In the early days of our fledgling nation, pressure to conform to the Church of England drove many individuals to the new world. Henry Dunster was one of many who departed England for the freedom and spiritual life available in the colonies, immigrating to the new colonies in 1640. 

Soon after arriving to the new colony, Henry Dunster became the first real president of Harvard College. He was a godly scholar with firm integrity and in fourteen years he built Harvard College into a strong institution. Nevertheless, he became a big problem to the college and to the entire Massachusetts Bay colony. The problem centered around his firm stand for believer’s baptism. That may not seem like a big deal to us today, but in the 1600’s, citizenship in the Massachusetts Bay area was refused to anyone who was not a Congregationalist and a believer in infant baptism. All other churches were forbidden except the Congregational Church, and anyone who opposed infant baptism or refused to bring their child to be baptized was in great danger of banishment from the colony.

When the courageous Baptist pastor Obadiah Holmes was whipped in nearby Boston (in 1651) for holding to believers baptism, Henry Dunster was deeply bothered. Persecution had come to the Baptists, Holmes as well as Pastor John Clarke and Deacon John Crandall, for simply worshipping the Lord without permission from the authorities. This disturbed Henry Dunster greatly and he knew that freedom of conscience was at stake. 

Dunster began to develop a strong sympathy for Baptist thought. Dunster asked himself ‘What evil have these men done?’” Not only did Dunster question the action of the courts, but he came to an important position, which he revealed to the colony two years later in 1653.

At that time, he “boldly preached against infant baptism and for believer’s baptism, in a Puritan pulpit.” He stood firm that infant baptism was absent from the first churches and absent from the Scripture. Then, he refused to have his new born child infant baptized. 

Through this he was forced to resign the presidency at Harvard and he was forced to leave the house he built on the land he himself donated to the school. To make matters worse, he was forced to vacate his home with a cold winter approaching, his wife and youngest child ill. Although he received little sympathy, they allowed him to remain until March. Nevertheless, the remaining five years of his life would be filled with legal proceedings and court battles for his simple decision to believe that the Scriptures teach the baptism of a believer by immersion. (1) 

May God give us the same courage today to stand for the clear and plain teachings of the Bible! If you are not saved, come to Christ today. If you are His child, decide to be Biblically baptized as a believer by immersion in the water, to mightily proclaim the Gospel of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. 

This Sunday, June 10, 2018 at Heritage Baptist Church, I will speak a message on “Baptism and Revival.” I hope you will come! 

1. Baptist History in England and America, David Beale. Xulon Press, 2018, (pages 391-402).