Baptist Church

The name of the Baptist church or Baptist denomination comes from the conviction that followers of Jesus Christ are commanded to be immersed in water as a public display of their faith, and thus most adherents reject infant baptism. While the term Baptist has its origins with the Anabaptists, the denomination itself is more closely linked to the English Separatist movement of the sixteenth century.

Organizationally, Baptist churches operate on the Congregational governance system, giving autonomy to individual local Baptist churches. Baptists traditionally have avoided the "top-down" hierarchy of Episcopalianism which is found in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and many other churches. However, Baptist churches will often associate in denominational groups such as the Southern Baptist Convention, National Baptist Convention USA, Conservative Baptist Association of America, American Baptist Churches USA, American Baptist Association (Landmark Baptists), among others.

Baptists usually are considered Protestants, although some Baptists reject that association.

Both Roger Williams and his compatriot in working for religious freedom, Dr. John Clarke, are variously credited as founding the earliest Baptist church in America. In 1639, Williams established a Baptist church in Providence, Rhode Island and Clarke began a Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island. According to a Baptist historian who has researched the matter extensively, "There is much debate over the centuries as to whether the Providence or Newport church deserved the place of 'first' Baptist congregation in America. Exact records for both congregations are lacking."

History

There have been two views about the origins of the Baptists, Baptist perpetuity and Baptist origins in the seventeenth century. The Baptist perpetuity viewpoint holds that Baptist churches and practices have had perpetual existence since the time of Christ and His apostles. This view is theologically based on Matthew 16:18 "…and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," as well as Jesus' commission and promise to be with His followers as they carried on his ministry, "even unto the end of the world."

Baptist origins in the seventeenth century

Some supporters of this view suggests that while the New Testament churches were of Baptist character, the movement was corrupted. They see modern-day Baptists as restorers of New Testament practices. Some see the Baptists as the descendants of the sixteenth-century Anabaptists (which are viewed as a product of the Protestant Reformation), and others see them as a separation from the Church of England in the 1600s.

Anabaptists were widely scattered churches in sixteenth-century Europe which rejected infant baptism and "rebaptized" members as adults. They held to many teachings of modern-day Baptists, such as believer's baptism by immersion and freedom of religion. Some historians see the Anabaptists and Baptists as one and the same people. Others, pointing to differences between the Anabaptists of continental Europe and the English Baptists (such as pacifism and the communal sharing of material goods), see the Anabaptists only as influencing the Baptists of a later period; in this respect there is some overlap between those who hold the Anabaptist view and those who hold the English Separatist view of Baptist origins. The works of William Roscoe Estep offer a presentation of this viewpoint.

The Separatists were English Protestants in the seventeenth century who considered it their duty to totally separate from the Church of England (in contrast to the Puritans who sought to purify the Church of England from within). In 1608, to avoid persecution, John Smyth led a group of separatists to the more tolerant Dutch Republic where a distinctive Baptist faith emerged among these English émigrés. Open debate among them, and close contact and interaction with continental Anabaptists, led the congregation to question the meaning and practice of baptism, among other things. John Smyth became convinced that baptism should be for Christian believers only and not for infants. The other English émigrés agreed.

At the same time as Smyth started to embrace Anabaptist doctrines, Thomas Helwys and a dozen or so others began to formulate the earliest Baptist confessions of faith. This "confession" became the 27 articles in "A Declaration of Faith of English people remaining at Amsterdam in Holland" (1611). Helwys and 12 Baptist émigrés returned to England to speak out against religious persecution. In 1612, they founded a Baptist congregation on English soil in Spitalfields, London. The congregation was comprised of General Baptists subscribing to an Arminian theology.

In 1616, Henry Jacob led a group of Puritans in England with a Calvinist theology to form a congregational church which would eventually become the Particular Baptists in 1638 under John Spilsbury.

Baptist independence

The importance of the Great Awakening for American religion and politics cannot be underestimated. When this spiritual fervor swept across the countryside, it encouraged people to adopt a more independent stance with regards to religious matters and even made it easier for them to abandon whatever church they were originally raised in. This, naturally enough, proved beneficial for newer, more radical churches like the Baptists.

The person most responsible for the development of the modern Baptist denomination of Christianity besides John Smyth was Roger Williams in Rhode Island in 1638. Based on the work of these radical Protestants, Baptists adopted an anti-creedal theology in which all authority stems from the Bible. Common characteristics include: baptism of mature adults rather than children, baptism via full immersion, independence of local churches, and religious revivals.

So strong was the independent streak that the first national Baptist organization was not created until 1814. Already in 1845, though, Baptists split over slavery. The Southern Baptist Convention was established in Augusta, Georgia, in order to preserve a religious foundation for human slavery. The reason why Southern Baptists are organized as a "Convention" is that it is not a religious body in the traditional sense; instead, it is more of a congregational body when it comes to both practice and belief. Rather than a united community with a hierarchical leadership, it is supposed to be a loose affiliation of Baptist churches that share common attitudes, beliefs, and interests.

Baptist changes

Technically, the Southern Baptist Convention is not supposed to exert any doctrinal authority over individual churches, but that has changed and this shift in attitude represents one of the most serious and dramatic changes ever in Baptist theology. A church which originated in ideals of radical independence has become a church based around fundamentalist authoritarianism. The fundamentalists insist now on an authoritative set of beliefs that are to be held by all the faithful and accountability is to be made to those in positions of authority, namely, seminary presidents and the convention president and other elected and appointed officials. That strategy is totally non-Baptist but is consistent with the Evangelical/Fundamentalist tradition that now dominates the SBC.

These radical changes have disillusioned quite a few Christians. Many churches have formally left the Southern Baptist Convention, becoming completely independent or joining other Baptist organizations. There are also several million "non-resident" members of the Convention. These are Southern Baptists who joined a Southern Baptist church and then moved away, never to be heard from again. Had they joined a new Southern Baptist church, their whereabouts would be recorded. Finally, there are also many churches that have been expelled from the Convention because they have failed to uphold standards on matters such as homosexuality.

Divisions among Baptist churches

Baptists have traditionally been suspicious any ecumenical movements designed to mediate theological differences between denominations, even when it comes to other Baptists. Because of this Baptists have fractured into numerous divisions, sects, and groups. They may agree on many things, but their differences are enough to keep them apart.

Southern Baptist Convention: Established in 1845 in order to preserve a religious foundation for human slavery, it has grown to be among the most theologically conservative Baptist groups and, because of that, has also begun to move away from the tradition of individual authority by abrogating the power of individual churches in an attempt to maintain orthodoxy in the beliefs of members.

American Baptist Church: Originally known as the Northern Baptist Convention, it was established in 1907. It is currently the fourth largest group of Baptists in the United States and it is also the most liberal. It consists of a federated body of otherwise independent churches which are united in their belief in adult baptism (by immersion) and the independence of local congregations.

Although it originally consisted of around three-quarters the number of churches as the Southern Baptist Convention, through the twentieth century the American Baptist Church was afflicted by divisions and schisms. Today, the Southern Baptist Convention outnumbers the American Baptist Church by at least 10-to-one. Other Protestant denominations which divided over slavery, but the Baptists have not and the current theological divide suggests that this won’t likely change any time soon.

National Baptist Convention: established in 1895 it is currently the largest black denomination in the United States. It, along with other independent African-American Baptist churches, was created by free slaves after the Civil War and have long played an important role in the political and social lives of African-Americans. Freed slaves were attracted to Baptist churches because of their evangelistic zeal, accessible theology, and an ecclesiology that emphasized individual freedom (political and spiritual) from white authority.

Independent Baptist Churches: There are several million Baptists in America who are “unaccounted for.” This means that they are not members of a known Baptist organization. Baptists have traditionally been suspicious any ecumenical movements designed to mediate theological differences between denominations, even when it comes to other Baptists, so it’s only to be expected that there will be Baptist churches who continue to be under the radar of religious surveys.

International Baptist Churches: Although Baptist churches can be found all over the world, in most places they are not as well organized as they are in America. For the most part the individual churches are scattered widely—so much so, in fact, that it often makes more sense to talk about the continent—wide Baptist organizations rather than national or regional organizations. Even in England, where modern Baptists got their start, their numbers have been reduced to a few tens of thousands.

The one country outside of the United States where Baptists play a very public role is Russia, but that is also the country where their position is the most vulnerable. Baptists believe in evangelization but the Russian Orthodox Church objects strongly to “outsiders” who take away adherents.

The name "Baptist"

File:Baptism.jpg

Part of the sixth century Madaba Map showing Aenon and Bethabara, places of baptism of St. John (Βέθαβαρά το τού άγίου Ιωάννου τού βαπτίσματος)

Baptist comes from the Greek word βαπτιστής (baptistés, "baptist," used to describe John the Baptist), which is related to the verb βαπτίζω (baptízo, "to baptize, wash, dip, immerse"), and the Latin baptista, and is in direct connection to "the baptizer," John the Baptist.

As a first name it has been used in Europe from the twelfth century also as Baptiste, Jan-Baptiste, Jean-Baptiste, John-Baptist; and in the Netherlands at least since the seventeenth century, often in combinations like Jan Baptist or Johannes Baptist. As a last name it has been used since the thirteenth century. Other variations also commonly used are Baptiste, Baptista, Battiste, Battista.

The Anabaptists in England were called Baptists as early as 1569.

Distinctive Beliefs

Not a Protestant denomination

The Baptist perpetuity view sees Baptists as separate from Catholicism and other religious denominations and considers, that since the Baptist movement predates the Catholic church, it is not part of the Protestant Reformation.

Those holding the perpetuity view of Baptist history can be basically divided into two categories: those who hold that there is a direct succession from one church to the next (most commonly identified with Landmarkism), and those who hold that while the Baptist practices and churches continued, they may have sprung up independently of any previously existing church.

J. M. Carroll's The Trail of Blood booklet, written in 1931, has been a popular writing presenting the traditional view, pointing to groups such as the Montanists, Novatianists, Donatists, Paulicians, Albigensians, Catharists, Waldenses, and Anabaptists, as predecessors to contemporary Baptists. John T. Christian published a more scholarly history of the Baptists from a perpetuity perspective. Other Baptist historians that are holding the perpetuity view are Thomas Armitage, G.H. Orchard, and David Benedict.

The American Baptist Association, the Baptist Missionary Association of America, and the Baptist Bible Fellowship are the groups most commonly identified with the perpetuity view today, though large numbers may be found in many Baptist groups who hold to this view of Baptist origins.

Theology

Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority. Therefore, beliefs are not totally consistent from one Baptist church to another, especially beliefs that may be considered minor. However, on major theological issues, Baptist distinctive beliefs are held in common among almost all Baptist churches. Baptists share so-called "orthodox" Christian beliefs with most other moderate or conservative Christian denominations. These would include beliefs about one God, virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, vicarious atoning death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Christ, the Trinity (the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, together with God the Father), the need for salvation (though the understanding of means for achieving it may differ at times), grace, the church, the Kingdom of God, last things (Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge everyone in righteousness), evangelism, and missions. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the 1833 New Hampshire Baptist Confession of Faith, the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message, and written church "covenants" which some individual Baptist churches adopt as a statement of their faith and beliefs.

Baptists generally believe in the literal Second Coming of Christ at which time God will sit in judgment and divide humanity between the saved and the lost (the Great White Throne judgment Rev 20:11) and Christ will sit in judgment of the believers (the Judgment Seat of Christ 2Cor 5:10), rewarding them for things done while alive. Beliefs among Baptists regarding the "end times" include amillennialism, dispensationalism, and historic premillennialism, with views such as postmillennialism and preterism receiving some support.

The following acrostic backronym, spelling BAPTIST, represents a useful summary of Baptists' distinguishing beliefs::

• Biblical authority (Mat 24:35; 1Pet 1:23; 2Tim 3:16–17)
• Autonomy of the local church (Mat 18:15–17; 1Cor 6:1–3)
• Priesthood of all believers (1Pet 2:5–9; 1Tim 5)
• Two ordinances (believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper) (Acts 2:41–47; 1Cor 11:23–32)
• Individual soul liberty (Rom 14:5–12)
• Separation of Church and State (Mat 22:15–22)
• Two offices of the church (pastor and deacon) (1Tim 3:1–13; Tit 1–2)

Most Baptist traditions believe in the "Four Freedoms" articulated by Baptist historian Walter B. Shurden:

• Soul freedom: the soul is competent before God, and capable of making decisions in matters of faith without coercion or compulsion by any larger religious or civil body
• Church freedom: freedom of the local church from outside interference, whether government or civilian (subject only to the law where it does not interfere with the religious teachings and practices of the church)
• Bible freedom: the individual is free to interpret the Bible for himself or herself, using the best tools of scholarship and biblical study available to the individual
• Religious freedom: the individual is free to choose whether to practice their religion, another religion, or no religion; Separation of church and state is often called the "civil corollary" of religious freedom

Infant baptism

Although many Protestant denominations and the Catholic church baptize babies, Baptists—and "Bible churches" in the Baptist tradition—insist that baptism is only for those who have come to faith. Nowhere in the New Testament, they point out, do we read of infants being baptized. On the other hand, nowhere do we read of children raised in believing households reaching the age of reason and then being baptized. The only explicit baptism accounts in the Bible involve converts from Judaism or paganism. For children of believers there is no explicit mention of baptism—either in infancy or later.

This poses a problem for Baptists and Bible Christians: On what basis do they require children of believers to be baptized at all? Given the silence of the New Testament, why not assume Christian baptism is only for adult converts? This, of course, would be contrary to historical Christian practice. But so is rejecting infant baptism. There is no doubt that the early Church practiced infant baptism; and no Christian objections to this practice were ever voiced until the Reformation.

The New Testament, itself, while it does not explicitly say when (or whether) believers should have their children baptized, is not silent on the subject.

Luke 18:15–16 tells us that "they were bringing even infants" to Jesus; and he himself related this to the kingdom of God: "Let the children come to me . . . for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

When Baptists speak of "bringing someone to Jesus," they mean leading him to faith. But Jesus says "even infants" can be "brought" to him. Even Baptists don’t claim their practice of "dedicating" babies does this. The fact is, the Bible gives us no way of bringing anyone to Jesus apart from baptism. Thus Peter declared, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children" (Acts 2:38–39).

The apostolic Church baptized whole "households" (Acts 16:33; 1 Cor. 1:16), a term encompassing children and infants as well as servants. While these texts do not specifically mention—nor exclude—infants, the very use of the term "households" indicates an understanding of the family as a unit. Even one believing parent in a household makes the children and even the unbelieving spouse "holy" (1 Cor. 7:14).

Today, the controversy over infant baptism continues, with the Catholic church and and many Protestant denominations considering the absence on infant baptism in the Baptish church a heresy.

Beliefs that vary among Baptists

Because of the importance of the priesthood of every believer, the centrality of the freedom of conscience a thought in Baptist theology, and due to the congregational style of church governance, doctrine varies greatly between one Baptist church and another (and among individual Baptists) especially on the following issues: Calvinism/Arminianism, doctrine of separation, eschatology, hermeneutical method,homosexuality, ordination of women, the extent to which missionary boards should be used to support missionaries, the extent to which non-members may participate in communion services, and the nature of law and Gospel.

Theological, cultural, and political variety

As with all major denominational groups, Baptists have not escaped theological, cultural, and political controversy. The older Baptist associations of Europe, Canada, Australia, and the northern United States have assimilated influences of different schools of thought, but not without major debate and schisms. In England, Charles Haddon Spurgeon fought against what he saw as challenges to his strongly conservative point of view in the Downgrade Controversy. As part of the continuing fundamentalist/liberal controversy within the Northern Baptist Convention, two new associations of conservative Baptists were formed—the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches in 1932 and the Conservative Baptist Association of America in 1947.

Due to the prevalence of Landmarkism in the southern United States, with its emphasis on ecclesiastical separation and doctrinal rigidity and its cultural foundation in the South, Southern Baptists were not influenced as strongly by different biblical points of view, as were the Baptists in the northern United States and other countries.

Baptists have historically been sensitive to the introduction of theological error (from their perspective) into their groups. Beginning in the 1980s, there was a concerted effort among a determined group of fundamentalist Southern Baptists to purge what they considered to be a liberal influence from particularly its seminaries. There is far from general agreement that most of those purged were indeed liberals, many calling them "moderates" as opposed to liberals. This highly publicized "SBC Conservative Resurgence/Fundamentalist Takeover" occasioned two new consortia of local churches being formed: the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists. Some of the largest Southern Baptist state conventions, most notably those of Texas and Virginia, effectively resisted the takeover such that the more conservative group felt compelled to form in those states new conventions that agree with their particular conservative theological lines.

Comparisons with other denominations

Baptists share certain emphasis with other groups such as evangelism and missions. While the general flavor of any denomination changes from city to city, this aspect of Baptist churches is much more prominent than in most Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches.

The Pacifism of the Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers is not an ideal held by most Baptists today. English Baptists were prominent in Cromwell's army and Baptists played a significant role in the American Revolution as well as both sides in the American Civil War. Southern Baptists are predominant in the Bible Belt region of the United States, an area which also has a long history of military service and support. A few contemporary Baptists embrace the old Anabaptist doctrine of pacifism, such as The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America which was organized in 1984.

In Australia, the Baptist Union is very close to the Campbell-Stone Church of Christ. The two groups share similar theology, even sharing a Bible college.

Worship style

File:POCBaptist.JPG

Rural Baptist church in Port O'Connor, Texas

The focus of Baptist church services is the proclamation of the Word of God through the weekly sermon.

The general worship service is usually preceded by a time of Sunday School during which the people divide into separate classes (usually based on age) for study of the Bible. After the Sunday school, the whole church meets for a period of worship (though a growing number of churches have a separate worship service for the children). Some churches even have Sunday school after a service, but this is only in the case of a church having two or more services a day.

The worship service generally consists of a sermon preceded by a time of worship through singing. Prayers are offered intermittently throughout the service and an offering is usually taken sometime during the service. An "invitation" is usually offered after the sermon to allow public response to the message by confession of faith, request for baptism or church membership, or the expression of an intention to walk more closely with the Lord.

The music in Baptist churches varies from traditional hymns, to southern gospel, to the more contemporary rock and charismatic music styles.

Baptist churches are careful to emphasize that worship is not limited to the Sunday gathering, but is a lifestyle of love and service to Christ and dedication to God's truth as revealed in the Scriptures. Most Baptist churches expect the members to carry the message of the gospel into the world among their family and friends.

Questions of labeling

Some Baptists object to the application of the labels Protestant, denomination, Evangelical, and even Baptist to themselves or their churches, while others accept those labels.

Some who reject the label Baptist prefer to be labeled as Christians who attend Baptist churches. Also, a recent trend (most common among megachurches and those embracing the "seeker movement") is to eliminate "Baptist" from the church name, as it is perceived to be a "barrier" to reaching persons who have negative views of Baptists, whether they be of a different church background or none. These churches typically include the word Community or other non-religious or denominational term in their church name.

Conversely, others accept the label Baptist because they identify with the distinctives they consider to be uniquely Baptist. They believe those who are removing the name "Baptist" from their churches are "compromising with the world" to attract more members. However, there are other church groups that hold to the beliefs listed above, that have never been known by the label Baptist, and also believe that these beliefs are not exclusive to the Baptist denomination.

The label Protestant is rejected by some Baptists (primarily those in the Landmark movement) because in their view Baptists have existed separately since the early church days. Those holding this view maintain that Baptists have never been a part of the Roman Catholic church, and as such are not "protesting" against Catholicism. Further, they point out that Baptists have no direct connection to any of the Reformationists like Luther, Calvin, or Zwingli.

Other Baptists accept the Protestant label as a demographic concept that describes churches who share similar theologies of sola scriptura, sola fide, the priesthood of all believers and other positions that Luther, Calvin, and other traditional reformers held in contrast to the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s.

The label denomination is rejected by some because of the local autonomous governance system used by Baptist churches. Being a denomination is viewed by them as having a hierarchy that substitutes for the Roman Catholic Church. Another reason for the rejection of the label is the influence of the Restoration period on Baptist churches, which emphasized a tearing down of denominational barriers. Other Baptists accept the label, feeling that it does not carry a negative connotation but rather is merely a synonym for a Christian or religious group with common beliefs, organized in a cooperative manner to spread its beliefs worldwide.

The label Evangelical is rejected by some fundamentalist Baptists who consider the term to describe a theological position that in their view is not fundamentalist enough, and conversely is also rejected by some liberal Baptists who consider the term to describe a theological position that in their view is too conservative. It is accepted by moderate Baptists who identify with the revival in the United States in the 1700s known as the First Great Awakening. Conversely, some Evangelicals reject the label fundamentalist, believing it to describe a theological position that they consider too extreme and legalistic.

Membership

Statistics

There are over 90 million Baptists worldwide in nearly 300,000 congregations, with an estimated 47 million members in the United States. Other large populations of Baptists also exist in Asia, Africa,and Latin America, notably in India (2.4 million), Nigeria (2.3 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (1.9 million),and Brazil (1.5 million).

Acording to a poll in the 1990s, about one in five in the United States claims to be a Baptist. American Baptists are represented in more than 50 separate groups. Ninety-two percent of Baptists are found in five of those bodies—the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC); National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (NBC); National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; (NBCA); American Baptist Churches in the USA (ABC); and Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI).

Qualifications

Only those people who are baptized members of a local Baptist church are included in the total number of Baptists. Most Baptist churches do not have an age restriction on membership, but will not accept as a member a child that is considered too young to fully understand and make a profession of faith of their own volition and comprehension. In such cases, the pastor and parents usually meet together with the child to verify the child's comprehension of the decision to follow Jesus. There are instances where a person makes a profession of faith, but fails to follow through with believers' baptism. In such cases, they are considered "saved" but not a church member until baptized. If children and unbaptized congregants were counted, world Baptists may number over 120 million.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Hiscox, Edward T. Principles and Practices for Baptist Churches: A Guide to the Administration of Baptist Churches, Kregel Classics, 1980. ISBN 978-0825428609
• Hobbs, Herschel H. What Baptists Believe, B&H Publishing Group, 1964. ISBN 978-0805481013
• Maring, Norman H. A Baptist Manual of Polity and Practice, Judson Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0817011710
• McNutt, William Roy. Polity and Practice in Baptist Churches, The Judson Press, 1948. B000QXTH28
• Norman, R. Stanton. The Baptist Way: Distinctives of a Baptist Church, B&H Publishing Group, 2005. ISBN 978-0805431520

External links

• A comprehensive independent Baptist Church Web Portal and Church Search Engine
• American Baptist Historical Society
• Baptist History and Heritage Society
• Doctrinal and Historical Information on Baptists
• Map of USA showing Percentage of Baptist Population in each county
• various resources and services, including The Journal of Baptist Studies, a peer-reviewed, electronic journal

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