Coggins, James R.2019-09-252019-09-252016-06-151984http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/153594"In his lifetime John Smyth (c.1565-1612) was successively a Puritan, a separatist, a Baptist and an Anabaptist. This essay will examine each of these stages in turn. In the course of the discussion light will be thrown on the key questions of whether Smyth was influenced by Anabaptists and whether the seventeenth century General Baptists who sprung from him were Protestants or Anabaptists. l As well, attention will be given to the attempts of some commentators to find a key doctrine maintained by Smyth throughout his shifts. B. R. White has suggested that this central doctrine is the idea of the covenant,' but Douglas Shantz thinks the crucial doctrine is 'the resurrected Christ,in His character as Ruling King"engWith permission of the license/copyright holderJohn SmithTheologyProtestantsAnabaptistresurrected ChristChristian denominationsBaptist, AdventistGlobal Church History and World ChristianityDogmaticsJesus ChristArticle