Anyways, Robert Parham, Executive Director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, recently editorialized on a historic confrontation between founding Baptist Thomas Helwys and King James I:
"For men's religion to God is between God and themselves," wrote Helwys. "The king shall not answer for it."
Having metaphorically poked the king in the chest, Helwys poked the king a second time with his next sentence: "Neither may the king be judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews, or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure."
Claiming religious liberty for heretics and Jews was surely an insulting statement to King James and his court. Yet what did the king have to fear from Jews and heretics. What power did they yield?
Advocating religious freedom for the Turks was another matter completely. Islam was the faith of a feared empire. Assigning the right of religious liberty to such foes was too much.
Helwys wasn't through, however. He set the pattern for all future Baptists. He claimed the Bible was on his side: "This [his argument for religious freedom] is made evident to our lord the king by the scriptures."
If the king claimed the Bible was on his side in the defense of the divine right of kings, then the Baptist layman would thump his Bible, proclaiming that the word of God was on the side of religious liberty.
The situation was anything but a stand off. Helwys went to prison, where he is thought to have died. James I remained the king.
King James I still holds sway over many Baptists through the King James Bible and his attitude of intolerance toward other religions.
Remembered mostly by historians, Helwys does challenge today's Baptists to recover their heritage as courageous advocates for religious liberty for all people of faith, including Muslims.
Principles over fear, from both enemy and authority. I like this Helwys guy.
3 comments:
For a grand, scholarly treatment of others similar to Helwys, it wouldn't hurt to flip through Nathan O. Hatch's "The Democratization of Christianity." The name is somewhat misleading, for it deals with the coming of age of Colonial Protestant movements. Helwys is just one of many Baptist (and others) cut from the same cloth.
Good to hear from you Dr. RosenRosen.
I'll be sure to put that book on the top of my summer reading list, sounds like the perfect beach book.
;-)
Sometimes I forget you are a (smart) preacher's kid.
Is the RosenRosen clan re-united?
Hatch is a rare intellectual that make you feel like you're the one making the discoveries, as opposed to simply trying to prove how smart he is.
The clan remains divided. Sadly. Last night's dinner: cereal and left over oreida fries. Yum.
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