John Smyth (c. 1554 – c. 28 August 1612) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

, then

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the R ...

minister and a defender of the principle of

religious liberty Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...

Early life

Smyth is thought to have been the son of John Smyth, a

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

of Sturton-le-Steeple,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

. He was educated locally at the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

and in

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, where he became a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in 1594. Smyth was ordained as an

priest in 1594 in England. Sturton sign

Ministry

He preached in the city of Lincoln in 1600 to 1602. In 1607, he broke with the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

and left for

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

where he,

Thomas Helwys Thomas Helwys (c. 1575 – c. 1616), an English minister, was one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the General Baptist denomination. In the early seventeenth century, Helwys was principal formulator of demand that the church and t ...

and his small congregation began to study the Bible ardently. He briefly returned to England. In the beginning, Smyth was closely aligned with his

heritage. As time passed, his views evolved. Smyth's education at Cambridge included the "

trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...

" and "

quadrivium From the time of Plato through the Middle Ages, the ''quadrivium'' (plural: quadrivia) was a grouping of four subjects or arts—arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy—that formed a second curricular stage following preparatory work in the ...

" which included a heavy emphasis upon

Aristotelian logic In philosophy, term logic, also known as traditional logic, syllogistic logic or Aristotelian logic, is a loose name for an approach to formal logic that began with Aristotle and was developed further in ancient history mostly by his followers, t ...

and metaphysics. Smyth's evolving ecclesiology was due to his applying biblical truth about the truth into numerous logical syllogisms. It was in Holland that Smith discovered

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

theology and retained its principles, notably on

believer's baptism Believer's baptism or adult baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word meaning "I believe") is the practice of baptizing those who are able to make a conscious profession of faith, as contrasted to the practice of baptizing ...

by immersion, opposed to

infant baptism Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...

and the memorial of the

last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

, opposed to

consubstantiation Consubstantiation is a Christian theological doctrine that (like transubstantiation) describes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It holds that during the sacrament, the substance of the body and blood of Christ are present alongsid ...

and

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...

. In 1608, he published ''The Differences of the Churches'', in which he explained the characteristics of a biblical church: First, Smyth insisted that true worship comes from the heart and that there should be no books other than the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

in worship. Praying, singing and preaching should be spontaneous only. He did not read the Bible translation during worship, preferring the original language version. Second, Smyth introduced a twofold church leadership, that of

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

and said that a church could have several

pastors A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and An ...

. Third, the financial support of the church should come only from the members and not from the government, because that would mean giving them control over the church. In 1609, Smyth, and

, along with a group in Holland, came to believe in believer's baptism (thereby rejecting

) and they came together to form one of the earliest Baptist churches. He was utterly convinced that

and a free church gathered by covenant were foundational to the church. Having been baptized as infants, like the Anabaptists of the

Radical Reformation The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century, the Ra ...

they came to believe they would need to be re-baptized. Since there was no other minister to administer baptism, Smyth baptized himself in 1609 (for which reason he was called "the Se-baptist," from the Latin word ''se'' ' neelf') and then with

proceeded to baptize the Church. John Clifford as cited in the ''General Baptist Magazine'', London, July 1879, vol. 81) records that " 1606 on March 24. . .this night at midnight elder John Morton baptized John Smyth, vicar of Gainsborough, in the River Don. It was so dark we were obliged to have torch lights. Elder Brewster prayed, Mister Smith made a good confession; walked to Epworth in his cold clothes, but received no harm. The distance was over two miles. All of our friends were present. To the triune God be praise." This account was later revealed to have been a forgery connected with the rebuilding of the Baptist Church at Crowle, where the church (now closed) still bears a plaque falsely claiming to have been founded in 1599. It has been suggested by W. T. Whitley that Smyth may have coined such well-known theological terms as Pedobaptist. In February 1610, Smyth and other church members wrote a letter to a

community in

Waterland Waterland () is a municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. It is situated north of Amsterdam, on the western shore of the Markermeer. It is well-known for comprising the touristy towns of Broek in Waterland and M ...

to join their movement. This resulted in his excommunication from the church by

. Smyth and part of the church joined a Mennonite church, while Helwys and part of the church returned to England to found the first permanent Baptist church there, in 1612. The churches that descended from Helwys were of the

General Baptist General Baptists are Baptists who hold the ''general'' or unlimited atonement view, the belief that Jesus Christ died for the entire world and not just for the chosen elect. General Baptists are theologically Arminian, which distinguishes them from ...

persuasion. Baptist historian Tom J. Nettles argues that Helwys and his group "earned the name General Baptists" because they "claimed that Christ died for all men rather than for the elect only". This is seen as a step away from fully Calvinist commitments.

Death

He died from dysentery on 28 August 1612 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

.J. Gordon Melton et Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 298

Early life

Ministry

Death

See also

References

Further reading