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The development of abuses of power and scandalous disregard of Christian moral principles by [[Corruption|corrupt]] individuals holding high office in government and church prompted many to question the legitimacy of the authority of both. And this prepared the ground for the [[Protestant Reformation]] and the response of the [[Counter Reformation]] of the [[Council of Trent]].<ref>[https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/death/froom/luther-conditionalism.php#.XZ-VZfJFzx8 '''Martin Luther's Views on Conditionalism and Soul Sleep''', by Leroy Edwin Froom (truthaccordingtoscripture.com)] Luther denied the immortality of the soul. This article also includes a discussion of the beginning history of the Anabaptists and their condemnation of infant baptism.</ref> By baptizing each other, Anabaptists denied the Catholic Church’s claim of spiritual authority and challenged its relationship to civil authority. They declared their true citizenship to be in the kingdom of heaven rather than to any kingdom or ruler of the world. Anabaptists argued that their primary allegiance was always owed to Christ alone. This was a form of Christian [[anarchism]] rooted in [[secular]] [[antinomianism]] for the evident [[Motivation|purpose]] of destabilizing and overthrowing civil govenment. Their [[pacifism]] was viewed as giving passive aid and comfort to the enemy forces of [[Islam]]ic [[terrorism]]. Civil and religious authorities throughout Europe moved quickly to quell what they viewed as a dangerous movement, similar to the modern governmental response to a [[clear and present danger]]. Wherever groups of Anabaptist believers emerged, in the Swiss and German regions of Europe and as far north as the Netherlands, they met with great opposition. Thousands were imprisoned and put to death by burning at the stake <ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A6&version=NRSVCE John 15:6] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-5&version=NRSVCE Romans 13:1-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A7-15&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:7-15]. By calculation of the thousand-year span of the establishment on earth of the Catholic Christian Byzantine Empire and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] the Protestant Reformation and the rise of the Anabaptists was seen by Church and Government leaders as evidence that Satan had been loosed from his prison, and had "come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle, their number is like the sand of the sea" ... "But fire came down from heaven and consumed them" Revelation 20:7-9. Both the Protestants and the Moslem armies were regarded as the satanic forces of God and Magog.</ref> or by being drowned in a local river. Drowning was considered a particularly appropriate death for Anabaptists. The authorities said they had sinned through the use of baptismal water, so by the water they would lose their lives.

The development of abuses of power and scandalous disregard of Christian moral principles by [[Corruption|corrupt]] individuals holding high office in government and church prompted many to question the legitimacy of the authority of both. And this prepared the ground for the [[Protestant Reformation]] and the response of the [[Counter Reformation]] of the [[Council of Trent]].<ref>[https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/death/froom/luther-conditionalism.php#.XZ-VZfJFzx8 '''Martin Luther's Views on Conditionalism and Soul Sleep''', by Leroy Edwin Froom (truthaccordingtoscripture.com)] Luther denied the immortality of the soul. This article also includes a discussion of the beginning history of the Anabaptists and their condemnation of infant baptism.</ref> By baptizing each other, Anabaptists denied the Catholic Church’s claim of spiritual authority and challenged its relationship to civil authority. They declared their true citizenship to be in the kingdom of heaven rather than to any kingdom or ruler of the world. Anabaptists argued that their primary allegiance was always owed to Christ alone. This was a form of Christian [[anarchism]] rooted in [[secular]] [[antinomianism]] for the evident [[Motivation|purpose]] of destabilizing and overthrowing civil govenment. Their [[pacifism]] was viewed as giving passive aid and comfort to the enemy forces of [[Islam]]ic [[terrorism]]. Civil and religious authorities throughout Europe moved quickly to quell what they viewed as a dangerous movement, similar to the modern governmental response to a [[clear and present danger]]. Wherever groups of Anabaptist believers emerged, in the Swiss and German regions of Europe and as far north as the Netherlands, they met with great opposition. Thousands were imprisoned and put to death by burning at the stake <ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A6&version=NRSVCE John 15:6] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-5&version=NRSVCE Romans 13:1-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A7-15&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:7-15]. By calculation of the thousand-year span of the establishment on earth of the Catholic Christian Byzantine Empire and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] the Protestant Reformation and the rise of the Anabaptists was seen by Church and Government leaders as evidence that Satan had been loosed from his prison, and had "come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle, their number is like the sand of the sea" ... "But fire came down from heaven and consumed them" Revelation 20:7-9. Both the Protestants and the Moslem armies were regarded as the satanic forces of God and Magog.</ref> or by being drowned in a local river. Drowning was considered a particularly appropriate death for Anabaptists. The authorities said they had sinned through the use of baptismal water, so by the water they would lose their lives.

[[Baptist]] churches adopted the same views of the invalidity of infant baptism as a pagan heresy and the absolute need for confessional credobaptism of adult believers. Many other Protestant and independent churches profess their opposition to the doctrine of infant baptism as diabolical and satanic, while others among them accept it as being supported by the Bible because the scriptures do not explicitly condemn the baptism of infants and young children, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Presbyterians, Methodists, (some) Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church. Compare the [[Mennonite]]s.

[[Baptist]] churches adopted the same views of the invalidity of infant baptism as a pagan heresy and the absolute need for confessional credobaptism of adult believers. Many other Protestant and independent churches profess their opposition to the doctrine of infant baptism as diabolical and satanic; while others among them accept it as being supported by the Bible because the scriptures do not explicitly condemn the baptism of infants and young children, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Presbyterians, Methodists, (some) Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church. Compare the [[Mennonite]]s.

The doctrinal stand of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]] (SBC) is strongly opposed to Catholicism. In 1852, Robert Boyt C. Howell wrote a paper he delivered to the Southern Baptist Publication Society "The Evils of Infant Baptism" in which he set forth in nineteen chapters the following arguments against infant baptism: <ref>[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismtoc.htm The Evils of Infant Baptism, By Robert Boyt C. Howell, Charleston, SC: Southern Baptist Publication Society 1852.] </ref>

The doctrinal stand of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]] (SBC) is strongly opposed to Catholicism. In 1852, Robert Boyt C. Howell wrote a paper he delivered to the Southern Baptist Publication Society "The Evils of Infant Baptism" in which he set forth in nineteen chapters the following arguments against infant baptism: <ref>[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismtoc.htm The Evils of Infant Baptism, By Robert Boyt C. Howell, Charleston, SC: Southern Baptist Publication Society 1852.] </ref>