Thomas Helwys was an advocate of religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous.
15 Facts About Thomas Helwys
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Thomas Helwys was born in Gainsborough, England, to Edmund and Margaret Thomas Helwys who were descendants of an old Norman family.
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In 1590 when his father died, Thomas Helwys assumed control of the estate, but in 1593 he left the care of the estate in the hands of his father's friends and began studies in law at Gray's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in London.
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Geoffrey Thomas Helwys, his uncle, was a successful merchant, an alderman and the sheriff of London.
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Thomas Helwys married Joan Ashmore at St Martin's Church, Bilborough, in 1595.
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In 1606, when Archbishop Richard Bancroft was forcing ministers to submit to the Book of Common Prayer, Thomas Helwys took part in conference of radical Puritans in Coventry discussing whether to quit the Church of England and become Brownists.
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Thomas Helwys developed a close bond with Smyth, and he and his wife became committed members of the Gainsborough Dissented congregation led by him.
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Joan Thomas Helwys was imprisoned in York Castle by the Archbishop of York in 1607.
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Thomas Helwys's wife was arrested, and after refusing to take the oath in court she was imprisoned.
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Some members accepted Mennonite Christology, that Jesus did not take his flesh from Mary, but Smyth and Thomas Helwys did not, so those were excommunicated and left the church.
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Thomas Helwys excommunicated him and assumed total eldership of the congregation with about ten members.
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Thomas Helwys formulated what is considered the earliest Baptist confession of faith.
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For Thomas Helwys, religious liberty was a right for everyone, whether Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims or atheists.
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Thomas Helwys is honoured with the Thomas Helwys Hall at Regent's Park College, Oxford.
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Broxtowe Hall, the Thomas Helwys' family home, is only a remnant, but in nearby Bilborough Baptist Church there is a simple plaque to his memory.