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Baptist

 
Dictionary: Bap·tist   (băp'tĭst) pronunciation
 
n.
  1. A member of an evangelical Protestant church of congregational polity, following the reformed tradition in worship, and believing in individual freedom, in the separation of church and state, and in baptism of voluntary, conscious believers.
  2. baptist One that baptizes.

[Middle English, baptizer, from Old French baptiste, from Late Latin baptista, from Greek baptistēs, from baptizein, to baptize. See baptize.]

Baptist Bap'tist adj.
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Member of a group of Protestant Christians who hold that only adult believers should be baptized and that it must be done by immersion. During the 17th century two groups of Baptists emerged in England: General Baptists, who held that Christ's atonement applied to all persons, and Particular Baptists, who believed it was only for the elect. Baptist origins in the American colonies can be traced to Roger Williams, who established a Baptist church in Providence, R.I., in 1639. Baptist growth in the U.S. was spurred by the Great Awakening in the mid-18th century. The 1814 General Convention showed divisions among U.S. Baptists over slavery; a formal split occurred when the Southern Baptist Convention was organized in 1845 and was confirmed when the Northern (American) Baptist Convention was organized in 1907. African-American Baptist churches provided leadership in the 1960s civil rights movement, notably through the work of Martin Luther King. Baptist belief emphasizes the authority of local congregations in matters of faith and practice; worship is characterized by extemporaneous prayer and hymn-singing as well as by the exposition of scripture in sermons.

For more information on Baptist, visit Britannica.com.

 
The Religion Book: Baptist
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"Baptist," to many people, means Southern Baptist and brings to mind two of its most famous adherents, the Reverend Billy Graham and, until he left the denomination in 2000, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. But although the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, there are many more Baptist denominations, ranging from the mainline American Baptist Church to the smaller Conservative Baptists and Baptist General Conference. Then there are less well known Baptist denominations such as the Six Principle Baptists, Independent Baptists, and Charismatic Baptists.

Baptists came to America with the Puritan Roger Williams, who settled Providence, Rhode Island, in 1636. They have always been reluctant to force creeds and formulas, but, although their denominations are legion, they share certain doctrines and theological positions.

First, they practice adult baptism, almost always by full immersion in water. To be accepted into church membership, individuals must publicly confess conversion to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This means they have become, in the words of John 3:3, "born again," or spiritually awakened to God. Having thus "accepted Jesus into their hearts" and received God's forgiveness for their sins, believers are baptized, usually in a public ceremony, "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Second, Baptists tend to be conservative in theology, ranging from fundamentalists to evangelicals (See Evangelical; Fundamentalism). Christ is generally acknowledged as sole and absolute spiritual authority, speaking to each believer individually. The Bible is God's voice in all matters relating to faith and practice.

Third, Baptists practice congregational autonomy. Each congregation, although belonging to the denomination, is free to own its own buildings, call its own pastors, elect its own deacons, and manage its own affairs free from denominational hierarchy.

Fourth, worship is generally nonliturgical, featuring music, preaching, and teaching.

A recent and ongoing theological power struggle within the Southern Baptist Convention illustrates the tension between Baptist church polity and individual expression. Sensing erosion of fundamental theology, a group of conservatives, employing organizational techniques similar to those used in political parties, were able to fill key positions on both elected and appointed boards and committees within the convention during its 2000 annual spring meeting. After obtaining control, they proceeded to set forth a doctrinal agenda they believed was within the framework of traditional Baptist tradition. "The Baptist Faith and Message" is the denomination's chief doctrinal statement. All missionaries and teaching professors must affirm it to receive denominational support. Arguments erupted when it was amended to say that women must "submit graciously to their husbands" and could no longer hold pastoral teaching positions in the church. Because individual churches call their own pastors, the rule could not be enforced at the local level. But seminaries supported by the convention were urged to examine the classroom lectures of teaching professors, some of whom were respected women academics. A few of these professors were released, not explicitly because they were women, but because they taught theological positions contrary to those supported by the convention. Many churches stopped paying denominational dues and dropped their traditional monetary support of convention-based mission works. A church split loomed and is still a very real possibility. In 1985 more than 45,000 people attended the convention. In 2002 fewer than 9,500 registered.

The situation illustrates a fundamental question inherent in religious organizations that stress individual freedom. It is a question that has been asked again and again ever since Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation, and it is at the core of why Christianity is so divided as a whole and even within individual denominations. If religion is fundamentally a personal choice, how do people band together for the common good? Put in other words, who determines, in a democratically based institution, what the fundamental belief structure is going to be? Every time a vote is taken, are the losers forced to change their religious beliefs? If they don't change their beliefs, must they drop out to form yet another Christian denomination? How far out can theological lines be drawn and still maintain traditional identity, especially when facing a changing secular culture? How long does tradition continue before it becomes dogma, especially in a church that originally formed by breaking traditional dogmas?

Sources: Breed, Allen G. “Baptist Leader Sees a ‘New Day.’” Boston Globe, June 13, 2002. Douglas, J. D., ed. The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing, 1974.


 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Baptists
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Baptists, denomination of Protestant Christians holding a distinctive belief with regard to the ordinance of baptism. Since 1644 the name has been applied to those who maintain that baptism should be administered to none but believers and that immersion is the only mode of administering baptism indicated in the New Testament. The doctrine and practices of some earlier bodies, such as the Anabaptists and Mennonites, were similar.

Organization and Churches

Baptist churches are congregational in matters of government. Such general associations as are formed do not have control over the individual churches. The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest body of churches, with about 16 million members. The original national organization of black Baptist churches is the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A.; it has about 8.2 million members (1992). Other large Baptist churches in the United States include the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A, the largely black National Baptist Convention of America (separated from the National Baptist Convention), and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. The Baptist World Alliance was formed in 1905 as an alliance of Baptist churches from around the world. Today the convention includes more than 210 unions and conventions with a combined membership of some 110 million (1999). The conservative Southern Baptist Convention withdrew from the Alliance in 2004, accusing it of being too liberal and increasingly anti-American, charges strongly denied by the Alliance and other American churches belonging to it.

History of the Baptist Churches

In Holland a group of English separatists, led by John Smyth, came under Mennonite influence and formed c.1608 in Amsterdam the first English Baptist congregation. Smyth baptized first himself, then the others. In 1611 certain members of this congregation returned to London and established a church there. This was the first of the churches afterward known as General Baptists, since they held the Arminian belief that the atonement of Jesus is not limited to the elect only but is general.

In 1633 the Particular Baptists were founded. They were a group whose Calvinistic doctrine taught that atonement is particular or individual. Immersion was not yet insisted upon in these churches, but in 1644 seven Particular Baptist churches issued a confession of faith requiring that form of baptism, and Baptist was thenceforth the name given to those who practiced it. In 1891, General and Particular Baptists united into a single body called the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland.

In America it was Baptists of the Particular type that first gained influence among the Puritans and Calvinists, when Roger Williams and his companions in Rhode Island rejected infant baptism and established a church in 1639 based on the individual profession of faith. Baptists were later persecuted in New England for opposing infant baptism, and one group emigrated c.1684 from Maine to Charleston, S.C. A group of Separate Congregationalists from New England under Shubael Stearns and Daniel Marshall established (1755) the Separate Baptists in Sandy Creek, N.C.

In the Southeast the General Baptist views found acceptance, but the stricter Calvinistic ideas suited the pioneers who settled the southern mountains after the Revolution. Their opposition to mission work gave them the name Anti-Mission. They were also called Hard Shell or Primitive Baptists.

Early missionary activity extended the Baptist movement to the Continent and elsewhere. In the United States the American Baptist Missionary Union (under a longer title) was formed in 1814 to support workers in foreign lands. In 1832 the American Baptist Home Mission Society was organized. When the question of slavery became a dividing wall, the Southern Baptist Convention was established (1845).

Bibliography

See J. E. Tull, Shapers of Baptist Thought (1972); L. Davis, Immigrants, Baptists, and the Protestant Mind in America (1973); R. G. Torbet, A History of the Baptists (4th ed. 1975); W. H. Brachney, The Baptists (1988).


 
Wikipedia: Baptist
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A Baptist is a Christian who subscribes to a theology and may belong to a church that, among other things, is committed to believer's baptism (as opposed to infant baptism) and, with respect to church polity, favors the congregational model. The term Baptist can also describe a church, denomination, or other group of individuals made up of individual Baptists.

Baptists are historically characterized by individual and local church autonomy and a disavowal of creeds leading to wide diversity in beliefs and practices among individuals and groups who would call themselves Baptist. While the term Baptist has its origins with the Anabaptists, and was sometimes viewed as pejorative, the denomination itself is historically linked to the English Dissenter, Separatist, or Nonconformism movements of the 16th century.[1]

Most Baptist churches choose to associate with denominational groups that provide support without control. The largest Baptist association, apart from the Baptist World Alliance, is the Southern Baptist Convention (which left the World Alliance in 2004), but there are many other Baptist associations. There are also autonomous churches that remain independent of any denomination, organization, or association.

Contents

Etymology

The term Baptist comes from the Greek word βαπτιστής (baptistés, "baptist," also 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.[2]

Membership

Statistics

Baptists number over 110 million worldwide in more than 220,000 congregations and are considered the largest world communion of evangelical Protestants with an estimated 38 million members in North America.[3] Large populations of Baptists also exist in Asia, Africa and Latin America, notably in India (2.4 million), Nigeria (2.5 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (1.9 million), and Brazil (1.7 million).[4]

According to a poll in the 1990s, about one in five Christians in the United States claims to be a Baptist. U.S. Baptists are represented in more than fifty 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).[5]

Part of the 6th century Madaba Map showing Aenon and Bethabara, places of baptism of St. John (Βεθαβαρά τὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτίσματος)

Qualifications

The primary external qualification for membership in a Baptist church is baptism[6] and thus only baptized members are included in the total number of Baptists. Some Baptist churches do not have an age restriction on membership, but will not accept as a member a child who 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 persons make a profession of faith but fail to follow through with believers' baptism. In such cases they are considered saved but not church members until baptized. Most churches require you to be baptized to become a member of the church or, alternatively, to transfer membership from a church of like faith. Baptists believe that being baptized alone will not save you; it is merely an outward ceremony declaring an inner repentance and faith.

Baptists believe that the act of baptism is a symbolic display of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. When a person who has already been saved and confessed Christ submits to scriptural baptism, they are publicly identifying with Him in His death to old self, burial of past sinful thought and action, and resurrection in newness of life, to walk with Christ the remainder of their days.

Some churches, especially in the UK, do not require members to have been baptized as a believer, so long as they have made an adult declaration of faith -- for example, been confirmed in the Anglican church, or become communicant members as Presbyterians. In these cases, believers would usually transfer their memberships from their previous churches. This allows people who have grown up in one tradition, but now feel settled in their local Baptist church, to fully take part in the day to day life of the church, voting at meetings, etc. It is also possible, but unusual, to be baptized without becoming a church member immediately.

Baptist beliefs and principles

Part of a series of articles on
Baptists

Historical Background
Christianity  · Anabaptists
General · Strict · Reformed

Doctrinal distinctives
Sola scriptura
Congregationalism
Priesthood of all believers
Ordinances
Individual soul liberty
Separation of church and state
Offices
Confessions

Pivotal figures
John Smyth · Thomas Helwys · Roger Williams · John Bunyan · Shubal Stearns · Andrew Fuller · Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Baptist Associations and Conventions

Baptist Portal

Baptist churches do not have a central governing authority (See Autonomy in BAPTIST Acrostic Below). 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 orthodox Christian beliefs with most other moderate or conservative Christian denominations. These would include beliefs about one God; the virgin birth; miracles; atonement through the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus; the Trinity (the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, together with God the Father); the need for salvation (through belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God, his death and resurrection, and confession of Christ as Lord); grace; 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); and evangelism and missions. Some historically significant Baptist doctrinal documents include the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, 1742 Philadelphia Baptist Confession, 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 Revelation 20:11) and Christ will sit in judgment of the believers (the Judgment Seat of Christ 2 Corinthians), rewarding them for things done while alive, knowing that works will not get someone to Heaven. Beliefs among Baptists regarding the "end times" include amillennialism, dispensationalism, and historic premillennialism, with views such as postmillennialism and preterism receiving some support.

See also: List of Baptist Confessions or Doctrinal Statements

The following acrostic backronym, spelling BAPTIST, represents a useful summary of Baptists' distinguishing beliefs:[7]

Most Baptist traditions believe in the "Four Freedoms" articulated by Baptist historian Walter B. Shurden:[8]

  • 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

The polity of autonomy is closely related to the polity of congregational governance. Just as each Baptist priest with soul competency is equal to all other Baptists in a church, so each church is equal to every other church. No church or ecclesiastical organization has authority over a Baptist church. Churches can properly relate to each other under this polity only through voluntary cooperation, never by any sort of coercion. Furthermore, this Baptist polity calls for freedom from governmental control.[9] Exceptions to this local form of local governance include a few churches that submit to the leadership of a body of elders, as well as the Episcopal Baptists that have an Episcopal system.

Beliefs that vary among Baptists

Protestantism
The Reformation
History

Pre-Reformation movements

Hussites  · Lollards  · Waldensians


Reformation era movements

Anabaptism · Anglicanism · Calvinism · Counter-Reformation · Lutheranism · Polish Brethren · Zwinglianism


Post-Reformation movements

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Pentecostalism · Revivalism · Evangelicalism · House Church Movement

Because of the importance of the priesthood of every believer, the centrality of the freedom of conscience and 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:

The Sabbath Debate

A majority of Baptists worship on Sunday, in contrast with the Old Testament tradition of a Saturday Sabbath, and instead follow the New Testament tradition that the disciples met on the first day of the week. As would be expected amongst any people who hold to freedom of conscience, there have historically been a small number of Baptists who have held to some form of Sabbatarian doctrine.

There is a small group known as the Seventh Day Baptists. Some trace their origins to earlier Anabaptist or pre-Reformation sects however most acknowledge that the denomination was established in the mid-seventeenth century in England. Seventh Day Baptists may be either General or Particular Baptists but they are united in their observance of their day of worship on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Although the degree to which they observe the Sabbath varies from person to person, from congregation to congregation, there is a consensus within their circles that none should judge the spirituality of another's personal practices.

In the mid-nineteenth century a Seventh Day Baptist tract eventually led to a large portion of the Adventist movement to adopt Sabbatarian teachings, eventually forming the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Theological, cultural and political controversies

As with all major denominational groups, Baptists have not escaped theological, cultural and political controversy. Baptists have historically been sensitive to the introduction of theological error (from their perspective) into their groups. 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.

Leading up to the American Civil War, Baptists became embroiled in the controversy of slavery in the United States. North and South grew further apart in 1845 when the Baptist Church split into Northern and Southern organizations. The Southern Baptist Convention formed on the premise that the Bible sanctions slavery and that it was acceptable for Christians to own slaves. In the 20th century, the Southern Baptist Convention renounced this interpretation. Northern Baptists opposed slavery. In 1844, the Home Mission Society declared that a person could not be a missionary and still keep slaves as property. Currently American Baptist numerical strength is greatest in the former slave-holding states.[10]

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.

Landmarkism, with its emphasis on ecclesiastical separation and doctrinal rigidity and its cultural foundation in the South, deterred Southern Baptists from being influenced as strongly by aberrant points of view as were the Baptists in the northern United States and other countries. Old Landmarkism held to the traditional Baptist historical consciousness that traced Baptists through dissenters—Donatists, Cathari (although it is not believed that ALL Donatists, Cathari, etc.were Baptist theologically)—back to Jesus, the Jordan River, and the "First Baptist Church" of Jerusalem. Popular Landmarkism contributed to a historical consciousness implicit in the idea that Baptists were an extension of the New Testament community, perpetuating the true church in every age.[11]

Beginning in the 1980s, there was a concerted effort among a determined group of theologically orthodox Southern Baptists to purge modernist theological influence from its seminaries. This highly publicized SBC Conservative Resurgence/Fundamentalist Takeover occasioned two schisms of theologically modernist Baptist churches: the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists.

Origins

 v  d  e  Christian Denominations
in English-speaking countries

There are two main views about the origins of the Baptists: Baptist origins in the 16th and 17th centuries and Baptist perpetuity.

Baptist origins in the 16th and 17th centuries

Scholars see the Baptists as the descendants of the Puritans, influenced by Anabaptists, and thus products of the Reformation. Johannes Warns states that the first independent Anabaptist church was that at Augsburg, Germany, in about 1524.[12]

Baptists, per se, separated from the Church of England in the early 17th century.[13] Puritan separatists John Smyth and Thomas Helwys are acknowledged by numerous historians as key founders of the modern Baptist denomination. The early Baptists were divided into General Baptists who were Arminian in theology, and Particular Baptists who were Calvinistic in theology.[14][15][16]

According to Baptist historian H. Leon McBeth, Baptists, as a distinct denomination, originated in England in a time of intense religious reform. McBeth writes, “Our best historical evidence says that Baptists came into existence in England in the early seventeenth century. They apparently emerged out of the Puritan-Separatist movement in the Church of England.”[13] However there is also documentation saying that Baptists could have been in England in the 1500's. Joan Boucher (or Joan of Kent) who was martyred for her beliefs in 1550, is reported to have mentioned that she met with Baptists as a young girl in Eythorne, Kent (more information is found at Eythorne Baptist Church).

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.[17] 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."[18]

Baptist belief in perpetuity

The Baptist perpetuity view (also known as Baptist succession) holds that the Church founded by Christ in Jerusalem was Baptist in character and that separate, yet similar, churches have had perpetual existence from the days of Christ to the present. This view is theologically based on Matthew 16:18, where Jesus is speaking to Peter, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, 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."[19]

The Baptist perpetuity view sees Baptists as separate from the Catholic Church, and the Protestant religious denominations and considers that the Baptist movement predates the Catholic Church and is therefore not part of the Protestant Reformation.[20].

J. M. Carroll's The Trail of Blood booklet, published in 1931, has been a popular writing presenting the successionist view, pointing to groups such as the Montanists, Novatianists, Donatists, Paulicians, Albigensians, Catharists, Waldenses, and Anabaptists, as predecessors to contemporary Baptists.[21].

Baptist historian John T. Christian writes in the introduction to his History of the Baptists: "I have throughout pursued the scientific method of investigation, and I have let the facts speak for themselves. I have no question in my own mind that there has been a historical succession of Baptists from the days of Christ to the present time."[22] Other Baptist historians holding the perpetuity view are Thomas Armitage, G.H. Orchard, and David Benedict.

Cardinal Hosius (1504-1579), a Roman Catholic prelate of the sixteenth century has stated "For not so long ago I read the edict of the other prince who lamented the fate of the Anabaptists who, so we read, were pronounced heretics twelve hundred years ago and deserving of capital punishment. He wanted them to be heard and not taken as condemned without a hearing."[23]

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 originated independently of any previously existing church.

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 terms 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 days of the Catholic Church. Those holding this view maintain that Baptists have never been a part of the Catholic Church, and as such, Baptists are not "protesting" against Catholicism. Further, they claim 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 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 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. However some Baptists, such as the Independent Fundamental Baptists, embrace it.[citation needed]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Newman, Albert Henry (1894). A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States. Christian Literature. http://books.google.com/books?id=wCrmT5eki7YC. "This rejection of infant baptism and this insistence on believers' baptism were so distinctive of these Christians that they were stigmatized as Anabaptists, Catabaptists, and sometimes as simply Baptists; that is to say, they were declared to be "rebaptizers", "perverters of baptism", or, as unduly magnifying baptism and making it the occasion of schism, simply "baptizers". These party names they earnestly repudiated, preferring to call themselves Brethren, Christians, Disciples of Christ, Believers, etc." 
  2. ^ See volume one, chapter 15, pages 205-206 of John T. Christian's "History of the Baptists" published by Broadman Press. Available online: http://www.reformedreader.org/history/christian/ahob1/ahobp.htm
  3. ^ Baptist World Alliance Official Statistics
  4. ^ Baptist World Alliance statistics
  5. ^ Albert W. Wardin, Baptists Around the World (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995) p. 367
  6. ^ Pendleton, J. M. (1867). Church Manual For Baptist Churches. The Judson Press. http://www.reformedreader.org/rbb/pendleton/churchmanual/bcm01.htm. 
  7. ^ Articles on Baptists beliefs, polity, ministries, practices, organizations, and heritage. The information is intended to be useful for Baptists and non-Baptists alike.
  8. ^ Shurden, Walter B. The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 1993.
  9. ^ Pinson, William M., Jr. "Trends in Baptist Polity." Baptist History and Heritage Society. Available online: http://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/pinson.htm
  10. ^ Department of Geography and Meteorology, "Baptists as a Percentage of all Residents, 2000" Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana.
  11. ^ Leonard, Bill J. "Historical Consciousness and Baptists in the South: Owning and Disowning a Tradition." Proceedings of American Academy of Religion 2002 Annual Meeting.
  12. ^ Warns, Johannes. "Baptism", tr. by G. H. Lang, The Paternoster Press, London, 1957
  13. ^ a b McBeth, Leon. “Baptist Beginnings.” Baptist History and Heritage Society. Available online: http://www.baptisthistory.org/baptistbeginnings.htm (Accessed 10/19/2007)
  14. ^ "Baptist Christianity: Origins & Development of Baptist, Southern Baptist Beliefs". http://atheism.about.com/od/baptistssouthernbaptists/a/baptisthistory.htm. 
  15. ^ "Baptists". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02278a.htm. 
  16. ^ "Baptist Origins". Baptist History and Heritage Society. http://www.baptisthistory.org/contissues/briggs.htm. 
  17. ^ Newport Notables
  18. ^ Brackney, William H. (Baylor University, Texas). Baptists in North America: an historical perspective. Blackwell Publishing, 2006, p. 23. ISBN 1405118652
  19. ^ Duncan, William Cecil (1855). A Brief History of the Baptists and Their Distinctive Principles and Practices, from the "Beginning of the Gospel" to the Present Time. New York: Edward H. Fletcher. http://books.google.com/books?id=KLljCC9KXn8C. Retrieved on 2007-10-19. 
  20. ^ Brong, Rosco. "Ten Bible Proofs of Baptist Perpetuity". Word of Truth. http://www.landmarktruth.com/articles_view.asp?columnid=527&articleid=4440. Retrieved on 2007-10-19. 
  21. ^ Carroll, J.M.. "The Trail of Blood" (PDF). http://www.landmarktruth.com/images/60657/TrailofBlood.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-10-19. 
  22. ^ Christian, John T (vol.1, 1922; vol.2, 1926). A History of the Baptists. Broadman Press. http://www.reformedreader.org/history/christian/ahob1/ahobp.htm. 
  23. ^ Hosius, Cardinal Stanislaus (1563), White, Carolinne, Ph.D, ed., "Alberto Bavariae Duci", Liber Epistolarum 150, http://drbentownsend.com/Documents/HosiusQuoteInBaptistExpanded.pdf 

References

  • Gavins; Raymond. The Perils and Prospects of Southern Black Leadership: Gordon Blaine Hancock, 1884–1970 Duke University Press, 1977.
  • Harrison, Paul M. Authority and Power in the Free Church Tradition: A Social Case Study of the American Baptist Convention Princeton University Press, 1959.
  • Harvey, Paul. Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities among Southern Baptists, 1865–1925 University of North Carolina Press, 1997.
  • Heyrman, Christine Leigh. Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt (1997).
  • Isaac, Rhy. "Evangelical Revolt: The Nature of the Baptists' Challenge to the Traditional Order in Virginia, 1765 to 1775," William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., XXXI (July 1974), 345–68.
  • Leonard, Bill J. Baptist Ways: A History (2003), comprehensive international history
  • McBeth, H. Leon, (ed.) A Sourcebook for Baptist Heritage (1990), primary sources for Baptist history.
  • McGlothlin, W. J. (ed.) Baptist Confessions of Faith. Philadelphia: The American Baptist Publication Society, 1911.
  • Pitts, Walter F. Old Ship of Zion: The Afro-Baptist Ritual in the African Diaspora Oxford University Press, 1996.
  • Rawlyk, George. Champions of the Truth: Fundamentalism, Modernism, and the Maritime Baptists (1990), Canada.
  • Spangler, Jewel L. "Becoming Baptists: Conversion in Colonial and Early National Virginia" Journal of Southern History. Volume: 67. Issue: 2. 2001. pp 243+
  • Stringer, Phil. The Faithful Baptist Witness, Landmark Baptist Press, 1998.
  • Torbet, Robert G. A History of the Baptists, Judson Press, 1950.
  • Underhill, Edward B. (ed.). Confessions of Faith and Other Documents of the Baptist Churches of England in the 17th century. London: The Hanserd Knollys Society, 1854.
  • Underwood, A. C. A History of the English Baptists. London: Kingsgate Press, 1947.
  • Wills, Gregory A. Democratic Religion: Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785–1900, Oxford.
  • Life & Practice in the Early Church: A Documentary Reader, New York University press. 2001. pp.5–7. ISBN 9780814756485.

External links


 
Translations: Baptist
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - baptist

Nederlands (Dutch)
baptist, doper, doopsgezind

Français (French)
n. - (Relig) Baptiste
adj. - baptiste

Deutsch (German)
n. - Baptist
adj. - baptistisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n., -
adj. - Βαπτιστής

Italiano (Italian)
battista

Português (Portuguese)
n. - batista (m) (f)
adj. - batista

Русский (Russian)
Креститель, баптист

Español (Spanish)
n. - bautista
adj. - bautista, relativo o perteneciente a los bautistas

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - baptist
adj. - baptistisk

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
施洗者约翰, 施洗者, 浸信会教友

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 施洗者約翰, 施洗者, 浸信會教友

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 침례교도, 세례 시행자

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - バプテスト派, 洗礼者ヨハネ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) معمدان (صفه) معمد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮בפטיסט‬


 
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