Defender of religious liberty John Smyth born 450 years ago
John Smyth (1570–1612) was co-founder with Thomas Helwys of the Baptist denomination. He was a defender of religious liberty.
Smyth was born in 1570 in Nottinghamshire and believed to be the son of John Smyth, a middle-class Englishman. He was educated at the grammar school in Gainsborough.
He studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge. Between 1594 and 1598, he was a Fellow of the College.
Opposing state control
Ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594, he soon challenged the Church of England. By 1602, he had become a separatist, a person who opposed state control of the Church. He pastored an independent congregation at Gainsborough composed of between 60 and 70 members.
For two years he and John Robinson — the minister to the Pilgrims in England and later in Holland — helped organize separatists in Nottinghamshire. In 1608, the Ecclesiastical High Court suppressed separatism. Robinson and his followers set out for Amsterdam, Holland. Then Smyth and Thomas Helwys, a prominent member of the Gainsborough church, followed and arrived before Robinson.
Smyth and Helwys formed the first Baptist church in Holland in 1608/1609. Smyth and others believed in believer’s baptism as opposed to infant baptism. Smyth baptized first himself, then Helwys and the rest of the congregation. At the time Smyth, using a dipper and a bucket of water, poured water over the heads of the believers. Baptists would later adopt immersion. Smyth became known as the “self-baptized.”
When Smyth’s church became Baptist, Robinson took his group to Leiden, Holland. Although Robinson did not go to America, many of his group sailed on the Mayflower.
Eventually, Smyth moved away from his Baptist views and identified with the Mennonite church. The Mennonites already practiced believer’s baptism.
Thomas Helwys led his followers back to England and formed the first Baptist church there in 1611/1612.
On Aug. 28, 1612, Smyth died from tuberculosis in Amsterdam. His burial place is unknown. His congregation formally merged with the Mennonites in January of 1615.
In addition to being a co-founder of the Baptist faith, Smyth’s belief in the separation of church and state influenced the Pilgrims who traveled to the American colonies in 1620 to practice their religion.
Smyth initiated a twofold type of church leadership: that of pastor and deacon. This contrasted with the trifold leadership of pastor-elder, lay-elders and deacons.
Smyth’s identification with the Mennonites has led to continued debate about whether Southern Baptists have historical roots with the Anabaptists or have unrelated traditions.
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