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JOHN SMYTH

Born Cir. 1570. An early Baptist minister of England and a defender of the principle of religious liberty. Many historians consider John Smyth as a founder of the modern Baptist denomination.

He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594 in England. Soon after his ordination, he broke with the Church of England and became a Separatist.

In 1609, Smyth, along with a group in Holland, came to believe in believer's baptism, as opposed to infant baptism, and they came together to form one of the earliest Baptist Churches.

In the beginning, he was closely aligned with his Anglican heritage. As time passed, his views evolved.

First, he insisted that true worship was from the heart and that any form of reading from a book in worship was an invention of sinful man. This rejection of liturgy (the eucharistic rite of Eastern churches, a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship, a customary repertoire of ideas, phrases, or observances) remains strong among many Baptists still today. Prayer, singing and preaching had to be completely spontaneous. He went so far with this mentality that he would not allow the reading of the Bible during worship "since he regarded English translations of Scripture as something less that the direct word of God."

Second, he introduced a twofold church leadership, that of pastor and deacon. This was in contrast to the Reformation trifold leadership of Pastor-Elder, Lay-Elders and Deacons.

Third, with his newfound position on baptism, a whole new concern arose for these "Baptists." Having been baptized as infants, they all realized that they would have to be re-baptized. Since there was no other minister to administer baptism, Smyth baptized himself and then proceeded to baptize his flock.

Before his death, Smyth moved away from his Baptist views and began trying to bring his flock into the Mennonite Church. Although he died before this happened, most of his congregation did join themselves with the Mennonite Church after his death.

This brought about a separation between Smyth and a group led by Thomas Helwys. The churches that descended from Smyth and Helwys were of the General Baptist persuasion.

SOURCE: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia