SAMUEL TILDEN HABEL - Wake Forest University...Virginia (KVGC), Ohio University (Ironton), West Virginia College of Graduate Studies and is Professor Emeritus, Marshall University

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ity (A.B. 1936). South~

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f-l ill, N. c., 1943-1947. 7-1952. Assoc. Prof. of linary Southwest, Austin , 'oonville, N. c., June 10 v1artha Anne, b. Chapei .lizabeth (b. 1952). Or-Springs, 1931. Left the 1953 as Episcopal minis-

tor "Christian Frontiers". ~erator, Mt. Zion Assoc.

~l Hill Ministry

m. Many V-12 and V-5 ogram. Inaugurated SunIS. Rev. J. c. Herrin was :le resumption of the pre)minational employee paid :.: tudent work. A ministry Jf the Gospel and "never exploitation, and post-war

lip. Mimeographed sertion. First Church Secre-

CENTENNIAL MONOGRAPH by Samuel Tilden Habel Chapel Hill (now University) Baptist Church (NCCF)

SAMUEL TILDEN HABEL

Pastor, 1948Biographical Data

Born: Natural Bridge, Virginia, October 20, 1908. Son of the Rev. Samuel Tilden Habel, Sr. and Mary Louise Davis Habel. Father was Virginia Baptist minister for 40 years. Mother taught for many years in Virginia public schools.

Attended: University of Richmond (B.A., 1927), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Th.M., 1930), University of Edinburgh, Scotland, (Ph. D., 1945), Faculte Libre de Theologie Protestante de Paris, France (1939). Also, the Sorbonne (1939).

Pastor, Nashville Baptist Church, Nashville, N. c., 1930-34. Pastor, Enfield Baptist Church, Enfield, N. c., 1934-1938, 19391940. Pastor, West End Baptist Church, Suffolk, Virginia, 19401948. Pastor, The Baptist Church at Chapel Hill, N. c., 1948

Ordained, Weatherford Memorial Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. (1930). Married, February 12, 1932 to I.ris Boddie of Nashville, N. C. Daughter, Marilyn (b. Amelia, Va.), Son, Samuel Tilden III (Sammy) (b. Suffolk, Virginia.) \

Lions Club (Va.), Rotary Club (Chapel Hill). . Interesting Features of Chapel Hill lv1ini.Itry

Set up Zone and Area Visitation System with reporters and visitors. Also, Andrew Club of lay evangelistic teams. Began Family Night programs on Thursdays with Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Kutz supervising and planning m enus (Well-attended). The church become; "independent" of the Board of Missions and for the first time since the Civil \Var pays its own way. Gifts to Missions largest in the 100 years. In 1953 presented a set of new pulpit furniture to the Negro Baptist church for their new building. Overpledged the budget ($24,964.00). Annual gifts to orphanage which had been steadily climbing ,through the years reached an all-time high of $1,269.00 in 1949 \vhen D. C. Phillips was S.S. Superintendent. Built new parsonage on Vance street in 1951 at cost of approximately $25,000.00 for building and $5,500. for lot. Remodeled church vestibules (upper and lower), provided Ladies Lounge, and equipped a modern stainless steel kitchen with serving counter. Improvements cost about $16,000.00, (1953). During the past five years over 500 new members have been received into the church.

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CENTENNIAL MONOGRAPH by Samuel Tilden Habel (NCCF)Chapel Hill (now University) Baptist Church

PASTORSPASTORS , 1939- Present,1917-1938 I

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HABEL, SAlruEL TILDEN, JR.: P. Bapt. Chur., Chapel Hill, N. C., 1948- : B.

Oct. 20, 1908, Natural Bridge, Va.: son of Rev. Samuel Tilden Habel and Mary

Louise Davis Habel: M. Iris Boddie, Feb. 12, 1932: Ch. Marilyn, Samuel Tilden,

III: Ed. Univ. of Richmond, Richmond, Va., B. A.; So. Bapt. Theol. Semin.,

Th.M., Univ. of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, Ph.D.; Faculte Libre

de Theol. Prot. de Paris, France; The Sorbonne, Paris, France: P. Bapt.

Church., Nashville, N. C., 1930-34; Bapt. Chur., Enfield, N. C., 1934-38;

W. End Bapt. Chur., Suffolk, Va., 1940-48; Dir.,

Camp Skymont, Bentonville, Va., 1945-53; D. So. Bapt.: Auth. of "The

Twelve Apostles" 1957; "Centennial Monograph"; "Baptists at Chapel Hill"

1954; "On Honesty"; "Baptists Stand for Freedom"; "That Which Makes the

Difference"; "Enter Jesus"; "Stand Up and Be Counted"; R. 224 Vance St.,

Chapel Hill, N. C.

- l/IJ'

WHO'S ~mo IN / PROTESTANT CLERGY, p. 101

\,Pub. by: Nygaard Associates, 1957 Encino, Calif.

MRI Lenten Series March 27, 1977

RURAL CHURCHES - THERE AND HERE

In England, in the country around or near Bradford, even in small villages the churches are fairly large, cathedral-like in design. They are located in the center of the town square with a part surrounding them. The vicarage is usually a large, drafty Victorian mansion. In both rural and urban churches the organizational structure is roughly the same. There are usually women's groups, one of the conservative tendency and another of a lessaustere nature with wider interests and more social activities. There are youth groups with a mixture of study and social functions. Also there is a Church of England Men's Society, and drama groups play an important role. Church School, or Sunday School, is often held in mid-afternoon on Sunday. Altar Guilds, as we know them, don't exist. In many areas there is a Guild of St. Raphael which is similar to our Order of St. Luke, a healing ministry. In the growing industrial towns the church appears to have remained strong out of real need, rather than out of tradition. Because black people migrate to the industrial towns, the church there has also had to face the question of race .

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In Southwestern Virginia rural chruches tend to be much smaller and more simple in design. They are dotted over the countryside, not necessarily in the villages and towns. They do serve as a regular place of worship, but also as centers of social life. In much of Southwestern Virginia people are isolated from the world by mountains. They live in a region known as Appalachia in the Appalachian Mountains, cut off from the rest of the world; people with a culture and language of their own. Most of them are living in poverty due to changes in coal mining techniques and the economy in general. The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia has become a part of a national organization made up of 12 other dioceses who are working together in an attempt to meet some of the social, economic, religious and educational needs of these people.

In the Diocese of Bradford there are hills and coal mines as well as industrial cities just as there are in Southwestern Virginia so we should have much in common.

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Samuel TfldeD Babel J r. - Samuel Tilden Habel Jr., a re

tired c)el'llYDllD and educator,

~ died Wednelday, Oct. 21, 1992 in

Lynchbul'l. Dr. Habel, who lived in Lynch \,

burg for 19 years, was born in Natural Bridge and was1be son of M Louise and Samuel Tilden

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Ph.D. from the University of

- Edinburgh, Scotland. In addition,

he did postgraduate work at the

- University of Paris and post

doctoral work at the University of North Carolina.

He served pastorates at Nashvi

lle Baptist Church and Enfield

Baptist Church in North Carolina,

at West End Baptist Church in

SUhfTOlhk,. thCeh unilvHie~sll'tYN Baptist ~ C urc In ape I , .C., and •

Double Heads Baptist Church in

Sylvania, Ga. Most recently he

served as interim pastor at First

Baptist'Church in Lynchburg.

Dr. Habel was also a professor

of sociology and psychology. He

taught at Georgia Southern Col

lege, Purdue University, West

Virginia (KVGC), C?hip ~niversity

taught at Georgia Southern College, Purdue University, West Virginia (KVGC), Ohio University (Ironton), West Virginia College of Graduate Studies and is Professor Emeritus, Marshall University. After moving to Lynchburg, he was adjunct professor at Lynchburg College and Central Virginia Community College.

He was author of numerous books and articles. Among them "The Twelve Apostles", "Theory and Research in Marriage and the Family," and a "Centennial Monograph: Baptists at Chapel Hill."

Dr. Habel's survivors include his wife, Joyce A. Habel; his son, Samuel T. Habel II of Midland, Mich.; his daughters, Marilyn H. Dwyer of Brunswick, Maine (children by his predeceased wife, Iris B. Habel)j an adopted daughter, Julie H. Wheeler of Roanokej two sons, Jeffrey Crews of Providence, R.I., and Dr. Steven Crews of Eustis, Fla.j two daughters, Linda Carter of Rowlette, Texas, and Mikell Hagedorn of Hopedale, Mass.; a brother, Nathanael B. Habel of Lynchburg; and two sisters, Mary Louise Habel of Lynchburg and Harriet H. Moschler of Richmond. Additionally, he is survived by three 'grandchildren and seven stepgrandchildren.

A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in HWltington, W.Va.

The family will receive friends at Diuguid Rivermont Chapel from 7 to 9 p.m. today.

The' family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Genesis ~ouse, c/o Presbyterian Home, 50 Linden Avenue, Lynchburg, Va. 24505.

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vita

SM~EL TILDEN HABEL Professor of Sociology

Marshall University Huntington, West Virginia

BORN: Natural Bridge, Virginia, October 20, 1908

EDUCATION: B.A. University of Richmond (Va.), 1927 Th.M. Southern Seminary (Louisville, Ky.), 1930 Ph.D. University of Edinburgh(Scotland), 1945 University of Paris (Sorbonne), 1939 (advanced study) University of North Carolina, 1958 (Post-doctoral study)

Fields of Interest:

Social and Religious Thought, Social Theory, Social

Psychology, Marriage and the Family, History, English,

Church History, Sociology of Religion, Theology, and

Philosophy.

EMP LOYMENT: Teaching:

University System of Georgia

Georgia Southern COllege, 1958-1964

Rank: Associate Professor of Social Psychology, 1958-1962

Professor of Sociology and Philosophy, 1962-1964

Member of the Graduate Faculty, Appointed by the University Board of Regents, 1963-1964

Purdue University, 1964

Rank: Visiting Professor of Sociology and Member of the Graduate Faculty

West Virginia University (KVGC) 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972

Rank: Special Lecturer

Ohio University (Ironton Center) 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972

Rank: Special Lecturer

Marshall University, 1964 to Present

Rank: Professor of Sociology and Member of the Graduate Faculty

West Virginia College of Graduate Studies, 1973

Rank: Professor - Lecturer

Administrative:

Chairman of Soci ology, Georgia Southern College, 1962-1964

Director, Skymont Camps, Virginia, 1945-1953

Minister, University Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina University of North Carolina, 1948-1958

Minister, Nashville, N, Co; Enfield, No C.; SuffOlk, Va.; 1930-1948

Other: Freelance foreign correspondent, 1938-1939

Hundreds of addresses, after-dinner speeches in

six states.

SUBJECTS TAUGHT AT COLLEGE AND GRADUATE LEVEL:

Introductory Sociology Social Change Social Disorganization Logic Juvenile Delinquency Cultural Anthropology History of Social Thought Introductory Psychology Sociological Theory Social Psychology Group Relations (The Small Group) Marriage and the Family Social Pathology The Family Industrial Sociology Sociology of Religion Labor Culture and Personality History of Western Thought Social Origins of the World Religions

PUBLICATIONS:

Books: Theory and Research in Marriage and The Family, (19691970) MSS Educational Publishing Co., New York The Twelve Apostles, (1957) Creighton's, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. ~ Centennial Monograph: Baptists at Chapel Hill, (1954)

Articles: "The Social Scientist and Emergent Norms:

A Demonstration Designed to Suggest Potential Roles"

(1968) Published by The West Va. Academy of Science

"Social Customs of Scotland" (1939) (N.C. Newspapers)

"Will War Come to Europe This Year?" (1939) (N. C. Newspapers)

"The Launching of the Queen Elizabeth" (1939) (N.C. Newspapers)

"European Diary" (A Serial) (1939) (Enfield Progress)

"A Look at Dante's Inferno" (1942) (Richmond, Va. ReI igious Herald)

"Classics Rebound" (1942) (Richmond, Va., Religious Herald)

"What is Christmas?" (1955) (Chapel Hill Weekly, N. C.)

•

"An Investigation of the Theodicy Problem as Defined by Max Weber: Do We Have A Rationale For Poverty, Inequity and Injustlce?" A scholarly paper read before the North Central Sociological Association, Cincinnati, Ohio May, 1973.

PERSONAL:

Marital Status: Widowered (Married Iris Boddie of Nashville, N. C., 1932) (Died February 9, 1973)

Children: Mrs . Warren Dwyer, Brunswick, Maine

Mr. Sam Habel, III, Midland, Michigan

Memberships: American Sociological Association

Southern Sociological Society

Ohio Valley Sociological Society

American Association of University Professors

International Platform Association

National Education Association

West Virginia Education Association

West Virginia Academy of Science

Alpha Kappa Delta

Rotary Club of Huntington

First Presbyterian Church of Huntington

Present Postion: Professor of Sociology and Member of the Graduate Faculty, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia,

Present Residence: 304 North Boulevard (W.)

Huntington, West Virginia 25701

Business Address: Box 146

Department of Sociology

Marshall University

Huntington, West Virginia 25701

LISTED IN: WHO'S WHO in the South and the Southwest Directory of American Scholars American Men of Science Directory of American Philosophers WHO'S WHO in the Protestant Clergy Directory, American Sociological Association "Outstanding Educator of America", 1971 Dictionary of International Biography, 1972

vita

SAMUEL TILDEN HABEL

Emeritus Professor of Sociology

Marshall University

Huntington, West Virginia

BORN: Natural Bridge, Virginia, October 20, 1908

EDUCATION: B.A. University of Richmond (Va.), 1927 Th.M. Southern Seminary (Louisville, Ky.), 1930 Ph.D. University of Edinburgh (Scotland), 1945 University of Paris (Sorbonne), 1939 (advanced study) University of North Carolina, 1958 (Post-doctoral study)

Fields of Interest: Social and Religious Thought, Social Theory, Social Psychology, Marriage and the Family, History, English, Church History, Sociology of Religion, Theology, Philosophy, Deviant Behavior, Labor Relations, Group Dynamics, Small Groups, Collective Behavior, Social Stratification

EMPLOYMENT: Teaching:

University s*stem of Georgia Georg~a Sout ern Corlege, 1958-1964

Rank: Associate Professor of Social Psychology, 1958-1962

Professor of Sociology and Philosophy, 1962-1964

Member of the Graduate Faculty, Appointed by the University Board of Regents, 1963-1964

Purdue University, 1964

Rank: Visiting Professor of Sociology (The Graduate Faculty)

Marshall University, 1964 -1974

Rank: Professor of Sociology and Member of the Graduate Faculty

West Virginia University (KVGC) 1968 - 1972

Rank: Special Lecturer for Graduate Classes

Ohio University (Ironton Center) 1969 - 1972

Rank: Special Lecturer in Sociology

West Virginia College of Graduate Studies, 1973 - 1974

Rank: Graduate Professor of Sociology

Central Virginia Community College, 1975 - 1979

Rank: Lecturer in Sociology

Lynchburg College, 1978 - 1982

Rank: Lecturer in Sociology

Counseling:

Pastoral Counseling - 10 years at Chapel Hill, N.C. (UNC)

14 years in N.C. and Va. (all ages)

College and University Counseling - 16 years, Georgia and West Va. (college age)

Camp Counseling - 8 years (ages 6 - 16)

Administrative:

Chairman of Sociology, Georgia Southern College,

1962 - 1964

Director, Skymont Camps, Overall, Va., 1945 - 1953

Minister, University Baptist Church,

Chapel Hill, North Carolina University of North Carolina, 1948 - 1958

Minister, Nashville, N.C.; Enfield, N.C.; Suffolk, Va.; 1930 - 1948. Sylvania, Ga., 1958 - 1964

Interim Minister, Lynchburg, Va., First Baptist Church, 1976 - 1977

First Director, Central Virginia Commission on Aging, 1974 - 1975

Other: Freelance foreign correspondent, 1938 - 1939 Va. and N.C. Newspapers

Hundreds of addresses, after-dinner speeches ~n six states.

- -

- -

SUBJECTS TAUGHT AT COLLEGE AND GRADUATE LEVEL:

Introductory Sociology Deviant Behavior Social Disorganization Social Change Juvenile Delinquency Logic _ History of Social Thought . Cultural Anthropology sociological Theory Introductory PsychologyGroup Relations (The Small Group) Social PsychologyGroup Dynamics Marriage and the Family Social Patholo~y The Fami ly . Industrial Soc~ology Sociology of Religion Labor Culture and Personality History of Western Thought Social Origins of the World

Religions

PUBLICATIONS:

Books: Theory and Research in Marriaye and The Family,(1969 -~70) MSS Eaucat~ona PUDTiSEIng Co.,New York .

The Twelve A¥ostles, (1957) Creighton's, ~ Lauderda e, Fla. .

A Centennial Monograph: Baptists at Chapel Hill, T1954)

Articles: "The Social Scientist and Emergent Norms: A Demonstration Designed to Suggest Potential Roles" (1968) Published by The West Va. Academy of Science

"Social Customs of Scotland" (1939) (N.C. Newspapers)

"will War Come to Europe This Year?" (1939) (N.C. Newspapers)

"The Launching of the Queen Elizabeth" (1939) (N.C. Newspapers)

"European Diary" (A Serial) (1939) (Enfield Progress)

"A Look at Dante's Inferno" (1942) .(Richmond, Va., Religious Herald)

"Classics Rebound" (1942) .(Richmond, VA., ReligiousHerald)

"What is Christmas?" (1955) (Chapel Hill Weekly, N.C.)

"An Investigation of the Theodicy Problem as _Defined by Max Weber: Do We Have A Rationale For Poverty, Inequity and Injustice?" A scholarly paper read before the North Central sociological Association, Cincinnati, Ohio. May, 1973.

PERSONAL:

Marital Status:

Children:

Ordained:

Memberships: (At Present or Sometime)

Present Position:

Present Residence:

Business Address:

LISTED IN:

Married to Joyce Ann Long of Charleston, W. Va.

(First Wife, Iris Boddie of Nashville,

N.C., Deceased)

Mrs. Warren Dwyer, Brunswick, Maine Sam Habel, III, Midland, Michigan Jeffrey Scott and Julie, At home

Weatherford Memorial Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. 1930

American sociological Association Southern sociological Society Ohio Valley sociological Society American Association of University

Professors International Platform Association National Education Association West Virginia Education Association West Virginia Academy of Science Alpha Kappa Delta American Association of Retired Persons

(AARP NRTA) Rotary Club of Lynchburg, Va. Peakland Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va.

Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Member of the Graduate Faculty, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia.

1211 Krise Circle Lynchburg, VA 24503

1211 Krise Circle Lynchburg, VA 24503

WHO'S WHO in the South and the Southwest 1959, 1963-64, 1965-66

Directory of American Scholars Vo 1. IV, 1964

American Men of Science Directory of American Philosophers WHO'S WHO in the Protestant Clergy Directory, American sociological Association "Outstanding Educators of America", 1971 Dictionary of International Biography,

1972, 1973 Personalities of the South, 1973 Men of Achievement (Cambridge, England)

1974, 1978 American Men and Women of Science, 1974

(Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vo 1. I)

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By SAMUEL TILDEl'f HABEL, Th.M., Ph.D.

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~aptists

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By SAMUEL TILDEN HABEL, Th.M., Ph.D.

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A SERMON PREACHED AT THE

CHAPEL lULL BAPTIST CHURCH

CHAPEL HILL. N. C.

To a Congregation including manY'

Students and Faculty members

of the

Uninrsity of North Carolina

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BAPTISTS STAND FOR FREEDOM!

On Reformation Sunday we celebrate the naii= ing of the ninety-five theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church by Martin Luther and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, a movement which broke the universal and stifling power of the Roman Church and let in a clean breath of fresh air all over Europe. The fearless Luther is a man to be remembered for his heroic witness to the truth and his defiance of the entrenched power of a corrupt hybrid politico-religious institution.

Admirable as Luther was in many points, and worthy to be saluted, as now we do, yet, for Baptists, Martin Luther's theological position is not the right position. His break with Rome was not completE' enough. The word Baptist is a synonym for f1'eedom and Luther could never believe that the ordinary man was capable of deciding for himself in religious matters or that congregations of believers were intelligent enough to govern themselves as independent bodies, though his work precipitated the movement toward democracy.

To his everlasting shame he stood against the poor peasants and blessed the ruthless war the rich princes made upon them. He was afraid of the genie he had let out of the box and could never discard the idea that church and state should be one. So, we salute him for his courage in challenging authorital'ian and corrupt Rome, but we grow sad when we recall how far short he stopped.

Reformation Sunday is a good day for Baptists to remember the way we have come; our glorious struggle for religious freedom; our basic principles and beliefs. Baptists Stand for Freedom! If we were

2


to select a motto from the Scriptures to embroider on our banner it would be, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."

One of my earliest recollections as a boy was going with my father to a district Associational meeting at Chesterfield County Court House in Virginia at which a memorial was unveiled in memory of the early Virginia Baptists ministers who had been jailed. by the Established Church for preaching the Gospel. We thrill to the story of their stand for freedom. We heard the names of Waller and Craig and Weatherford and others. We heard the story of the abuses heaped upon them; how their hands were rapped until they bled; how they spoke through bars to their followers who gathered below their prison windows; how one was flogged and all suffered for preaching the Gospel; for not having a license to preach, a license which the Established Church would not grant. We thrilled to their story and the story of the people who struggled for religious freedom, the people called Baptists ; and we vowed silently we would know more about the;;e people and their history.

There are those who say that Baptists cannot show a continuous succession from Apostolic days, and they are right. In many periods of Christian history there were groups who stood for some of the principles for which Baptists stand but Baptists can claim no direct connection with them. There are other periods when we cannot find such groups. But Wi-there were not Baptist groups in p.very period of Christian history, there ought to

3


have been, for Baptists stand for freedom and freedom belongs to all men in every age and every land. "Ye shull know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

The Baptist churches of today came out of the Anabaptist movement, an effort to restore the church to the original simplicity and democracy of New Testament times, and often referred to as the left - wing of the Reformation. The Anabaptists received many of their ideas from earlier groups which dared even in the twelfth century to defy the Roman authority and power. The Petrobusians in Southern France in the early twelfth century espoused these ideas: that Scripture constitutes the sole authority in religious matters; that the true church is composed of the regenerate only; that Mass and prayers for the dead are to be repudiated; that crosses and church buildings are forms of idolatry. Some repudiated infant baptism. Pierre de Bruys, the founder of this movement, was burned at the stake. Later in the same century the Waldensians, founded by Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyons, espoused similar views, with the additional insistence that the doctrines of purgatory and the confession should be rejected, and that laywomen and laymen should have the right to preach. Though Waldo was put to death, his followers grew rapidly in number. Later the Waldensians were included with the Albigensians as victims of a crusade by the Roman church. Other groups, such as the Lollards, who carried Wyclif's Bible to the people of England, made a contribution to the Baptist movement. Wherever a non-conformist

4


brooked the power of Rome he became a spiritual antecedent of the Anabaptist movement.

The earliest group of Anabaptists appeared in Switzerland. It is no historical accident that this was so. Switzerland has long been a land of freedom and Baptists stand fOT freedom. Zurich is the home of the modern movement from which Baptist history stems. Here under the influence of Zwingli, another reformer who did not go far enough, Conrad Grebel, son of a patrician and councillor of the city, educated at the University of Paris and Vienna, founded the Anabaptist movement. He was joined by Felix Manz, a scholar; Reublin, . a converted Swiss priest; and others. They advocated many views which later became the basic principles of Baptists. Though the movement spread in Zurich, a rabid persecution almost

• annihilated it.

About this same time the movement also appeared in Germany headed by Balthasar Hubmaier, who stood for the authority of the Scriptures, religious liberty and believer's baptism. For these he gave his life. There arose other educated, courageous men who stood also for these principles and who dared persecution, banishment and death. Menno Simons, a learned priest, rejected Rome and accepted Anabaptist teachings . Later his followers rejected the name and disavowed some of the radical ideas a few leaders had advocated which had brought the Anabaptists into disrepute; namely, polygamy, the immediate appearance of Christ, and the ~tabiishment of His Kingdom by the sword. ~he Munster rebellion, and its suppres

5


sion, gave the Anabaptists a bad name, but it taught them that there can be no freedom without order.

However, about this time a number of people in England were espousing Anabaptist beliefs and principles. Under the influence of the movement on the continent and from the seeds sown by the Lollards, there sprang up a group of Dissenters. John Smyth, educated for the church of England, student under Francis Johnson at Christ's College, and recipient of the M. A. degree from Christ's College in 1593, broke with the church of England and became the forerunner of modern Baptists. A little congregational church in Gainsborough split. One gr~up -was ied by Richard. Clyfton and moved for worship to Scrooby Manor House. This congregation became the famous Pilgrim Church which was transplanted by John Robinson, William Bradford and William Brewster to the New World. Smyth became the pastor of the other half of the Congregation. Both groups first fled England for Holland to escape persecution. The Gainsborough branch left England first, under the leaderspip of Smyth and Helwys. The Scrooby group followed later, settled at Leyden, and still later came to America. Smyth's congregation in Amsterdam numbered about eighty persons. Smyth himself became a convert of the Anabaptists. He baptized himself by "affusion", then Helwys, and the rest of the congregation who desired. Smyth later changed to Mennonite views and carried his congregation over to the Mennonites. Helwys and eight or ten others refused to change, and held fast to Baptist views. In 1611

6


Helwys brought his little group of Baptists back to England. Helwys expanded Smyth's views on liberty of conscience and became the first man to publish in the EngHsh Language a claim to the right of freedom of worship. For this he was jailed by the King of England. But Baptist churches began to spring up in London and in many other places in England.

English Baptists developed along two lines, the General (Arminian in theology) and the Particular (Calvinistic in theology). The Baptists of England have grown steadily under a system which has an established church, but they have never shown the amazing rapidity of growth exhibited by American Baptists under a government that guarantees constitutionally the separation of church and state. The American Baptist movement dates from Roger Williams and John Clarke of Newport, Rhode Island. Today Baptists are the largest Protestant group in the United States. The Methodists have the largest single Protestant body, but all the Baptists taken together constitute the largest group of Protestants.

Baptists stand for freedom. Freedom is synomyous with Baptist. This one word characterizes the basic principles of Baptists. First, Baptists believe in freedom of thought. From the very beginning of the Baptist movement there has been an insistence upon the Holy Scriptures as the sole authority in matters of religion and an equal insistence upo~...private interpretation. Out of this has come the doctrine of religious liberty. This

7


It is part of the genius of the Baptist group that the principle of freedom of thought has produced such diverse types of churches and preachers. Our glory is that men can find fellowship with independence of thought. There is one thing which ought to be said here which needs to be repeated and reiterated among Baptists again and again in every generation, and that is, every move to enforce doctrinal conformity violates the basic Baptist principle of freedom of thought in religious matters.

Baptists have been charged sometimes with being narrow. There may be narrow Baptists, and that is their privilege, but there is nothing narrow about the basic prmciples of the Baptist movement. Intellectually we have made room for the keenest and best trained minds, as well as room for the uneducated and practical-minded man, in a fellowship of kindred spirits who grant one another the right to think, speak and act independently. In contrast, the Episcopal church has a hard and fast creed that leaves no reom for individual freedom of thought. So conservative and narrow is this group that women are not permitted to sit on the governing board of the church. The Episcopal church's only sign of "liberalism" has been that it has "gone easy" on the drinking of alcoholic beverages and other doubtful social customs, whereas the Baptists have generally been "narrow" on drinking and gambling.

Such great lovers of freedom have Baptists been that our denomination was commended by George Washington for the wonderful support

10


given to the Revolution, in contrast to the Toryism of the Established church, which later became the Episcopal church. We have a historian friend in Virginia who thinks he has definitely established that Washington requested and received baptism at the hands of a Baptist chaplain after his own church had sabotaged the Revolution. It was the Baptists who had the largest hand in getting the

t I Bill of Rights into the Constitution.

Further, another essential principle of Baptists is an insistence upon freedom of choice. This freedom of choice in matters of religion eventuated in Baptist rejection of infant baptism. When a candidate wilfully, intelligently, accepts for himself faith in Christ and offers himself for baptism such baptism is known as "believer's baptism." It has been mistakenly thought, and sometimes taught by Baptists who do not know better, that what make a Baptist a Baptist is immersion. This is not historically true. What makes a Baptist a Baptist is not the mode or the form of baptism; It is, who is baptized. Baptists, believing in freedom of choice, have repudiated infant baptism because there can be no freedom of choice exercised in infancy. As Baptists have interpreted the New ., Testament,. baptism is a symbol of something that has taken place within the heart and mind, namely, repentance and conversion. It is an outward symbol

I of an inner decision. When it is administered to one who has not experienced this inner decision then it is invalid.

In the New Testament Paul teaches that baptism symbolires a death and burial to the old way of tho,!-ght and life and a resurrection in the power

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of Christ to a newness of life. Also, according to the New Testament, we are tirst to teach and then to baptize. To administer baptism to an infant is a violation of the principle of freedom of choice, and therefore, is repulsive to Baptists. The Baptist viewpoint was the viewpoint of the Early Church and in the year 188 A. D. we tind one of the outstanding Church Fathers, Clement, asserting that instruction led to faith and faith to baptism. Instruction precedes baptism, and therefore infant baptism is ruled out by the New Testament. It was only about the 3rd Century that infant baptism came to be practiced, and it was not until 604 A. D. that Pope Gregory I officially gave it the blessing of the church.

Historically there have been three modes of Baptism, namely, aspersion, which is sprinkling; affusion, which is pouring; and immersion, which is dipping under the water. As the Baptist movement began to emerge, a.ll three modes we1·e originally used by Baptists. It was only after a conference of English Baptist Churches in 1641 that immersion was generally accepted as a mode of Baptism by Baptist churches. The term Anabaptist means to baptize again or re-baptize. Baptists rebaptized members coming from other churches, because it was assumed that they had received infant baptism. "Believer's baptism" was administered to all new members.

Let us make it very plain that what makes a Baptist is not the mode but the fact that Baptism is administered to a person only after he has reached a decision himself on his own, in his own mind and heart, and has declared for himself his

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faith. This great principle of freedom of choice may be expressed in another way, name.ly, in matters of religion each man decides for himself. Neither his parents, his friends, his teachers nor anyone else can make this decision for him. He is a Christian by choice and after deliberate and careful thought, following instruction. This means that we are to emphasize the spiritual training of the young so that they shall be encouraged to Christian living. It means that the tinal decision to become a believer rests with the individual himself and with no one else. It was this emphasis upon instruction as a prerequisite for Baptism which led Baptists to pioneer the Sunday School movement. In 1785, a Baptist deacon, William Fox of London launched a Sunday School society to promote thp establishment of Sunday Schools for children, implementing his own ideas and the idea of an English editor, Robert Raikes. The first Sunday School for exclusive religious instruction in America was organized by the Second Baptist church of Philadelphia in 1804.

Again, Baptists stand for freedom in government. Through the years powerful religious organizations have developed and built tremendous mechanisms whose power extends across national lines and around the globe. There are Christian churches whose matters of polity and policy are determined either by a small group which has final authority or one man. In the Roman Catholic Church the Pope is the infallible ruler of all Catholics. His authority is greater than the authority of the Scriptures. -He acts in matters of faith for God. He rule.s the Church by decree and determines its

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doctrines, teachings, and practices. This authoritarian and rigid autocracy is repugnant to Baptists who are lovers of freedom. For them there can be no mighty religious hierarchy. For them there are no ranks of sainthood. For them there is no priest standing between them and God as their intermediary. They believe in the individual's responsibility to God, and the right of every man to approach God for himself. No one has the right to rule the congregation. Even the minister himself is only a layman who has been elected by the people to serve the congregation in religious matters.

Baptists have stressed the priesthood of all believers and out of this · principle has come a democratic church organization. The local congregation is a pure democracy in which on all important matters the majority of the votes of the members decide the policies and practices of the church. Each church is therefore autonomous and stands on its own feet. No one can exercise any authority over it. Cooperation, persuasion, enthusiasm, fierce belief in the basic principles of freedom, are what hold Baptist people togeth.er in common tasks and activities. It was natural that a group which depended upon persuasion as the only legitimate means of winning converts would take the initiative in missionary activity. Not by power, nor by intrigue, nor by pressure or "pull," but by preaching and teaching would the Kingdom advance. Some years ago Robert E.

Speer wrote:

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"We date the r eal beginning (of modern missions) from William Carey (a Baptist) who went with John Thomas to India in 1793. under the Baptist Missionay Society of which Andrew Fuller was the inspiration. Carey called the Christian Church to a recovery of the foreign missionary conception and the Church responded to the call. One by one the different Protestant communions took up the task until to-d;ly there is not one of them that does not recognize as part of its fundamental dutyits proper share in the effort to carry the Gospel to the whole world."

The progress and the history of Baptists have demonstrated that the "rope of sand" is in the long run stronger than hoops of steel. Baptists take pride in the fact that as they have searched the New Testament with freedom of thought, as they have exercised freedom of choice, they have developed and insisted upon the right of believers to govern themselves under the leadership of God.

Again, Baptists have insisted upon freedom of support in matters of religion. All through our history the voluntary principle has operated. No one is to be compelled to support the church. A man supports the church because he loves the church and wants to do it. No one is to be taxed to support the church. Men bring their gifts willingly and in a worshipful manner because they want to. Baptists protest every effort to join church and state together because such a union denies the voluntary principle. They have cherished the separation of church and state as one of the fundamental principles from the very beginning, because when church and state unite there can be no freedom.

Baptists have seen the church spiritually damaged by unholy ;:tlliances with political power. They have sel!fi the church forget her ministry to the spirItual needs of men because of bribery

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and · corruption arlsmg from political ambition. They have seen the state dominated and controlled by the church to the ruin of government. They have seen the church dominated by the state and used not as an instrument for salvation but for the enslavement of the masses. "Ye shaH know the truth and the truth shaH make you free." We embroider those words on our banner and in a day like ours we give that banner to the breeze. In a time when the cherished liberal dream of the Western World has become tarnished and ancient evil forces seek to destroy the liberties of men, Baptists assert with new vigor their principles of freedom of thought, freedom of choice, freedom in government, freedom of support.

We Baptists have often been accused of being uneducated. Let us examine this accusation for a moment. All of the men who were leaders in the early Anabaptist movement were highly educated men. Grebel was trained at the University of Vienna and at the University of Paris. Hubmaier, who led the Anabaptists in Germany was a Doctor of Theology. John Smyth was an ordained minister of the AnglJcan church before he became a Baptist and held his M. A. degree from Christ's College. Dr. John Clarke, pastor of the first Baptist church on American soil. at Newport, Rhode Island, was a very learned Englishman. True there have been numbers of uneducated Baptists and numbers of uneducated Baptists ministers, but let us remember that we have more untrained people in our group than any of the rest of the Protestant groups in America, because we have the largest group of Protestants in America. Baptists today in the

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United States are some sixteen million strong and include in their ranks an overwhelming majority of the Negroes, and Indians. When one finds an uneducated Baptist minister it is but another evidence of our principle of freedom. If an uneducated congregation wants an uneducated minister and ordains him, who can interfere or have anything to do with it? It is their right and privilege. On the other hand, many of the most learned and scholarly ministers in America are Baptists. We have m01'e money i.nvested in education than any other denomination in America today. Baptists in the North and South together have one hundred universities, colleges, junior colleges, academies, and theological seminaries in operation. We have over fifty universities and colleges, among them the University of Chicago, Baylor University in Texas, Bates College in Maine, Bucknell, Colgate, Wake Forest College in North Carolina, Mercer University in Georgia, the University of Richmond in Virginia, and many others. Brown University was originally founded as a Baptist school. Vassar was founded by a Baptist. Not only do Baptists operate some fifty colleges and universities but they also operate thirty-one junior colleges, fourteen theological seminaries and ten negro colleges.

We are criticized for being divided, but variety seems to stimulate growth. The twenty-six different kinds of Baptists number sixteen million people. It is true we have more branches of the Baptist church than any other denomination, but we have more Baptist ~eople. Even with the great merger which to~k place within the Methodist ranks some years. ago, there still remain eighteen different

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Methodist bodies. The Presbyterians with only about three million members altogether have twelve Presbyterian bodies. Even as saintly as the Quakers are supposed to be there are nine different bodies of the Friends. There are fifteen different divisions among the Lutherans. Wherever there is freedom of thought, freedom of choice, freedom in government, freedom of support, there will be all of Heinz's fifty-seven-varieties. This is the beauty of liberty.

There appeared recently in the Christian Century an article by an Episcopalian minister. Mr. Charles G. Hamilton, on "What Makes Southern Baptists Tick." It is not .very _often that an Episcopalian will go out of his way to say something good about a Baptist, but Mr. Hamilton has paid one of the finest tributes to Southern Baptists that we have ever received. He sought to answer the question, Why are Southern Baptists the fastest growing reo ligious group in the United States? Why have Southern Baptists in twenty-five years added more members than the total of all the members of the Episcopal church, or the Presbyterian church, alld many other denominations. He found the answer in a number of reasons.

First, there are some who say Southern Baptists are the fastest growing denomination for biological reasons. More babies are born in the South than anywhere else. More Southerners are Baptist; therefore, more children are born in Baptist homes. Second, there is the sociological reason. Baptists belong to the largest class of people, therefore there are more of them. He points out that Southern Baptists are not rich as a rule, but, he says,

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there are more rich people among Southern Baptists than there are in any other two communions together. (Don't forget those Texas and Oklahoma oil fields.) Third, Baptists have always been strong in - rural areas. 'l'his is a more important reason. Country life is a way of life and Baptists have often transplanted it to cities. The Baptist churches in the villages, towns and cities have been constantly replenished by the rural people who moved to town. Fourth, another strong reason is the independence of the local church. This independence has allowed for variety and differences. If a man cannot be satisfied in one Baptist church he can find another one wholly different. Differences create new churches. Fifth, another reason is the fact that the Baptist movement is a lay movement and that laymen are encouraged to handle the business of the church; to take charge of singing; to lead auxiliary organizations; to teach and preach; and to frequently organize new churches. Sixth, Baptists are growing because ot their social consciousness. Southern Baptists have opened their theological seminaries to Negro ministers and are quietly improving race relations. We have also become the temperance church. Finally, he concludes that the major ca:use ot Baptist growth has been our Biblical emphasis. He asserts that "men are still hungry for the faith of their fathers and the Gospel of the God who died for them on Calvary." Let us who take the New Testament for our creed continue to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make.you free."

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Freedom of thought, freedom of choice, freedom of government and freedom of support are glorious freedoms. But, with freedom come individual responsibility and obligation. May we remind ourselves that it is hard, very hard, to be a Baptist. A Baptist must think for himself and people do not like to think. Recently a University professor said that people went to church to be soothed, not stimulated to think. To be a Baptist we must think.

A thinking man possesses independence and freedom, but he must also accept the tremendous responsibility of himself. Since we have no outside controls we must intelligently control ourselves. Since we have no one to goad us into adion we must volunteer for service. Since we have no one to coerce U:;l, we must willingly do our duty. Since we cherish the right to be individualists, we must deliberately develop a spirit of community and cooperation. Freedom withers away when men grow lethargic in mind and body.

Baptists arise and act! The future belongs to the principles for which we stand. We have nothing to lose but the chains of sin. We have a world to gain fOT Christ!

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Documents

SAMUEL TILDEN HABEL - Wake Forest University...Virginia (KVGC), Ohio University (Ironton), West Virginia College of Graduate Studies and is Professor Emeritus, Marshall University