of the Roman Catholic institution.
What they don't realize is that plenty of stuff enjoyed by Baptists today could not be possible without the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation was something that happened during the Dark Ages when Martin Luther launched that great protest against Rome. Luther did try to reform the Roman Catholic institution but failed. Luther brought the Bible and protested against the unbiblical doctrines of Rome. He would do what others before him like Girolamo Savonarola (who was sentenced to death by the corrupt and sexually immoral Alexander VI Borgia) and Jan Hus. The very seeds of Luther started to bring another stage of revival for the Church. Luther translated the Bible from Latin into German which caused more people to go back to true Christianity. Although Johaness Gutenburg was a Roman Catholic yet his invention was later condemned. I guess that's why Gutenburg wasn't even made a saint of the said institution even if his invention could've benefited his religion. Luther would use the printing press to later print copies of the Bible in German. William Tyndale (a contemporary of Luther) was executed for simply translating the Bible into English for his people.
John Calvin himself would perhaps be the greatest contributor to the Reformation even if he didn't start it. Calvin would write several books and one of them is the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" which consists of four volumes. Calvin would also have important material that the translators of the King James Version (KJV) would have which is the Geneva Bible. The very Puritan translators of the KJV were Calvinist scholars of the Church of England. It would be stupid for Baptists to insist on using only the KJV (which has also been translated into many languages). Many of the great Calvinists were also hymn writers such as John Newton. Newton wrote the song "Amazing Grace" which in fact talks about the sinner being once lost but now am found. The idea that Calvin never left the Roman Catholic institution because he once went to the same school with Ignatius of Loyola is ridiculous. If you read Calvin's writings then you will see that he left the said religion. So why would they use a KJV which is a Calvinist translation? Wouldn't that by their own logic makes it a Jesuit-translated Bible? No, Calvinists aren't Jesuits because it's a complete oxymoron.
Some of the greatest Baptist preachers long gone were Calvinists. Charles H. Spurgeon the one who is regarded as the Prince of Preachers was a Calvinist. John Gill the writer of "John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible" was a Calvinist too. They also used the writings and the famous commentary Presbyterian preacher, Matthew Henry. What's amazing also is that some preachers oppose Calvinism (except for the first and last point) still honor Calvin's contribution, use Henry's commentary (which Spurgeon heartily commended), and acknowledge the importance of the Reformation. This is also the point where I personally can embrace non-Calvinist Christians as brothers and sisters in Christ. They may not agree with the doctrines of unconditional election, limited atonement, and irresistible grace - they still adhere to the Biblical marks of true conversion. These preachers greatly benefited from the works of the Reformers. Should I mention that the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith adheres to Calvinism? If that's so then later generations of Baptists can be considered Protestant for that reason.
The very Reformation further shook the power of the Vatican. The Vatican had long silenced their crimes by murdering Christians prior to the Reformation. However, it was the Reformation that exposed it even further. The printing press invented on their very own was soon used to expose them harder than the pre-Reformation martyrs ever could without it. The very false pillars started to shake. More people were awakened with a copy of the Bible in their hands. Don't believe even for a split second that the Vatican gave the Bible. They banned their reading for a very long time. That information today has been hushed away from the average Roman Catholic today. Thankfully, the Reformation still continues by upholding the Word of God!
See also:
However, we do have a stubborn bunch called the Baptist Briders. The Baptist Bride doctrine teaches that the Baptist Church is supposedly the only Bride of Christ. They would teach that non-Baptist Christians are supposedly part of the family but not part of the Bride. They have the successionism issue that says John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus caused it. This is foolishness because John the Baptist was called as such because he was a baptizer. He wasn't the founder of any said denomination. This makes it no less erroneous than the Roman Catholic claim that Peter himself is the first Pope of the Roman Catholic institution.
What they don't realize is that plenty of stuff enjoyed by Baptists today could not be possible without the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation was something that happened during the Dark Ages when Martin Luther launched that great protest against Rome. Luther did try to reform the Roman Catholic institution but failed. Luther brought the Bible and protested against the unbiblical doctrines of Rome. He would do what others before him like Girolamo Savonarola (who was sentenced to death by the corrupt and sexually immoral Alexander VI Borgia) and Jan Hus. The very seeds of Luther started to bring another stage of revival for the Church. Luther translated the Bible from Latin into German which caused more people to go back to true Christianity. Although Johaness Gutenburg was a Roman Catholic yet his invention was later condemned. I guess that's why Gutenburg wasn't even made a saint of the said institution even if his invention could've benefited his religion. Luther would use the printing press to later print copies of the Bible in German. William Tyndale (a contemporary of Luther) was executed for simply translating the Bible into English for his people.
John Calvin himself would perhaps be the greatest contributor to the Reformation even if he didn't start it. Calvin would write several books and one of them is the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" which consists of four volumes. Calvin would also have important material that the translators of the King James Version (KJV) would have which is the Geneva Bible. The very Puritan translators of the KJV were Calvinist scholars of the Church of England. It would be stupid for Baptists to insist on using only the KJV (which has also been translated into many languages). Many of the great Calvinists were also hymn writers such as John Newton. Newton wrote the song "Amazing Grace" which in fact talks about the sinner being once lost but now am found. The idea that Calvin never left the Roman Catholic institution because he once went to the same school with Ignatius of Loyola is ridiculous. If you read Calvin's writings then you will see that he left the said religion. So why would they use a KJV which is a Calvinist translation? Wouldn't that by their own logic makes it a Jesuit-translated Bible? No, Calvinists aren't Jesuits because it's a complete oxymoron.
Some of the greatest Baptist preachers long gone were Calvinists. Charles H. Spurgeon the one who is regarded as the Prince of Preachers was a Calvinist. John Gill the writer of "John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible" was a Calvinist too. They also used the writings and the famous commentary Presbyterian preacher, Matthew Henry. What's amazing also is that some preachers oppose Calvinism (except for the first and last point) still honor Calvin's contribution, use Henry's commentary (which Spurgeon heartily commended), and acknowledge the importance of the Reformation. This is also the point where I personally can embrace non-Calvinist Christians as brothers and sisters in Christ. They may not agree with the doctrines of unconditional election, limited atonement, and irresistible grace - they still adhere to the Biblical marks of true conversion. These preachers greatly benefited from the works of the Reformers. Should I mention that the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith adheres to Calvinism? If that's so then later generations of Baptists can be considered Protestant for that reason.
The very Reformation further shook the power of the Vatican. The Vatican had long silenced their crimes by murdering Christians prior to the Reformation. However, it was the Reformation that exposed it even further. The printing press invented on their very own was soon used to expose them harder than the pre-Reformation martyrs ever could without it. The very false pillars started to shake. More people were awakened with a copy of the Bible in their hands. Don't believe even for a split second that the Vatican gave the Bible. They banned their reading for a very long time. That information today has been hushed away from the average Roman Catholic today. Thankfully, the Reformation still continues by upholding the Word of God!
See also:
- Celebrating 400 Years of the Authorized Version of 1611 Bible
- Continue the Reformation By Not Replacing Daily Righteousness With Mountaintop Experiences
- Continue the Reformation, Expect Only Persecution!
- Continuing the Reformation Daily Also Means to Keep Preaching Against Those Sin-Loving False Converts!
- Continuing the Reformation Also Means Preaching Against Quack Evangelical Pastors
- Continuing the Reformation Means Taking the Risk to Get the Gospel Out!
- How to Continue the Reformation Until Jesus Christ Comes Again
- Modern Day Reformation Also Protests Against the Heresy of Religious Ecumenism
- No Reformation, No King James Version
- Part of Continuing the Reformation is Maintaining Peacefulness While Preaching the Truth!
- Part of Continuing the Reformation is Sorrow For the Lost
- The Reformation Still Matters Because Biblical Doctrine Taught Centuries Before the Reformation Still Matters
- Why Oppose the Baptist Bride Heresy