A History of the Baptists, Chapter 6 - The Waldensian Churches

It is a beautiful peculiarity of this little people that it should it occupy so prominent a place in the history of Europe. There had long been witnesses for the truth in the A1ps. Italy, as far as Rome, all Southern France, and even the far-off Netherlands contained many Christians who counted not their lives dear unto themselves. Especially was this true in the region of the Alps. These valleys and mountains were strongly fortified by nature on account of their difficult passes and bulwarks of rocks and mountains; and they impress one as if the all-wise Creator had, from the beginning, designed that place as a cabinet, wherein to put some inestimable jewel, or in which to preserve many thousands of souls, who should not bow the knee to Baal (Moreland, History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valley of Piedmont, 5. London, 1658).

Here a new movement, or rather an old one under different conditions, received an impetus. Peter Waldo, or Valdesius, or Waldensis, as he was variously called, was a rich and distinguished citizen of Lyons, France, in the closing decades of the twelfth century. Waldo was at first led to study the Bible and he made a translation of it which he circulated among the people. The reading of the Gospels led to an imitation of Christ. Waldo took the manner of his life from the Scriptures, and he soon had a multitude of disciples. They gave their property to the poor and began to preach in the city. When they refused to cease preaching they were expelled from Lyons. Taking their wives and children with them, they set out on a preaching mission. The ground was well prepared by the Albigenses and the Cathari, as well as by the insufficiency and immorality of the Roman Catholic clergy. They traveled two by two, clad in woolen garments, with wooden shoes or barefoot They penetrated Switzerland and Northern Italy. Everywhere they met with a hearty response. The principal seat of the Waldenses became the slopes of the Cottian Alps and East Piedmont, West Provence and Dauphiny. Their numbers multiplied into thousands. It is certain that in the beginning of his career Waldo was a Roman Catholic, and that his followers separated from their former superstitions.

There has been much discussion in regard to the origin of the Waldenses. It is asserted on the one hand that they originated with Waldo, and had no connection with former movements. This view is held absolutely, probably by very few, for even Comba admits that "in a limited sense their antiquity must he admitted" (Comba, History of the Waldenses in Italy, 12); and he also states that the Waldenses themselves believed in their own antiquity. Those who hold this view now generally state that the Waldenses were influenced by the Petrobrusians. the Arnoldists and others. Others affirm that the Waldenses were only a part of the general movement of the dissent against Rome. They were of "the same general movement" which produced the Albigenses (Fisher, History of the Christian Church, 272. New York, 1887). The contention is that the name Waldenses is from the Italian Valdese, or Waldesi, signifying a valley, and, therefore, the word means that they lived in valleys. Eberhard de Bethune, A. D. 1160, says: "Some of them call themselves Vallenses because they live in the vale of sorrows or tears" (Monastier, A History of the Vaudois Church, 58. London, 1848). Bernard, an Abbot of a Monastery of the Remonstrants, in the Diocese of Narbonne, about 1209, says that they were called "Waldenses, that is, from a dark valley, because they are involved in its deep thick darkness or errors" (Migne, CCIV. 793). Waldo was so called because he was a valley man, and was only a noted leader of a people who had long existed. This view is ardently supported by most of the Waldensian historians (Leger, Histoire Generale des Vaudois. Leyden, 1669). It is certain that they were called by the names of every one of the ancient parties (Jones, History of the Christian Church, 308). Jacob Gretseher, of the Society of Jesus, Professor of Dogmatics in the University of Ingolstadt, A. D. 1577, fully examined the subject and wrote against the Waldenses. He affirmed their great antiquity and declared that it was his belief "that the Toulousians and Albigenses condemned in the year 1177 and 1178 were no other than the Waldenses. In fact, their doctrines, discipline, government, manners, and even the errors with which they had been charged show the Albigenses and the Waldenses were distinct branches of the same sect, or the former was sprung from the latter" (Rankin, History of France, III. 198-202).

The most remote origin has been claimed for the Waldenses, admitted by their enemies, and confirmed by historians. "Our witnesses are all Roman Catholics," says Vedder, "men of learning and ability, but deeply prejudiced against heretics as men could possibly be. This establishes at the outset a presumption against the trustworthiness of their testimony, and is a warning to us that we must weigh it most carefully and scrutinize every detail before receiving it. But, on the other hand, our witnesses are men who had extraordinary opportunities for discovering the facts; some were inquisitors for years, and give us the results of interrogating a large number of persons" (Vedder, The Origin and Teaching of the Waldenses. In The American Journal of Theology, IV. 466). This is a very interesting source of information.

Rainerio Saechoni was for seventeen years one of the most active preachers of the Cathari or Waldenses of Lombardy; at length he joined the Dominican order and became an adversary of the Waldenses. The pope made him Inquisitor of Lombardy. The following opinion in regard to the antiquity of the Waldenses was rendered through one of the Austrian inquisitors in the Diocese of Passau, about the year 1260 (Preger, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Waldesier, 6-8). He says:

Among all the sects, there is no one more pernicious to the church than that of the Leonists (Waldenses), and for three reasons: In the first place, because it is the most ancient: for some say that it dates back to the time of Sylvester (A. D. 825); others to the time of the apostles. In the second place. because it is the most widespread. There is hardly a country where it does not exist. In the third place, because if other sects strike with horror those who listen to them, the Leonists, on the contrary, posses a great outward appearance of piety. As a matter of fact they lead irreproachable lives before men and as regards their faith and the articles of their creed, they are orthodox. Their one fault is, that they blaspheme against the Church and the clergy,—points to which laymen In general are known to be too easily led away (Gretscher, Contra Valdenses, IV.).

It was the received opinion among the Waldenses that they were of ancient origin and truly apostolic. "They call themselves," says David of Augsburg, "successors of the apostles, and say that they are in possession of the apostolic authority, and of the keys to bind and unbind" (Preger, Der Tractat des David von Augsburg uber die Waldensier. Munchen, 1876).

A statement of the Waldenses themselves is at hand. In a Waldensian document, which some have dated as early as the year 1100, in a manuscript copy which dates from 1404, may he found their opinion on the subject of their antiquity. The Noble Lessons, as it is called, says:

We do not find anywhere in the writings of the Old Testament that the light of truth and holiness was at any time completely extinguished. There have always been men who walked faithfully in the paths of righteousness. Their number has been at times reduced to few; but has never been altogether lost. We believe that the same has been the case from the time of Jesus Christ until now; and that it will be so until the end. For if the cause of God was founded, it was in order that it might remain until the end of time. She preserved for a long time the virtue of holy religion, and, according to ancient history, her directors lived in poverty and humility for about three centuries; that is to say, down to the time of Constantine. Under the reign of this Emperor, who was a leper, there was a man in the church named Sylvester, a Roman. Constantine went to him, was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and cured of his leprosy. The Emperor finding himself healed of a loathsome disease, In the name of Christ, thought he would honor him who had wrought the cure by bestowing upon him the crown of the Empire. Sylvester accepted it, but his companion, it is said, refused to consent, separated from him, and continued to follow the path of poverty. Then, Constantine, went away to regions beyond the sea, followed by a multitude of Romans, and built up the city to which he gave his name—Constantinople so that from that time the Heresiarch rose to honor and dignity, and evil was multiplied upon the earth. We do not believe that the church of God, absolutely departed from the truth; but one portion yielded, and, as is commonly seen, the majority was led away to evil; and the other portion remained long faithful to the truth it had received. Thus, little by little, the sanctity of the church declined. Eight centuries after Constantine, there arose a man by the name of Peter, a native, they say. of a country called Vaud (Schmidt, Aktenstrucke, ap. Hist. Zeitschrift, 1852 a. 239. MSS. Cambridge University, vol. A, f. 236-238 and Noble Leizon, V. 403. For the genuineness of the Noble Lessons see Brez, Histoire des Vaudois, 1.42. Paris, 1793).

The great church historian, Neander, in commenting on this document, suggests that it may have been "of an elder origin than 1120. He further says:

But it is not without some foundation of truth that the Waldenses of this period asserted the high antiquity of their sect, and maintained that from the time of the secularization of the church—that is, as they believed, from the time of Constantine’s gift to the Roman bishop Sylvester—such an opposition finally broke forth in them, had been existing all along. See Pilicdorf contra Waldenses, c. i. Bibl. patr. Ludg. T. XXV. f. 278. (Neander, History of the Christian Church, VIII. 352).

Such was the tradition and such was the opinion of the Waldenses in regard to their origin. They held to a "secret perpetuity during the Middle Ages, vying with the Catholic perpetuity" (Michelet, Histoire de France, II. 402. Paris, 1833).

Theodore Beza, the Reformer of the sixteenth century, voices the sentiment of his times, when he says:

As for the Waldenses, I may be permitted to call them the very seed of the primitive and purer Christian church, since, they are those that have been upheld, as is abundantly manifest, by the wonderful providence of God, so that neither those endless storms and tempests by which the whole Christian world has been shaken for so many succeeding ages, and the Western part so miserably oppressed by the Bishop of Rome, falsely so called; nor those horrible persecutions which have been expressly raised against them, were able so far to prevail as to make them bend, or yield a voluntary subjection to the Roman tyranny and idolatry (Moreland, History of the Evangelical Churches, 7).

Jonathan Edwards, the great President of Princeton University, in his "History of Redemption," says of the Waldenses:

In every age of this dark time, there appeared particular persons in all parts of Christendom, who bore a testimony against the corruptions and tyranny of the church of Rome. There is no one age of antichrist, even in the darkest time of all, but eccleastica1 historians mention a great many by name, who manifested an abhorrence of the Pope and his idolatrous worship. God was pleased to maintain an uninterrupted succession of witnesses through the whole time, in Germany, France, Britain, and other countries, as historians demonstrate, and mention them by name, and give an account of the testimony which they held. Many of them were private persons, and many of them ministers, and some magistrates and persons of great distinction. And there were numbers in every age, who were persecuted and put to death for this testimony.

Some of the Popish writers themselves own that that people never submitted to the church of Rome. One of the Popish writers, speaking of the Waldenses, says, the heresy of the Waldenses is the oldest heresy In the world. It is supposed, that this people first betook themselves to this desert, secret place among the mountains to hide themselves from the severity of the heathen persecutions, which were before Constantine the Great.

The special historians of the Waldenses claim the most remote origin for them. For example, Mr. Faber says:

The evidence which I have now adduced distinctly proves, not only that the Waldenses and Albigenses existed anterior to Peter. of Lyon,; but likewise, that at the time of his appearance in the latter part of the twelfth century, they were already considered two communities of very high antiquity. Hence it follows, that, even in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Valensic churches were so ancient, that the remote commencement was placed, by their inquisitive enemies themselves, far beyond the memory of man. The best informed Romanists of that period pretended not to affix any certain date to their organization, They were unable to pitch upon any specific time, when these venerable churches existed not. All that they certainly knew was that they had flourished long since, that they were far more ancient than any modern sect, that they had visibly existed from a time, beyond the utmost memory of man (Faber, The Vallenses and Albigenses).

Sir Samuel Moreland remarks that any lapse between Claudius of Turin and Waldo "would hinder the continual succession of the churches no more than the sun or moon cease to be when their light is eclipsed by the interposition of other bodies, or more than the Rhone or the Garonne lose their continual current because for some time they were underground and appeared not" (Acland, The Glorious Recovery of the Vaudois, xxxvi).

Many pages might be used in describing the upright character of the Waldenses, but space is allowed for only a few statements from their enemies. To this end, the testimony of Olaudius Seisselius, the Archbishop of Turin, is interesting. He says: "Their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians. They never swear except by compulsion [an Anabaptist trait] and rarely take the name of God in vain. They fulfill their promises with punctuality; and live, for the most part, in poverty; they profess to observe the apostolic life and doctrine. They also profess it to be their desire to overcome only by the simplicity of faith, by purity of conscience, and integrity of life; not by philosophical niceties and theological subtleties" He very candidly admits: "In their lives and morals they were perfect, irreprehensible, and without reproach to men, addicting themselves with all their might to observe the commands of God" (Perrin, Hist. des Vaudois, I. v. Geneva, 1618).

In the time of the persecution of the Waldenses of Merindol and Provence, a certain monk was deputed by the Bishop of Cavaillon to hold a conference with them, that they might be convinced of their errors, and the effusion of blood prevented. But the monk returned in confusion, owning that in his whole life he had never known so much Scripture as he had learned in these few days that he had been conversing with the heretics. The Bishop, however, sent among them a number of doctors, young men, who had lately come from the Sorbonne, which, at that time, was the very center of theological subtlety at Paris. One of these publicly avowed that he had understood more of the doctrine of salvation from the answers of the little children in their catechisms than by all the disputations which he had ever heard (Vccembecius, Oratie de Waldeflsibus et Albigensibus Christianis, 4).

Their clothing is of the skins of the sheep—they have no linen. They inhabit seven villages, their houses are constructed of flint stone, having a flat roof covered with mud, which, when spoiled or loosed by the rain, they again smooth with a roller. In these they live with their cattle, separated from them, however by a fence. They also have two caves set apart for particular purposes, in one of which they conceal their cattle, in the other themselves when hunted by their enemies. They live on milk and venison, being, through constant practice, excellent marksmen. Poor as they are, they are content, and live in a state of seclusion from the rest of mankind. One thing is very remarkable, that persons externally so savage and rude, should have so much moral cultivation. They know French sufficiently for the understanding of the Bible and the singing of Psalms. You can scarcely find a boy among them, who cannot give you an intelligent account of the faith which they possess. In this indeed, they resemble their brethren of other valleys. They pay tribute with a good conscience, and the obligations of the duty is peculiarly noted in their confessions of faith. If, by reason of civil war, they are prevented from doing this, they carefully set apart the sum, and at the first opportunity they send it to the king’s tax gathers (Thaunus, Hist. Sul temporis, VI. 16).

The first distinguishing principle of the Waldenses bore on daily conduct, and was summed up in the words of the apostle: "We ought to obey God rather than men." This the Roman Catholics interpreted to mean a refusal to submit to the authority of the pope and the prelates. All of the early attacks against them contain this charge. This was a positive affirmation of the Scriptural grounds for religious independence, and it contained the principles of religious liberty avowed by the Anabaptists of the Reformation.

The second distinguishing principle was the authority and popular use of the Holy Scriptures. Here again the Waldenses anticipated the Reformation. The Bible was a living book, and there were those among them who could quote the entire book from memory.

The third principle was the importance of preaching and the right of laymen to exercise that function. Peter Waldo and his associates were preachers. All of the early documents refer to the practice of the Waldenses of preaching as one of their worst heresies, and an evidence of their insubordination and arrogance. Alanus calls them false preachers. Innocent III., writing of the Waldenses of Metz, declared their desire to understand the Scriptures a laudable one, but their meeting in secret and usurping the functions in preaching as only evil. They preached in the highways and houses, and, as opportunity afforded, in the churches.

They claimed the right of women to teach as well as men, and when Paul’s words enjoining silence upon the women was quoted, they replied that it was with them more a question of teaching than preaching, and quoted back Titus 2:3, "The aged women should be teachers of good things." They declared that it was the spiritual endowment, or merit, and not the church’s ordination which gave the right to bind or loose. They struck at the very root of the sacerdotal system.

To the affirmation of these fundamental principles the Waldenses, on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount, added the rejection of oaths, the condemnation of the death penalty, and purgatory and prayers for the dead. There are only two ways after death, the Waldenses declared, the way to heaven and the way to hell (Schaff, History of the Christian Church. V. Pt 1.502-504).

The Waldensian movement touched many people, through many centuries and attracted converts from many sources. Many Roman Catholics were won over and some of them doubtless brought some error with them. Moreover, the term Waldenses is generic, which some, having overlooked, have fallen into mistakes in regard to them. The name embraced peoples living in widely separate lands and they varied in customs and possibly somewhat in doctrines. There was a conference between the Poor men of Lombardy and the Waldenses. The Italian and French Waldenses probably had a different origin, and in the conferences they found that there were some differences between them. It is possible that some of the Italian Waldenses (so-called) practiced infant baptism (Döllinger, Sektengerchichte, II 52); There is no account that the French Waldenses, or the Waldenses proper, ever practiced infant baptism. As early as the year 1184 there was a union of the Poor men of Lyons, as some of the followers of Waldo were called, and the Arnoldists, who rejected infant baptism.

The Confessions of Faith of the Waldenses indicate that they did not practice infant baptism. There is a Confession of Faith. which was published by Perrin, Geneva, 1619, the date of which is placed by Sir Samuel Moreland, A. D. 1120 (Moreland, History of the Churches of Piedmont, 30). That date is probably too early; but the document itself is conclusive. The twelfth article is as follows:

We consider the sacraments as signs of holy things, or the visible emblems of invisible blessings. We regard It as proper and even necessary that believers use these symbols or visible forms when it can be done. Not-withstanding which we maintain that believers may be saved without these signs, when they have neither place nor opportunity of observing them (Perrin, Histoire des Vaudois, I. xii., 53).

In 1544 the Waldenses, in order to remove the prejudice which was entertained against them, and to make manifest their innocence, transmitted to the king of France, in writing, a Confession of Faith. Article seven says of baptism:

We believe that in the ordinance of baptism the water is the visible and external sign, which represents to us that which, by virtue of God’s invisible operation, Is within us, the renovation of our minds, and the mortification of our members through (the faith of) Jesus Christ. And by this ordinance we are received into the holy congregation of God’s people, previously professing our faith and the change of life (Sleiden, The General History of the Reformation, 347. London, 1689).

Other writings of the Waldenses likewise convey no idea of infant baptism. There is a "Treatise concerning Antichrist, Purgatory, the Invocation of Saints, and the Sacraments," which Bishop Hurd makes of the thirteenth century. There is a passage which condemns the Antichrist since "he teaches to baptize children in the faith, and attributes to this the work of regeneration, with the external rite of baptism, and on this foundation bestows orders, and, indeed, grounds all of Christianity" (Moreland, Churches of Piedmont, 148).

A Catechism emanating from the Waldenses of the thirteenth century makes no allusion to infant baptism. It says that the church catholic, that is, the elect of God through the merits of Christ, is gathered together by the Holy Spirit, and foreordained to eternal life (Gilly, Waldensian Researches, I. lxxii. London, 1825), which is not consistent with infant baptism.

The Noble Lessons say: "Baptize those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ" (Moreland, Churches of Piedmont, 112).

There is a Liturgy, of great antiquity, which was used by the Waldenses. The Office contains no Directory for the baptism of children. Robinson says of it that it has not:

The least hint of pouring or sprinkling on the contrary, there is a directory for the making of a Christian of a pagan before baptism, and for washing the feet after. Thus the introductory discourse of the presbyter delivering the creed, runs thus: "Dear Brethren, the divine sacraments are not properly matters of investigation, as of faith, and not only of faith, but also of fear, for no one can receive the discipline of faith, unless he have a foundation, the fear of the Lord . . . You are about to hear the creed, therefore today, for without that, neither can Christ he announced, nor can you exercise faith, nor can baptism be administered." After the presbyter had repeated the creed, he expounded it, referring to trine Immersion, and closed with repeated observations on the absolute necessity of faith, in order to a worthy participation of baptism (Robinson, Ecclesiastical Researches, 473, 474).

The Roman Catholics soon cams into conflict with the Waldenses on the subject of baptism. The Lateran Council, A. D. 1215, pointing to the Waldenses, declared that baptism "in water" was profitable as "well for children as adults" (Maitland, Facts and Documents, 499). There is a long list of such Roman Catholic authors. One of them said: "I paid great attention to their errors and defenses." Some of these authors are here quoted.

Enervinus of Cologne writes to St. Bernard a letter in which he says of the Waldenses:

They do not believe in infant baptism: alleging that place in the Gospel, Whosoever shall believe and be baptized shall be saved (Mabillon, Vetera Analecta, 111. 473).

That infants are not to be baptized, or saved by the faith of another, but ought to be baptized and saved by thou own faith . . . And that those who are baptized In infancy, when grown up, should be baptized again. . rather rightly baptized (Hist. EccI. Madgeburg, cent. XII C. v.834).

That baptism does no good to infants, because they cannot of them-selves desire it, and because they cannot confess any faith (Migne, CXCV 15).

That confessing with their months the being of God, they entirely make void all the sacraments of the Church—namely, the baptism of children, the Eucharist, the sign of the living cross, the payment of tithes and oblations, marriage, monastic institutions, and all of the duties of priests and ecclesiastics (D’Archery, Veterum aliquot Scriptorom Spicilegium, II.).

They pretend that this sacrament cannot be conferred except upon those who demand it with their own lips, hence they infer the other error. that baptism does not profit infants who receive it (Migne, CCIV. 1255).

Alanus, a monk of the Cistercian order, was a voluminous writer and his leaning and abilities obtained for him the title of Universalis. He died in the year 1201. He says that the Waldenses taught that:

Baptism avails nothing before years of discretion are reached. Infants are not profited by it, because they do not believe. Hence the candidate is usually asked whether he believed in God, the Father omnipotent. Baptism profits an unbeliever as little as it does an infant. Why should those be baptized who cannot he instructed? (Migne, CCX. 346).

Stephen de Borbone was a monk of the Dominican order. He died about the year 1261, but probably wrote the account here given about the year 1225. The manuscript of his book is in the Library of the Sorbonue and only a part of it is in print. He says:

One argument of their error is that baptism does not profit little children to their salvation, who have neither the motive nor the act of faith, as it is said in the latter part of Mark (Dieckhoff, Die Waldenser im Mittelalter, 160).

They maintain the nullity of the baptism of infants, and affirm that none can be saved before attaining the age of reason.

Rainerio Sacehoni, A. D. 1250, published a catalogue of the errors of the Waldenses. He says:

Some of them hold that baptism is of no advantage to Infants, because they cannot believe (Coussard, contna Waldenses, 126).

Concerning baptism, some err in saying that little children are not to be saved by baptism, for the Lord says, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Some of them baptize over again (Preger, Beitrage sur Geschlchte der Waldesier)

They say that a man is then truly for the first time baptized, when he is brought into this heresy. But some say that baptism does not profit little children, because they are never able actually to believe (Preger, Der Tractat des David von Augsburg die Waldesier).

A more influential line of contemporary witnesses could scarcely be found. "It is almost superfluous to point out the striking agreement between these teachings of the Waldenses," says Professor Vedder, "and the sixteenth century Anabaptists. The testimony is unanimous that the Waldenses rejected infant baptism" (American Journal of Theology IV. 448). If the Waldenses were not Baptists there is no historical proof of anything.

It is equally clear that, the form of baptism was immersion. This was, at the time, the practice of the whole Christian world. The great Roman Catholic writers affirm that immersion was the proper form of baptism. Peter the Lombard, who died A. D. 1164, declared without qualification for it as the proper act of baptism (Migne, CXCII. 335). Thomas Aquinas refers to immersion as the general practice of his day, and prefers it as the safer way, as did also Bonaventura and Duns Scotus. These were the great doctors of the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle ages. Mezeray, the French historian, is correct as to the form of baptism when he says: "In baptism of the twelfth century, they plunged the candidate into the sacred font, to show what operation that sacrament had on the soul" (Mezeray, Histoire de France, 288). And the contemporary writers, Eberhard and Ermengard, in their work "contra Waldenses," written toward the close of the twelfth century, repeatedly refer to immersion as the form of baptism among the Waldenses (Saee Gretscher, contra Waldenses. In Trias seriptorum contra Waldenses, Ingoldstadt, 1614; also in Max. Bibl. Patr. XXIV. And finally in Gretscher’s Works XII.) Wall also remarks of these people: "As France was the first country in Christendom where dipping of children was left off; so there first antipaedobaptism began." (Wall, The History of Infant Baptism, I. 480). They denied infant baptism and practiced dipping.

Mabillon, the great Roman Catholic historian, gives an account, at much this date, of an immersion which was performed by the pope himself, which occurred in the Church of St. John the Evangelist. It is said that the pope blessed the Water and

then while all were adjusting themselves in their proper places, his Holiness retired into an adjoining room of St. John the Evangelist, attended by some acolothysts who took off his habits and put on him a pair of waxed trousers and surplice and then returned to the baptistery. There the children were waiting—the number usually baptized by the pope.

After the pope had asked the usual questions he immersed three and came up out of the baptistery, the attendants threw a mantle over his surplice, and he returned" (Mabillon, Annales ordinis sancti Benedicti, I. 43). Even the pope in those times practiced dipping.

Every institution has its vicissitudes, and after progress comes decline. On the eve of the Reformation everything was on the decline—faith, life, light. It was so of the Waldenses. Persecution had wasted their numbers and had broken their spirit and the few scattered leaders were dazed by the rising glories of the Reformation. The larger portion had gone with the Anabaptist movement. Sick and tired of heart in 1530 the remnant of the Waldenses opened negotiations with the Reformers, but a union was not effected till 1532. Since then the Waldenses have been Pedobaptists.

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SEPARATE BAPTIST CHURCH HISTORY

Taken from Separate Baptist Church by Morgan Scott, 1901 (pp. 66-74)

THE WALDENSES

THE NAME WALDENSES—THERE ORIGIN, GENERAL HISTORY, ETC.

As we have already seen, the followers of Christ had retired by persecution to the valleys of the Alps, we find them being called by another name besides Novations.

The name Waldenses signifies walled around, or “people of the valleys,” yet some formerly supposed the Waldenses received their name from Peter Waldo, a merchant of Lyons. The Rel. Encl., p. 1147, terms it a “serious mistake” to represent the Waldenses as receiving their name from the celebrated Peter Waldo, and that “the evidence is now ample” that “they existed under various names as a distinct class of dissenters from the established churches of Greece and Rome in the earliest ages.”

Mr. Jones, in his Church History, page 232, says: “it is also proved from their books that they existed as Waldenses prior to the time of Peter Waldo, who preached about the year 1160.”

“Reinerius Sacco, the inquisitor, admits that the Waldenses flourished five hundred years before Peter Waldo.” Rel. Encycl., p. 1148.

Mr. Jones adds, “Atto, bishop of Verceulli, had complained of such people eighty years before and so had others before him.” Rel. Enycl., p. 1148.

Mr. Jones’ History, page 236, quotes Theodora Beza as follows: “as for the Waldenses, I may be permitted to call them the very seed of the primitive and purer Christian church, since they are those that have been upheld, as abundantly manifest by the wonderful providence of God, so that neither of those endless storms and tempests by which the whole Christian world has been shaken for so many succeeding ages, and the western parts at length, so miserably oppressed by the bishop of Rome, falsely so-called, nor those horrible persecutions which have been expressly raised against them, were ever able so far to prevail as to make them bend or yield a voluntary subjection to the Roman tyranny and idolatry.”

Novations, under Constantine’s persecutions, began to leave Italy about the year 325 for the valleys of Piedmont, and this was continued at different times up to the year 425.

Orchard’s Baptist History, p. 61, tells of the Novations persecutions under Theodosius and Honorius, who compelled them to “seek retreats in the country, which they did, particularly in the valleys of Piedmont, the inhabitants of which began to be called Waldenses.”

Crantz in his history (United Brethren) dates the origin of Waldenses in the beginning of the fourth century, at which time some of the Novations settled in the valleys.

“The Cathari, or Puritan churches of the Novations also had at that very period (about A.D. 325) been flourishing as a distinct communion for more than seventy years all over the Empire, maintaining, by the of knowledgement even of their enemies, the self-styled Catholics, the integrity of the true faith, together with the purity of discipline and the power of godliness, which had generally disappeared from the Catholic Churches. These Puritans being exposed to severe and sanguinary persecutions for dissent, from age to age were compelled to shelter themselves from the desolating storm in retirement, and when at intervals they reappear on the pages of contemporary history * * * they are styled a new sect, and receive a new name, though in reality they are the same people.” Rel. Encycl. p. 1147.

This shows that the people called Novations in Rome and Italy were called Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont. And Dr. Allix, in his “History of the Churches of Piedmont,” says, that for three hundred years or more the bishop of Rome attempted to subjugate the Church of Milan [Italy] under his jurisdiction, and at last the interest of Rome grew too potent for the Church of Milan, planted by one of the disciples; in so much that the bishop and people, rather than own their jurisdiction, retired to the valleys of Lucerne and Agroque, and thence were called Vallences, Waldenses, or The People in the Valleys.”

This takes our history back prior to the time of the union of the church and state by Constantine, and establishes their claim that “their doctrine and discipline had been preserved in all its purity and efficacy from the days of the primitive martyrs, in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and especially in the valleys of Piedmont.” Rel. Encycl., p. 1148.

The connection between the Waldenses and Novations, their ancestors, is fully established, as we just traced to the emigration of a whole Novation church from Milan to the valleys of Piedmont, where they were afterwards called Waldenses.

While the celebrated Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, was converted about 1160 and soon began his labors among this people with great success, yet “Reinerius Saccho, a Catholic, admits the Waldenses flourished five hundred years before Peter Waldo, which carries them back to the year 660, the time of the appearance of the Paulicians, or rather of the great revival and increase under the labors of Constantine Sylvanus.” Rel. Encycl., p. 1148. There was a congregation of this kind at Orleans, France, A.D. 1017.

Before we proceed farther we will explain or locate the Valley of Piedmont, at the foot of the Alps and Apennine Mountains, so it will be made plain where this people retired to from their persecutors.

Mr. Jones says: “The principality of Piedmont derives its name from the circumstance of its being situated at the foot of the Alps, a prodigious range of mountains, the highest indeed in Europe, and which divide Italy from France, Switzerland and Germany.” Here in the Valley of the Alps is the region of their habitation.

Peter De Bruis began to labor among them in Languedoc and Provence about the year 1110. “During a laborious Ministry of about twenty years he engaged a great number of followers, who were called after him Petrobrussions, or from the principal place of their residence, Vaudois, Valdenses or Waldenses. * * * De Bruis was burned at St. Giles in 1130. * * * Among other things he taught: “That no persons are to be baptized before they have the full use of their reason.” He is justly claimed by the modern Baptists as belonging to their fraternity. Rel. Encycl., p. 276.

Eighty years subsequent to the Times of Peter Waldo the Waldenses were “scattered throughout the South of France, the valleys of the Pyrenees mountains, the valleys of Piedmont and the countries of Milanese, though probably distinguished in different places by the different names of Puritans or Cathorists, Paterines, Arnoldists, Leonists, Albigenses, or Waldenses, the last of which ultimately became their general appellation.” Jone’s Ch. Hist., p. 241.

They were, in some instances called Paterines in Italy, and the Rel. Encycl., p. 1148 says: “when we reflect that the Paterines, as well as the Paulicians, both in principle and practice, were the same people as the Waldenses, or Poor Men of Lyons, we shall not wonder at the following remarkable words of Reinerius concerning the latter:

“Of all the sects which have been, or now exist, none is more injurious to the church (i.e., of Rome) for three reasons:

“1. Because it is more ancient. Some aver their existence from the time of Sylvester, others from the very time of the apostles. 2. Because it is so universal. There is scarcely any country into which this sect has not crapped. 3.Because all other heretics excite horror by the greatness of their blasphemies against God; but these have a great appearance of piety, as they live justly before men, believe rightly all things concerning God and confess all the articles which are contained in the Creed, only they hate and revile the Church of Rome, and in their accusations are easily believed by the people”

“Such a concession from such a source speaks volumes. Here there is a succession of faithful men, whose apostolic origin, perpetuity, universal, though often hidden diffusion, general orthodoxy, evangelical simplicity and sanctity of character, is admitted by the church of Rome herself; a succession of faithful men, organized, too, into Christian churches, claiming to be the true successors of the apostles, protesting against all the corruptions of the patriarchate and the Papacy, and for this reason subject to continual persecution from both through the secular powers to which they are allied; a church built not on Saint Peter alone, but on the entire foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, and against which the gates of hell have not been able to prevail. May we not say, then, in the language of Revelation: “Here is the patience of the Saints. These are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation: Rev. xiv:12” Rel. Encycl., p. 1148.

Is not this plain, pointed, positive proof concerning the Waldenses? What more could we ask? Is it necessary to introduce the testimony of other writers? We hardly think it is.

The recesses of the Alps and Pyrenees where the retreats of these persecuted followers of Jesus through the darkest ages of the church. Mr. Robinson says: “Greece was the parent, Spain and Navarre the nurses, France the stepmother and Savoy (i.e., Piedmont) the jailer of this class of Christians called Waldenses.”

Mr. Jones, speaking of the valleys of Piedmont, says: The principality of Piedmont derives its name from the circumstance of its being situated at the foot of the Alps, a prodigious range of mountains, the highest indeed in Europe, and which divide Italy from France, Switzerland and Germany. It is bounded on the east by the duchies of Milan and Montferrat, on the south by the County of Nice and the territory of Genoa, on the west by France and on the north by Savoy. In former times it constituted a part of Lombardy, but more recently has been subject to the King of Sardinia, who takes up his residence at Turin, the capital of this province, and one of the finest cities of Europe. It is an extensive tract of rich and fruitful valleys, emblazoned in mountains which are encircled again with mountains higher than they, intersected with deep and rapid rivers, and exhibiting in strong contrast the beauty and plenty of Paradise inside of frightful precipices, wide lakes of ice and a stupendous mountains of never wasting snow. The whole country is an interchange of hill and dale, mountain and valley, traversed with four principal rivers, viz.: the Po, the Tanaro, the Stura and the Dora, besides about eight and twenty rivulets, great and small, which, winding their course in different directions, contribute to the fertility of the valleys and make them resemble a water garden. The principal valleys are Aosta and Susa on the north, Stura on the south, and, in the interior of the country, Lucerna, Angrogna, Raccapiatti, Pramol, Perosa and S. Martino. The valley Clusone, or Pragela, as it is often called, was in ancient times a part of the province Dauphiny, in France, and has been, from the days of Hannibal, the ordinary route of the French and other armies when marching into Italy. Angrogna, Pramol and S. Martino are strongly fortified by nature on account of their many difficult passes and bulwarks of rocks and mountains, as if the all-wise Creator, says Samuel Morland, had, from the beginning, designed that plays as a cabinet wherein to put some inestimable jewel, or in which to reserve many thousand souls we should not bow the knee before Baal.” Jone’s Ch. Hist., p.188.

This is certainly a graphic description of this valley, and we’ll now examine the religious characteristics of these people and learn whether they “bowed before Baal,” whether and “inestimable jewel” or not. It is necessary that we hear mentioned that the Waldenses’ principles and practice were more pure and scriptural before the Reformation than since that period.

Here’s More!

SEPARATE BAPTIST CHURCH HISTORY

Taken from Separate Baptist Church by Morgan Scott, 1901 (pp. 74-79)

THE WALDENSES

THE NAME WALDENSES-THERE ORIGIN, GENERAL HISTORY, ETC.

SECTION 1. WALDENSES’ ATTACHMENT TO THE SCRIPTURES.

They held the Holy Scriptures to be the only source of faith and practice. Upon this point Mr. Jones gives the testimony of a minister, Vignaux, who had a pastorate of a Waldensian for 40 years. He says: “That the Holy Scriptures contain all that is necessary to our salvation, and that we are called to believe only what they teach, without any regard to the authority of man; that nothing else ought to be received by us except that God has commanded.” Jones’ s Ch. Hist., p. 264.

This is the same doctrine taught by Separate Baptists everywhere, and it is an interesting fact that they are mighty in the Scriptures, surpassing all others in Bible knowledge. Mr. Jones says even a boy could give an intelligent account of the faith they professed, and in contrasting the Waldenses with Luther, Calvin and other reformers, as they are called, says: “The reformers, with all their zeal and learning, were babes in spiritual knowledge when compared with the illiterate Waldenses, particularly in regard to the nature of the kingdom of Christ and its institutions, laws, and worship in general.” Jones’s Ch. Hist., p. 326.

SECTION 2. THEIR SCRIPTURAL SOUNDNESS OF BELIEF.

This is something indisputable. They not only held the Bible alone as their rule of faith and practice, but practiced the ordinances as Separate Baptists do. That they practiced baptism by immersion is evident. Mr. Orchard says: “Amidst all the productions of writers, friends and foes, confessors of the whole truth and opposers of it, annalists, historians, recorders, inquisitors, and others, with the labored researches of Usher, Newton, Allix, Collier, Wall, Perrin, Ledger, Moreland, Mosheim, Macleane, Gilly, Sims, and others——all the pedo-Baptist persuasion, with every advantage of learning on their side, who collated councils, cannons, synods, conferences, chronicles, decrees, bulls, sermons, homilies, confessions, creeds, liturgies, etc. from the private creed of Irenaeus down to the rules of Augsburg, who examined documents at home and explored territory abroad,——their united labors could not produce a single dated document or testimony of pedo-baptism among the Vaudois, separate from the Romish community, from Novation’ s rupture to the death of the execrable monster, Alexander VI, 1503.” Orch. Bapt. Hist., Vol I, p. 307.

And the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, p. 1150, says: “All their other writings, from the Noble Lesson in 1100 down to their Confession of Faith in 1655, Dr. Gill affirms to be in favor of the baptism of believers only. It appears certain that the Cathari, the Paterines, the Berengarians, the Arnoldists, Petrobrusians and Henricians, i.c., the earlier Waldenses, as far as history testifies, vehemently opposed infant baptism.”

And Dr. Alex Muston, as quoted by Mr. Ray in Bap. Succession, p. 147, from “The Israel of the Alps,” page 1, says: “The Vaudois (Waldenses) of the Alps are, in our view, primitive Christians, or inheritors of the primitive Church, who have been preserved in these valleys from the alterations successively introduced by the Church of Rome into the evangelical worship. It is not they who separated from Catholicism, but Catholicism which separated from them, in modifying the primitive worship.”

And as to their adherence to the Scriptures, Mr. Jones, p. 264, in his Church History, gives the testimony of one named Vignaux, who had pastored a Waldensian church for forty years. It is: “That the Holy Scriptures contain all that is necessary to our salvation, and that we are called to believe only what they teach, without any regard to the authority of man; that nothing else ought to be received by us except what God hath commanded.” And on p. 261 he quotes the want us, a Catholic historian, as follows: “They can all read and write. They know French sufficiently for the understanding of the Bible and the singing of Psalms. You can scarcely find a boy among them who cannot give you an intelligent account of the faith which they possess.” Again, on p. 326, contrasting the Waldenses with the reformers (Calvin and Luther) he says: “The reformers, with all their zeal and learning, were babes in spiritual knowledge when compared with the more illiterate Waldenses, particularly in regard to the nature of the kingdom of Christ and its institutions, laws, and worship in general.”

Why, in the face of these facts, was it necessary for these reformers, so called, to build or launch into existence a church and prescribe a new faith? Answer who can!

Reinerius Saccho, as quoted by Mr. Jones in his Church History, p. 239, speaking of these Waldenses, says: “They hold that none of the ordinances of the church which has been introduced since Christ’s ascension, ought to be observed as being of no value.” Does this not signify that “ordinances” have been introduced into the church since the time of Christ’s ascension? It is well known that sprinkling and pouring for baptism have been introduced since Christ’s ascension, and as the Waldenses rejected such ordinances, it necessarily follows that they were very Scriptural in the observance of the ordinances taught by Christ Himself.

And on page 254 the same historian (Mr. Jones) quotes from their treatise on Anti—Christ as follows: “We hold communion and maintain unity one with another, freely and uprightly, having no other object to propose herein but purely and singly to please the Lord, and seek the salvation of our souls.” This sets forth that they held communion “freely and uprightly,” and that it was too “please the Lord.” So it is with Separate Baptists today. They set the Lord’s table, not a church table, but the Lord’s, and “freely and uprightly.” “Let a man examine himself, so let him eat.”

The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, p. 1149, copies the Waldenses’ belief as follows: “That is the Church of Christ which hears the pure doctrine of Christ and observes the ordinances as instituted by Him, in whatever place it exists.” That is what Separate Baptists have ever believed. They “observe the ordinances as instructed by Him,” and uphold, no matter who assails, “the pure doctrine of Christ.” Not only did they baptize and set the Lord’s table, but they washed feet, also; kept pure the same ordinances, not ordinance, instituted by the Master. While the Novations observed these as divine oracles as they were delivered to them, we will see what authority exists for claiming their descendents did likewise. Mr. Orchard’s history, on page 297, as quoted by the learned Dr. Blalock in his “Lord’s Supper and Feet Washing Scripturally Settled,” says: “In the seventh century (660 years after Christ) we have a Liturgy of Bobbio, near Genoa, but the directory contains no office for baptism of children, nor the least hint of pouring or sprinkling; on the contrary, there is a directory for making a Christian of a pagan before baptism, and for washing the feet after it.” Thus we find in the year 660 they still washed feet, and as has been proven, the followers of Jesus were called after their most renowned leaders, and Baptists were called Paulicians in some sections, in others and Puritans, Patarines, and Albigenses. In speaking of them with the Waldenses, who about the year 1170 were named after their leader, Peter Waldo, Orchard, the historian, as quoted by Dr. Blalock, p. 54, in his “Feet Washing and Lord’s Supper Scripturally Settled,” says: “The celebrated Matthew Frankowitz says the Waldenses scent a little of Anabaptism. The Waldenses were, in religious sentiments, substantially the same as the Paulicians, Patarines, Puritans, and Albigensians,” and “there was no difference in religious views between the Albigensians and Waldenses.” Orchard’s Hist.[of] Foreign Baptists, p. 259.

Continuing, Dr. Blaylock says: “Well, these Paulicians, Patarines, Puritan, and Albigensian Baptists were feet-washing Baptists, and if the Waldensian Baptists were “substantially the same,” and if there was “no difference” between the Albigensians and the Waldenses, they, too, were feet-washing Baptists.” Feet-washing and Lord’s Supper, by Dr. Blalock, p. 54.

Thus we find, according to Orchard’s Hist. Foreign Baptists, that Baptists for 1170 years after Christ were feet-washing Baptists.

Again, Dr. Blalock, the learned Baptist, p. 54 of his work given above, quotes from Hassell’s Church History, p. 845, as follows: “The references in church history to the ceremonial washing of feet, or pedilavium, or lavipedium, are very scanty. I find that the ceremony was observed just after baptism in the Visigothic churches of Gaul (France) and Spain during the third and fourth centuries, and has been occasionally observed, especially on Maunday Thursday (Thursday before Easter), and in the Greek and Roman catholic ‘churches’ ever since. Among the Mennonites or Anabaptists, or Baptists, of the 16th century and since, it was practiced by some. The Tunkers, the River Brethren, the Winebrennarians and some Mennonites still practice it.”

Thus we have fully established by noted historians and scholars that the Waldenses were feet-washing and Baptist servants of God, and characterized by the same doctrinal sentiments which exist in the Separate Baptists Church of today [1901]. While their environments were so fittingly adapted to the name by which they were known, the doctrine they preached and the commands and ordinances practiced were such that no denomination save Baptists can look back to them as the preservers, in that dark age, of the doctrinal sentiments as a whole, which they advocate today. These people preserved the Bible through their many persecutions, for D’Anvers on Baptism, p. 341, says: “In the preface to the French Bible, and the first that ever was printed, they (Waldenses) say that they have always had the full enjoyment of that heavenly truth contained in the Holy Scriptures ever since they were enriched with the same by the apostles themselves, having, in fair manuscripts, preserved the entire Bible in their native tongue, from generation to generation.” Morl[land’s] Hist., p. 14.

In the face of this, why should the Romanists make the presumptuous claims that if it had not been for them the Bible would have been lost?

Here, in the mountain valleys, the altar fires of the true temple [of] God burned undimmed. Here the ordinances of the Lord’s house where faithfully administered from about 425 A.D. to 1686 A.D. Here the sound of the Gospel faithfully preached, was heard from faithful men at all times.

These Waldenses formed a kind of Gospel storehouse, where the only true Gospel, true ministers, and true commands and ordinances could be furnished to the world. But, alas! The darkness was gathering. This people must flee elsewhere or suffer martyrdom. Jones Church History, pp. 412, 413, says: “The armies of France and Savoy having inhumanly butchered a multitude of Waldenses, committed more than twelve thousand of them to prison and dispersed two thousand of their children among the Catholics: concluding that their work was accomplished, they caused all their property to be confiscated. And thus were the valleys of Piedmont depopulated of the ancient inhabitants, and the light of the glorious gospel extinguished in a country where, for many preceding centuries, it had shown with resplendent luster.”

Again, in the preface of the Church History, the same author says “I professed to give the history of the churches of Piedmont and other places, commonly designated Waldenses and Albigensians, not of individuals; and as I consider those churches to have been utterly dispersed and scattered by a series of persecutions, which terminated in the year 1686, I consider myself to have brought the subject to a legitimate close.” Pref., p. 9.

But, to return, the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, on the 31st of January, 1686, is the one who decreed against the Protestant faith and caused the imprisonments just cited, and directed the bringing of all infants up in the “Roman Catholic religion.” It seems that the inhabitants of Switzerland had great sympathy for these suffering Waldenses, so much so that they began to mediate for their release, for Mr. Jones continuing, says: “In the month of September, 1686, the Swiss cantons convened a general assembly at Aran, to deliberate on the condition of those who were either in prison or in a state of exile in Piedmont; and they came to the resolution of sending deputies to demand from the Duke the release of all that were confined, and the privilege of quitting the country.” This request was granted by the Duke, and they were released. “More than ten thousand persons,” says Mr. Jones, “were distributed among 14 prisons or castles in Piedmont. They were fed for months on bread and water——the former, in which were often found lime, glass, and filth of various kinds, was so bad as scarcely to deserve the name; while the latter, in many instances brought from the stagnant pools, was scarcely fit for the use of cattle. Their lodging was upon bricks or filthy straw.”

How sad and pathetic would have been the scene! Was ever faith like theirs? Great will be their reward in glory. This great army of Waldenses, conducted by officers, started on their perilous journey toward Geneva. Some were treated very inhumanely, while others were used like they were human beings. It was the middle of December against the majority of them arrived at Geneva, and they were in such an exhausted state that several of them, says Mr. Jones, “expired between the two gates of the city, finding the end of their lives in the beginning of their liberty.” Geneva is on the dividing line between Switzerland and France, and here they passed from under the Savoy officers. In this city they received kind and hospitable treatment. “But what 10,” says Mr. Jones, “can describe the affecting scene which took place when they halted at Geneva for rest and refreshment before they proceeded forward into Switzerland. * * * The father inquired after his child, and the child after its parent; the husband saw his wife, and the latter her partner in life.” Many had died in prison or on the road, and surely there were many sad hearts on learning that dear ties were absent, “the cantons of Switzerland open to them their country and not their country only, but their hearts and affections also.” Jones.

Thus these people which survived the calumnies of Savoy were once more free. They could worship outside of prison walls again. Let this act of Switzerland be as a laurel to the name of this little republic forever!

We find the true name of these Waldensian worshipers is soon made known. Not anymore are they under the yoke of Romanism. No more will their history be written by their enemies only. No longer is their real name suppressed. God be thanked for the victory! Thank God for liberty! J. Newton Brown, the learned author of the Religious Encyclopedia, in Baptist Martyrs, p. 20, says: “The Baptists——though for the most part the poor of the world, rich in faith only and unknown to fame, as were the primitive Christians——have yet, in almost all ages, had of their number men of the most eminent learning and ability, who died as martyrs to the faith. From the time of Novation, indeed, it has been customary with their adversaries to call the whole body by the name of its most distinguished leader, as if they were a new sect of which he was the originator. Thus the Cathari were called Novations——then Paulicians——then Petrobrusians, Henricians, Josephites——then Arnoldists, Waldenses, Lollards, Mennonites; nor were they ever permitted to bear their present name of Baptists until after their legal toleration in England in 1688.Yet to them, as we have seen, belong all the inspired writers of the New Testament——the sources of our Christian literature——Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Jude, Peter, and Paul himself, the accomplished pupil of Gamaliel.”

What more could Baptists ask? What could be plainer than this? Is the testimony of other writers necessary to establish the Baptist name? No. Does in two years from their going to Switzerland we find they had spread over England considerably, and were known as Baptists; but the following year, 1689, was a memorable one, in that they met in London to formulate a Confession of Faith. Mr. Benedict, in his Hist. [of] Bapt., p. 336, says: “The year 1689 was a distinguished epoch in the history of English Baptists, on account of the General Assembly which then convened in London and published a Confession of Faith, which was long a standard work among them. This assembly was composed of delegates from upward of a hundred congregations, from different parts of England and Wales. They met September 3, and continued in session nine days.”

We are glad all the Baptists did not accept this “Confession of Faith.” Separate Baptists, so far as we can learn, have always stood aloof from such. Many of them have associational “articles of faith,” adopted that those unacquainted with them may learn of their understanding of the Scriptures, but they have no “confessions” anywhere. Webster defines a confession of faith, on page 300 in his International Dictionary, as “A creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.” This is something our people have ever been separate from, and when this “London Confession of Faith” was adopted it was not received by all the churches; for the “Old Kentucky Baptist,” Vol I, No. 6, speaking of this, says the Separate Baptist Church of London rejected this confession. It says:”The Church separated from all who practiced the London Confession of Faith, taking the Bible as their guide.” Continuing, it says: “In 1662 they organized a church in London, England,” and at the above date, September 3, “1689, then called the English Puritan Separate Baptist,” is one in which rejected this confession. We noticed that historians claim the Waldenses had “confessions of faith,” yet they were only so many articles of faith, and published that others might know how they taught, for they ever declared the “Bible as their guide.” Mark you, this separation was from those who “practiced the London Confession of Faith,” instead “taking the Bible as their guide.” The fact must not be forgotten that there were Baptists at this time and many years previous throughout the Orient, but their toleration by the English government in 1668 brought them into public notice by the world.

Again, the Religious Encyclopedia says: “we have now seen that the Baptists, who were formally called Anabaptists and in latter times Mennonites, were the original Waldenses, and have long in the history of the church received the honor of that origin. On this account the Baptists may be considered the only Christian community which has stood since the days of the apostles, and as a Christian community which has preserved pure the doctrine of the Gospel through all ages. The perfectly correct external and internal economy of the Baptist denomination tends to confirm the truth disputed by the Roman Church that the Reformation brought about in the 16th century was in the highest degree necessary, and at the same time goes to refute the erroneous notion of the Catholics that their communion is the most ancient.”

The Mennonites were given this name because Simons Menno, in 1536, embraced the views of these persecuted Waldensian Baptists and became an illustrious reformer; and as he renounced the Romish Church, in which he was educated as a priest, and after conversion pastored Waldensian churches, hence those among whom he labored were called Mennonites. Menno vehemently opposed infant baptism. He says: “After we have searched ever so diligently, we shall find no other baptism but dipping (immersion) in water which is acceptable to God and approved in the Word.” This reformer describes his conversion as follows: “I besought my God with sighing and tears that to me, a troubled sinner, he would grant the gift of grace. At length the great and gracious lord, perhaps after the course of nine months, extended to me His Fatherly Spirit, help, and mighty hand, so that I freely abandoned at once my character, honor, and fame which I had among men, as also my anti-Christian abominations, mass, infant baptism, loose and careless life, and all, and put myself willingly in all trouble and poverty under the pressing cross of Christ.” Menno organized several churches, and his followers, so called, spread into Holland, Zealand, and other countries, and when the laws admit of it, we find they are called Baptists. Yet we find there was a denomination formed which took the name of Mennonite Church which in doctrine is not agreed with the doctrine of Menno, as they practice pouring for baptism and their churches are in America.

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