state-church Protestantism and Brownism. It was the first ever English book to defend the principle of religious liberty. For Helwys, religious liberty was a right for everyone, whether Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims or atheists. The book also argued that Separatist leaders such as Smyth and Robinson had been wrong to take their churches overseas to escape persecution and that they should return to England. The historian of Separatism Stephen Tomkins described The Mistery of Iniquity as the most radical and outspoken book of the age and 'the most far-reaching declaration of universal religious freedom yet seen in English', but added: 'It is a pity that this most ground-breaking treatise of the Separatist movement should also be its most mean-spirited.' Despite the obvious risks involved, in 1613 Helwys and twelve Baptist émigrés returned to England and founded the first Baptist congregation on English soil in Spitalfields, east London. They brought The Mistery of Iniquity with them and one copy of it was delivered to King James I, with a handwritten inscription arguing for liberty of conscience. "The King," Helwys said, "is a mortal man, and not God, therefore he hath no power over the mortal soul of his subjects to make laws and ordinances for them and to set spiritual Lords over them." Helwys and other Baptists were thrown into Newgate Prison, where they wrote a petition to the King. Another book, Persecution for Religion Judg’d and Condemn’d, was written in Newgate in 1616, either by Helwys or his follower John Murton, and printed. Helwys' presentation copy of A Short Declaration of the Mistery of Iniquity is still preserved in the Bodleian Library. Helwys is honoured with the Helwys Hall at Regent's Park College, Oxford. Thomas Helwys Baptist Church, in Lenton, Nottingham is named after him. Broxtowe Hall, the Helwys' family home, is now only a remnant but in nearby Bilborough Baptist Church there is a simple plaque to his memory. Death Helwys died around 1616 at about the age of forty. Notes References External links Writings of Thomas Helwys Alec Gilmore, "Thomas Helwys' plea for religious liberty in the 17th century provided a sound foundation for other kinds of freedom," The Guardian, 20 May 2006 "You Can Thank the Baptists for Freedom of Worship" by Pastor David F. Reagan "Thomas Helwys, A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity" by Walter B. Shurden, Callaway Professor of Christianity, Executive Director, The