II. FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF THE BELIEVERS
I. INTRODUCTION
A.
1. Occurred at the church at Rome after the death of their pastor, Fabian.
2. This happened about 251 A.D.
3. They voted Cornelius in as their pastor.
(a). A man of unsound doctrine and compromise.
(b). Was most interested in numbers at any cost.
4. An elder by the name of Novation tried to oppose electing Cornelius as pastor, but to no avail.
5. Novation led a group that withdrew from the church at Rome and declared non-fellowship with them because of their practices.
B. Two Church Groups.
1. Sound Churches (led by Novation).
2. Unsound Churches (led by Cornelius).
C. Leading Up To Forming Of The Catholic Church.
1. The Novationist eventually became the Anabaptist and eventually the Ana being dropped, they began to simply be identified as Baptist.
2. The group led by Cornelius latter was formed into the what we know as the Roman Catholic Church.
3. It is our intentions to show how this came about.
II. THE FORMING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
A. Constantine.
1. In the year 306 A.D. the emperor Constantine came to the throne of the empire.
2. During his conflict with Maximus in A.D. 312 he professed the Christian religion.
3. During a battle Emperor Constantine believed he had a vision of a flaming cross and above it the words, "By this sign thou shalt conquer."
4. He first tried to unite the Novatianists with the Cornelius party, but the Novatianists refused this union on account of the corruption of the Cornelius party.
5. Constantine finally gave this up and joined the church of the Cornelius party on May 22, A.D. 337.
6. He then established the Christian religion by law.
7. They called their group the "Catholic Church."
8. The term "catholic" is a Latin word meaning universal.
B. Forming The Universal Church.
1. This party, being now established by law, began to incorporate almost all the heathen festivals that were celebrated while the empire was under pagan religion.
2. The Christians were so proud to think that they had an emperor to protect them that they submitted virtually all control into his hands.
3. The "Universal Church" began to almost immediately to take to the use of power and worldly show.
4. It began to hold councils, instead of consulting the Scriptures, to decide all the affairs of doctrine and practice.
5. The chairman of these councils finally began to be called "universal bishop," and was regarded as having general ecclesiastical authority.
6. The first to assume this title was John, the Faster, in A.D. 588. (Jones, page 214.)
7. Boniface III seemed to be the first to establish the succession of popes. (Jones, page 217).
8. Although the Catholic church claims the Apostle Simon Peter as their first "Pope," that office did not come into existence until 590 A.D. when Gregory the Great became the first Pope.
9. The groundwork for the Catholic Church was laid in 313 A.D., the church itself was established in 337 A.D., and the first Pope was set up in 590 A.D.
C. The Doctrine Of The Nicolaitanes.
1. In His letter to the church at Ephesus the Lord stated, "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." (Rev. 2:6)
2. In His letter to the church at Pergamos He said, "So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate." (Rev. 2:15)
(a). The word Nicolaitan or Nicolaus means to conquer the people or conquer the laity.
(b). This refers to priestly, bishopry type ruling. Clergy bosses.
(c). In other words, exactly what the Catholic Church had began to do.
3. The term "pagan Rome" applies to the empire of Rome while under the pagan religion:
4. The term "papal Rome" applies to the empire after the Christian religion was established by law by Constantine in A.D. 313.
III. THE WALDENSES
A. The Beginning Of The Waldenses.
1. By A.D. 337, Constantine changed his treatment toward the Christians, especially those of the Novationist.
(a). According to history, their books were sought for; they were forbidden to assemble together; and many of them lost their places of worship.
(b). Orchard observes: "Constantine's oppressive measures prompted many to leave the scene of sufferings and retire to more sequestered (isolated or hidden) spots."
2. Orchard says: "At the conclusion of this fourth century the Novatianists had three, if not four, churches in Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey);
(a). They also had churches at Nice, Nicomedia, and Cotiveus, in Phrygia (Asia Minor) - all of them large and extensive bodies;
(b). Besides which, they were very numerous in the Western Empire."
3. There were several churches of this people in the city of Alexandria in the beginning of the fifth century.
4. This was about the time of the fourth Lateran Council, that we mentioned earlier.
(a). Decrees (laws) were made to punish with death all rebaptizers, as well as those rebaptized.
(b). These canons were supported by the edict of Emperor Theo-dos-ius in A.D. 413.
5. "These continued modes of oppression," says Orchard, "led the faithful to abandon the cities and seek retreats in the country, which they did, particularly in the valleys of Piedmont, the inhabitants of which began to be called 'Waldenses,'" (Page 61).
NOTE: Piedmont is in northwestern Italy.
6. It is evident from an abundance of undoubted evidence that the Novatianists resorted to the valleys of Piedmont about the beginning of the fifth century and were called "Waldenses." (a). Some of the prominent ministers and writers of the church, while they were called "Novatianists," were Novatian, Novatus, Sampronianus, Cyril, Albanus, Agelius, Acesius, Sisinnius, Marcian, Mark, and Leo. (b). These exercised their ministry from A.D. 240 to A.D. 439.
7. So, the Novatianists, after resorting to the valleys of Piedmont, began to be called "Waldenses."
8. Orchard writes, "A council, was convened at Arles and at Lyons in A.D. 455, in which the views of the Novatianists on predestination were controverted and by which name they were stigmatized," (Page 62).
B. The Characteristic Marks Of These Churches Were...
1. An independent form of church government, each church complete within itself.
2. They baptized anew all that came to them from any church that was not in fellowship with them.
3. They baptized by immersion upon a profession of faith in Christ.
4. They baptized no infants.
5. They were predestinarians.
6. They taught freedom of conscience and opposed the union of church and state.
7. They acknowledged no rule of faith and practice but the Scriptures.
8. (Brown's "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,"). The Waldenses, in these characteristics, were identical with the Novationists:
(a). Independent form of church government.
(b). Baptism by immersion upon a profession of faith.
(c). They baptized anew all that came to them from any church not in fellowship with them.
(d). They refused baptism to infants.
(e). They were predestinarians.
(f). They taught freedom of conscience.
(g). They acknowledged no rule of faith and practice but the Scriptures.
9. Long before the Reformation the Waldenses had planted their churches and disseminated their doctrine in almost all the provinces of Europe, particularly in...
(a). France,
(b). Germany,
(c). Bohemia,
(d). Moravia,
(e). Switzerland,
(f). Holland,
(g). And England.
10. "Their principles, however, continued unsubdued; and at the Reformation their descendants, in number of eight hundred thousand, were reckoned among the Protestants, with whom they were in doctrine so congenial (compatible).
11. Some united with the Lutherans; others, with the Calvinists; and others still, with the Anabaptists of the better sort, afterwards called 'Mennonists,'" (See Brown's "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," page 1150)
C. The Name Waldenses.
1. There are various opinions as to the origin of the name "Waldenses."
2. The most popular opinion is that they derived their name from the valleys.
3. There are also those who supposes that they derived their name from Peter Waldo, one of their leaders.
4. In J. Newton Brown's "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge" we are given the following account of the origin of the name "Waldenses:" "The valleys are called 'Vaux,' whence ‘Vaudois:’ and Peter is said to have borne the name "Waldo" because he was a follower of that sect. That the name was used before his time appears from this; that it is found in a confession brought to light by Pictetus. It happened, indeed, that when the Waldenses were persecuted and banished by the Archbishop of Lyons and Waldo and his companions fled to other regions - from that time they were scattered through Gaul, Italy, Germany, England, and Spain," (Page 1150).
5. Dr. McLean's account of the Waldenses coincides with Claudius Seyssel, the popish archbishop, who "traces the rise of the Waldensian heresy to a Novatianist pastor named 'Leo,' who left Rome at this period (A.D. 331) for the valleys," (Orchard, pages 58, 256).
6. Claudius Seyssel traced the Waldenses back to Leo, a Novatianist minister, who left Rome for the valleys of Piedmont about A.D. 331, and as they were afterwards called "Leonists" for many centuries, it is reasonable to suppose that they derived the name "Leonists" from Leo.
7. In the "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," by Brown, we have the following statement as to the origin of the Waldenses: "It seems to be a serious mistake into which some popular writers have fallen, who represent the Waldenses as originating in France about the year A.D. 1170 and deriving their name from the celebrated Peter Waldo. The evidence is now ample that, so far from being a new sect at that period, they had existed under various names as a distinct class of dissenters from the established churches of Greece and Rome in the earliest age." (Page 1147).
8. In the same article we read: "Those Puritans, exposed to severe and sanguinary persecutions for dissent, from age to age were compelled to shelter themselves from the desolating storm in retirement; and when at intervals they reappear on the pages of contemporary history and their principles are propagated with new boldness and success, they are styled a 'new sect' and receive a new name, though in reality they are the same people."
9. Reinerius also observes: "They declare themselves to be the apostles' successors, to have apostolic authority and the keys of binding and loosing. They say that a man is then first baptized when he is received into their community." These holy people, who were the ancient Novationists, only called by another name, held the same views and followed the same practice of baptizing anew all that come over to them from any other sect not in fellowship with them. D. Balthazar states that some of these churches existed here in the second century and practiced believer's baptism by immersion. (see Orchard, page 255).
D. The Work Of The Waldenses (They Were Missionary).
1. The Waldenses, despite the oppressive measures against them, were very diligent in spreading the gospel.
2. They traveled over different countries and States and planted their churches.
3. Reinerius stated that, "Of all the sects which have been or now exist, none is more injurious to the Church of Rome, for three reasons:
(a). Because it is more ancient. Some aver (declare) their existence from the time of Sylvester; others, from the very time of the apostles.
(b). Because it is so universal; there is scarcely any country into which this sect has not crept.
(c) Because all other heretics excite horror by the greatness of their blasphemies against God; but these have a great appearance of piety (godliness), as they live justly before men," etc. (Brown's "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," page 1148).
4. It has been said that they could travel all over the country and stay every night with some of their brethren.
5. In times of persecution they would often carry baskets of goods with them as peddlers; and after showing their goods, they would say: "We have something of more value than these goods that we will tell you if you will promise not to tell the clergy."
(a). After obtaining a promise of protection, they would tell the beautiful story of their doctrine.
(b). Often the people would profess their faith, and, under the cover of night, would be carried to a suitable place and baptized.
E. Peter Waldo.
1. Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, who, it is said derived his name from the Waldenses.
2. After he professed faith in Christ and joined these people (A.D. 1170), he sold his merchandise and appropriated the proceeds to the furtherance of the gospel.
3. He translated the Bible into the vernacular language of Gaul. 4. He was hunted down, like a beast of prey, by the clergy of the established religion, but traveled over Belgium, Germany, Vandals (area of North Africa settled by a Germanic people), and Bohemia.
5. The Baptists owe much to the labors of this great man.
6. "In the preface to the first French Bible the translators say that they (the Waldenses) have always had the full enjoyment of the heavenly truth contained in the holy scriptures, ever since they were enriched with the same by the apostles, having in fair manuscripts preserved the entire Bible in their native tongue from generation to generation.
F. The Waldenses Before Waldo.
1. Paul Perrin asserts that the Waldenses were time out of mind in Italy and Dalmatia, and were the offspring of the Novatianists, who were persecuted and driven from Rome in A.D. 400. (See Orchard, Page 259).
2. "Reinerium Saccho, an inquisitor and one of their most implacable enemies, who lived only eighty years after Waldo, admits that the Waldenses flourished five hundred years before Waldo," (Jones, page 301).
G. The Doctrine Of The Waldenses.
1. The old, or primitive, Waldenses were distinguished by the doctrine and practice of Christian liberty.
(a). They believed in the doctrine of the Trinity and baptized believers.
(b). They refused baptism to infants when it came into use in other churches, and were, consequently, reproached with the term 'rebaptizers,' or 'Anabaptists,'" (Orchard, pages 257, 258).
2. "The Waldenses taught that the Roman Church departed from its former sanctity and purity in the time of Constantine the Great. They, therefore, refused to submit to the usurped power of its pontiff," (Jones, page 346).
3. "AEneas Sylvius (afterward Pope Pius II.) declares the doctrine taught by Calvin to be the same as that of the Waldenses."
4. "Lindanus, a Catholic bishop of the see of Ghent, who wrote in defense of the tenets of the Church of Rome about A.D. 1560, termed Calvin 'the inheritor of the doctrine of the Waldenses,'" (Jones, page 347).
5. The doctrine of Calvin is embraced in the five points:
(a). Predestination.
(b). Particular redemption.
(c). Total depravity.
(d). Effectual calling, or regeneration.
(e). The certain perseverance of the saints. (See "Religious Ceremonies," page 437).
H. Not All Waldenses Were Baptist.
1. It must be remembered that all the people who were called by the common name "Waldenses" were not Baptists.
2. As shown by Orchard, Cramp, and others, there were three distinct classes of people who were called by the name "Waldenses:"
(a). The descendants of the Novatians, who were Baptists. (b). Those who rejected the ordinances of baptism.
(c). Those who held to pedobaptism. (See Cramp, page 146)
3. Upon this subject Mr. Cramp observes: "If the question relates to the Waldenses in the strict and modern sense of the term - that is, to the inhabitants of the valleys of Piedmont - there is reason to believe that originally the majority of them were Baptists," etc.
IV. THE LOLLARDS
A. The Beginning Of The Lollards.
1. Brown states that the first English Lollards came from Germany.
2. In Germany - and later, in England - many of the Waldenses were called "Lollards," as some suppose, after the celebrated Walter Lollard, of Germany, who exercised his ministry in the early part of the fourteenth century.
3. Others think the name "Lollard" was derived from "lolium" (a tare), as if the Lollards were considered tares in the kingdom of Christ.
4. There are numerous other theories concerning the name, but I see no reason to pursue them.
5. "Fuller, however, informs us that in the reign of Edward III., about A.D. 1315, Walter Lollard, a German preacher - or, as Perrin, in his 'History of the Waldenses,' calls him, one of the 'barbs' (pastors) - of great renown among them, came into England, and was so eminent in England that, as in France, they were called 'Ber-en-garians,' from Berengarius, and 'Petrobrusians,' from Peter Bruis; and in Italy and Flanders, 'Arnoldists,' from the famous Arnold, of Brescia.
6. So did the Waldensian Christians for many generations afterwards bear the name of this worthy man, being called 'Lollards.'"
7. Whatever may have been the origin of the name, it is quite evident that Walter, since the days of his ministry, has been known by the name "Walter Lollard," and there is but little doubt but that the Lollards in Germany and England were so named from him.
B. John Wickliffe And The Lollards.
1. "Thomas Walden, who had access to the writings of Wickliffe, calls him (Lollard) 'one of the seven heads that came out of the bottomless pit for denying infant baptism, that heresy of the Lollards, of whom he was so great a ringleader.'" (Brown's "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," page 752).
2. Walden again says "that doctrine of Peter Waldo was conveyed from France into England, and that, among others, Wickliffe received it," (Jones, page 347).
3. Some would claim John Wickliffe as a Baptist, but let us look at the evidence; I’m not saying he was or was not.
4. Bishop Newton said of the Lollards: "There was a man more worthy to have given name to the sect - the deservedly famous John Wickliffe, the honor of his own time and the admiration of succeeding times."
5. Brown, in his "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," says: "The writings of Wickliffe were numerous and learned; his doctrines, generally those of the Reformed Church, though in regard to baptism he is said to have agreed with the Baptists," (Page 1167).
6. However, Wickliffe did define a church to consist only of persons predestinated, (See Jarrel, page 320).
7. Some of the prominent ministers and authors of this faith from the fourth century to the fifteenth century were such as Leo, Josephists, George Morell, Peter Waldo, Peter de Bruis, Henry Claude, Huss, Wickcliffe, Monsieur De Vignaux, Jerome, Arnold, Walter Lollard, and John Paul Perrin.
V. THE ANABAPTIST
A. The Term "Anabaptist."
1. The term "Anabaptist" has been applied to these people at times ever since the division between the Baptists and the Catholics, in A.D. 251.
2. The word itself is a compounded of "ana" ("anew," "re," "again") and "Baptists."
3. They obtained the name by the practice of baptizing anew all that came over to them from other sects with whom they were not in fellowship.
4. It must be remembered, however, that many were called "Anabaptists" by the Catholics and Lutherans who had no connection with the Baptists at all and whose principles did not even slightly resemble those of the Baptists.
5. In order to make the Baptists look as obnoxious as possible, the Catholics and later the Lutherans called everyone not in agreement with them by the name "Anabaptists" when very frequently they had no connection with the true Anabaptists at all.
B. Munzer Was Not Anabaptist.
1. This was true in the case of Munzer, the leader in the unhappy affair of the German peasants.
2. Munzer himself was a pedobaptist (baptized babies).
3. Nothing could be more unjust, slanderous, and untrue than to charge the Munzer insurrection to the Anabaptists of Germany.
4. Jarrel says: "It is true, indeed, that many Anabaptists suffered death - not on account of their being considered rebellious subjects, but merely because they were judged to be incurable heretics; for in this century the error of limiting the administration of baptism to adult persons only and the practice of rebaptizing such as had received that sacrament in a state of infancy were looked upon as most flagitious and intolerable heresies."
5. He further added, "Those who had no other marks of peculiarity than their administering baptism to adult persons only and their excluding the unrighteous from the external communion of the church ought undoubtedly to have met with milder treatment than what was given to those seditious incendiaries who were for unhinging all government and destroying all civil authority,"(page 220).
6. "Gressler says: 'No traces of Anabaptist fanaticism were seen' in the peasants' war."
C. Simons Menno.
1. Simons Menno united with the Baptists in 1535; and for many years afterwards a great portion of the Baptists were called "Mennonists," after him.
2. By this time, Martin Luther had already broken away from the Catholic Church and formed the Lutheran Church.
(a). This occurred in 1520 A.D.
(b). Martin Luther was the first of the so-called "reformers," and the Lutheran Church was the first "Protestant Church."
3. Menno was at first a Roman priest and was induced (assigned) to examine the New Testament.
4. As a result of that, some doubts arose in his mind concerning transubstantiation (turning the bread & wine into the literal body & blood of Christ).
5. Gradually, through Grace, Menno became enlightened to the truth concerning this matter.
6. After a length of time, a man by the name of Sieke Snyder was martyred at Leeuwarden, for anabaptism.
7. This spurred Menno to a similar inquiry concerning the other ordinance, that is the ordinance of Baptism.
8. After study and research into baptism, Menno embraced the views of the persecuted Baptists,
9. For several years he struggled to suppress his secret convictions on account of the persecutions and suffering it incurred.
10. On "baptism" Menno said: "After we have searched ever so diligently, we shall find no other baptism but dipping in water is acceptable to God and approved in his word."
D. Mosheim On The Mennonists.
1. Mosheim said that "they admit none to the sacrament of baptism but persons who are come to the full use of their reason, because, "he says, "infants are incapable of binding themselves by a solemn vow to holy life; and it is altogether uncertain whether, in mature years, they will be saints or sinners," (Page 136).
2. "Like the Novationists and the Waldenses, the Mennonists were complained at for their strict discipline and for holding that their denomination only comprised the kingdom of Christ, or church of God upon earth.
3. Mosheim remarks: "The rules of moral discipline formerly observed by the Mennonists were rigorous and austere (hard) in the highest degree, and thus every way conformable to the fundamental principle which has been already mentioned as the source of all their peculiar tenets," (Page 136).
4. Mosheim further observes: "The rigid Anabaptists enjoin it as an obligation upon their disciples and the members of their community to wash the feet of their guests as a token of brotherly love and affection and in obedience to the example of Christ, which they suppose in this case to have the force of a positive command; and hence they are sometimes called 'Podoniptae,'" (Page 137).
5. Mosheim, notwithstanding his great aversion to the Mennonists and his pains to make the Baptists responsible for every enormity of the frequent insurrections of these times, finally pays them this very rare compliment: "It may be observed, in the first place, that the Mennonists are not entirely in error when they boast of their descent from the Waldenses, Petrobrusians, and other ancient sects, who are usually considered as witnesses of the truth in the times of general darkness and superstition. Before the rise of Luther and Calvin there lay concealed in almost all the countries of Europe, particularly in Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland, and Germany, many persons who adhered tenaciously to the following doctrine, which the Waldenses, Wickliffites, and Hussites, had maintained - some, in a more disguised manner; others, in a more open and public manner - vis.: 'That the kingdom of Christ, or the visible church which he established upon earth, is an assembly of the true and real saints, and ought, therefore, to be inaccessible to the wicked and unrighteous, and also exempt from all those institutions which human prudence suggests to oppose the progress of iniquity or to correct and reform transgressors.' This maxim is the true source of all the peculiarities that are to be found in the religious doctrine and discipline of the Mennonists; and it is most certain that the greatest part of these peculiarities were approved by many of those who, before the dawn of the Reformation, entertained the notion already mentioned relating to the visible church of Christ," (Volume II, Page 128).
6. This concedes just what the Baptists claim for themselves, although it comes from one of their greatest opponents; and it corroborates the views of the Waldenses.
7. Mosheim says, "The true origin of this sect which acquired the denomination 'Anabaptists' by their administering anew the rite of baptism to those who came over to their communion and derived the name 'Mennonists' from the famous man to whom they owe the greatest part of their present felicity is hidden in the depths of antiquity, and is, of consequence, extremely difficult to be ascertained," (Volume II, page 127).
8. We need to remembered that this important statement comes from a very high authority of the Lutheran Church and a most passionate opponent of the Baptists.
9. No doubt the greatest difficulty with the learned Mosheim is that his information convinced him that their origin is with the apostles and he felt a delicacy in saying so much.
10. It is clearly evident that the characteristics of the Baptists, while known under the name "Mennonists," were the same as those of the Novatianists and Waldenses:
(a). Independent form of church government;
(b). Baptism by immersion upon a profession of faith;
(c). They baptized anew all that came to them from any other sect;
(d). They refused baptism to infants;
(e). They were predestinarians;
(f). They taught freedom of conscience;
(g). They opposed the union of church and State;
(h). They acknowledged no rule of faith and practice but the Scriptures.
E. The Novationist, Waldenses, Lollards, And Mennonists.
1. For the most part, these people were all one and the same.
2. In A.D. 1819 the king of Holland appointed Dr. A. Ypoij, a professor of theology in the University of Groningen, and Rev. I. J. Dermont, secretary of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church and chaplain to His Majesty, to prepare a history of the Dutch Reformed Church, of which they were both members.
3. In this official history, which they published at Breda in A.D. 1819, they devote one chapter to the Baptists, in which they make the following statement: "We have now seen that the Baptists, who were formerly called 'Anabaptists' and in the later times 'Mennonists,' were the original Waldenses, and who have long in the history of the church 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 communion is the most ancient," (Volume I, page 148).