Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-01-29
THE FIRST OF THE SERIES.
Baptist Contribution To Christian Clyiiza-
tiOn-"Why We Believe What
We Believe +"

The first of the series of sermons on
"Why We Believe What We Believe"
was delivered at the College Avenue
Baptist Church on Sunday night by
the Rev. Thomas =. Holloway, min
lister. The subject of Sunday nights
discourse was Baptist Contribution
to Christian Civilization. The text
was taken from Galatians, OIL. Mr..
Holloway spoke in part as follows:
"Christian civilization, the combined
forces making for the emancipation
of the human soul through the free
action of the pure Gospel of Jesus
Christ, owes its greatest debt TO the
Baptists, according to the findings of
the unbiased historians.
THE fundamental doctrines now
held so splendidly by all evangelical
denominations, such as the necessity
for the new birth, salvation directly
through faith in Christ and not in
directly through church ceremonies,
the church an altogether spiritual
organization, were first rediscovered
by the Baptists FOR those who held
substantially to what Baptists believe
and practice, and loyalty adhered TO
through centuries of glorious martyr
dom for their unfaltering faith. For
While the modern Baptist movement
began in Holland and England in
about the year 1900, and in America
some few years later under the world
famous Roger Williams, there have
been churches upholding unchanged
the New Testament principles and
policy from the Apostolie times.
The Petrobrusians arising in ll25
antedate the Reformation period four
hundred years, and these were Bap-
lists. There are long silences in the
historical records regarding those who
through the ages cling to the views
not upheld by the Baptists, but this
is due to the fact that the enemies of
these noble servants of God time after
time totally exterminated them by
the sword of persecution. One hun
dred years before the activity sin
Smyth, John Milton, the poet, and
John Bunyan, the preacher and an
thor of the immortal Pilgrims Pro-
gress, and that of Roger Williams of
America, there were thousands of
persons banded together in churches
which believed lin most particulars
what the Baptists have followed in
faith and practice for the last four
hundred years, and these people were
totally exterminated by tortures SO
unspeakably horrible as TO make the
soul shudder.
''The Baptists have gone to logical
conclusions in following out New
Testament teachings far beyond where
Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and Knox
were willing to follow. BY their OPP
position to the doctrine of baptismal
regeneration and infant baptism they
constantly and heroically have shown
that God was too holy and loving TO
consign innocent infants TO an ever
lasting hell simply because n little
water was not sprinKled uaon them
or they we're fnt Immersed. 1t has
remaiHcd Tor the isaptists to relieve
the heart of humanity by clearly
proving that the atonement of Jesus
avails for all who pass into the beyond
before having arrived at the age of
spiritual accountability.
..The Baptists were the very first
to plead for full religious Liberty for
all people. The fist article ever
written on liberty of conscience was
by Hubmeyer, of Germany, a Bap-
tist. The first formal declaration
made by a religious body for freedom
of individual conscience was drawn
up by Baptist association. The first
government ever established on earth
in which full religious liberty was
granted was the Rhode Island colony
under Roger Williams and his Baptist
compatriots. Jefferson said that he
modelled the Constitution of the Uni
ted States after tthe rules of organi-
zation of Baptist church in Virginia.
Brown University, in Providence, II.
l., the first Baptist college ever estab-
lished in America, was the first insti-
tuition of the kind to admit students
without regard to their religious
views. A delegation of Baptists
saved the Quakers from persecution