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Thomas Helwys
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Thomas Helwys

English Puritan
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Article History
Quick Facts
Born:
c. 1550
Died:
c. 1616
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Thomas Helwys (born c. 1550—died c. 1616) was an English Puritan leader, member of a Separatist group that emigrated to Amsterdam (1608), where he helped organize the first Baptist church.

Returning to England (1611/12) to witness to his belief in adult Baptism and greater individual moral responsibility (against extreme Calvinist predestination), Helwys established the first General Baptist congregation in London. He was imprisoned for advocating universal religious tolerance and the independence of the church from state control.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.