Baptist

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Baptists in Vladivostok, Russia

Baptist refers to any one of several Christian groups which, for the most part, hold to theologically and socially conservative positions (though there are notable exceptions).

The largest Baptist group is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which despite its name has churches in all 50 states. The SBC is also highly influential in the social and political arenas of American life.[1]

History[edit]

Baptists are descended primarily from the work of John Smyth (1554-1612) in England[2] He fled to Holland due to persecution of the Anabaptists, of which he was part.[3] Baptists arrived in the American colonies and became especially numerous in New England and Virginia. After 1800, the denomination grew rapidly but split in 1845 over the issue of slavery. Many slaves were Baptists and at the end of the Civil War they withdrew from white churches and set up their own network of Baptist churches.

Beliefs[edit]

The following acrostic backronym, spelling BAPTIST, represents a useful summary of Baptists' distinguishing beliefs; this acrostic was created by Dr. L. Duane Brown.[4]

Many Baptists consider the Bible to be inerrant and the literal word of God. Baptists are often opposed to gambling and the use of tobacco and alcoholic beverages[5], the latter to the point that the "wine" in The Lord's Supper will be grape juice.

With baptism, the individual acquires authority to determine matters of religion and faith for himself, or as part of a local congregation of believers. Although each Baptist is free to define his own beliefs, most denominations will have a "statement of faith" which generally agrees on major doctrines (e.g. the Virgin Birth) while allowing for differing views in other areas (e.g. how End Times prophecy will take place). The Baptist Faith and Message of the Southern Baptist Convention is an example of such a statement; it was most recently revised in 2000.[6]

Baptists differ from many Christian denominations doctrinally. The most obvious difference is that Baptists reject infant baptism, and instead practice "Believer's Baptism", the belief that only born-again believers, old enough to understand what it means to become a Christian, are eligible baptism candidates. In practice, children are baptized at the age of 5 to 10.[7] This belief in "adult" baptism is also held by some other prominent Protestant churches (such as the Churches of Christ and Pentecostal denominations), although the baptism of infants is customary in such Protestant bodies as the Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Lutheran churches.

Another distinguishing characteristic is to be found in the area of church government. Baptists believe that Christ and only Christ is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23); there is no "Pope" or ruling board that has authority over any individual Baptist church.[8] Each local church is autonomous and accountable only to Christ, who is its Head. Finally, Baptists have always stood by the belief that the church should not be state controlled.[9]

Some Baptists believe that the King James Version of the Bible is the only true word of God in the English language. This is because they believe other versions, such as the New International Version, are based on corrupted manuscripts, and some verses are reworded in a way that changes the meaning or are omitted altogether. This teaching is generally limited to the Independent Baptist movement.

Baptist Denominations[edit]

Although Baptists organized within a denomination will have a "headquarters" facility, it generally exists solely to foster and assist evangelical work both at home and abroad; it will not dictate doctrine or policy (unlike Catholicism, Orthodox, or many mainline denominations).

Southern Baptist Convention[edit]

The most well known Baptist denomination is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which despite its name has congregations in every state. It is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. Since its founding in 1845, the SBC has grown to over 16 million members in more than 42,000 churches in the United States. The SBC sponsors about 5,000 home missionaries serving the United States, Canada, Guam and the Caribbean, as well as another 5,000 foreign missionaries at work in 153 countries.

In 1979, the beginnings of a theologically conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention as the result of a struggle for control of the denomination between moderates and conservatives.[10]

In 2022, Pastor Tom Ascol, president of the Institute for Public Theology and Founders Ministries, has been nominated for the SBC presidency by a group of conservative Baptists to combat the denomination's 'woke drift'.[11] Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas was elected however and he ran on a platform of strengthening ties between the SBC’s more than 47,000 churches and restoring civility among the SBC's members when discussing differences.[12]

Other Baptist bodies[edit]

There are numerous smaller bodies, usually with long histories, such as the Calvinistic Baptists, General Baptists, Primitive Baptists, Old Regulars, Two Seeders, Free Will Baptists, Landmarkeans (named after landmarks of doctrine), and Seventh Day Baptists (a very small group that, like the Seventh Day Adventists, holds to Saturday worship as Biblical).[13]

The Baptist Bible Union was started in 1923 by prominent Fundamentalists including W. B. Riley, pastor of First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, T. T. Shields, Canadian Baptist pastor, and J. Frank Norris, of First Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas. Riley said the Union was founded to give "open, determined opposition to menacing modernism" in the Northern and Southern Baptist Conventions. The union was of "inspirational character" for those who sought to purge liberalism from Baptist denominations.[14]

Independent Baptists (which are intentionally non-denominational) tend to be more conservative than any other of these groups (generally holding to Fundamentalist viewpoints; the label "independent Fundamentalist Baptist" is often used interchangeably). Most independent churches were created in reaction to "worldliness, modernism, apostasy and compromise" within other Baptist churches (even those which are conservative by comparison to mainline churches) and are often led by a leader with high personal popularity. They generally maintain a loose confederation of local congregations, promoting and funding independent missionaries and "church-planters, periodicals and Bible schools"[15] (as such they rarely, if ever, work with other groups). Frequently they hold their membership to very strict standards as to attendance, personal grooming and dress, and worldly activities both inside and outside of the home.

The majority of Baptist denominations are conservative theologically. However, notable liberal Baptist denominations include American Baptist Churches USA (not to be confused with the conservative American Baptist Association), the Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (the latter two being splinter groups from the SBC).

Protestantism[edit]

Baptists are generally considered to be Protestants. This normally means that they are "non-Catholic" Christians. When used in this sense, it is true. However, Protestant Churches are limited to Churches which separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation, starting in 1517. Some Baptists (called Landmarkeans) believe that Baptist history extends all the way back to the apostolic Church.[16] C.H. Spurgeon told the story of Baptist minister, Peter of Bruys, who suffered martyrdom in 1124.[17]The Waldensian Confession of Faith of 1120 A.D. is allegedly Baptist in tone.[18] Few historians agree with this historical theory, and most scholars argue that the Baptists originated in England during the 17th century.

Europe[edit]

European Baptist Federation (EBF) is a regional arm of the Baptist World Alliance. EBF has more than 800,000 Baptist members in 51 unions or conventions from Portugal to Russia. In 2009 it sponsored "Amsterdam 400," celebrating 400 years of Baptist history in Europe.

Russia: Reports of present-day restrictions on religious activity and/or persecution of Baptists in Russia[edit]

See also: Reports of present-day restrictions on religious activity and/or persecution of Protestants in Russia

According to a 2006 report of CWNews: Baptists, Pentecostals and Catholics and are among the Russian religious groups to complain of police failure to protect them from attacks or other unwarranted intrusions during church services, or of police raids to preclude them conducting religious activity-- such as the giving out religious literature- - which they regard as legitimate.[19]

Baptist Distinctives[edit]

Baptists have traditionally held to a set of beliefs that have developed into the Baptist Distinctives. The eight distinctives form the acrostic BAPTISTS.

Baptist Music[edit]

The music often heard in Baptist churches tends to be uplifting and hopeful, rather than the meritative mood often set in more liberal churches. The lyrics also tend to focus on the afterlife (Heaven), putting one's life in God's hands, Christ's blood sacrifice on the cross, or the world after the return of Jesus Christ. Popular Baptist hymns include:

The most common instrumentation is piano and organ, often placed on either side of the church at the front, so that each play may see the other and the choir director at the same time. If the organ console is not facing the place where the choir director stands, then a mirror will be installed so that the organist can see. Occasionally, for special events, other instruments will be brought in. These are usually classical instruments like strings, woodwinds, or brass (especially trumpet). Electric guitars, basses, and drum sets are rare, but are more common in churches that use contemporary music. Larger churches, like First Baptist Dallas and Prestonwood Baptist Church, will regularly include a small symphony orchestra with the piano and organ, but smaller churches simply use the two keyboard instruments (or may only have a piano).

Many Baptists (primarily in the Independent ranks) are opposed to modern "worldly" music inside or outside of the church even if the lyrics mention God or Jesus Christ, and some Baptist colleges like Pensacola Christian College prohibit students from listening to any music other than traditional church music or classical music.[20] However, many moderate and left-leaning churches do accept Christian rock and some forms of secular music.

Controversies[edit]

When Harvard's first president Henry Dunster abandoned Puritanism in favor of the Baptist faith in 1653, he provoked a controversy that highlighted two distinct approaches to dealing with dissent in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The colony's Puritan leaders, whose own religion was born of dissent from mainstream Church of England, generally worked for reconciliation with members who questioned matters of Puritan theology but responded much more harshly to outright rejection of Puritanism. Dunster's conflict with the colony's magistrates began when he failed to have his infant son baptized, believing, as a newly converted Baptist, that only adults should be baptized. Efforts to restore Dunster to Puritan orthodoxy failed, and his apostasy proved untenable to colony leaders who had entrusted him, in his job as Harvard's president, to uphold the colony's religious mission. Thus, he represented a threat to the stability of society. Dunster exiled himself in 1654 and moved to nearby Plymouth Colony, where he died in 1658.[21]

Famous Baptists[edit]

See also[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Race[edit]

Primary sources[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/default.asp
  2. ↑ http://levellers.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/john-smyth-1570-1612-puritan-separatist-baptist-mennonite/
  3. ↑ http://www.exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/anabaptists.html
  4. ↑ http://baptistbulletin.org/?p=13598
  5. ↑ http://www.abpnews.com/2885.article
  6. ↑ http://www.sbc.net/bfm/
  7. ↑ see Strategic Information and Planning Section, 2001 Annual Church Profile Statistics: Number of Baptisms by Age Divisions (Nashville: LifeWay Christian Resources, April 22, 2002).
  8. ↑ Although the various Baptist denominations, such as the SBC, may decide that it will or will not accept an individual church into its group, it has no authority to replace that church's leadership nor to force it to close down.
  9. ↑ Why Baptists are not Protestants by Dr. Vernon C. Lyons
  10. ↑ 25 years ago, conservative resurgence got its start, Baptist Press, 2004
  11. ↑ Southern Baptists nominate Tom Ascol to combat 'woke drift', Jerusalem Post, MARCH 25, 2022
  12. ↑ SBC presidential candidates discuss reasons they're in the race, The Christian Index, 2022
  13. ↑ Leonard (2005)
  14. ↑ Leonard (1987) p. 506
  15. ↑ Leonard (1987) p. 507
  16. ↑ Jarrell's Baptist Perpetuity
  17. ↑ Baptists are Ancient by C.H. Spurgeon appeared in the August 1868 The Sword and the Trowel.
  18. ↑ Baptist Churches In All Ages by Paul Goodwin and Bob Frazier
  19. ↑ Whose side are police on? Russian Christians ask, CWNews.com, 2006
  20. ↑ http://www.pcci.edu/pathway/
  21. ↑ Timothy L. Wood, "'I Spake the Truth in the Feare of God': the Puritan Management of Dissent During the Henry Dunster Controversy," Historical Journal of Massachusetts 2005 33(1): 1-19,

External links[edit]

Categories: [Christian Denominations] [Protestantism] [Fundamentalism] [Revivals] [Baptists]

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