Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1876-09-21
Among the ..Dnnkers."

ANS OiiNOhb ofiPlICd away lTOti
, the Embury Park Camp-meet.
ing, and went to see the "Dun.
kerr" or German Baptist breth.
rem worship God, in a box-likt
little brick Westinghouse OF
/ the corner Of jackson and Var
Buren, streets, Dayton, Ohio
! The real name of this admira-
Bile and one of the least known
Of all the countless religious
sects in the United States, is
"German Baptist" The name
"Dunker" is a nickname, given
them in derision of their pecul-
lar mode Of baptism.
'Dunker" is from the Ger
man verb dasakeae, to dip OF
duck, a word used in familiar,
conversational German. The
German Baptlsts immerse their
converts in a manner wholly
peculiar. They take the con-
vert down to the waters edge,
always to a river or running
stream, none of your new fam
gled warm church cisterns,
and have him kneel down in
the water. Then the preacher
takes him by the back Of the
neck. and dips him under the
water, face foremost, you un-
derstand, not backwards, as do
other Baptists. They dip him
under, face foremost, three
times, once in the name Of the
Father, once in the name Of the
Son, and once in the name of the
Holy Ghost, thus giving him a
triple or trine baptism. Hence
the nickname bunker or QUICKER.
The ignorance Of the world
in general with regard to the
German Baptist brethren is SIM
| ply infinite. l measure other
peoples ignorance by my own
in making that statement. The
name "Dunker," itself only a
nickname, is corrupted into
"Dunkard" by many persons,
and from sDunkard' again in
to "Drunkard," and that they
are so called because they have
a habit of frequently being in
toxicated. Anything more un-
like the reality could hardly be
invented.
The simple dignity and beau
ty of these peoples ways, their
unlikeness to any sect | had ev-
er met with before, impressed
me so strongly that | began at
once to hunt up something of
their history. 1t is both very
obscure and very ancient. They
are older than the Reformation,
older than Martin Luther him.
self. Luther changed the mode
of baptism of the primitive
Christian Church, they say.
Ages ago, as far back as the
time of the Apostles, a num-
ber of Christians settled in
Thrace and Greece. They were
called the Paulicians, and in
their obscure regions preserved
the simplicity of the primitive
Christian Church, as opposed
to the Church of Rome. The
Paulicians were accused by the
Romish Church Of favoring the
doctrine of universal salvation,
a statement founded on the ac-
cusations of their theological
enemies, and your theological
enemy is the bitterest, most con-
scienceless enemy on earth. In
cG.rse OF time the Paulicians,
driven by wars from their home
in Thrace, emigrated, like !n!ea'
ly all emigrants since the his
toric age begun, to the west
ward, and scattered over the
south of Europe, through Italy,
Switzerland and France. There
they became the Albigenses
and Waldenses,-while history
lasts names which will stand as
monuments to the unknown,
unnumbered millions, who have
perished on the altar of the de-
mon of theological hate.
From these Albigenses, who
appear in great numbers in
Southern France three hundred
years before the Reformation,
are undoubtedly descended, in
their religious faith, the Ger
man Baptists Of to-day. They
first appear under that name a
bout the year 1920. Their ear
! ly history is a history of flames
and martyrdom. So late as the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, two
German Baptists were publicly
burned at the stake.
The German Baptist Church
in America was established a.
bout the year 1929; at German
town, Pennsylvania, by Alex
ander Mack and his associates,