A short history of the Baptists

Preface

The first edition of this " Short History" was published in January, 1892. This first edition has long been out of print The fire of February 2, 1896, consumed all the stock of books on hand. The author then proposed that, instead of reprinting from the old plates, the Society thenceforth publish two editions of the work : one to be a small book that could be sold at a merely nominal price, the other a larger volume with illustrations. This proposal was favorably received, and the first part of the project was at once realized in the " Phoenix edition." In the revision of the text for that edition a considerable amount of new matter was added.

The second part of the project was by no means so easy a matter, and a decade has been required for its accomplishment. It required a restudy of the whole field covered, step by step, with utmost care. It involved the careful rewriting of the entire work and the addition of much new matter. It included months of foreign travel, and the collection of an immense quantity of illustrative material, only a small part of which has proved available for this edition. The book now in the reader's hand contains more than twice as much matter as the first edition, yet the volume is not too big nor the story too prolix, it is believed, to justify the retention of the original title of "A Short History of the Baptists."

The book has thus grown to what the author hopes will prove, so far as the text is concerned, its definitive

vii

Vlll PREFACE

form. But he still cherishes a hope that, at some future time, his ideas regarding its illustration may be more completely realized. No sane publishers would, however, incur the necessary expense of such illustration unless fully assured of support in so doing. Our Publication Society has gone to the present limit of prudence in this matter. If the Baptists of America would like an edition of this history, with all of the interesting and valuable portraits, ancient edifices, facsimiles of documents, and other curious and instructive illustrative matter in the author's possession or at his command, they have only to make that wish unmistakably known and they can have it. The unmistakable evidence of their desire (need it be added ?) will be a sale of this present edition commensurate with the favor that has been shown to its predecessors.

The author gladly takes this opportunity of expressing his obligations to the friends who have given assistance in his work, especially to those who, by pointing out its imperfections, have made possible its betterment. A host of good Christian people, by no means confined to our own denomination, have sent words of commendation, of counsel, of helpful suggestion. To such, one and all, thanks have been returned in the one convincing way : by leaving nothing undone to make the book worthy of their appreciation.

Special thanks are due to Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons for their supplying five duplicate plates from their "Heroes of the Reformation" series, and to the American Baptist Home Mission Society for the loan of the beautiful half-tone portrait of John M. Peck.

Ckozek Theological Seminaky, February, 1907.

Chapter IV. The Holy Catholic Church 44

Signs of degeneracy. Exaggerated ideas about unity. Sacramental grace. Clinic baptism. Baptism of infants. The catechumenate. Sacerdotalism. Growth of the episcopate. Asceticism.

Chapter V. The Struggle for a Pure Church ... 57 Montanism. Novatians. Donatists. Arianism. Athanasius and the triumph of orthodoxy.

Chapter VI. The Eclipse of Evangelical Christianity . 71 Patrick and the gospel in Ireland. Evangelical Christianity in the East. The Bogomils.

Chapter VII. Foregleams of the Dawn 80

Arnold of Brescia. Savonarola. Wiclif. Hus. The Moravians.

ix

X CONTENTS

PAGE

Chapter VIII. The Wrath of the Dragon 95

Origin of persecution. Its theory. Effect of the medieval heresies. The fourth Lateran Council. The Albigensian crusade. Rise of the Inquisition. Its Methods. The lesson.

Chapter IX. The Old Evangelical Party no

Protestants before Protestantism. The Petrobrusians. Henry of Lausanne. Waldo and the Waldensians. Waldensian teachings.

Chapter X. Grebel and the Anabaptists 129

Their origin. Zwingli and the beginning of reform in Zurich. Anabaptism introduced. Persecution of the leaders. Zwingli' s responsibility. Anabaptists in Bern. The Schleitheim Confession.

Chapter XI. Anabaptism in Germany 145

Unhistorical treatment of the party. The Zwickau "prophets." Balthasar Hubmaier. John Denck. Their views of civil government. Persecution by all governments.

Chapter XII. The Outbreak of Fanaticism . . . .167 Condition of German peasants. Decay of feudalism and the social revolution. Thomas Miinzer and the peasant uprising. Luther' s tracts against the peasants. Hofmann and his teachings. The Miinster uproar. Savage persecution of the Anabaptists.

Chapter XIII. Menno Simons and his Followers . . 184 Menno's life and labors. Toleration in the Netherlands. Baptism among the Mennonites. Their controversies and divisions. Mennonites in England. Their martyrs : Joan Boucher, Hendrik Terwoort, Edward Wightman.

Part II A History Of Baptist Churches

Chapter XIV. The Early Days 201

John Smyth and his church at Amsterdam. His baptism. Church removes to London. Growth of General Baptists. Spurious claims of antiquity. Origin

CONTENTS XI

PAGE

of Particular Baptists. Introduction of immersion in

1641. Survival of affusion till 1653. Controversy with

Separatists. Confession of 1644. William Kiffen. Hanserd Knollys.

Chapter XV. The Struggle for Liberty 219

The Long Parliament and civil war. Presbyterian intolerance. Baptists during the Protectorate. Opposed to monarchy. Fifth Monarchy movement. The Restoration. General Thomas Harrison. John James. Act of Uniformity and persecutions. John Bunyan. Baptists under James II. Act of Toleration. Baptist customs of the seventeenth century.

Chapter XVI. The Second Reformation and its

Consequences 237

The next fifty years. Confession of 1688. Decline of General Baptists. First Associations. Hyper-calvinism. John Gill. General declension of religion. John Wesley and his work. Results on Church of England. Dan Taylor. Andrew Fuller. William Carey and the missionary revival.

Chapter XVII. The Nineteenth Century 256

Growth of churches. New missionary organizations. Bible Translation Society. Robert Hall. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Open communion in England. Education. Six-principle Baptists. Seventh-day Baptists.

Chapter XVIII. Baptists in the Greater Britain . . 269 Baptists in Wales : John Myles, Vavasor Powell. Recent history. Baptists in Scotland : Archibald Mc- Lean, the Haldanes. Baptists in Ireland : Alexander Carson. Baptists in Canada. Baptists in Australasia.

Chapter XIX. Baptists in the Colonies 287

Three periods of American Baptist history. Roger Williams and the first Baptist church. John Clarke and the Newport church. Henry Dunster. Whipping of Obadiah Holmes. First church in Boston. William Screven and the Charlestown church. Beginnings in the Middle States. The Philadelphia Association. Baptist churches in the South.

Chapter XX. The Period of Expansion 308

Worldliness invades. The Great Awakening. Hezekiah Smith. The Revolution. Morgan Edwards,

Xll CONTENTS

PAGE

Progress of the churches. Religious liberty attained. The Westward movement. The pioneer preacher. John M. Peck and the Home Mission Society. The Judsons and their work. Luther Rice and the Triennial Convention.

Chapter XXI. The Days of Controversy 335

Unitarianism in New England. The American Bible Society and the controversy about versions. Formation of the American Bible Union. A long controversy. The Saratoga Convention. The anti-Masonic excitement. Alexander Campbell and the Disciples. The anti-slavery controversy and the division of Baptists.

Chapter XXII. Evangelism and Education 350

Periods of revivals. State and local work. Development of educational institutions. James Manning and Brown University. Newton Theological Institution. The institutions at Hamilton. Other colleges and seminaries. The American Baptist Publication Society.

Chapter XXIII. The Last Fifty Years 362

Baptist churches in 1850. Numerical growth of fifty years. Progress in education. Growth of foreign missions. Increase of home missions. Work of the Publication Society. Comparative denominational wealth. Counter currents.

Chapter XXIV. Baptists in the United States —

Irregular Baptist Bodies 384

Six-principle Baptists. Original Freewill Baptists. Free Baptists. Separate Baptists. United Baptists. General Baptists. Primitive Baptists. Two-seed-in-the-Spirit Baptists. Baptist Church of Christ. Seventh-day Baptists. Winebrennerians. River Brethren. Adventists. Christadelphians. Christian Connection. Social Brethren.

Chapter XXV. Baptists in Other Countries .... 394 France. Germany. Sweden. Norway. Denmark. Russia. Greece. Spain. Italy.

Chapter XXVI. Progress of Baptist Principles . .410 The nature of the church. The baptismal controversy ended. The communion question. Separation of Church and State. Theological changes. The guarantee of the future.

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Perpetua Frontispiece

From a Mosaic in the Archbishop' s Palace, Ravenna.

The Mamertine Prison, Rome 14

Where Paul and Peter (according to tradition) were imprisoned.

The Three Fountains 22

The traditional scene of Paul' s martyrdom.

Nero 28

From a photograph of the bust in the Capitoline Museum, Rome.

Trajan 36

From the same source.

Marcus Aurelius 42

From the same source.

The Baptistery of St. John Lateran 52 v

From a photograph of the interior, showing the ancient pool.

The Baptistery at Pisa . . 64

From a photograph of the interior, showing the raised font.

The Old Cathedral at Brescia 74

From a photograph of the exterior ; the interior is now an ecclesiastical museum.

Statue of Arnold . . 82 ""

Erected by the municipality at Brescia.

xiii

XIV ILLUSTRATIONS

t>AGfi

Savonarola 88 ^

From a photograph of the portrait by his disciple, Fra Bartolommeo.

Savonarola's Execution 90 y

From an old picture that now hangs in Savonarola s cell.

Savonarola 94 J

From the Luther Monument at Worms.

WlCLIF IOO

From the same.

The Martyrdom of Hus 108 ^

A contemporary picture.

The Hus Memorial at Constance 116

Hus 120 y

From the Luther Monument at Worms.

Waldo 124

From the same.

HULDREICH ZWINGLI I30 J

The most authentic portrait of the Swiss reformer.1

The Old Council Hall of Zurich 136 <

(Here the disputations took place.) From an old print.1

Zurich and the Limat 142

(Here the Anabaptists were drowned.) From a photograph. l

Balthasar Hubmaier 150

From an old print.1

NlKOLSBURG IN 1678 l6o

From an old print.1

1 By courtesy of the publishers, G. P. Putnam's Sons.

ILLUSTRATIONS XV

PAGE

A Group of Radical Leaders . 1 70

From engravings in an old history of Anabaptists.

Munster — The Church of St. Lambert 180

From a photograph (the cages may be seen upon the tower).

Menno Simons 186

From an engraving prefixed to his works.

William of Orange 194

From a portrait in the museum at Cassel, Germany.

William Kiffen 206

From a contemporary engraving.

Hanserd Knollys 216

From a portrait prefixed to his "Parable of the Kingdom. ' '

Oliver Cromwell 222

From the portrait by Sir Peter Lely, now in the Pitti Palace, Florence.

General Thomas Harrison 228

From "Thomas Harrison, Regicide and Major-General, " by C. H. Simkinson.

John Bunyan 234

From a drawing by Robert White in the British Museum.

John Gill 240

From the engraving prefixed to his "Body of Divinity."

Andrew Fuller 248

From the portrait prefixed to his collected works.

The Birthplace of William Carey 250

From an old wood engraving.

XVI ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The Kettering House where the English Baptist Missionary Society was Organized in 1792 , . . .252

Robert Hall 260

From the engraving prefixed to his Works.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon 266

From a photograph taken in middle age.

The Myles Memorial 298

From a photograph.

The First Baptist Meeting-house in Boston 300

From an old print.

John M. Peck 322

From a portrait in oil now at Shurtleff College.1

Adoniram Judson , 336

The best extant likeness.

Spencer H. Cone 346

From the engraving prefixed to his biography by his sons.

James Manning 354

From the engraving prefixed to Guild' s biography.

The Haystack Monument 374

From a photograph.

1 By courtesy of the " American Baptist Home Mission Monthly."

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

The word Baptists, as the descriptive name of a body of Christians, was first used in English literature, so far as is now known, in the year 1644. The name was not chosen by themselves, but was applied to them by their opponents. In the first Confession of Faith issued by the Particular Baptists in 1644, the churches that published the document described themselves " as commonly (but unjustly) called Anabaptists." While they repudiated the name Anabaptist, they did not for some time claim the new name of Baptists, seeming to prefer "Baptized believers," or, as in the Assembly's Confession of 1654, "Christians baptized upon profession of their faith." These names were, however, too cumbrous, and they finally fell in with the growing popular usage. The name Baptists seems to have been first publicly used by one of the body in 1654, when Mr. William Britten published "The Moderate Baptist." The first official use of the name is in " The Baptist Catechism " issued by the authority of the Assembly. The surviving copies of this document are undated, and we only know that it was prepared and printed " some years " after the Assembly's Confession.

For the fact that the name Baptist comes into use at this time and in this way, but one satisfactory explanation has been proposed: it was at this time that English churches first held, practised, and avowed those principles ever since associated with that name. There had been no such churches before, and hence there was no need of the name. The name Anabaptist had been well known, and it described not unfairly from the point of view of those who invented it, the principles and practices of a body that, under various names, had existed from the eleventh century. The Anabaptists denied the scripturalness of infant baptism, and insisted on a baptism upon profession of faith. But the Anabaptists, for the most part, were content to practise the rite of baptism as they saw it in vogue about them; that is to say, sprinkling or pouring. They gave little attention to the act of baptism, regarding the subjects of baptism as a matter of far greater importance, as indeed it is. The English Anabaptists seem, at the beginning of their history, to have differed not at all from the other branches of the party in this respect ; but about the year 1640 the attention of some among them was called to the question of the fitting act of baptism according to the Scriptures, and the introduction of immersion soon after followed. The name Baptists came to be applied to them almost at once as descriptive of their new practice.

The history of Baptist churches cannot be carried, by the scientific method, farther back than the year 161 1, when the first Anabaptist church consisting wholly of Englishmen was founded in Amsterdam by John Smyth, the Se-Baptist. This was not, strictly speaking, a Baptist church, but it was the direct progenitor of churches in England that a few years later became Baptist, and therefore the history begins there. There were before this time, it is true, here and there churches that might fairly be described as Baptist. Such was the church at Augsburg about 1525, commonly called Anabaptist, but practising the immersion of believers on profession of faith ; such were some of the Swiss Anabaptist churches, apparently; such were some of the Anabaptist churches of Poland. But we find such churches only here and there, with no ascertainable connection existing between them. Further research may establish such connection.

or may bring to light additional instances; but it must be confessed that there is no great probability of such result. At any rate, there are no materials for a history in such facts as are now known. A history of Baptist churches going farther back than the early years of the seventeenth century would, therefore, in the present state of knowledge, be in the highest degree unscientific. The very attempt to write such a history now would be a confession of crass ignorance, either of the facts as known, or of the methods of historical research and the principles of historical criticism, or of both.

" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it." Such was the reply of our Lord when his ever-confident disciple answered the question, " Who say ye that I am?" in the memorable words, then for the first time uttered, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." The Church of Rome points to this text as conclusive proof of her claims to be God's vicegerent on earth, the true church, against which the gates of hades shall not prevail. It further points to its unbroken succession, and a history which, if dim and uncertain at the first, since the fourth century at least has not a break, and not improbably extends back to the apostolic era, if not to Peter himself. It challenges any of the bodies that dispute its claim to show an equal antiquity and a succession from the days of the apostles as little open to serious question. Those that accept this test and fail to meet it must confess themselves schismatics and heretics, resisters of God, and doomed to overthrow here as well as condemnation hereafter.

Many Protestants make haste to accept Rome's challenge to battle on her chosen ground. Certain Anglican divines have great faith in a pleasing tradition that the Church of England was founded by the Apostle Paul

O INTRODUCTION

during a third missionary tour hinted at in the New Testament but not described; and they flatter themselves that they thus establish an antiquity not second to that of Rome. Some Baptists have been betrayed into a similar search for proofs of antiquity, misled by the idea that such proof is necessitated by the promise that " the gates of hades shall not prevail " against the true church. If then, they reason, Baptist churches are true apostolic churches, they must have existed from the days of the apostles until now without break of historic continuity. This exaggerated notion of the worth of antiquity as a note of the true church is strengthened by the theory of baptism held by some; namely, that no one is baptized unless he is immersed by one who has himself been immersed. This is to substitute for the apostolic succession of "orders," which the Roman Church boasts, an apostolic succession of baptism. The theory compels its advocates to trace a visible succession of Baptist churches from the days of the apostles to our own, or to confess that proof is lacking of the valid baptism of any living man.

But it is plain that in thus accepting the challenge of Rome Protestants in general, the Baptists in particular, commit as great an error in tactics as in exegesis. To assume the necessity of an outward continuity in the life of the church is gratuitously to read into the words of our Lord what he carefully refrained from saying. Rome, for her own purposes, assumes the only possible import of the words to be that Christ's church will have a historic continuity that can be proved by documentary and other evidence. But this is by no means the necessary meaning of Christ's promise. The church that he said he would build on the rock, to which he guaranteed victory against the gates of hades itself, is not a visible body — that is the great falsehood of Rome — but the assembly of those in all the ages who truly love God and keep the commandments of Christ. Of these there has been an unbroken line, and here is the true apostolic succession — there is no other. Through the continuous presence of this church and not along any chain of visible churches, the truth has descended to our days. Christ's promise would not be broken though at some period of history we should find his visible churches apparently overcome by Satan, and suppressed; though no trace of them should be left in literature; though no organized bodies of Christians holding the faith in apostolic simplicity could be found anywhere in the world. The truth would still be, as he had promised, witnessed somewhere, somehow, by somebody. The church does not cease to be because it is driven into the wilderness.

To Baptists, indeed, of all people, the question of tracing their history to remote antiquity should appear nothing more than an interesting study. Our theory of the church as deduced from the Scriptures requires no outward and visible succession from the apostles. If every church of Christ were to-day to become apostate, it would be possible and right for any true believers to organize to-morrow another church on the apostolic model of faith and practice, and that church would have the only apostolic succession worth having — a succession of faith in the Lord Christ and obedience to him. Baptists have not the slightest interest therefore in wresting the facts of history from their true significance; our reliance is on the New Testament, and not on antiquity ; on present conformance to Christ's teachings, not on an ecclesiastical pedigree, for the validity of our church organization, our ordinances, and our ministry.

By some who have failed to grasp this principle, there has been a distressful effort to show a succession of

Baptist churches from the apostolic age until now. It is certain, as impartial historians and critics allow, that the early churches, including the first century after the New Testament period, were organized as Baptist churches are now organized and professed the faith that Baptist churches now profess. It is also beyond question that for fully four centuries before the Reformation there were bodies of Christians under various names, who professed nearly — sometimes identically — the faith and practice of modern Baptists. But a period of a thousand years intervenes, in which the only visible church of unbroken continuity was the Roman Church, which had far departed from the early faith.

The attempt has been made, at one time or another, to identify as Baptists nearly every sect that separated from the Roman Church. It will not suffice to prove that most of these sects held certain doctrines from which the great body of Christians had departed — doctrines that Baptists now hold, and that are believed by them to be clearly taught in the New Testament — or that the so-called heretics were often more pure in doctrine and practice than the body that assumed to be the only orthodox and Catholic Church. This is quite different from proving the substantial identity of these sects with modern Baptists. Just as, for example, it is easily shown that Methodists and Presbyterians hold a more biblical theology and approach nearer to apostolic practice than the Roman or Greek churches; while yet all know that a considerable interval separates them from Baptists. It is one thing to prove that the various heretical sects bore testimony, now one, now another, to this or that truth held by a modern denomination ; and quite another thing to identify all or any of these sects with any one modern body. This is equally true, whether the investigation be confined to polity or to the substance of doctrine.

In thus emphasizing the divergences of the early and medieval sects from the teaching of the Bible, as Baptists have always understood that teaching, no denial is implied of the excellent Christian character manifested by the adherents of these erroneous views. In many instances the purest life of an age is to be found, not in the bosom of the Catholic Church, but among these despised and persecuted sectaries. Not one of them failed to hold and emphasize some vital truth that was either rejected or practically passed by in the church that called itself orthodox. God did not leave his truth without witnesses at any time. Now a sect, now an individual believer, like Arnold of Brescia or Savonarola, boldly proclaimed some precious teaching, perhaps along with what we must regard as pernicious error. But it is impossible to show that any one person, or any one sect, for a period of more than a thousand years, consistently and continuously held the entire body of truth that Baptists believe the Scriptures to teach, or even all its vital parts. It is possible that with further research such proof may be brought to light: one cannot affirm that there was not a continuity in the outward and visible life of the churches founded by the apostles down to the time of the Reformation. To affirm such a negative would be foolish, and such an affirmation, from the nature of the case, could not be proved. What one may say, with some confidence, is that in the present state of knowledge no such continuity can be shown by evidence that will bear the usual historic tests. Indeed, the more carefully one examines such literature of the early and medieval church as relates to the various heretical sects, the stronger becomes his conviction that it is a hopeless task to trace the history of the apostolic churches by means of an unbroken outward succession. A succession of the true faith may indeed be traced, in

IO INTRODUCTION

faint lines at times, but never entirely disappearing; but a succession of churches, substantially like those of our own faith and order in doctrine and polity — that is a will-o'-the-wisp, likely to lead the student into a morass of errors, a quagmire of unscholarly perversions of fact. The special feature of this history is that it attempts frankly to recognize facts, instead of trying to maintain a thesis or minister to denominational vanity. Beginning with a survey of the history and constitution of the New Testament churches, in which all Baptists profess to recognize the norm of doctrine and polity, the process by which these churches were perverted into the Holy Catholic Church of the succeeding centuries is quite fully traced. The story of the gradual suppression of evangelical Christianity having thus been told, the next step is to show the reverse process — the gradual renascence of evangelical Christianity. This is the sum of Part I., the history of Baptist principles. The second Part is devoted to the history of actual visible Baptist churches, and every statement of fact made is carefully based on documentary sources. For the important question is, not how much may be guessed or surmised or hoped about our history as Baptists, but how much may be known.

PART I HISTORY OF BAPTIST PRINCIPLES

Chapter I

" (~^~ O ye therefore, and make disciples of all the VJT nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you ; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." In this parting injunction of the risen Lord to his disciples, which the Duke of Wellington aptly called the marching orders of the ministry, we have the office of the Christian Church for the first time defined. In obedience to this command the early Christians preached the gospel, founded churches, and taught obedience to Christ as the fundamental principle of the Christian life. And though many of them could say with Paul that they spent their days "in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness," they found it a faithful saying that their Lord was with them alway. In so far as the church in all ages has been obedient to Christ's command it has experienced the truth of this promise.

It is significant that in his teaching Jesus mentioned the church but twice, and then only toward the close of his ministry. The distinctive feature of his teaching is the setting up among men of the kingdom of God — a kingdom not of this world, but spiritual, into which he only can enter who has been born from above, who is meek, childlike, spiritually minded. Being spiritual, this kingdom is invisible, but it has an outward, bodily manifestation, an institutional as well as an incorporeal existence. That manifestation is the church, the ecclesia, those "called out" from the world and gathered into a society whose aim is the extension of the kingdom.

This church potentially existed from the day when two disciples of John the Baptist followed Jesus and believed on him as the Messiah (John i : 35-40) ; but of actual existence as an organized society of believers during the life of Jesus no trace appears in the four Gospels. The day of Pentecost marks the beginning of the definite, organic life of the followers of Christ. The descent of the Holy Spirit, according to the promise of the Lord, was the preparation for the great missionary advance, of which the conversion of three thousand on that one day was the first fruits. Not only did this multitude hear the word and believe, but on the same day they were "added to the church," which can only mean that they were baptized. It was once urged, as an objection to the teaching and practice of Baptists regarding baptism, that the immersion of so many people on a single day is physically impossible. The missionary history of our own time has silenced this objection forever, by giving us a nearly parallel case. In 1879, at Ongole, India, two thousand two hundred and twenty-two Telugu converts were baptized on a single day by six ministers, two administering the ordinance at a time ; the services being conducted with all due solemnity, and occupying in all •nine hours.

The baptism of this great multitude on the day of Pentecost was not only their public confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and their formal induction into the company of believers, but the beginning of a new life of Christian fellowship. For a time at least, this fellowship took among the saints at Jerusalem the form of virtual community of goods, and this so-called "Christian communism" is often held up as a model for the life of Christians in all ages. "And the multitude of them that believed," says the record, "were of one heart and soul; and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common. . . For neither was there among them any that lacked, for as many as were possessed of lands or houses sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet; and distribution was made unto each according as any one had need." It is evident to one who reads the entire account that this was a purely voluntary act on the part of the richer believers, prompted by a desire to relieve those whom the peculiar emergency had made specially needy. The optional nature of the sales and gifts is evident from the words of Peter to Ananias, who with Sapphira conspired to lie to the Holy Spirit — "Whiles it [the property Ananias had sold] remained, did it not remain thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thy power?" To sell all one's goods and distribute unto the poor, though proposed by Jesus to the rich young ruler as a test of his desire for eternal life, was not a general condition of discipleship, even at this time and place. But there is no reason to suppose that after the temporary stress had been relieved, this community of goods continued among even the Jerusalem brethren, while there is every reason to believe that no other church in the apostolic age practised anything of the kind. There is entire silence on the subject in the Epistles and the remainder of the Acts — a thing inconceivable if Christian communism had been a fundamental principle of the apostolic churches. It is not wise or fair to draw a sweeping conclusion as to present duty from premises so narrow and uncertain.