John Smyth (1570-1612)

John Smyth (c. 1554 – 1612) was an English Puritan minister and theologian, former Church of England cleric, defender of the principle of religious liberty, being a influential figure for the development of the Baptist tradition, and later personally developing a Mennonite theology.

Early life

Smyth is thought to have been the son of John Smyth, a yeoman of Sturton-le-Steeple, Nottinghamshire. He was educated locally, most likely under Rev Quipp at Sturton though at the grammar school in Gainsborough has also been suggested. Then he attended in Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow in 1594. Smyth was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594 in England.

Ministry

He preached in the city of Lincoln in 1600 to 1602. During his time as Lecturer, he held somewhat moderate Puritan views, accepting the set forms of prayer as well as both vocal and instrumental music in church. He was concerned with the influence of recusants throughout the parish, and wrote in support of the Crown's authority to govern the church and appoint ecclesiastical magistrates.

In 1606, he broke with the Church of England and became a Dissenter. He gathered with other Puritan leaders in Coventry, and was chosen minister of a Dissented church in Gainsborough. These Dissenters were exiled to Holland, and there they began to study ardently. In the beginning, Smyth was closely aligned with his Anglican heritage. As time passed, his views evolved. Smyth's education at Cambridge included the "trivium" and "quadrivium" which included a heavy emphasis upon Aristotelian logic 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 Smyth discovered believer's baptism, opposed to infant baptism 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 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 and deacon and said that a church could have several pastors.

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 Thomas Helwys, along with other Puritans, came to the conclusion of believer's baptism (thereby rejecting infant baptism). They were utterly convinced that believer's baptism and a free church gathered by covenant were foundational to the church. Having been baptized as infants, they came to believe they would need to be re-baptized. Since he was the only minister to performance the sacrament, Smyth baptized himself in 1609 (for which reason he was called "the Se-baptist," from the Latin word ' neelf'), then baptized Thomas Helwys and the others.

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 members of the church wrote a letter to a Mennonite community in Waterland to join their movement. Thomas Helwys, who was a joint-pastor, did not support this action, because, like other Protestants, he considered the Anabaptists as heretical and radical. He also wanted to reform England, not stay in Holland. Then Helwys excommunicated Smyth and other Puritans for heresy. They joined a Mennonite church, while Helwys and the church returned to England, and reestablished themselves not at Gainsborough, but in London, in 1612. The churches that descended from the Gainsborough church were of the General Baptist persuasion because, as the 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.J. Gordon Melton et Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 298

See also

* Baptists
* Believer's baptism
* Baptist offices

References

Further reading

* Hathi Trust. In two volumes.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, John
1550s births
1612 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
16th-century English Anglican priests
17th-century English Baptist ministers
English separatists
People from Lincolnshire
English Baptist theologians
16th-century English theologians
17th-century English theologians
People educated at Queen Elizabeth's High School