Part of a series on Baptists

Historical Background Christianity General Baptist Particular Baptist Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... General Baptist is a generic term for Baptists that hold the view of a general atonement, as well as a specific name of groups of Baptists within the broader category. ... The name Reformed Baptist does not refer to a distinct denomination but instead is a description of the churchs theological leaning. ...

Doctrinal distinctives Prima scriptura Sola scriptura Baptist ordinances Baptist offices Baptist confessions Autonomy of the local church Separation of church and state The Bible is considered as first or above all sources of divine revelation. ... This article is about theological concept. ... Baptist ordinances, the term for the sacraments within Baptist theology, are the Lords Supper and Believers baptism. ... Baptists generally recognize two Scriptural offices, those of pastor-teacher and deacon. ... 1600s 1644 First London Baptist Confession - revised in 1646 1651 The Faith and Practice of Thirty Congregations 1654 The True Gospel-Faith Declared According to the Scriptures 1656 The Somerset Confession of Faith 1655 Midland Confession of Faith 1660 The Standard Confession 1678 The Orthodox Creed 1689 Second London Baptist... Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation indepedently and autonomously runs its own affairs. ... Separation of church and state is one of the primary theological distinctions of the Baptist tradition. ...

Pivotal figures John Smyth Thomas Helwys John Bunyan Andrew Fuller John Gill Charles Haddon Spurgeon Samuel Sharpe John Smyth (1570 - c. ... John Bunyan. ... Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) was an eminent Baptist minister, born in Cambridgeshire, and settled at Kettering. ... John Gill (born at Kettering, Northamptonshire on November 23, 1697 and died October 14, 1771) was an English Baptist, Biblical scholar. ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892) was Englands best-known and most-loved preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. ... Samuel Sharp, also called Daddy Sharpe (or Sam Sharp), he was a Deacon at the Burchell Baptist Church in Montego Bay, Jamaica, during the 19th century. ...

Major Baptist Associations American Baptist Baptist World Alliance National Baptist Convention Southern Baptist Convention Baptist Union of Great Britain Brazilian Baptist Convention ABCUSA American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a group of Baptist churches within the United States; headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. ... The Baptist World Alliance was formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London, England during the first Baptist World Congress. ... The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. ... The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ... Baptist Union of Great Britain - the oldest and largest national association of Great Britain. ... The Brazilian Baptist Convention or Convenção Batista Brasileira is the oldest Brazil. ... This box: view • talk • edit

Thomas Helwys, (c. 1550 - c. 1616), was one of the joint founders of the Baptist denomination. Events February 7 - Julius III becomes Pope. ... Year 1616 (MDCXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging...

In the early 17th century, Helwys was principal formulator of that distinctively Baptist request: that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, so that individuals might have a freedom of religious conscience. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

Thomas Helwys was an advocate of religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous. He died in prison, a consequence the religious persecution of Protestant dissenters under King James I. English Dissenters were dissenters from England who opposed State interference in religious matters and founded their own communities over the 16th to 18th century period. ... James Stuart (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old. ...

Early Life

Not a great deal of detail is known about Thomas Helwys’ early life. However, some basic facts have been established. Thomas Helwys was born close to Nottingham around 1550 and was brought up on the Broxtowe Hall estate (Nottingham) that been in his family for generations. Nottingham is a city (and county town of Nottinghamshire) in the East Midlands of England. ...

Thomas’ uncle Geoffrey was a successful merchant and an alderman and sheriff of London. His cousin, Gervase, was knighted by King James before becoming lieutenant of the Tower of London. After completing his studies Gray’s Inn (an exclusive school of law in London) in 1593, Thomas himself spent some time in the capital. Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is a historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. ...

Thomas married Joan Ashmore at St, Martin’s Church, Bilborough (Nottingham) in 1595. They had seven children over the next twelve years and lived at Broxtowe Hall. During this time, the Helwys' home became a haven for early puritan dissenters within the Church of England and it is likely that Thomas contributed financially to their mission. At some point, Thomas Helwys developed a close bond with dissenter John Smyth and he and his wife became committed members of Smyth’s separatist congregation in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. The 60 or 70 Separatists in Gainsborough were allowed to meet in secret in Gainsborough Old Hall by the Hall's sympathetic owner Sir William Hickman. (By late 1606 a second Separatist church had been established at Scrooby Manor). The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... Statistics Population: 19,110 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SK815901 Administration District: West Lindsey Shire county: Lincolnshire Region: East Midlands Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Lincolnshire Historic county: Lincolnshire Services Police force: Lincolnshire Police Ambulance service: East Midlands Post office and telephone Post town: GAINSBOROUGH... Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire is over five hundred years old and one of the best preserved medieval manor houses in England. ...

Helwys’ Christian mission

Inevitably, the Church authorities were unable to tolerate any significant degree of puritan independence. In 1607, the High Court of Ecclesiastical Commission resolved to clamp down on the Gainsborough and Scrooby dissenters. Sometime later in the winter of 1607/08, Thomas Helwys, John Smyth (1570-1612) and around forty others from the Gainsborough and Scrooby congregations fled to the safety of Amsterdam in the more tolerant Dutch Republic. (Protestant dissenters in England still faced being burnt at the stake for ‘Heresy’. On 11th April 1611, Baptist Edward Wightman became the last religious martyr to be burnt). Assuming their safety, Helwys allowed his family to remain in England. Unfortunately, his wife was soon arrested and, after refusing to take the oath in court, she was imprisoned. It is likely that she was banished after three months in prison. John Smyth (1570 - c. ... Nickname: Motto: Heldhaftig, Vastberaden, Barmhartig (Valiant, Determined, Compassionate) Location of Amsterdam Coordinates: , Country Netherlands Province North Holland Government  - Mayor Job Cohen (PvdA)  - Aldermen Lodewijk Asscher Hennah Buyne Carolien Gehrels Tjeerd Herrema Maarten van Poelgeest Marijke Vos  - Secretary Erik Gerritsen Area [1][2]  - City 219 km²  (84. ... Map of Dutch Republic by Joannes Janssonius United Netherlands redirects here. ... English Dissenters were dissenters from England who opposed State interference in religious matters and founded their own communities over the 16th to 18th century period. ... Burning of two sodomites at the stake outside Zürich, 1482 (Spiezer Schilling) Execution by burning has a long history as a method of punishment for crimes such as treason and for other unpopular acts such as heresy and the putative practice of witchcraft (burning, however, was actually less common... Look up Heresy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Edward Wightman (December 20, 1566 - April 11, 1612), a Baptist, was the last person to be executed for heresy in England by burning at the stake. ...

It was in the Dutch Republic that a distinctive Baptist faith first emerged amongst the English émigrés. Open debate amongst the émigrés, and close contact and interaction with earlier English exiles and continental Protestants, led the congregation to question the meaning and practice of baptism, among other things. John Smyth became convinced that baptism should be for Christian believers only and not for infants. The other English émigrés agreed. However, at the same time as Smyth started to embrace Mennonite doctrines, Helwys and a dozen or so others began to formulate the earliest Baptist confessions of faith. This ‘confession’ became the 27 articles in ‘A Declaration of Faith of English people remaining at Amsterdam in Holland’ (1611). The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after and influenced by the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons (1496-1561). ...

In the next 12 months or so, Helwys wrote three more important works: an argument for Arminianism (‘A short and plain proof, by the word and works of God, that God’s decree is not the cause of any man’s sin or condemnation: and that all men are redeemed by Christ; as also that no infants are condemned’), a polemic explaining his differences the Mennonites, and, most importantly, ‘A Short Declaration on the Mystery of Iniquity’, a critique and apocalyptic interpretation of the Papacy as well as criticisms of Brownism and Puritanism, and possibly the first ever English book defending the principle of religious liberty. For Helwys, religious liberty was a right for everyone, even for those he disagreed with. For the Armenian nationality, see Armenia or the Armenian language. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Gordon Brown. ... The Puritans were members of a group of radical Protestants which developed in England after the Reformation. ...

Despite the obvious risks involved, Helwys and twelve Baptist émigrés returned to England to speak out against religious persecution. They founded the first Baptist congregation on English soil in Spitalfields, east end of London. Early in 1612, Helwys was able to publish ‘The Mystery of Iniquity’. He wrote an appeal to King James I arguing for liberty of conscience and sent him a copy of his book. "The King," Helwys said, “is a mortal man, and not God, therefore he hath no power over the mortal soul of his subjects to make laws and ordinances for then and to set spiritual Lords over them". Christ Church, Spitalfields Spitalfields, an area in Tower Hamlets, east London near to Liverpool Street station and Brick Lane which gets its name from a contraction of hospital fields, as there used to be a major hospital in the area. ... James Stuart (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old. ...

The King had Helwys thrown in Newgate prison, where he had died by 1616 at the age of forty.

Helwys’ presentation copy of ‘The Mystery of Iniquity’ is still preserved in the Bodleian Library.

Thomas Helwys is honoured with the Helwys Hall at Regent's Park College, Oxford. Broxtowe Hall, the Hewlys' family home, is now only a remnant but in nearby Bilborough Baptist Church there is a simple plaque to his memory. Regents Park College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ...

Important quotes from Thomas Helwys

"If the Kings people be obedient and true subjects, obeying all humane lawes made by the King, our Lord the King can require no more: for men’s religion to God is betwixt God and themselves; the King shall not answer for it, neither may the King be judge between God and man." - Mistery of Iniquity

"If our lord the King by his discerning judgment see that as Queen Mary by her sword of justice had no power over her subjects consciences (for then had she power to make them all Papists, and all that resisted her therein suffered justly as evil doers) neither hath our lord the King by that sword of justice power over his subjects consciences: for all earthly powers are one and the same in their several dominions" - Mistery of Iniquity

External Links

• ‘Thomas Helwys' plea for religious liberty in the 17th century provided a sound foundation for other kinds of freedom’ Alec Gilmore, The Guardian, 20th May 2006
• ‘You Can Thank the Baptists for Freedom of Worship’ by Pastor David F. Reagan
• ‘Thomas Helwys, A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity’ by Walter B. Shurden, Callaway Professor of Christianity, Executive Director, The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University, Macon, Georgia
• ‘Recovering the Baptist Legacy’ by Bruce Prescott

For further study, cf. The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness. McBeth, H. Leon, Broadman and Holman Pub., Nashville, TN 1987. pp.101&ff.