Historia ya Wabaptisti na Maendeleo ya Dhehebu — Sehemu ya 2: Mizizi: Waanabaptisti, Watengano wa Kiingereza, na Swali la AsiliBaptist History and Denominational Development — Unit 2: Roots: Anabaptists, English Separatists, and the Question of Origins

Mstari MkuuKey Verse

"Nami nakuambia, Wewe u Petro, na juu ya mwamba huu nitalijenga kanisa langu; wala milango ya kuzimu haitalishinda." (Mathayo 16:18, SUV)"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18, NKJV)

Malengo ya KujifunzaLearning Objectives

Utakapomaliza kipindi hiki, unapaswa kuweza:When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Kueleza ni kwa nini swali la asili ya Wabaptisti ni muhimu na kwa nini Wabaptisti hawakubaliani kulihusu.1. Explain why the question of Baptist origins matters and why Baptists disagree about it.

2. Kueleza mtazamo wa mfululizo usiokatika (successionist), au "njia ya damu" (trail of blood), na kutoa sababu za Kibaptisti za kuujibu.2. Describe the successionist, or "trail of blood," view and give the Baptist reasons for answering it.

3. Kueleza harakati ya Waanabaptisti na kutaja mahali pa tatu ambapo Wabaptisti na Waanabaptisti wanakubaliana na wanatofautiana.3. Describe the Anabaptist movement and name three places where Baptists and Anabaptists agree and differ.

4. Kueleza harakati ya Watengano wa Kiingereza na kwa nini wanahistoria wengi wanaweka asili ya Wabaptisti huko.4. Explain the English Separatist movement and why most historians place the origin of Baptists there.

5. Kueleza jinsi Mbaptisti anavyoweza kushikilia maelezo ya wanahistoria na bado kusema kwamba imani za Kibaptisti zinatoka katika Agano Jipya.5. Explain how a Baptist can hold the historians' account and still say that Baptist convictions come from the New Testament.

Kwa Nini Swali la Asili ni MuhimuWhy the Question of Origins Matters

Kila mwanafunzi Mbaptisti mapema au baadaye huuliza, "Tulitoka wapi?" Jibu linaonekana rahisi, lakini sivyo. Wanahistoria Wabaptisti wametoa majibu tofauti kwa karibu miaka mia mbili, na Wabaptisti waaminifu bado hawakubaliani.Every Baptist student sooner or later asks, "Where did we come from?" The answer seems simple, but it is not. Baptist historians have given different answers for almost two hundred years, and honest Baptists still disagree.

Swali hili ni muhimu kwa sababu ya changamoto mbili. Jirani Mkatoliki wa Roma au Mwothodoksi anaweza kusema, "Kanisa lenu lilianza miaka ya 1600. Letu linarudi hadi kwa mitume. Wabaptisti walikuwa wapi kwa miaka elfu moja na mia sita ya kwanza?" Na Mbaptisti anayejivunia utamaduni wake anaweza kutaka kuthibitisha kwamba makanisa ya Kibaptisti yamekuwepo siku zote. Changamoto zote mbili zinastahili jibu wazi.The question matters because of two challenges. A Roman Catholic or Orthodox neighbor may say, "Your church began in the 1600s. Ours goes back to the apostles. Where were the Baptists for the first sixteen hundred years?" And a Baptist who is proud of his tradition may want to prove that Baptist churches have always existed. Both challenges deserve a clear answer.

Kipindi hiki kinaangalia maelezo makuu matatu ya asili ya Wabaptisti. Kila moja linasisitiza jambo la kweli. Kisha tunaonyesha jinsi Mbaptisti mhafidhina anavyoweza kupokea ukweli wa historia na kuendelea kushikilia imani zake.This unit looks at three main accounts of Baptist origins. Each one stresses something real. We then show how a conservative Baptist can receive the facts of history and keep the convictions of faith.

Maelezo ya Kwanza: Mfululizo wa KibaptistiAccount One: Baptist Succession

Jibu la zamani zaidi la Kibaptisti linasema kwamba makanisa ya kweli ya Kibaptisti yamekuwepo katika mfululizo usiokatika tangu wakati wa Kristo. Mfululizo huo unaanza na Yohana Mbatizaji na makanisa ya Agano Jipya, na unapita katika makundi ambayo kanisa la Roma liliyatesa. Waandishi wengine huuita mtazamo wa "Yerusalemu-Yordani," kwa sababu unaanza na kazi ya Kristo huko Yerusalemu na ubatizo wa Yohana katika Yordani.The oldest Baptist answer says that true Baptist churches have existed in an unbroken line from the time of Christ. The line begins with John the Baptist and the churches of the New Testament, and runs through groups that the Roman church persecuted. Some writers call this the "Jerusalem-Jordan" view, because it begins with Christ's work in Jerusalem and John's baptizing at the Jordan.

Wazo hili lilifundishwa katika miaka ya 1800 na waandishi kama G. H. Orchard, aliyeandika historia ya Wabaptisti wa nje mwaka 1838. Lilikuwa fundisho la Landmarkism, harakati tutakayoisoma katika Kipindi cha 7, iliyoongozwa na J. R. Graves na kuungwa mkono na J. M. Pendleton. Lilijulikana sana katika karne ya ishirini kupitia kijitabu cha J. M. Carroll kiitwacho The Trail of Blood (Njia ya Damu) (1931). Carroll alifuatilia mnyororo wa makanisa katika karne zote, akitaja makundi kama Wamontani, Wanovatiani, Wadonatisti, Wapaulikiani, Wawaldensia na wengine.The idea was taught in the 1800s by writers such as G. H. Orchard, who wrote a history of foreign Baptists in 1838. It became the teaching of Landmarkism, a movement we will study in Unit 7, led by J. R. Graves and supported by J. M. Pendleton. It became widely known in the twentieth century through a booklet by J. M. Carroll called The Trail of Blood (1931). Carroll traced a chain of churches through the centuries, naming groups such as the Montanists, Novatianists, Donatists, Paulicians, Waldensians and others.

Kiunga kikuu cha mtazamo huu ni ahadi ya Kristo katika mstari mkuu. Alisema milango ya kuzimu haitalishinda kanisa lake. Wafuasi wa mtazamo wa mfululizo wanatoa hoja kwamba kama kanisa la kweli halikufa, lazima siku zote kulikuwa na makanisa kama makanisa ya Kibaptisti. Mtazamo wao pia unawaheshimu waumini walioteswa wa karne za zamani, walioteseka kwa ajili ya injili.The main support for this view is the promise of Christ in the key verse. He said the gates of Hades would not prevail against His church. Successionists reason that if the true church never died, there must always have been churches like Baptist churches. Their view also honors the persecuted believers of earlier centuries, who suffered for the gospel.

Jibu la KibaptistiThe Baptist answer

Tunaiheshimu imani ya wale wanaoshikilia mtazamo huu, na tunaheshimu mateso ya makundi wanayoyataja. Lakini wanahistoria wengi wa Kibaptisti, na kozi hii, hawaukubali, kwa sababu nne.We respect the faith of those who hold this view, and we honor the suffering of the groups they name. But most Baptist historians, and this course, do not accept it, for four reasons.

Kwanza, ahadi ya Mathayo 16:18 ni kwamba kanisa la Kristo halitaangamizwa. Haiahidi kwamba mnyororo unaoonekana wa makanisa yenye jina la Kibaptisti na imani za Kibaptisti unaweza kufuatiliwa kutoka karne moja hadi nyingine. Kanisa la Bwana linaishi popote watu wanapomwamini kweli na kukusanyika kuzunguka Neno lake.First, the promise of Matthew 16:18 is that the church of Christ will not be destroyed. It does not promise that a visible chain of churches with a Baptist name and Baptist beliefs can be traced from one century to the next. The Lord's church lives wherever people truly believe in Him and gather around His Word.

Pili, ushahidi haupo. Makundi yaliyo kwenye orodha yaliishi katika karne na mahali tofauti, na viungo kati yao vimekisiwa zaidi kuliko kuthibitishwa. Makundi mengi yalishikilia imani ambazo Wabaptisti wanazikataa. Baadhi yao, kwa mfano, walidai mafunuo mapya kutoka kwa Roho pamoja na Maandiko. Mengine tunayajua hasa kutokana na yale ambayo maadui zao waliandika juu yao, na mwanahistoria hawezi kuwa na uhakika walichofundisha kweli.Second, the evidence is not there. The groups on the list lived in different centuries and places, and the links between them are guessed more than proved. Many of the groups held beliefs that Baptists reject. Some of them, for example, claimed new revelations from the Spirit alongside Scripture. Others we know mostly from what their enemies wrote about them, and a historian cannot be sure what they really taught.

Tatu, hoja hii inaweka mamlaka mahali pasipostahili. Kama kanisa la Kibaptisti ni la kweli kwa sababu linaweza kuthibitisha mti wa ukoo wake, basi Biblia si msingi. Lakini Wabaptisti siku zote wamesema kwamba kanisa ni la kweli kwa sababu linafuata Maandiko. Watu wa Beroya wanasifiwa kwa sababu "walichunguza Maandiko kila siku, waone kama mambo hayo ndivyo yalivyo" (Matendo 17:11).Third, the argument places authority in the wrong place. If a Baptist church is true because it can prove its family tree, then the Bible is not the foundation. But Baptists have always said that a church is true because it follows the Scriptures. The people of Berea are praised because they "searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11).

Nne, uaminifu ni muhimu. Kudai mnyororo ambao hatuwezi kuuthibitisha ni kuwapa wakosoaji wetu zawadi. Ukweli hauhitaji ulinzi wa uongo.Fourth, honesty matters. To claim a chain we cannot prove gives a gift to our critics. Truth does not need a false defense.

Maelezo ya Pili: Mizizi ya KianabaptistiAccount Two: Anabaptist Roots

Maelezo ya pili yanasema kwamba Wabaptisti wametokana na Waanabaptisti wa karne ya kumi na sita, au wana uhusiano wa karibu nao.A second account says that Baptists descend from, or are closely related to, the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century.

Waanabaptisti Walikuwa Akina Nani?Who were the Anabaptists?

Matengenezo ya Kanisa yalianza mwaka 1517. Huko Zurich, Uswisi, mwanamatengenezo Ulrich Zwingli aliuongoza mji huo kuacha desturi za Kikatoliki cha Roma. Baadhi ya wanafunzi wake mwenyewe, miongoni mwao Conrad Grebel na Felix Manz, waliamini kwamba alisimama mapema mno. Walifundisha kwamba ubatizo ni wa wale tu wanaoamini, na kwamba kanisa linapaswa kuwa mkusanyiko wa waumini, si kila mtu katika mji. Mwezi wa Januari 1525 huko Zurich, wao na wengine walibatizana kama waumini. Hii kwa kawaida huonekana kama mwanzo wa harakati ya Waanabaptisti.The Reformation began in 1517. In Zurich, Switzerland, the reformer Ulrich Zwingli led the city away from Roman Catholic practice. Some of his own students, among them Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz, believed that he stopped too soon. They taught that baptism belongs only to those who believe, and that the church should be a gathering of believers, not everyone in the city. In January 1525 in Zurich, they and others baptized one another as believers. This is usually seen as the start of the Anabaptist movement.

Harakati hiyo ilipingwa vikali, na Wakatoliki na Waprotestanti pia. Mamlaka za Zurich zilifanya ubatizo wa waumini kuwa kosa la jinai. Felix Manz alizamishwa majini hadi kufa mwaka 1527, matumizi ya kikatili ya maji yaleyale yaliyowakilisha imani yake. Katika mwaka huohuo Michael Sattler aliuawa. Maungamo ya Schleitheim (1527), yanayohusishwa na Sattler, yalieleza mafundisho makuu ya harakati hiyo, yakiwemo ubatizo kwa waumini, kanisa safi linalolindwa kwa nidhamu, Meza ya Bwana kwa waliobatizwa, kujitenga na ulimwengu, na kukataa kuapa viapo au kutumia upanga. Huko Uholanzi, kasisi wa zamani aitwaye Menno Simons alikuwa kiongozi katika miaka ya 1530, na wafuasi wake waliitwa Wamenoni.The movement was fiercely opposed, by Catholics and Protestants alike. The Zurich authorities made believer's baptism a crime. Felix Manz was drowned in 1527, a cruel use of the very water that stood for his faith. In the same year Michael Sattler was executed. The Schleitheim Confession (1527), associated with Sattler, set out the movement's main teachings, including baptism for believers, a pure church kept by discipline, the Lord's Supper for the baptized, separation from the world, and refusing to swear oaths or to use the sword. In the Netherlands, a former priest named Menno Simons became a leader in the 1530s, and his followers were called Mennonites.

Pia kulikuwa na tukio la vurugu. Katika mji wa Ujerumani wa Munster mwaka 1534 na 1535, kundi lililojiita Waanabaptisti lilianzisha ufalme kwa nguvu, na ukaishia kwa umwagaji damu. Waanabaptisti wengi walilikataa jambo hili. Lakini tukio hilo liliharibu jina lao kwa vizazi vingi.There was also a violent episode. In the German city of Munster in 1534 and 1535, a group calling themselves Anabaptists set up a kingdom by force, and it ended in bloodshed. Most Anabaptists rejected this. But the event damaged their name for generations.

Wabaptisti na Waanabaptisti Wanakubaliana na Kutofautiana WapiWhere Baptists and Anabaptists agree and differ

Wanakubaliana kwamba ubatizo ni kwa waumini, kwamba kanisa linaundwa na waliogeuka, kwamba Maandiko yako juu ya mapokeo, na kwamba serikali haina haki ya kulazimisha dhamiri.They agree that baptism is for believers, that the church is made up of the converted, that Scripture is above tradition, and that the government has no right to force conscience.

Wanatofautiana kwa njia muhimu. Waanabaptisti wengi walifundisha kwamba Wakristo hawapaswi kutumia nguvu wala kutumikia kama mahakimu, na hawapaswi kuapa viapo. Wabaptisti wengi baadaye walikubali kwamba muumini anaweza kutumikia serikalini na anaweza kuapa kiapo. Waanabaptisti mara nyingi walifanya kujitenga na ulimwengu kwa ukali zaidi. Waanabaptisti wa mwanzo mara nyingi walibatiza kwa kumwaga maji, wakati Wabaptisti walifikia miaka ya 1640 kusisitiza kuzamishwa. Tofauti hizi ni za kweli, na mwanafunzi hapaswi kusema kwamba Wabaptisti na Wamenoni ni watu walewale wenye majina mawili.They differ in important ways. Many Anabaptists taught that Christians should not use force or serve as magistrates, and should not swear oaths. Most Baptists later accepted that a believer may serve in government and may take an oath. Anabaptists often practiced a stricter separation from the world. The early Anabaptists often baptized by pouring water, while Baptists came by the 1640s to insist on immersion. These differences are real, and a student should not say that Baptists and Mennonites are the same people under two names.

Swali la Kushuka Moja kwa MojaThe question of direct descent

Baadhi ya wanahistoria Wabaptisti, kama William Estep, wamesisitiza kile Wabaptisti wanachodaiwa na Waanabaptisti. Kuna uhusiano wa kweli. John Smyth, kiongozi wa kwanza wa Kibaptisti, aliishi miongoni mwa Wamenoni wa Uholanzi huko Amsterdam, nao walimshawishi (Kipindi cha 3). Lakini makubaliano mapana ya wanahistoria ni kwamba Wabaptisti wa kwanza hawakutoka tu kwa Waanabaptisti. Wabaptisti walitokea Uingereza, katika mazingira tofauti, na walikuza mafundisho yao wenyewe, yakiwemo mitazamo yao kuhusu wokovu na Meza ya Bwana. Kwa hiyo wasomi wengi huzungumzia undugu wa kiroho na ushawishi fulani, na si mstari wa moja kwa moja.Some Baptist historians, such as William Estep, have stressed what Baptists owe to the Anabaptists. There is a real link. John Smyth, the first Baptist leader, lived among Dutch Mennonites in Amsterdam, and they influenced him (Unit 3). But the historians' broad agreement is that the first Baptists did not simply come from the Anabaptists. Baptists arose in England, in a different setting, and they developed their own teachings, including their views on salvation and the Lord's Supper. Most scholars therefore speak of a spiritual kinship and some influence, and not of a direct line.

Maelezo ya Tatu: Asili ya Kitengano cha KiingerezaAccount Three: English Separatist Origins

Maelezo ya tatu ndiyo yanayokubaliwa zaidi miongoni mwa wanahistoria, wakiwemo wanahistoria Wabaptisti kama H. Leon McBeth, Bill Leonard na David Bebbington. Yanasema kwamba Wabaptisti wa kwanza walitoka katika harakati ya Watengano wa Kiingereza (English Separatists), ambayo yenyewe ilikuwa tawi la Upuritani wa Kiingereza.The third account is the most widely held among historians, including Baptist historians such as H. Leon McBeth, Bill Leonard and David Bebbington. It says that the first Baptists came out of the English Separatist movement, itself a branch of English Puritanism.

Matengenezo ya Kanisa UingerezaThe English Reformation

Uingereza ilijitenga na papa chini ya Mfalme Henry wa Nane katika miaka ya 1530. Chini ya Malkia Elizabeth kanisa lilipangwa upya, na Sheria ya Umoja (Act of Uniformity) ya 1559 iliwataka kila mtu kutumia kitabu kimoja cha sala. Waumini wengi walifikiri kwamba kanisa la Uingereza bado halikuwa limefanyiwa matengenezo kamili. Walitaka mahubiri, ibada rahisi zaidi, na maisha ya kanisa yaliyojengwa juu ya Biblia. Watu hawa waliitwa Wapuritani.England broke with the pope under King Henry VIII in the 1530s. Under Queen Elizabeth the church was settled again, and the Act of Uniformity of 1559 required everyone to use the same prayer book. Many believers thought the English church was still not fully reformed. They wanted preaching, simpler worship, and church life based on the Bible. These people were called Puritans.

Wapuritani wengi walibaki katika Kanisa la Uingereza na walitumaini kulifanyia matengenezo kutoka ndani. Wengine waliamua kwamba hawawezi. Hawa ndio Watengano. Walifundisha kwamba kanisa la kweli ni mkusanyiko wa waumini wanaofanya agano kati yao, kwamba Kristo ndiye Kichwa pekee, na kwamba dola lisitawale kanisa. Robert Browne alikuwa kiongozi wa mapema wa Watengano, na wafuasi wake waliitwa Wabrowni. Henry Barrow na John Greenwood waliuawa mwaka 1593 kwa sababu ya maandishi na shughuli zao za kitengano. Watengano waliteseka kwa faini, kifungo na uhamisho.Most Puritans stayed in the Church of England and hoped to reform it from within. Some decided that they could not. These were the Separatists. They taught that a true church is a gathering of believers who covenant with one another, that Christ is the only Head, and that the state should not rule the church. Robert Browne was an early Separatist leader, and his followers were called Brownists. Henry Barrow and John Greenwood were executed in 1593 for their Separatist writings and activities. The Separatists suffered fines, prison and exile.

Kutoka Mtengano Hadi MbaptistiFrom Separatist to Baptist

Makanisa ya Watengano mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1600, kama lile la Gainsborough lililoongozwa na John Smyth, yalishikilia kanisa la agano, uongozi wa kusanyiko na uhuru kutoka kwa udhibiti wa dola. Wakati huo walikuwa bado hawajachukua ubatizo wa waumini. Ndani ya miaka michache baadhi yao walifanya hivyo. Waliposoma Agano Jipya kwa makini na kutumia kanuni kwamba kanisa lazima liundwe na waumini, walihitimisha kwamba watoto wachanga hawapaswi kubatizwa. Ndiyo maana wanahistoria wanasema kwamba Wabaptisti wa kwanza walikuwa Watengano waliokwenda hatua moja zaidi.Separatist churches in the early 1600s, such as the one at Gainsborough that John Smyth led, held to a covenant church, congregational government and freedom from state control. At that point they had not yet taken up believer's baptism. Within a few years some of them did. When they studied the New Testament carefully and applied the principle that the church must be made of believers, they concluded that infants should not be baptized. This is why historians say that the first Baptists were Separatists who went one step further.

Kipengele kingine kinaunga mkono mtazamo huu. Makanisa ya mwanzo kabisa ya Kibaptisti Uingereza, ya Wajumla na ya Maalum, yalikuwa ya uongozi wa kusanyiko (Congregational), kama Watengano walivyokuwa. Hatua kutoka Utengano hadi imani za Kibaptisti ilikuwa fupi, na wanahistoria wanaweza kuifuatilia katika kumbukumbu zilizobaki.Another feature supports this view. The earliest Baptist churches in England, both General and Particular, were Congregational in government, as the Separatists had been. The step from Separatism to Baptist convictions was a short one, and historians can follow it in surviving records.

Pingamizi la WanahistoriaThe historians' objection

Wengine wanasema kwamba maelezo haya yanafanya Wabaptisti kuwa uvumbuzi wa kibinadamu wa karne ya kumi na saba. Kama Wabaptisti walitoka katika mzozo wa Kipuritani huko Uingereza, kwa nini tudai kwamba wanashikilia ukweli wa Agano Jipya?Some say that this account makes Baptists a human invention of the seventeenth century. If Baptists came from a Puritan quarrel in England, why should we claim that they hold the truth of the New Testament?

Jinsi Mbaptisti Anavyoweza Kushikilia Historia na Imani PamojaHow a Baptist Can Hold Both History and Faith

Jibu la Kibaptisti ni wazi. Asili ya kanisa katika wakati ni jambo moja, na chanzo cha mamlaka yake ni jambo jingine. Wabaptisti hawajawahi kudai kwamba mamlaka yao inatokana na ukoo. Tunadai kwamba imani zetu zinatoka katika Agano Jipya, ambalo ni la zamani kuliko kila mapokeo ya kanisa, yakiwemo mapokeo ya Kikatoliki cha Roma na ya Kiothodoksi. Watengano na Wabaptisti wa kwanza waliposoma Biblia, hawakubuni kanisa jipya. Walirudisha mfumo wa kanisa ambalo mitume walilipanda.The Baptist answer is clear. A church's origin in time is one thing, and the source of its authority is another. Baptists never claimed that their authority comes from a pedigree. We claim that our convictions come from the New Testament, which is older than every church tradition, including Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. When the Separatists and the first Baptists studied the Bible, they did not invent a new church. They recovered the pattern of the church that the apostles had planted.

Fikiria Matengenezo ya Kanisa yenyewe. Luther na Calvin hawakudai mnyororo wa makanisa ya Kiprotestanti kurudi hadi kwa mitume. Walidai kurudi kwenye Maandiko. Kwa njia hiyohiyo, Wabaptisti wanasema kwamba njia ya kuelekea kanisa la mitume ni kupitia kitabu cha mitume.Consider the Reformation itself. Luther and Calvin did not claim a chain of Protestant churches back to the apostles. They claimed to return to Scripture. In the same way, Baptists say that the way to the apostolic church is through the apostolic book.

Hili pia linamjibu jirani Mkatoliki na Mwothodoksi. Swali si, "Dhehebu lenu lilikuwa wapi mwaka 800?" Swali ni, "Biblia inafundisha wapi mnachofundisha?" Kanisa la Kristo limekuwepo popote waumini wamemfuata, hata mahali ambapo hawakuwa na jina la Kibaptisti. Lebo mpya haifanyi imani mpya.This also answers the Catholic and Orthodox neighbor. The question is not, "Where was your denomination in the year 800?" The question is, "Where does the Bible teach what you teach?" The church of Christ has existed wherever believers have followed Him, even where they had no Baptist name. A new label does not make a new faith.

Hatimaye, ahadi ya Bwana katika Mathayo 16:18 inatimizwa bila mnyororo unaoonekana. Yeye analijenga kanisa lake, na hajawahi kuacha. Baadhi ya makundi yaliyoteswa ya karne za zamani huenda yalikuwa na waumini wa kweli miongoni mwao. Tunawaheshimu kama ndugu na dada katika Kristo bila kuwadai kuwa mstari wa Kibaptisti.Finally, the Lord's promise in Matthew 16:18 is kept without a visible chain. He builds His church, and He has never stopped. Some of the persecuted groups of earlier centuries may well have had true believers among them. We honor them as brothers and sisters in Christ without claiming them as a Baptist line.

Wanahistoria wengi leo huunganisha maelezo ya pili na ya tatu. Wanasema kwamba Wabaptisti walitokea miongoni mwa Watengano wa Kiingereza, wakiwa na mawasiliano ya kweli na Waanabaptisti wa Uholanzi, na kwamba yote haya yalikuwa kurudisha mafundisho ya Agano Jipya chini ya mkono wa Mungu. Huu ndio mtazamo wa kozi hii.Many historians today combine the second and third accounts. They say that Baptists arose among English Separatists, with real contact with Dutch Anabaptists, and that all of this was a recovery of New Testament teaching under the hand of God. This is the view of this course.

Matumizi ya KichungajiPastoral Application

Mchungaji Samuel anahubiri katika kanisa linalokua. Mtu mmoja kutoka kanisa lililomtembelea anamwambia, "Nilisoma kijitabu kinachosema Wabaptisti wanarudi hadi kwa Yohana Mbatizaji, na Mbaptisti yeyote anayekana hilo amepoteza imani yake." Shemasi katika kanisa la Samuel, anayependa kijitabu hicho, anakubaliana.Pastor Samuel preaches in a growing church. A man from a visiting church tells him, "I read a booklet that says Baptists go all the way back to John the Baptist, and any Baptist who denies it has lost his faith." A deacon in Samuel's church, who loves that booklet, agrees.

Samuel hamshambulii shemasi wala kitabu. Kwanza, anamshukuru kwa upendo wake wa historia ya Kibaptisti na bidii yake. Pili, anauliza kwa upole, "Ushahidi wa kila kiungo ni upi? Makundi haya yanaamini nini?" Anafungua Matendo 17:11 na kusema, "Tufanye kama Waberoya walivyofanya." Tatu, anaeleza asili ya Kitengano kama wanahistoria wengi wanavyoieleza, na kusema kwamba mamlaka ya Kibaptisti ni Biblia, si umri wa jina letu. Nne, anathibitisha yale ambayo mitazamo yote miwili inashirikiana: kwamba Kristo anajenga kanisa lake, kwamba waumini wa zamani waliteseka kwa ajili ya injili, na kwamba tunawashukuru. Anamwalika shemasi kulisoma swali hili pamoja naye katika majuma yajayo. Anataka kanisa lishikilie imani zake kwa ukweli na upendo.Samuel does not attack the deacon or the book. First, he thanks him for his love of Baptist history and his zeal. Second, he gently asks, "What is the evidence for each link? What do these groups believe?" He opens Acts 17:11 and says, "Let us do as the Bereans did." Third, he explains the Separatist origin as most historians describe it, and says that Baptist authority is the Bible, not the age of our name. Fourth, he affirms what both views share: that Christ is building His church, that earlier believers suffered for the gospel, and that we are grateful to them. He invites the deacon to study the question with him in the coming weeks. He wants the church to hold its convictions with truth and love.

MuhtasariSummary

Wabaptisti hawakubaliani kuhusu asili yao. Mtazamo wa mfululizo usiokatika, uliofundishwa katika The Trail of Blood, unasema makanisa ya Kibaptisti yamekuwepo katika mstari usiokatika tangu Kristo. Unategemea Mathayo 16:18, lakini hauna ushahidi, na unaweka mamlaka katika ukoo na si katika Maandiko. Mtazamo wa Kianabaptisti unataja ubatizo wa Zurich wa 1525, Maungamo ya Schleitheim na Menno Simons. Wabaptisti wanashirikiana na Waanabaptisti imani za kweli, lakini wanatofautiana katika mambo kama serikali na viapo, na Wabaptisti wa kwanza hawakushuka tu kutoka kwao. Mtazamo wa Kitengano, unaoshikiliwa na wanahistoria wengi, unafuatilia Wabaptisti wa kwanza hadi kwa Watengano wa Kiingereza, waliotoka katika Upuritani baada ya Sheria ya Umoja ya 1559. Mbaptisti mhafidhina anaweza kukubali maelezo haya kwa sababu mamlaka ya mafundisho ya Kibaptisti ni Agano Jipya na si mnyororo wa kibinadamu wa makanisa. Wabaptisti ni urudishaji, si uvumbuzi.Baptists disagree about their origins. The successionist view, taught in The Trail of Blood, says Baptist churches have existed in an unbroken line since Christ. It rests on Matthew 16:18, but it lacks evidence, and it places authority in a pedigree and not in Scripture. The Anabaptist view notes the Zurich baptisms of 1525, the Schleitheim Confession and Menno Simons. Baptists share real convictions with the Anabaptists, but they differ on issues such as government and oaths, and the first Baptists did not simply descend from them. The Separatist view, held by most historians, traces the first Baptists to English Separatists, who came out of Puritanism after the Act of Uniformity of 1559. A conservative Baptist can accept this account because the authority of Baptist teaching is the New Testament and not a human chain of churches. Baptists are a recovery, not an invention.

Usomaji ZaidiFurther Reading

• H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage (Urithi wa Kibaptisti) (1987).• H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage (1987).

• Bill J. Leonard, Baptist Ways: A History (Njia za Kibaptisti: Historia) (2003).• Bill J. Leonard, Baptist Ways: A History (2003).

• David W. Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries (Wabaptisti Katika Karne Zote) (2010).• David W. Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries (2010).

• Chute, Finn na Haykin, The Baptist Story (Hadithi ya Wabaptisti) (2015).• Chute, Finn and Haykin, The Baptist Story (2015).

• J. M. Carroll, The Trail of Blood (Njia ya Damu) (1931), kijitabu maarufu zaidi cha mtazamo wa mfululizo.• J. M. Carroll, The Trail of Blood (1931), the best-known successionist booklet.

• Maungamo ya Schleitheim (1527), chanzo cha msingi cha Kianabaptisti.• The Schleitheim Confession (1527), a primary Anabaptist source.

• J. M. Pendleton, Church Manual (Mwongozo wa Kanisa) (1867).• J. M. Pendleton, Church Manual (1867).

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