By Joseph Perdue
This Sunday, Oct. 31, marks the 493rd anniversary of the most famous (or infamous, depending on one’s perspective) protest in the history of Western Christianity. An Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed a scholarly work to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther’s work, which protested the sale of indulgences, sparked the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Or did it?
While it is commonly believed among Protestants and other non-Catholic Christians in the West that Luther (and his contemporaries John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli) restored a corrupt Catholic Church to New Testament state and should be venerated as heroes, the truth is much more complex.
First of all, it should probably go without saying that the medieval Catholic Church was, in fact, corrupt. The monarchical nature of the papacy, teaching the poor that they could buy their way out of purgatory and many other church teachings at the time were abominations that all followers of Christ should oppose. However, we are wrong to think that Luther was the first person to notice this or that no one was brave enough to say anything about it before Luther’s historic act.
There were numerous pre-Reformation groups (such as the Waldensians and the Lollards) that protested the doctrine and actions of the Catholic Church. The Anabaptists advocated a return to New Testament Christianity in ways that the Reformers never did (more about this below). And the Reformers didn’t just come from without; many devout Catholics — such as St. Francis and Erasmus — were critical of their own church from within.
The act of reforming a corrupt church is commendable and worthy of imitation. However, what Luther, Calvin and Zwingli led was not a complete reformation. They agreed too much with, and retained too much of, the Catholic Church in their new Protestant churches. For one thing, they all retained a belief in a state church, which was made up of all residents of a given nation. The doctrines of the state church were ruthlessly enforced by the government via torture, execution and imprisonment. They all initiated citizens into the church through infant baptism.
It is also worth noting that the Reformers only reformed at a rate that was acceptable to those in power at the time. They tolerated — and at times took part in — the persecution of other Reformation-era groups such as the Anabaptists, who sought to be faithful to Christ in spite of the state. The Anabaptists renounced violence, believed in separation of church and state, refused to baptize infants and renounced creeds.
In contrast, Calvin was a powerful official in the state church of Geneva. He oversaw the execution of 50 “heretics” by the state. Zwingli was by many accounts receptive to the doctrine of believers’ baptism until the City Council of Zurich voted against it. He then allowed the drowning of those who received adult baptism. While Luther never took an active role in persecuting those with whom he disagreed, he lent his support to those who did persecute.
In light of this history, it is proper for Baptists to remind ourselves that we are not, technically speaking, true Protestants. We are spiritually descended from a different reformation. Our ancestors did not break with Rome, but from the Church of England. As Baptist Christians, we should take this Reformation Day to remember our own unique heritage, and to honor the Baptist reformers rather than forgetting their sacrifices and contributions.
Thomas Helwys, one of the first English Baptists, pioneered the concept of religious liberty. He wrote: “The King 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 them and to set spiritual Lords over them.” He died in prison.
John Smyth left the Anglican Church to lead a group of English Baptists. He established the twofold church-office structure of pastor and deacon, rejecting elders and bishops. He was known as the “Se-Baptist,” meaning “self-baptized,” because he forsook his infant baptism and baptized himself in order that he may baptize other believers rather than infants, who cannot make the decision to follow Christ for themselves.
Roger Williams founded the first Baptist church in the New World and co-founded Rhode Island as a place where people of all faiths could worship God according to their own conscience.
John Leland labored alongside Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to ensure religious liberty for all people in the new United States.
We should remember their lives and follow their examples in our time so that, as in their time, the truth of Scripture will remain strong.