In Canada, unbelievers are increasing while Christians are decreasing and people no longer go to church every week: Mark A. Noll

The Greek word αθεοι (atheoi), as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians (2:12) on the early 3rd-century Papyrus 46. It is usually translated into English as "[those who are] without God".

Unbelievers are increasing while Christians are decreasing



"Then Atheist fell into a very great laughter."

Atheist, a mocker of CHRISTIAN and HOPEFUL, who goes the opposite way on the "King's Highway" because he boasts that he knows that God and the Celestial City do not exist.

Illustrations by Frederick Barnard, J.D. Linton, W. Small, etc. Engraved by Dalziel Brothers from the Henry Altemus edition of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress

Broad measures of church adherence underscore the magnitude of Canadian religious change over recent decades. As late as 1961, only one-half of one percent of Canadian citizens told census takers that they were not attached to any religious body. That proportion rose to 4.3 percent in 1971 and in the latest census from 2001 now stands at 16.2 percent. Over the same four decades, the proportion of Canadians telling census personnel that they were part of the Catholic Church declined slightly from 46 percent to 43 percent, while the proportion claiming a connection to the Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, and United churches--the four largest Protestant denominations that had long dominated religious life in English-speaking Canada--fell precipitously from 41 percent to 20 percent.

People used to go to church every week, but no longer

God Is an Atheist - She Doesn't Believe in Me by Bill Lewis

Reports of church attendance offer an equally dramatic picture. After World War II, when the Gallup Poll first asked Canadians whether they had been in church or synagogue sometime during the previous seven days, a full 67 percent of Canadians responded positively. Among all Canadian Catholics, the number was a robust 83 percent and in Quebec a stratospheric 90 percent. In the early 1960s, weekly mass attendance in the rapidly growing cities of Montreal and Quebec remained quite high, but some leaders worried openly that in working-class neighbors it was down to "only" 50 percent. By 1990, positive response to the Gallup question had fallen to 23 percent throughout Canada. Although the foremost Canadian religious demographer, Reginald Bibby, has recently noted some increase in attendance, his non-Gallup calculations chart a weekly attendance rate for the year 2000 of less than 20 percent.

A dramatic inversion has taken place: Now more Americans go to church than Canadians



Title: Smelling out a rat; or the atheistical-revolutionist disturbed in his midnight "calculations"Abstract: Print shows Richard Price seated at a desk, he turns to look over his right shoulder at a vision of an enormous Edmund Burke, his spectacles, nose, and hands emerge from the haze, a crown in one hand and a cross in the other, on his head an open copy of his "Reflections on the Revolution in France...." Hanging on the wall is an illustration of the beheading of Charles I titled, "Death of Charles I, or the Glory of Great Britain."
Notes: Forms part of: British Cartoon Prints Collection (Library of Congress).; At end of title: Vide a troubled--conscience.; Attributed to James Gillray.;

Numbers, of course, must be interpreted, but these findings about church identification and church attendance nonetheless indicate a series of shifts in Canadian religion that have not taken place in the United States, or have taken place at a much slower speed. Put generally, in 1950 Canadian church attendance as a proportion of the total population exceeded church attendance in the United States by one-third to one-half, and church attendance in Quebec may have been the highest in the world. Today church attendance in the United States is probably one-half to two-thirds greater than in Canada, and attendance in Quebec is the lowest of any state or province in North America. Over the course of only half a century, these figures represent a dramatic inversion.

1929 cover of the USSR League of Militant Atheists magazine, showing the gods of the Abrahamic religions being crushed by the Communist 5-year plan

This inversion, and the history of the last sixty years that created it, could not have been imagined in the years immediately after the Second World War. At that time, the vigor of Canadian religious practice seemed entirely in keeping with the general trajectory of Canadian history. Not only was Canada more observant in religious practice and more orthodox in religious opinion than the United States, but these comparative results represented only the latest chapter in a remarkable history of christianization stretching back to the eighteenth century. That history began with the creation in Quebec of a full-orbed, organic Catholic society--grounded in the colonial period on the self-sacrificing labors of several religious orders (both male and female), subsequently renewed by devotional and institutional revivals in the mid-nineteenth century, and then sustained deep into the twentieth century by a hegemonic but still remarkably resilient blend of popular piety and clerical supervision.

Source: Noll, Mark A. What Happened To Christian Canada?, Vancouver, Canada: Regent College Publishing, 2007, pages 13-16.

Irenaeus (130-202)'s Against Heresies documents early church tradition of the apostles Paul and Peter and the successive leadership of the church from the apostles to 12 popes ending with Pope Eleutherius (d. 189 AD)

An engraving of Irenaeus (130-202), Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (now Lyons, France)

The Apostles pass the church onto the next generation before they go the way of all men and die

Adriaen van de Venne's Fishers of Men. Oil on panel, 1614.

It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to "the perfect" apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away, the direst calamity.

The Church was founded and organized at Rome by Peter and Paul and has pre-eminent authority

Apostles Peter and Paul by El Greco

Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say, ] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its pre-eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere.

Tradition from the apostles to Pope Linus to Pope Anacletus to Pope Clement to Pope Evaristus to Pope Alexander to Pope Sixtus to Pope Telephorus to Pope Hyginus to Pope Pius to Pope Anicetus to Pope Sorer to Pope Eleutherius

This fresco (1481–82) by Pietro Perugino in the Sistine Chapel shows Jesus giving the keys of heaven to Saint Peter.

The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric. This man, as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes. Nor was he alone [in this], for there were many still remaining who had received instructions from the apostles. In the time of this Clement, no small dissension having occurred among the brethren at Corinth, the Church in Rome dispatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God, omnipotent, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who brought on the deluge, and called Abraham, who led the people from the land of Egypt, spake with Moses, set forth the law, sent the prophets, and who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels. From this document, whosoever chooses to do so, may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches, and may also understand the apostolical tradition of the Church, since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are now propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence another god beyond the Creator and the Maker of all existing things. To this Clement there succeeded Evaristus. Alexander followed Evaristus; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telephorus, who was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus; after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus. Sorer having succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius does now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, hold the inheritance of the episcopate. In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant proof that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth.

Polycarp (80-167 AD) combated heretics including Valentinus, Marcion, and Cerinthus

S. Polycarpus, engraving by Michael Burghers, ca 1685

But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time,-a man who was of much greater weight, and a more steadfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles,-that, namely, which is handed down by the Church. There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, "Dost thou know me? ""I do know thee, the first-born of Satan." Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, "A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." There is also a very powerful Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those who choose to do so, and are anxious about their salvation, can learn the character of his faith, and the preaching of the truth. Then, again, the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul, and having John remaining among them permanently until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the apostles.

Source: Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 3, Chapter 3.

Which pope would you choose? The exciting drama of the 3 popes who reigned at the same time and battled for supremacy over Western Europe in the 15th century

Pope Gregory XI

The cardinals elect a pope and then fire him

Pope Urban VI

Even with the best organization in the world, however, the papacy could not mend its own inner divisions.  These were evident following the death of Pope Gregory XI in 1387.  Now the papacy was back in Rome.  Angry crowds gathered demanding a Roman -- or at least an Italian -- pope.  Eventually the cardinals went along with them by electing Urban VI (1378-89), who soon provide to be too much of a dictator for the cardinals.  Using the disorderly behaviour at his election as an excuse, some of the cardinals gathered and elected another pope, Clement VII.  The cardinals had become very independent-minded.

The rival popes engage in armed battle in the Great Schism: Urban VI vs. Clement VII

Antipope Clement VII

After armed battles for control of Rome between the forces of the rival popes, Clement VII retired to Avignon in 1381.  This marked the beginning of the Great Schism, a split at the very top of the government of the church which had political as well as religious repercussions.  Some countries, such as Italy, the Empire, the eastern and Scandinavian areas, Hungary, and England, supported Urban VI of Rome.  France and its territories, Spain, and Scotland supported Clement VII in Avignon.  In the earlier medieval period two and even three popes had occasionally co-existed, but this Schism was far more serious.  Unlike earlier schisms, the problem originated within the papal court itself, among the cardinals.

The clergy's allegiance is split between the two popes



Pope Gregory XII

This division affected all levels of the clergy, although changes of allegiance from one pope to the other were not unheard of.  Non-monastic clergy, cathedral, and college chapters, and even religious orders sometimes found their allegiance split.  Urban's extreme stubbornness made an easy solution impossible: he even had some of his unbending cardinals tortured to death.  Even after Urban's death in 1389, the problem continued, with parallel elections continuing into the next century.

The king of France attempts to heal the Great Schism




Pope Innocent VII

By now, the embarrassment of the situation was clear even to the king of France.  He attempted to heal the Schism, even at the cost of abandoning the Avignon pope.  Various solutions were suggested, of which the three most important were for one pope to give way to the other, for one to conquer the other, or for both to compromise.

Urban VI dies and is succeeded by Innocent VII who is then succeeded by Gregory XII
 


Antipope Alexander V

The farcical situation continued in Rome when Innocent VII became pope from 1404 to 1406 and was succeeded by Gregory XII (1406-15), in spite of general protests from church leaders and theologians.  Meanwhile the rival colleges of cardinals -- one at Rome, the other at Avignon -- began to compromise and discuss ways of ending the Schism.  Finally, since neither pope would agree to give way, some of their cardinals called a council to meet in Pisa in 1409 where, it was hoped, the Schism would be ended.

The cardinals elect a third pope: Alexander V

Antipope John XXIII

The popes refused to attend, so the cardinals deposed both of them and elected in their place Alexander V (1409-10).  Neither the Avignon nor the Roman pope recognized this new choice, so the result of the council was three popes, where there had been two.  More significantly, the Council of Pisa raised an important principles by its actions: a council may be superior in power to a pope, in effect calling papal supremacy into question.

The third pope, Alexander V dies, and is succeeded by the third pope, John XXIII.  John XXIII is deposed and Gregory XII resigns, leaving one pope: Benedict XIII who is himself deposed.  There is now zero popes.

Antipope Benedict XIII

The issues were not settled at Pisa.  At the greatest council of the period, the Council of Constance (1414-18), it was hoped that they would be.  Another pope now reigned -- John XXIII, who in 1410 had succeeded Alexander V.  The Council attracted wide interest, and by 1415 scholars, church dignitaries, and various secular officials had arrived.  Even the Greek Orthodox sent representatives.  Over the next three years some forty-five main sessions were held, with scores of lesser committee meetings.  Eventually, after a trial in 1415, John XXIII was forced to give up his claim to the papacy.  In the same year Gregory XII resigned, leaving but one pope, the Spanish Benedict XIII.  He too was tried and deposed in 1417, though he went on living in Spain under the delusion that he was the only true pope, until his death in 1422.

Martin V is elected the sole pope after the deposal of John XXIII and Benedict XIII and the resignation of Gregory XII

Pope Martin V

No council had accomplished so much in healing breaches within the church since the very early general councils.  The way was clear to elect one pope who would once more represent all Western Christians.  This was done in 1417; the new pope was Martin V.  The problem was raised, however, as to whether the council which had created him was superior to the pope who claimed supremacy.  For the moment the claim of the council lapsed.

Source: Dowley, Tim, ed. Introduction to the History of Christianity, Second Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2013, pages 279-280.

Saint Augustine's conversion to Christianity was violent -- He resisted and fought with God and experienced visions as he died a death that gave him life



Angelico, Fra. "The Conversion of St. Augustine" (painting).

Augustine resists becoming Christian because he views Christians as losers

Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo

My inner self was a house divided against itself. In the heat of the fierce conflict which I had stirred up against my soul in our common abode, my heart, I turned upon Alypius. My looks betrayed the commotion in my mind as I exclaimed, 'What is the matter with us? What is the meaning of this story? These men have not had our schooling, yet they stand up and storm the gates of heaven while we, for all our learning, lie here grovelling in this world of flesh and blood! Is it because they have led the way that we are ashamed to follow? Is it not worse to hold back?'

Augustine has strong feelings

Saint Augustine Disputing with the Heretics painting by Vergós Group

I cannot remember the words I used. I said something to this effect and then my feelings proved too strong for me. I broke off and turned away, leaving him to gaze at me speechless and astonished. For my voice sounded strange and the expression of my face and eyes, my flushed cheeks, and the pitch of my voice told him more of the state of my mind than the actual words that I spoke.

Overcome by tumult, struggle and violent anger, Augustine takes refuge in the garden where his madness brings him sanity and his death brings him life

The Consecration of Saint Augustine by Jaume Huguet

There was a small garden attached to the house where we lodged. We were free to make use of it as well as the rest of the house because our host, the owner of the house, did not live there. I now found myself driven by the tumult in my breast to take refuge in this garden, where no one could interrupt that fierce struggle, in which I was my own contestant, until it came to its conclusion. What the conclusion was to be you knew, O Lord, but I did not. Meanwhile I was beside myself with madness that would bring me sanity. I was dying a death that would bring me life. I knew the evil that was in me, but the good that was soon to be born in me I did not know. So I went out into the garden and Alypius followed at my heels. His presence was no intrusion on my solitude, and how could he leave me in that state? We sat down as far as possible from the house. I was frantic, overcome by violent anger with myself for not accepting your will and entering into your covenant. Yet in my bones I knew that this was what I ought to do. In my heart of hearts I praised it to the skies. And to reach this goal I needed no chariot or ship. I need not even walk as far as I had come from the house to the place where we sat, for to make the journey, and to arrive safely, no more was required than an act of will. But it must be a resolute and whole-hearted act of the will, not some lame wish which I kept turning over and over in my mind, so that it had to wrestle with itself, part of it trying to rise, part falling to the ground.

During this agony of indecision I performed many bodily actions, things which a man cannot always do, even if he wills to do them. If he has lost his limbs, or is bound hand and foot, or if his body is weakened by illness or under some other handicap, there are things which he cannot do. I tore my hair and hammered my forehead with my fists; I locked my fingers and hugged my knees; and I did all this because I made an act of will to do it. But I might have had the will to do it and yet not have done it, if my limbs had been unable to move in compliance with my will. I performed all these actions, in which the will and the power to act are not the same. Yet I did not do that one thing which I should have been far, far better pleased to do than all the rest and could have done at once, as soon as I had the will to do it, because as soon as I bad the will to do so, I should have willed it wholeheartedly. For in this case the power to act was the same as the will. To will it was to do it. Yet I did not do it. My body responded to the slightest wish of my mind by moving its limbs at the least hint from me, and it did so more readily than my mind obeyed itself by assenting to its own great desire, which could be accomplished simply by an act of will.
 
Augustine is sick with fear and shame as he experiences the great change of death, becoming alive to life

St. Augustine by Peter Paul Rubens

This was the nature of my sickness. I was in torment, reproaching myself more bitterly than ever as I twisted and turned in my chain. I hoped that my chain might be broken once and for all, because it was only a small thing that held me now. All the same it held me. And you, O Lord, never ceased to watch over my secret heart. In your stern mercy you lashed me with the twin scourge of fear and shame in case I should give way once more and the worn and slender remnant of my chain should not be broken but gain new strength and bind me all the faster. In my heart I kept saying 'Let it be now, let it be now!', and merely by saying this I was on the point of making the resolution. I was on the point of making it, but I did not succeed. Yet I did not fall back into my old state. I stood on the brink of resolution, waiting to take fresh breath. I tried again and came a little nearer to my goal, and then a little nearer still, so that I could almost reach out and grasp it. But I did not reach it. I could not reach out to it or grasp it, because I held back from the step by which I should die to death and become alive to life. My lower instincts, which had taken firm hold of me, were stronger than the higher, which were untried. And the closer I came to the moment which was to mark the great change in me, the more I shrank from it in horror. But it did not drive me back or turn me from my purpose: it merely left me hanging in suspense.

Trifles speak sordid and shameful things to keep Augustine from tearing himself away from them and leaping across the barrier to Christianity

Saint Augustine in His Study by Sandro Botticelli, 1494, Uffizi Gallery

I was held back by mere trifles, the most paltry inanities, all my old attachments. They plucked at my garment of flesh and whispered, 'Are you going to dismiss us? From this moment we shall never be with you again, for ever and ever. From this moment you will never again be allowed to do this thing or that, for evermore.' What was it, my God, that they meant when they whispered 'this thing or that?' Things so sordid and so shameful that I beg you in your mercy to keep the soul of your servant free from them! These voices, as I heard them, seemed less than half as loud as they had been before. They no longer barred my way, blatantly contradictory, but their mutterings seemed to reach me from behind, as though they were stealthily plucking at my back, trying to make me turn my head when I wanted to go forward. Yet, in my state of indecision, they kept me from tearing myself away, from shaking myself free of them and leaping across the barrier to the other side, where you were calling me. Habit was too strong for me when it asked 'Do you think you can live without these things?'

Augustine sees visions of Continence beckoning him to cross over to Christianity

The Continence of Scipio, Pompeo Batoni, c.1771.

But by now the voice of habit was very faint I had turned my eyes elsewhere, and while I stood trembling at the barrier, on the other side I could see the chaste beauty of Continence in all her serene, unsullied joy, as she modestly beckoned me to cross over and to hesitate no more. She stretched out loving hands to welcome and embrace me, holding up a host of good examples to my sight. With her were countless boys and girls, great numbers of the young and people of all ages, staid widows and women still virgins in old age. And in their midst was Continence herself, not barren but a fruitful mother of children, of joys born of you, O Lord, her Spouse. She smiled at me to give me courage, as though she were saying, 'Can you not do what these men and these women do? Do you think they find the strength to do it in themselves and not in the Lord their God? It was the Lord their God who gave me to them. Why do you try to stand in your own strength and fail? Cast yourself upon God and have no fear. He will not shrink away and let you fall. Cast yourself upon him without fear, for he will welcome you and cure you of your ills.' I was overcome with shame, because I was still listening to the futile mutterings of my lower self and I was still hanging in suspense. And again Continence seemed to say, 'Close your ears to the unclean whispers of your body, so that it may be mortified. It tells you of things that delight you, but not such things as the law of the Lord your God has to tell.'

In this way I wrangled with myself, in my own heart, about my own self. And all the while Alypius stayed at my side, silently awaiting the outcome of this agitation that was new in me.
 
Augustine's ugly sins make him break out in tears

St. Augustine in His Study by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502

I probed the hidden depths of my soul and wrung its pitiful secrets from it, and when I mustered them all before the eyes of my heart, a great storm broke within roe, bringing with it a great deluge of tears. I stood up and left Alypius so that I might weep and cry to my heart's content, for it occurred to me that tears were best shed in solitude. I moved away far enough to avoid being embarrassed even by his presence. He must have realized what my feelings were, for I suppose I had said something and he had known from the sound of my voice that I was ready to burst into tears. So I stood up and left him where we had been sitting, utterly bewildered. Somehow I flung myself down beneath a fig tree and gave way to the tears which now streamed from my eyes, the sacrifice that is acceptable to you. I had much to say to you, my God, not in these very words but in this strain: Lord, will you never be content? Must we always taste your vengeance? Forget the long record of our sins. For I felt that I was still the captive of my sins, and in my misery I kept crying 'How long shall I go on saying "tomorrow, tomorrow"? Why not now? Why not make an end of my ugly sins at this moment?'

Augustine opens his book of Scripture and reads



A copy by the young Michelangelo after an engraving by Martin Schongauer around 1487-9, The Torment of Saint Anthony. Augustine says, "For I had heard the story of Antony, and I remembered how he had happened to go into a church while the Gospel was being read and had taken it as a counsel addressed to himself."

I was asking myself these questions, weeping all the while with the most bitter sorrow in my heart, when all at once I heard the singsong voice of a child in a nearby house. Whether it was the voice of a boy or a girl I cannot say, but again and again it repeated the refrain 'Take it and read, take it and read'. At this I looked up, thinking hard whether there was any kind of game in which children used to chant words like these, but I could not remember ever hearing them before. I stemmed my flood of tears and stood up, telling myself that this could only be a divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall. For I had heard the story of Antony, and I remembered how he had happened to go into a church while the Gospel was being read and had taken it as a counsel addressed to himself when he heard the words Go home and sell all that belongs to you. Give it to the poor, and so the treasure you have shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me. By this divine pronouncement he had at once been converted to you.

So I hurried back to the place where Alypius was sitting, for when I stood up to move away I had put down the book containing Paul's Epistles. I seized it and opened it, and in silence I read the first passage on which my eyes fell: Not in revelling and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not in quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ; spend no more thought on nature and natures appetites. I had no wish to read more and no need to do so. For in an instant, as I came to the end of the sentence, it was as though the light of confidence flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.

Witnessing Augustine's conversion, his friend Alypius converts to Christianity at the same time

St. Augustine by Carlo Crivelli.

I marked the place with my finger or by some other sign and closed the book. My looks now were quite calm as I told Alypius what had happened to me. He too told me what he had been feeling, which of course I did not know. He asked to see what I had read. I showed it to him and he read on beyond the text which I had read. I did not know what followed, but it was this: Find room among you for a man of over-delicate conscience? Alypius applied this to himself and told me so. This admonition was enough to give him strength, and without suffering the distress of hesitation he made his resolution and took this good purpose to himself. And it very well suited his moral character, which had long been far, far better than my own.

Augustine's mother, a Christian, is overjoyed as she had been praying for conversion with tearful prayers and plaintive lamentations

The Saint Augustine Taken to School by Saint Monica." by Niccolò di Pietro 1413-15

Then we went in and told my mother, who was overjoyed. And when we went on to describe how it had all happened, she was jubilant with triumph and glorified you, who are powerful enough, and more than powerful enough, to carry out your purpose beyond all our hopes and dreams. For she saw that you had granted her far more than she used to ask in her tearful prayers and plaintive lamentations. You converted me to yourself, so that I no longer desired a wife or placed any hope in this world but stood firmly upon the rule of faith, where you had shown me to her in a dream so many years before. And you turned her sadness into rejoicing, into joy far fuller than her dearest wish, far sweeter and more chaste than any she had hoped to find in children begotten of my flesh.

Source: Saint Augustine. Confessions. Translated by R.S. Pine-Coffin. London: Penguin Group, 1961, Book VIII, 8 and 11-12, pages 170-172 and 175-179.

Believing that there was no true church from which a valid baptism could be obtained, the first Baptist baptizes himself, quits to become a Mennonite, and is excommunicated by the remaining Baptists.

A Catalogue of the Severall Sects and Opinions in England and other Nations: With a briefe Rehearsall of their false and dangerous Tenents. Broadsheet. (1647) Jesuits, Welsh blasphemer, Arminians, Arians, Adamites (shown naked), Libertin (i.e. antinomians) (picture of man preparing to take a pick-axe to the Ten Commandments), Antescripturians, Soul sleepers, Anabaptists, Familists, Seekers, Divorcers (picture of man beating his wife).

John Smyth, the "Se-Baptist" (1554-1612)


Richard Bernard. State 1. by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677). Richard Bernard (1568 1641) nicknamed John Smyth a "Se-Baptist" (self-baptizer).

When he was exiled to Amsterdam from his native England, John Smyth gathered three dozen of his followers around him. The former Anglican preacher and Cambridge fellow recited a confession of faith; then he baptized himself.
The brazen act scandalized even those who, with Smyth, despised England's state church. Amsterdam Separatist Richard Bernard nicknamed him a "Se-Baptist" (self-baptizer). Though Smyth's followers preferred the term "Christians Baptized on Profession of Their Faith," the shorter, derogatory "se-baptist," later shortened again to "Baptist," stuck.

No church was reformed enough for the First Baptist

Life of Martin Luther and the heroes of the Reformation.  Print shows Luther burning papal bull of excommunication, with vignettes from Luther's life and portraits of Hus, Savonarola, Wycliffe, Cruciger, Melanchton, Bugenhagen, Gustav Adolf, & Bernhard, duke of Saxe-Weimar. 1 print : lithograph, color.N.Y. : Published u. printed by H. Schile, 36 Division St. c1874

Though his early years are lost to history, Smyth was born in a time when the Reformation seemed to be grinding to a halt—Luther's death, the Counter-Reformation Council of Trent, and England's break with Rome occurred a mere decade or so before his birth. Smyth studied for the Anglican priesthood at Christ's College, Cambridge, but found himself increasingly frustrated with the church—not only of Rome, but of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and especially his own Church of England. A mere six years after becoming a city preacher at Lincoln in 1600, he renounced Anglicanism altogether.

After a few years of practicing medicine, Smyth joined a group of like-minded Separatists who wanted to create a church of believers unbound by parochial or diocesan boundaries. Together they would "walk in all his [Christ's] ways, make known or to be made known among them ... whatever it might cost them."

James I persecuted separatists including the First Baptist

James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) by Daniel Mytens, 1621

What it cost them was their homeland. When James I ascended the throne in 1603, he began persecuting the Separatists. "I will make them conform themselves," he swore, "or I will have them out of the land."

Smyth's group of 50 or so fled to Amsterdam, which was known for its religious toleration and its already-sizable community of Separatist exiles. Still, Smyth did not see them as completely kindred spirits. He fought with them over the use of Scripture in worship (Smyth opposed using English translations), psalm singing, sermon reading, and the collection of offerings—all practices he condemned.

Smyth, who wanted to create a church like the one described in the Book of Acts, also fought against any attempts to create a hierarchy. Each congregation, not the congregation's officers, was the highest authority next to God, he wrote in his 1607 Principles and Inferences Concerning the Visible Church. The Bible, he believed, only allowed for bishops (also called elders) and deacons—and even they would be subject to the laity. The following year, he continued publishing his disagreements with the Separatists in The Differences of the Churches of the Separation.

Mennonite ending



The image is from Anglican clergyman Daniel Featley's book, The Dippers Dipt, published against the Baptists in 1645. The central picture, that of the nudist Adamites, believed they had attained the innocence of Adam and Eve, and "ought to go naked and not to be ashamed".

Smyth's Amsterdam was also home to many Anabaptist Mennonites, who had for two generations practiced adult baptism based on a personal confession of faith. On this issue, Smyth finally broke with the Separatists. If the Church of England was, as he believed, "the Church of Antichrist," its baptism must be false. In fact, he wrote in The Character of the Beast (1609), the baptisms of all established churches were false. And the New Testament never even mentioned infant baptism—only the baptism of believing adults.

"Baptism is not washing with water," he wrote, "but it is the baptism of the Spirit, the confession of the mouth, and the washing with water: how then can any man without great folly wash with water which is the least and last of baptism?"

Believing that there was no true church from which a valid baptism could be obtained, the first Baptist baptizes himself

So, believing that there was no true church from which a valid baptism could be obtained, Smyth baptized himself. "There is good warrant for a man churching himself," he justified. "For two men singly are no church; so may two men put baptism upon themselves." He then baptized 36 others, including Thomas Helwys, who would later return to England and establish the first permanent Baptist church there.

The First Baptist quits to become a Mennonite, and is excommunicated by the remaining Baptists

The more Smyth conversed with the Mennonites, the more he liked them. And the more he became convinced that baptizing himself—like his ordination in the Anglican church and acceptance of Separatist teachings—had been a mistake. "We are inconstant in error," he wrote. Eventually, Smyth applied for membership with the Mennonites. Helwys, who agreed with Smyth on nearly every point but could not accept Mennonite teachings on Christ and ministerial succession, recommended to the church that Smyth, then in bad health, be excommunicated. In 1611 they agreed. Smyth continued to defend his membership with the Mennonites up to his death in 1616. But to this day, it is not as a Mennonite that he is remembered, but as the first Baptist.

Galli, Mark and Ted Olson, eds. 131 Christians Everyone Should Know. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2000, pages 172-174.

Saint Augustine's mother, Monica (331-387), demonstrates an antiquated, patriarchal, pre-democratic, pre-civil rights, and pre-feminist way of dealing with a philandering and violent husband.

Painting of Augustine of Hippo and his mother Monica of Hippo (1846) by Ary Scheffer (1795–1858)

Augustine's mother served her husband and did not resist him when he was angry even though he was unfaithful to her

Marriage of Saint Monica by Antonio Vivarini, 1441

In this way my mother was brought up in modesty and temperance. It was you (the Lord) who taught her to obey her parents rather than they who taught her to obey you, and when she was old enough, they gave her in marriage to a man whom she served as her lord. She never ceased to try to gain him for you as a convert, for the virtues with which you had adorned her, and for which he respected, loved, and admired her, were like so many voices constantly speaking to him of you. He was unfaithful to her, but her patience was so great that his infidelity never became a cause of quarrelling between them. For she looked to you to show him mercy, hoping that chastity would come with faith. Though he was remarkably kind, he had a hot temper, but my mother knew better than to say or do anything to resist him when he was angry. If his anger was unreasonable, she used to wait until he was calm and composed and then took the opportunity of explaining what she had done. Many women, whose faces were disfigured by blows from husbands far sweeter-tempered than her own, used to gossip together and complain of the behaviour of their men-folk. My mother would meet this complaint with another - about the women's tongues. Her manner was light but her meaning serious when she told them that ever since they had heard the marriage deed read over to them, they ought to have regarded it as a contract which bound them to serve their husbands, and from that time onward they should remember their condition and not defy their masters. These women knew well enough how hot-tempered a husband my mother had to cope with. They used to remark how surprising it was that they had never heard, or seen any marks to show, that Patricius had beaten his wife or that there had been any domestic disagreement between them, even for one day. When they asked her, as friends, to tell them the reason, she used to explain the rule which I have mentioned. Those who accepted it found it a good one: the others continued to suffer humiliation and cruelty.

Augustine's mother won over her mother-in-law with patience and gentleness

The Angel Appears to Saint Monica (1714) by Pietro Maggi.

Her mother-in-law was at first prejudiced against her by the tale-bearing of malicious servants, but she won the older woman over by her dutiful attentions and her constant patience and gentleness. In the end her mother-in-law complained of her own accord to her son and asked him to punish the servants for their meddlesome talk, which was spoiling the peaceful domestic relations between herself and her daughter-in-law. Patricius, who was anxious to satisfy his mother as well as to preserve the good order of his home and the peace of his family, took the names of the offenders from his mother and had them whipped as she desired. She then warned them that anyone who told tales about her daughter-in-law, in the hope of pleasing her, could expect to receive the same reward. After this none of them dared to tell tales and the two women lived together in wonderful harmony and mutual goodwill.

Augustine's mother was a peacemaker and would not gossip

Saint Monica (1464-1465) by Benozzo Gozzoli.

There was another great gift which you had given to your good servant in whose womb you created me, O God, my Mercy. Whenever she could, she used to act the part of the peacemaker between souls in conflict over some quarrel. When misunderstanding is rife and hatred raw and undigested, it often gives vent, in the presence of a friend, to spite against an absent enemy. But if one woman launched a bitter tirade against another in my mother's hearing, she never repeated to either what the other had said, except for such things as were likely to reconcile them. I should not regard this as especially virtuous, were it not for the fact that I know from bitter experience that a great many people, infected by this sin as though it were some horrible, widespread contagion, not only report to one disputant what the other has said, but even add words that were never spoken. And yet a man who loves his own kind ought not to be satisfied merely to refrain from exciting or increasing enmity between other men by the evil that he speaks: he should do his best to put an end to their quarrels by kind words. This was my mother's way, learned in the school of her heart, where you were her secret teacher.

Augustine's mother had the Lord's presence in her heart won her husband and her children for the Lord before her death

Saint Monica's tomb, Basilica di Sant'Agostino, Rome.

In the end she won her husband for you (the Lord) as a convert in the very last days of his life on earth. After his conversion she no longer had to grieve over those faults which had tried her patience before he was a Christian. She was also the servant of your servants. Those of them who knew her praised you, honoured you, and loved you in her, for they could feel your presence in her heart and her holy conversation gave rich proof of it. She had been faithful to one husband, had made due returns to those who gave her birth. Her own flesh and blood had had first claim on her piety, and she had a name for acts of charity. She had brought up her children and had been in travail afresh each time she saw them go astray from you. Finally, O Lord, since by your gift you allow us to speak as your servants, she took good care of all of us when we had received the grace of your baptism and were living as companions before she fell asleep in you. She took good care of us, as though she had been the mother of us all, and served each one as though she had been his daughter.

Source: Saint Augustine. Confessions. Translated by R.S. Pine-Coffin. London: Penguin Group, 1961, Book IX, 9, pages 195-195.