Italian Souls for Christ

We spent the month of August among the brethren in New England sharing our burden of reaching Italian souls for Christ. One of the side benefits of deputation is staying in parts of the country you might not normally have occasion to visit. Sandy’s favorite state we visited in the northeast was Rhode Island. We spent a night in Newport and were able to spend a relaxing morning walking along the rocky shore, watching what looked to be a class of elementary school children practicing their sailing in miniature boats. Newport was a quaint little town with a lot of shops to explore.

We also spent some time in the capital of Providence. We passed some time before an evening service by walking through the mall as well as visiting the Roger Williams museum. It wasn’t too surprising that the museum over-emphasized, or rather distorted, Williams’ view of “tolerance.” A study of American history independent of distortions from government school texts books reveals that the impassioned minister that helped form the fabric of our society was greatly influenced by Baptist distinctives…

Roger Williams, who lived in the 1600’s, founded the town of Providence. His was the first government in the world whose cornerstone was absolute religious liberty. A few other countries had before tolerated what they regarded as heresy but this was the first government organized on the principle of absolute liberty to all, in such matters of belief and practice as did not conflict with the peace and order of society, or with ordinary good morals. Though he did not originate the idea of soul liberty, he became its standard-bearer in a new world.

Dr. Bill Grady points out in his book What Hath God Wrought that the person most responsible for influencing Williams in his comprehension of soul liberty was a Baptist pastor in London by the name of Samuel Howe. Williams, at this time, was a Protestant, and did not learn about soul liberty from a fellow Protestant because it is not a Protestant doctrine – it is a Baptist distinctive. We learn from church history that Baptists are not Protestants. While the Protestant Reformation came out of corrupted Roman Catholicism in the sixteenth century, Baptist churches were never “in” the Catholic Church to come “out” if it. While Protestants trace their lineage to Martin Luther and historical reality limits Roman Catholicism’s origin to somewhere between Constantine (332 A.D.) and Leo I (440 A.D.), Bible-believing Baptists can trace their roots of distinction all the way back to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Saviour said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Consequently, Baptist begin by basing all their doctrine on the final authority of the holy scripture (2 Tim. 3:16,17). On the other hand, Roman Catholicism’s official position has been scripture (from the corrupt Latin Vulgate) plus church tradition (the accumulation of “papal bull” of a dozen centuries) with the Pope breaking any theological standoffs. And because Protestants came out of the Catholic Church, they also have stopped short of a total submission to scripture on many occasions. As Grady points out in his book, evangelicals may sing about “sola Biblia,” but the Baptist have been the ones practicing it at great peril (read The Trail of Blood for examples).

It was through the biblical doctrine of soul liberty that our Founding Fathers would discern that man belongs totally to God and has been endowed with a free will to either accept or reject His Maker, with the sole responsibility of government being to preserve this freedom by protecting the righteous from the unrighteous (Rom. 13:1-7).

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” – John 8:36