The Radicals
Anabaptists, Early American Baptists, and Today
Radical, for many, is a terrifying phrase. The word sounds anarchist. It sounds like a description of an insurrectionist who desires to destroy society. No one wants to be radical; that describes a madman. Yet, at their core, Baptists are radical. They challenge the status quo. They refuse to compromise. They upset the system. Yet, that alone is not what makes them radical. Baptists also refuse to return evil for evil. They do not revile those who revile them. They do not resist an evil person. Being radical at the core is not only counter-culture but counter-humanity. Baptists do the opposite of what the natural man does. Baptists care only about pleasing the Lord, no matter the cost, and never desire to receive vindication in this life. The radical ways of the Baptists are found throughout their history.
"Simple," "Biblicists," and "Non-violent" are the descriptions that earned the Anabaptists the title "Radicals." The Anabaptists were purists, demanding complete allegiance to Christ and total submission to the Word of God. In comparison to the wicked Catholics and the compromised Protestants, they were "radical." So, the Catholics and the Protestants killed these radicals. The Anabaptists refused to compromise but also refused to defend themselves. That is what made them radical.
Consider the story of Felix Manz. Co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptist movement, at the age of 26, he disputed Ulrich Zwingli over the issue of infant baptism in front of the Zurich City Council. By the Council's ruling, Manz had lost. The Council ordered Manz to submit to their verdict, but he refused. He would continue to practice the Lord's commands and then be arrested again. This process would occur several times, where Manz would be arrested, make his case before the magistrate, be ruled against, refuse to submit, receive a harsh punishment, be released, return to the practices of Scripture, and then be arrested again. In all of this, he never resisted his punishment. Manz never physically defended himself, no matter how harsh the punishment was, nor did he betray himself as a victim. Yet, he also never compromised. When the Council would release Manz, he would return immediately to baptizing believers and teaching the Word. The Zurich Council would eventually lose its patience with Manz. The last time the Council had Manz arrested, they did not settle for a punishment of restricted bread and water. The Council ordered Manz to be drowned. Manz, this time faced with death, continued to resist his punishment. His sentence read,
"Manz shall be delivered to the executioner, who shall tie his hands, put him into a boat, take him to the lower hut, there strip his bound hands down over his knees, place a stick between his knees and arms, and thus push him into the water and let him perish in the water; thereby he shall have atoned to the law and justice."
Before Manz's execution, he wrote, "I will firmly adhere to Christ and trust in him who is acquainted with all my needs and can deliver me out of it. Amen." As Manz stood in the boat in the middle of Lake Zurich, he heard his mother's cries, urging him to be steadfast. The executioner plunged Manz beneath the water and died. Manz did not waver; he did not seek vengeance; he only sought the pleasure of his Lord. Radical is an excellent description of Felix Manz.
Consider also the story of Michael Sattler. Sattler was a monk, having risen to the level of prior in the monastery. After reading Paul's epistles, he realized the truth of the gospel and the error of forced celibacy and left the Catholic Church. At 35, he joined with other Anabaptists and was the primary writer of the Schleitheim confession. For this, the Austrian Catholics arrested Sattler. At his trial, he had this exchange with the town clerk:
Town clerk: "O you infamous, desperate villain and monk, shall we dispute with you? The hangman shall dispute with you, I assure you!"
Sattler: "God's will be done."
Town clerk: "It would be better if you'd never been born!"
Sattler: "God knows what is best."
Town clerk: "You arch-heretic, you have seduced the pious; if only they would forsake their error and accept grace."
Sattler: "Grace belongs to God alone."
Town clerk: "You desperate villain and arch-heretic, I tell you, if there were no hangman here, I would hang you myself and think that I had done God's service."
Sattler: "God will judge rightly."
Sattler refused to recant his beliefs. He did not resist the evil done to him. He only sought the pleasure of God and to live in obedience to the Lord. Radical describes Michael Sattler well.
While the term "Radicals" was specifically applied to the Anabaptists, the term can retroactively be applied to the Baptist movement that followed the Anabaptists. Baptists in Britain applied the same principles of non-compromise and non-resistant, many suffering under the reigns of both Protestants and Catholics. The radical ways crossed the ocean, and Baptists in America did the same.
Consider the story of Obadiah Holmes. At the age of 41, Holmes, While he was visiting a homebound church member with his pastor, John Clarke, was arrested for participating in a Baptist church service in the Puritan state of Massachusetts. Read the court sentence of Holmes:
"Forasmuch as you, Obadiah Holmes, being come into this jurisdiction about the 21st of the fifth month, did meet at one William Witter's house, at Lynn, and did here privately (and at other times), being an excommunicated person, did take upon you to preach and baptize upon the Lord's Day, or other days, and being taken then by the constable, and coming afterward to the assembly at Lynn, did, in disrespect to the ordinance of God and his worship, keep on your hat, the pastor being in prayer, insomuch as you would not give reverence in vailing your hat, till it was forced off your head, to the disturbance of the congregation, and professing against the institution of the church, as not being according to the gospel of Jesus Christ; and that you, the said Obadiah Holmes, did, upon the day following, meet again at the said William Witter's, in contempt to authority, you being then in the custody of the law, and did there receive the sacrament, being excommunicate, and that you did baptize such as were baptized before, and thereby did necessarily deny the baptism before administered to be baptism, the churches no churches, and also other ordinances and ministers, as if all was a nullity; and did also deny the lawfulness of baptizing of infants; and all this tends to the dishonor of God, the despising the ordinances of God among us, the peace of the churches, and seducing the subjects of this commonwealth from the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and perverting the straight ways of the Lord; the court doth fine you thirty pounds, to be paid, or sufficient sureties that the said sum shall be paid by the first day of the next Court of Assistants, or else to be well whipt; and that you shall remain in prison till it be paid, or security given in for it:
"By the Court,
"INCREASE NORVEL."
While someone paid Clarke's fine on his behalf, Holmes refused to pay or allow someone else to pay his fine. Instead, he chose to receive the whipping at the hands of the Puritan government. Read what Holmes said about his whipping:
"As the strokes fell upon me I had such a spiritual manifestation of God's presence as the like thereof I never had nor felt, nor can with fleshly tongue express; and the outward pain was so removed from me that indeed I am not able to declare it to you; it was so easy to me that I could well bear it, yea, and in a manner felt it not, although it was grievous, as the spectators said, the man striking with all his strength (yea, spitting in his hand three times, as many affirmed) with a three-corded whip, giving me there with thirty strokes."
Holmes steadfastly refused to compromise the truth of Scripture. He did not resist the evil done to him. He only desired to proclaim the truth of God and serve the Lord. Radical describes Obadiah Holmes well.
Consider also the story of James Ireland. Raised a Presbyterian and converted under the ministry of an itinerant evangelist, he was persuaded that he needed to be baptized according to the Scriptural standard. Having no church in his area in Virginia to receive such a baptism, he traveled to a Separate Baptist church in Sandy Creek, North Carolina, and upon the church's belief that Ireland was truly saved, they extended the right hand of fellowship and baptized him. Ireland, at the age of 21, would be ordained for gospel ministry and returned to Virginia to preach the gospel. At the start of Ireland's preaching career, the Anglican government of Virginia persecuted him. Ireland tells of one encounter with persecution, writing:
"Preaching being over, and concluding with prayer, I heard a rustling noise in the woods, and before I opened my eyes to see what it was, I was seized by the collar by two men while standing on the table. Stepping down and beholding a number of others walking up, it produced a momentary confusion in me. The magistrates instantaneously demanded of me what I was doing there with such a conventicle of people. I replied, that I was preaching the gospel of Christ to them; they asked, who gave me authority so to do. I answered, He that was the author of the gospel had a right to send forth whom He had qualified to dispense it. They retorted upon me with abusive epithets, and then inquired if I had any authority from man to preach. I produced my credentials, but these would avail nothing, not being sanctioned and commissioned by the bishop. They told me that I must give security not to teach, preach, or exhort, for twelve months and a day, or go to jail. I chose the latter alternative."
The Anglican attempted to murder Ireland numerous times, including trying to suffocate him. Ireland, while serving a stint in the jail, would be urinated on. None of these ever stopped Ireland from preaching. He chose to suffer for what was right. He refused to compromise. He did not resist the evil done to him. He only sought the pleasure of the Lord. Radical certainly applies to James Ireland.
These are only a few examples of the radical nature of Baptists. Radical has always described Baptists. Baptists have suffered for their dedication to truth and fearlessness in the face of persecution. They preferred suffering to compromise. Baptists have never tried to repay evil for evil but rather have fought for freedom, even for those who persecuted them. So, what made these Anabaptists and Baptists radicals? How did they become so fervent for truth, so willing to suffer, and content with justice belonging to the Lord? They died to the opinions of those who hated them long before they died and/or suffered at their hands.
A resurgence of being Baptist must begin with a revival of being radical. For Baptists to fight for the sufficiency of Scripture, they must die to what pragmatists think of them. For Baptists to promote the cause of religious freedom, they must die to the opinions of secularists and integralists. For Baptists to return to their place as the fountainhead of principled politics, biblicism, and sound doctrine, they must die to the opinions of others. Instead of getting offended whenever an insult is thrown, take it with honor. Instead of folding whenever conflict arises, refuse to compromise. Be fearless in the face of persecution. Refuse to return evil for evil. Be radical.