Waldensians Not Baptists
One of the more common historical errors we find about the Christian blogosphere is the persistent myth of Dr. JM Carroll's Trail of Blood. The now disproven tract had a wide circulation around the late 19th Century and gained much traction among Christian congregations during the anti-Catholic No Nothing period of American history. Modern Baptist historians like James Edward McGoldrick, author of Baptist Successionism, have used scholarship to soundly refute the "landmarkism" myth perpetuated by Trail of Blood.
One of the myths perpetuated by landmarkism and Carroll's Trail of Blood was the myth that Waldensians are part of the apostolic continuity of Baptists. Nothing could be further from the truth. While Waldensian congregations still exist in Europe and the America's, the post-Reformation doctrines of modern Waldensians differ greatly from the doctrines and practices of Waldensians of the 12th and 13th Centuries. One of the advantages of living in the 21st Century is that we have the advantage of the collection of docuents known as the world-wide web. Among those 10 billion documents can be found at the University of Michigan a short tome entitled Waldo and the Waldensians Before the Reformation.
Among the pages of this short, but well footnoted book are documented evidence of some very non-Baptist practices. Among these are:
1. Transubstantiation (p.41)
2. Acceptance of the Apochrypha (p.54)
3. Salvation by faith and works (p.56)
4. Prayed mostly repeating the Lord’s Prayer (p.60)
5. Admitted the seven sacraments (p.61)
6. Did not exclude the confessional (p.61)
7. Veneration of the Mother of Jesus (p.61)
Yeah, the 12th and 13th Century Waldensians sound just like the present day Baptist conventions. The world can hardly tell them apart.
Related Posts:
Saint Patrick a Baptist! Not!
Scripture Memorization in Early Church History
Source: History, Homeschooling, and Religious Persecution
One of the myths perpetuated by landmarkism and Carroll's Trail of Blood was the myth that Waldensians are part of the apostolic continuity of Baptists. Nothing could be further from the truth. While Waldensian congregations still exist in Europe and the America's, the post-Reformation doctrines of modern Waldensians differ greatly from the doctrines and practices of Waldensians of the 12th and 13th Centuries. One of the advantages of living in the 21st Century is that we have the advantage of the collection of docuents known as the world-wide web. Among those 10 billion documents can be found at the University of Michigan a short tome entitled Waldo and the Waldensians Before the Reformation.
Among the pages of this short, but well footnoted book are documented evidence of some very non-Baptist practices. Among these are:
1. Transubstantiation (p.41)
2. Acceptance of the Apochrypha (p.54)
3. Salvation by faith and works (p.56)
4. Prayed mostly repeating the Lord’s Prayer (p.60)
5. Admitted the seven sacraments (p.61)
6. Did not exclude the confessional (p.61)
7. Veneration of the Mother of Jesus (p.61)
Yeah, the 12th and 13th Century Waldensians sound just like the present day Baptist conventions. The world can hardly tell them apart.
Related Posts:
Saint Patrick a Baptist! Not!
Scripture Memorization in Early Church History
Source: History, Homeschooling, and Religious Persecution
Labels: Baptist, Church History
1 Comments:
Yes, Baptists aren't known for their historical acumen. I have fond memories of the time I was twelve, asking my Sunday School teacher, "Where did Baptists come from?" Without skipping a beat, he assured me that we Southern Baptists could trace our church all the way back to "John, the Baptist." True story!
Needless to say, I am no longer a Baptist.
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