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Anabaptists not Reformers unloaded the theological dead wood of medievalism

Below is an excerpt from a 1918 historical essay by Rufus M. Jones (1863-1948), Quaker Christian and then Professor at Haverford College. Published in Harvard Theological Review, "The Anabaptists and Minor Sects in the Reformation" remains an enlightening read on the rise of Anabaptism during (and even before) the days when reformers like Luther, Calvin and Zwingli were considered the leading lights of protest against the Roman Catholic Church. Concerning the Magisterial Reformers, even though they did what Jones describes as a "monumental piece of work" in changing the course... Read more →

Everything You Know about Evangelicals is Wrong (Well Almost Everything): A Book-Look by Peter Lumpkins

Beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century, evangelicals rode their white horses to religious stardom. As Liberal and mainline denominational colleges and seminaries shrunk, evangelical student bodies swelled fat and prosperous. Fame was short-lived, however. While Newsweek proclaimed 1976 as “the year of the evangelical,” church historian Martin E. Marty predicted rough days ahead for evangelicals as early as 1989. Indeed, some theologians now question whether the term “evangelical” has not expended itself completely. For example, >>> Westminster Theological Seminary professor, D. A. Hart, suggested in his book,... Read more →

The Sacred Scripture Our Just Confines

Though not known so well, one of the most contentious debates early English Baptists faced was with Quakers*. In 1672-1674, Baptists and Quakers brutally squared off on at least four different occasions that, in at least one of those meetings, 3,000 people jammed into the meeting house and stuck around for almost six hours..>>> On October 9, 1674, at the Barbican in London (Baptist), the crowd jammed in to cheer on their favorite team. For the Quakers stood the legendary William Penn along with the equally formidable George Whitehead. Also... Read more →