I recently read an article describing the moral decadence of the 17th and 18th centuries, and it surprised me. Christians today think that our society is the worst of all time, but that may not be an accurate perception.
Through George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards, the Lord sparked an interest in spiritual things and the Great Awakening, which is sometimes called the “New Light Stir,” brought thousands of souls out of the depravity of that day into God’s kingdom. The new believers were often called “New Lights” and eventually “Separates,” because they began leaving the Protestants to join the Baptists. Reaction to the Separates could be seen in churches and even in colonial governments. For example, the Congregational church at Middletown, Connecticut, passed the following rule of excommunication: “When members of this church shall renounce infant baptism, and embrace the Baptist principles and practice baptism by immersion, they shall be considered by that act as withdrawing their fellowship from this church, and we consider our covenant obligation with them as church members dissolved.” The reference to “covenant obligation” was understood by many as referring to salvation of their souls. For an extended time, Baptists were actively persecuted throughout New England by governments, local churches and immoral ruffians.
On this day in 1798, Asahel Morse was baptized as a testimony of his new life in Christ. He went on to pastor the Baptist church in Suffield, while carrying out an extensive itinerant ministry. He also wrote extensively, publishing powerful articles in defense of religious liberty. In the course of time, Morse became a member of a Connecticut convention to frame a new constitution which secured the rights of a free conscience in that state.
Source – “This Day in Baptist History” by Wayne Thompson and David Cummins.