Here is my e-mail:
Once again thank you Mr. Hyland for your reply. We are still discussing your article and we were wondering if you are the same Mr. Sean Hyland who transcribed for Catholic Encyclopedia and EWTN. (I have a son who might be interested transcribing as a career so I'm particularly interested!)
"fromsean hyland hide details 3:41 pm (16 minutes ago)
toElena LaVictoire dateOct 27, 2007 3:41 PM
subjectRE: We are discussing your article mailed-byhotmail.com
Dear Elena, yes that's me. I only transcribed for the Catholic Encyclopedia, EWTN copied the articles.
btw you can call me Sean in any future correspondence. God bless "
So yes, I think we can put to rest Mr. Hyland's credentials and whether or not his work is authoritative.
Next, Tracy has been doing a lot of homework and she has come up with these articles on the topic:
First there is this Trail of Blood PDF link. Here's an excerpt: (emphasis mine)
Edward T. Hiscox, author of the classic Baptist handbook,
Principles and Practices for
Baptist Churches (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel
Publications, 1980) claims the Waldenses and the above mentioned groups held
to the principle points “which Baptists have always emphasized”. Hiscox, however, doesn’t inform his readers that the
Waldenses for the most part believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary, the effectiveness of the sacraments, infant baptism, that “the Sacrifice [of the Mass], that is of the bread and wine, after the consecration are the body and blood of Jesus Christ”, that good deeds of the faithful may benefit the dead, to name just a few. That Baptist successionists can claim the Waldenses as their ancestors-sharing a common belief and practice-is quite untenable, if
not disingenuous.
Baptist James Edward McGoldrick, professor of history at Cedarville College, summarizes the situation well. “Perhaps no other major body of professing Christians has had as much difficulty in discerning it historical roots as have the Baptists. A survey of conflicting opinions might lead a perceptive observer to conclude that Baptists suffer from an identity
crisis. . . . Many Baptists object vehemently and argue that their history can be traced across the centuries to New Testament times. Some Baptist deny categorically that they are Protestants and that the history of their churches is related to the success of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Those who reject the Protestant character and Reformation origins of the Baptists usually maintain a view of church history sometimes called ‘Baptist Successionism’ . . . enhanced enormously by a booklet entitled The Trail of Blood.”
After acknowledging his initial advocacy of “successionism”, McGoldrick explains,“Extensive graduate study and independent investigation of church history has, however,convinced [me] that the view [I] once held so dear has
not been, and cannot be, verified.On the contrary, surviving primary documents render the successionist view untenable. . .
. Although free church groups in ancient and medieval times sometimes promoteddoctrines and practices agreeable to modern Baptists, when judged by standards now acknowledged as baptistic, not one of them merits
recognition as a Baptist church. Baptists arose in the seventeenth century in Holland and England. They are Protestants,
heirs of the Reformers” (Baptist Successionism: A Crucial Question in Baptist History [Metuchen, NJ: American Theological Library Assoc. and Scarecrow Press, 1994], 1−2). Baptist Successionists frequently claim that they are not
Protestants. To this, Leon McBeth, professor of Church History at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
writes, “Are Baptists Protestants? One sometimes hears the question whether Baptists are
to be identified as Protestants. Whether one takes the shortcut answer, or goes into lengthy explanation, the answer is the same: Yes. Such important Reformation doctrines as justification by faith, the authority of Scripture,
and the priesthood of believers show up prominently in Baptist theology. Further, the evidence shows that Baptists originated out of English Separatism, certainly a part of the Protestant Reformation. Even if one
assumes Anabaptist influence, the Anabaptists themselves were a Reformation people. The tendency to deny that Baptists are Protestants grows out of a faulty view of history, namely that Baptist churches have existed in every century and thus antedate the Reformation” (The Baptist Heritage
[Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1987], pg. 62).
(See a longer excerpt
below.)
Also seen this article from Envoy Magazine on "Ancient Baptists and Other Myths."
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