Memorials Of Baptist Martyrs: With A Preliminary Historical Essay

by John Newton Brown

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

John Newton Brown (1803–1868) was an influential Baptist teacher, minister, and publisher in the 19th century.

He attended Madison College (now known as Colgate University) where he graduated at the head of his class in 1823. Ordained the following year, he spent many years traveling New England, serving as minister in Buffalo, New York, Malden, Massachusetts, and Exeter, New Hampshire as well as a teaching position at the Academical and Theological Institution of New Hampton, New Hampshire, before ill health forced him to travel south where he took up a ministry in Lexington, Virginia in 1845.

In 1848 he became editorial secretary of the American Baptist Publication Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was editor of its publications the Christian Chronicle and National Baptist. It was under his tenure that a number of influential works of the day were published under his direction.

Brown was one of the authors of the New Hampshire Confession of Faith in 1833, which was a more moderate expression of the more Calvinistic Baptist beliefs that existed at the time, and was widely accepted in the northern United States. His name has become the one most associated with this work.

Brown also authored a book of poetry, "Emily and Other Poems," (1840) which was dedicated to a sister who had died young.

Reviews

[Josh Miller]

The Bible states of people like this "of whom the world was not worthy."

The state of Christianity today pales in comparison to what many of these people had. May stories like these stir us up to be faithful to the truth, to God's Word, and the Lord Jesus Christ no matter what comes our way!

[Victor Gamma]

Writings which commemorate champions of the faith who paid the ultimate price are an ancient and venerable tradition. This genre is sometimes known as a martyrology. A martyrology is a list or catalogue of saintly martyrs, traditionally placed in order of their feast days. The tradition of martyrology began as early as the Third Century C.E. A Protestant Martyrology emerged during the Reformation featuring a highly anti-Catholic polemical slant. Following in this long tradition, the American Baptist Publication Society published J. Newton Brown's Memorials of Baptist Martyrs in 1854. Brown’s work does not follow the order of feast days since these martyrs are not celebrated as saints or as an object of adoration in the manner of Catholicism. He places them instead in chronological order and according to category and geographical location.
Brown's purpose in writing this book was grounded in his conviction that the fearless spirit of the martyrs of the Middle Ages and Reformation needed to be revived; ". . . Baptists have a sacred duty to perform: first to themselves, and then to all Christendom. They must seek among themselves to revive THE MARTYR SPIRIT." A parallel goal was " . . . to stimulate to holy and energetic action the Christians, and especially the Baptists, of these United States." Additionally, the "Preliminary Historical Essay" that forms the introduction to the work, and also its theses, strives to distinguish true from false martyrdom, to define "true evangelical Christianity," and to make a historical case for the 'true' or 'Baptist' churches versus the corrupt, pedobaptizing churches. To accomplish the first aim, Brown discusses his understanding of the concept of martyrdom and its place in Christianity. The purpose of these comments is to make sure the reader has a correct understanding of true Christian martyrdom. Among other points, Brown cautions the reader not to confuse all death and suffering by Christians with true martyrdom. Much suffering, Brown states, comes from the fault of the sufferer. Such a case is found in the account of Moses, who was denied entry into the promised land due to a single act of disobedience in an otherwise unparalled life of devotion to God. To accomplish his aim of correctly defining true evangelical Christianity, the author lays a theological foundation by offering a checklist. Brown clearly lays out what he terms "the distinctive principles of PURE CHRISTIANITY" and those that belong to "the institutions of Christ." Brown lists these in capital letters; universal freedom of conscience only as a condition of faith, baptism only on a conscientious profession of faith, immersion only, as the prescribed baptism of faith, baptized believers only as the proper materials of the Christian Church . . ."
After these clarifying essays, a series of accounts of individuals martyred for their faith, resembling Foxe's Book of Martyrs, follows. In fact, Brown states that much information in the book comes from John Foxe's Acts and Monuments of Those and Perilous Days and Martyrology of the Baptists by Thieleman Braght, who lived form 1625-64. A translation of this works was published in London in 1853 and was thus available to J. Newton Brown. Brown acknowledges his dependence on these sources in his prefatory note, as well as listing his other sources. The accounts of the martyrs are divided into five chapters; Christian Men Martyred on the Continent of Europe, Husbands and Wives Martyred for Christ on the Continent of Europe, Christian Women Martyrs on the continent of Europe, Christian Men Martyrs in England, and Christian Women Martyrs in England.
A successionist, Brown asserts that all true Christian martyrs were Baptists. Not one to miss an opportunity to correct possible misunderstanding, Brown spells out the successionist or perpetuity position as follows: First, the Baptist Church can be traced back to Apostolic times, Baptist teaching and practices have always existed whenever civil toleration allowed it, Baptists represent the purest and most noble of all martyrs, Baptist have never retaliated against their persecutors, Baptist martyrs have included a diverse collection of men and women of all ranks, educational attainment and class. In his brief historical sketch Brown offers support for his view, tracing his view of the history of true Baptists throughout the Middle Ages. There must have been many Baptist martyrs, Brown asserts, because during the Reformation many were being persecuted and these must have been descendants of Medieval 'Baptist' groups. Brown maintains that Baptists, or Cathari (The Pure) continued to exist in various regions where regimes tolerant of them existed, such as in Moorish Spain.
The book was well received in its day. It was proclaimed to be a moving and inspiring account of the brave martyrs of earlier ages of persecution, "No Christian can read the sufferings and triumphs of these martyred disciples and not have his heart moved," proclaimed The Mother's Journal.
Memorials, however, is also a history book, and it must be judged by historical criteria as well by its spiritual and literary content. Here Mr. Brown’s ample confidence is unwarranted in several instances. In his zeal to promote his agenda and as a writer untrained in historical methodology, Brown allows himself to pick and choose those sources that support his purpose, in the process creating several false Baptists. One example is Brown's treatment of Arnold of Brescia. Several claims of Brown concerning the Medieval firebrand rest on shaky foundations: mainly the claim that Arnold was a heretic against the Catholic Church. Concerning this charge Brown states, “Many very decisive facts show Arnold to have been a Baptist. Bernard of Clairvaux, states Brown, accused Arnold and his followers of mocking at infant baptism. Brown continues, “Evervinus, in Germany, also says ‘the Arnoldists condemn the [Catholic] sacraments, particularly baptism, which they administer only to the adult; alleging that place, whoever shall believe and be baptized shall be saved.’ And, in a word, Arnold himself was formally condemned by the Lateran Council for rejecting infant baptism.” There are several problems with these contentions. As of 1854, when Memorials was published, the only sources available about Brescia were the letters of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and the writing of Otto of Freising, both hostile witnesses. The only knowledge we have of Brescia, in fact, comes from his enemies. Ignoring this fact, Brown takes their accusations at face value. The only claim of doctrinal heresy ever leveled against Arnold was by Otto of Freising. Otto wrote that Arnold “held unreasonable views with regard to the sacraments of the altar and infant baptism." However, Otto did not bring up the charge until after Arnold’s death. The letter of Evervinus does not mention Brescia by name. His comment simply reads, " They (some heretics near Cologne) do not hold the baptism of infants . . ." The letters from Bernard of Clairvaux to Cardinal Guido, afterward Pope Celestine II, to end his friendship with the troublesome monk do not mention any specific heresies, rather Bernard quotes Titus 3:10-11, “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful: he is self-condemned.” Nor is there any corroboration for the accusations of St. Bernard or Freising. The Roman Curia never accused him of heresy, but rather of rebellion. Ultimately Brescia hanged for his 'crimes.' This method of execution was commonly meted out to crimes other than heresy. If the charge of doctrinal heresy were true, Arnold certainly received surprisingly mild treatment as a heretic who opposed one of the most fundamental doctrines of the Church. Until his excommunication while helping lead the rebellion of the Roman rebels against papal authority, the worst punishment inflicted on Arnold was exile. Arnold was exiled twice, first from Italy then from France. This sentence does not make sense if the charge were heresy, for the heretic would be a danger to the church wherever he went. The historical facts support instead the view that the strong-willed and charismatic Arnold incurred the hostility of church official because he stirred up many against the corruption and worldliness of the church. He was seen as a schismatic and trouble-maker, not a heretic. The Second Lateran Council of 1149 did condemn the errors of the followers of Arnold but did not specify which errors were being condemned. Canon 15 refers to the problem of violence against clerics, which had become a particular problem due to the disorders that Arnold of Brescia had been stirring up due to his bold preaching against the power, worldliness and wealth of the clergy. No written works of Brescia survive but the facts of history make it clear that the entire focus of his energies were directed toward the evils of the accumulation of corrupt wealth and power by the church, not doctrinal problems. Sources that relate Arnold’s role in the short-lived Medieval Roman Republic stress the political nature of his activity, not his doctrinal pronouncements. Mr. Brown clothes Arnold in the garb of a Baptist reformer but the facts show Brescia as a political thorn in the side of the church, not a doctrinal one.
In sum, the book is an excellent reference for Baptist historiography and history, but must be approached with caution as to its use of historical sources.