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John Smyth

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (circa 1570-August 28, 1612)
    Born in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
    Founder of the Baptist religious system
    Broke from early Protestantism over the subject of baptizing infants versus limiting baptism to those who have reached the age of reason, usually around the age of twelve
    Graduate of Cambridge
    Former Anglican priest
    Wrote, The Differences of Churches of the Separation

Why he might be annoying:

    When he rejected the baptism of infants, not only did he break from the 1500 years plus traditions of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches but from the entirety of Protestant leadership as well.
    Unlike the rest of Christianity, he believed that baptism was strictly symbolic.
    He also reorganized church leadership in his churches, basically giving each individual church authority to define what they believe.
    He re-baptized himself.
    Although claiming the Bible as his sole source of inspiration, he followed the Protestant example and removed the seven Deuterocannonical books from it.
    He was opposed to any type of organization during worship (liturgy) even forbidding reading the Bible during services.
    He spelled his last name with a 'Y' instead of an 'I' like it should be.
    He had zero argument from Scripture or history that infant baptism was illegitimate and to agree with him is to believe that the entirety of Christianity was mistaken about this until he came along.
    Almost nothing is known about his personal life.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Ironically, he was excommunicated from his own Baptist church later in life for engaging in a rapprochement with the Mennonites.
    Cool hair!
    The free flowing, let the Spirit move you, type of worship he favored has been out of favor in Baptist churches for centuries in favor of reading from the Bible and listening to a sermon and is now more associated with Charismatic and Pentecostal churches.
    He and his followers had to flee England for Holland to avoid persecution.
    He may have coined the terms; pedobaptist and Presbyterian.
    He was a way better dresser than present day Baptist preachers.
    He most definitely did not preach the curious theological invention of "Once Saved, Always Saved" that contemporary Baptist are known for.
    He never forbade drinking and dancing like many contemporary Baptists.
    Even for his times he died young.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 92.31% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying