Protestant Reformers & Pastors Codexery

John Smyth (English theologian)

English Puritan minister and theologian, key figure in Baptist origins.

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John Smyth was an English theologian born around 1554 in Sturton-le-Steeple, Nottinghamshire.[1] In Holland, Smyth encountered the practice of believer's baptism, which rejects infant baptism, and in 1609 he and Thomas Helwys, along with other Puritans, concluded that this was the correct form of baptism.[2][3] On 28 August 1612, Smyth's life ended in Amsterdam due to dysentery.[4]

Life and work

His Cambridge education emphasized Aristotelian logic and metaphysics through the trivium and quadrivium.[5] Smyth served as a lecturer in Lincoln from 1600 to 1602, adopting moderate Puritan views during that time.[6] He wrote in support of the British Crown's authority over the Church of England.[7] In Holland, Smyth published The Differences of the Churches in 1608, explaining his view of a biblical church.[2]

In 1609, Smyth baptized himself, then baptized Thomas Helwys and others, rejecting infant baptism.[3][8] Helwys excommunicated Smyth for heresy, and Smyth subsequently joined a Mennonite church.[9] According to Smyth, worship should be spontaneous, using only the Bible, and he preferred the original language version over translations during services.[10] A letter was sent by Smyth and his group in February 1610 to a Mennonite community in Waterland, requesting to join them.[11]

What the cited sources add

A 1915 edition of Smyth's works records a disputed account of a midnight baptism in the River Don on 24 March 1606, with torches used due to darkness.[12][13] The same account states that after the baptism, Smyth walked over two miles to Epworth in cold clothes and received no harm.[13] This account was later revealed to be a forgery connected with the rebuilding of a Baptist church at Crowle.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lee, "The Theology of John Smyth: Puritan, Separatist, Baptist, Mennonite", Mercer University Press, 2003, p. 41 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sébastien Fath, Une autre manière d'être chrétien en France: socio-histoire de l'implantation baptiste, 1810-1950, Éditions Labor et Fides, Genève, 2001, p. 81; "Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions", Merriam-Webster, 1999, p. 1019; Jason K. Lee, The Theology of John Smyth: Puritan, Separatist, Baptist, Mennonite, Mercer University Press, USA, 2003, p. 54 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sébastien Fath, "Une autre manière d'être chrétien en France: socio-histoire de l'implantation baptiste, 1810-1950", Éditions Labor et Fides, Genève, 2001, p. 8 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: J. Gordon Melton et Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 298 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cross, F.L., editor. (1997). Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. (3rd ed./ edited by E.A. Livingstone.) Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press. p. 15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "John Smyth" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Smyth, "The works of John Smyth, fellow of Christ's college, 1594-8", University Press, 1915 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robert E. Johnson, A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 33 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Russ Bush, "Baptists and the Bible", 1999 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lee, "The Theology of John Smyth: Puritan, Separatist, Baptist, Mennonite", Mercer University Press, 2003, p. 54 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jason K. Lee, The Theology of John Smyth: Puritan, Separatist, Baptist, Mennonite, Mercer University Press, USA, 2003, p. 87; T. Lyon, The Theory of Religious Liberty in England 1603–39, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2014, p. 119 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Whitley, "The Works of John Smyth", Cambridge University Press, 1915, p. vi. facts only, no text reused. archive.org
  13. Wikipedia, "John Smyth (English theologian)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: R R Kershaw, Baptised Believers, Nottingham University, 1995; Whitley, "The Works of John Smyth", Cambridge University Press, 1915, p. vi (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article John Smyth (English theologian) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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