Bizarre Ancestors

I have run into the theory before but was startled to encounter it again recently. It is a theory of history that is extremely interesting to say the least. What shocked me is that such a theory has actually survived and is still be propounded by some.

One early form of the theory was put forth by in a tome by John Spittlehouse and John More ominously titled A Vindication Of The Continued Succession Of The Primitive Church Of Jesus Christ (Now Scandalously Termed Anabaptists) From The Apostles Unto This Present Time (found at http://www.reformedreader.org/history/continuedsuccession.htm). This was published in London in the year 1652.

Probably the most famous exposition of this theory is found in J. M. Carroll’s The Trail of Blood subtitled Following the Christians Down Through the Centuries From The Days of Christ to the Present Time . This booklet was published in 1931 and can be read online at several sites (e.g. http://www.trailofblood.com/The%20Trail%20Of%20Blood.htm).

Strangely enough the theory has not been confined to Baptist; it has also been taken up by Pentecostals who (even more oddly) have claimed some of the same ancestors as the Baptist. The Pentes have tended to adopt anyone who has spoken in tongues in history as one of their own.

The problem with all of this is the people that are being claimed by these groups as their spiritual forebears. It seems that all these have accepted the maxim: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. “ The balance of this post will review those groups being claimed.

The principle groups that have been lumped into the Baptist (or Missionary or Primitive Baptist) fold are the Waldenses, the Cathari, the Novatians, the Paterines, the Donatists, the Paulicians, and the Albigenses. The Pentecostals lay claim to the Montanists, the Albigenses, the Jansenists, and the Shakers. Being Pente myself I will examine the claims of the Pentes only (and leave the Baptists to their own research).

The most striking feature of this list (besides the fact that such varied groups as Primitive Baptists and Pentecostals claim some of the same groups) is most of the groups listed are heretical. While a complete exposition of each group would require many posts, a cursory examination should be sufficient to bear out this point.

1. The Montanists were heavy into prophesy. But they didn’t speak as the prophets of old (viz., “thus saith the Lord”) rather than spoke in the first person (“I am the Father”). Their prophecies were seen as fulfilling and superseding the Apostolic doctrines. Very much a “Puritan” group, they also taught that anyone who fell from grace could never be restored and excommunication was the punishment for all mortal sins. They fasted and practiced a rigid asceticism.
2. The Albigenses were dualist who believed that the material world was evil and had been created by someone other than the Father of Jesus. The creator was a malevolent God. This creator god was the maker of all material things and also created evil. Their highest goal was to escape the body and be free. There was no eternal punishment in hell and because the body is evil, no bodily resurrection.
3. Jansenist beliefs were strongly predestinarian and posited that man had no free will and was incapable of doing anything good. They were a strictly Roman Catholic phenomenon.
4. The Shakers were an eccentric group led by “Mother” Ann Lee. They refused marriage and did not have any children. Mother Ann was seen as a second coming of Christ. They also advocated a kind of dual sexuality of God—Jesus being the manifestation of the male in God and Ann Lee being the manifestation of female in God.

My brother and I have this running joke about buying ancestors. Since we do not have any very old photos of our family, we have considered (jokingly) buying pictures at antique stores and claiming them as our ancestors. When choosing forebears, we have always looked for people who actually looked like us. There can be no blonds or tall Nordic-looking types because they wouldn’t resemble us. The good thing about buying ancestors is we would get to pick our family. Peculiarly, in the choosing of forebears, the Pentes have selected a strange lot to claim as their heritage.

Then again is this due to the fact that the only ones they could find historically were heretical groups because there are no Pentecostals in the modern sense before the 1800’s? It’s a good question that should probably be researched very carefully.